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  • IPL broadcast banned in Taliban’s Afghanistan over presence of female spectators

    IPL broadcast banned in Taliban’s Afghanistan over presence of female spectators

    The Taliban have warned media outlets in Afghanistan not to broadcast the UAE leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 due to the presence of female spectators in stadiums.

    “Ridiculous: Taliban have banned the broadcasting of Indian Premier League (IPL) in Afghanistan. Taliban have warned that Afghan media outlets should not broadcast the Indian Cricket League due to girls dancing and the presence of the female audience and spectators in stadiums,” tweeted Afghan journalist Fawad Aman.

    The UAE leg of IPL is underway and two matches have been played between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

    The knockout stage of IPL 2021 is scheduled to begin on October 10 with the final slated to be held on October 15.

    Notably, the Taliban banned most forms of entertainment — including many sports and women have been completely banned from playing sport. Even though the hardline group has shown they do not mind men playing cricket, pulling together a match in Kabul shortly after foreign forces withdrew.

    Australia had earlier issued a statement, saying if the recent media allegations against the Taliban-led hardline government in Afghanistan that it will not support women’s cricket were proved to be true, then Cricket Australia will not host the Afghanistan men’s team for the proposed Test match in Hobart.

    Meanwhile, it has also been reported that teams will also not play against Afghanistan in T20 World Cup, which is slated to be starting from October 17 in the UAE and Oman.

  • New Zealand to tour India for T20, Test series after abandoning Pakistan tour

    New Zealand to tour India for T20, Test series after abandoning Pakistan tour

    New Zealand will be visiting India in November to play three Twenty20 Internationals and two Test matches, two months after abandoning their tour of Pakistan over “safety concerns”.

    The series against New Zealand will kickstart India’s 2021-22 home season, which includes four Tests, three one-days and 14 T20Is, the Indian cricket board said in a statement on Monday.

    In a move that disappointed cricket analysts and enthusiasts, New Zealand called off their limited-overs tour of Pakistan minutes before the opening fixture in Rawalpindi on Friday following a security alert from their government.

    India could not host the second half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) or the T20World Cup because of the Covid-19 surge in the country this year.

    Both tournaments have been shifted to the United Arab Emirates, with Oman also hosting some T20 World Cup matches.

    West Indies will arrive in India in February to play six limited-overs matches, followed by Sri Lanka who will face their hosts in two Tests and three T20 matches.

    South Africa will tour India in June to play six T20 matches.

    Meanwhile, after New Zealand, England also cancelled their men and women teams’ tour to Pakistan.

  • ‘This western bloc gets united’: Ramiz Raja reacts on England, New Zealand tour pullout

    ‘This western bloc gets united’: Ramiz Raja reacts on England, New Zealand tour pullout

    Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ramiz Raja on Monday expressed his disappointment over England Cricket Board’s (ECB) decision to call off the men’s and women’s cricket tours.

    Raja said England has failed a member of their cricket fraternity when it needed it the most.

    “Disappointed with England, pulling out of their commitment & failing a member of their Cricket fraternity when it needed it most. Survive we will inshallah,” Ramiz Raja tweeted.

    “I am severely disappointed in England’s withdrawal but it was expected because this western bloc gets united unfortunately and tries to back each other. So you can take any decision on the basis of security threat and perception. There was a sense of anger because first New Zealand got away without sharing information about the threat they were facing,” said the 1992 World Cup team member in a video shared by the PCB.

    The PCB chairman further said that it is a wake up call for Pakistan team to become the best for other teams to line up to play against them without making excuses.

    “A wake up call for Pakistan team to become the best team in the world for teams to line up to play them without making excuse,” he said.

    ECB on Monday announced that it has has reluctantly decided to withdraw both men’s and women’s teams from the tour to Pakistan.

    “The ECB Board convened this weekend to discuss these extra England Women’s and Men’s games in Pakistan and we can confirm that the Board has reluctantly decided to withdraw both teams from the October trip,” an ECB statement read.

  • ‘A real shame’: NZ captain displeased with his team’s decision

    ‘A real shame’: NZ captain displeased with his team’s decision

    New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has expressed his displeasure with his team over the decision to pull out of its tour of Pakistan.

    “I don’t know the details of yesterday. It was a sudden call, but obviously, a real shame,” said the captain.

    The Kiwi captain said there is so much passion in Pakistan and that he dreaded that the “guys will be gutted” to not have started and played the whole series.

    I will find out a bit more about it over the next few days, Williamson said, admitting that he does not know full details of the incident.

    “Players’ safety is paramount and when you hear messages going through from the government, it is certainly above the players’ heads,” Williamson said.

    Williamson shared his empathy towards the Pakistani players his team was set to be pitted against on the pitch. “They were obviously over there, ready to go to the ground. It is a sudden thing that happened.”

    He said he certainly hoped there is no lasting impact from it because it is a special place for cricket to be and there have been a lot of strides forward to see cricket go back into Pakistan and play there safely.

    Meanwhile, Williamson was not part of the team that arrived in Pakistan for the series but he said he was aware of what happened and was concerned.

  • New Zealand cricket chief open to rescheduling of abandoned Pakistan series

    New Zealand cricket chief open to rescheduling of abandoned Pakistan series

    New Zealand Cricket (NZC) Chief Executive David White on Monday expressed willingness to discuss the rescheduling of the Pakistan series the Black Caps abandoned last week, but said talks of touring the country again were premature considering the team’s schedule was already tight.

    The Black Caps devastated Pakistan’s cricket fraternity on September 17 after unilaterally quitting their visit minutes before the first ODI was to be played citing “security concerns”.

    In a new report, New Zealand media website Stuff quoted White, saying: “We’ve got a very close working relationship with Pakistan Cricket. We’d like to think that over the next few days, weeks and months that we’ll work through this to ensure that we play the content that we’ve missed out on and we continue our close working relationship.”

    “As we know they’re a very passionate cricketing nation and they’re obviously disappointed. We understand their disappointment,” he added.

    According to the report, the NZC chief was hopeful the matches would be rescheduled but was not sure about when as the Future Tours Programme was already “pretty tight”.

    Regarding compensating the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for lost revenue, White said the issue would be discussed in due course. He hoped that the decision to abandon the tour would not be held against NZC when the time came for Pakistan to tour New Zealand.

    He also said that it was too soon to comment on the prospect of the Black Caps touring Pakistan again anytime soon.

    “I think what’s important to point out is that for every tour we go on, whether it’s Pakistan or England or anywhere, that we go through a very thorough process covering security, etc. This was no exception. In fact, it was probably more in this case.”

    “I can’t answer that question at the moment, it’s too early. But we’ll assess every tour on its merits,” he said.

    On Friday, the New Zealand team had unilaterally postponed the series with Pakistan minutes before the first match was scheduled to start at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium — a move that had shocked fans and officials.

    According to the PCB, Pakistan had “foolproof security arrangements for all visiting teams” and had “assured NZC of the same”.

  • ‘No security problem in Pak’: Daren Sammy reacts to New Zealand’s decision

    ‘No security problem in Pak’: Daren Sammy reacts to New Zealand’s decision

    Former West Indian captain Daren Sammy has said that there is no security problem in Pakistan. He also expressed his disappointment at New Zealand cancelling its Pakistan series due to “security reasons”.

    Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’, Sammy said that field experts are saying that if Pakistan is safe, then one should trust then. “I have been coming to Pakistan for the last 6 years, it has always been a good experience.”

    While talking about New Zealand cancelling the tour, he said: “I was very disappointed with New Zealand’s decision. There is no security problem in Pakistan. I remember people used to ask me to go to Pakistan or not but now people ask me to go to Pakistan and play golf and eat.”

    He said that attacks have taken place in New Zealand and England, incidents have also been seen in Australia, and incidents are happening everywhere in the world but there is no noise. He also added that the situation in Pakistan has changed. “Earlier, people used to ask, is it safe to go to Pakistan? Now people ask where to go and eat in Pakistan.”

    The New Zealand cricket team cancelled their tour shortly before the first ODI match against Pakistan on the grounds of security reasons, which has drawn frustration from cricket fans all over the world. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to take a strong stand against the New Zealand Cricket Board.

  • British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan removed from US flight

    British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan was removed from an American Airlines plane along with a colleague.

    Amir posted a video message on his social media account, in which he expressed his displeasure over the incident saying, “Disgusted to be banned by @AmericanAir and @traveloneworld for not been able to fly to training camp, i got escorted by police off the plane for no reason. I would like to see evidence for any wrong doings.”

    “I was taken off the plane today when I was going to training camp to Colorado Springs, by the police,” said Amir in the video message.

    “Obviously a complaint was made by American Airlines staff, they said that my colleague’s mask was not high enough and not up, that they had to stop the plane and take me and my friend off when I did nothing wrong,” he added.

    The boxer continued by saying, “Now I have to reschedule another airplane to travel back to training camp which is really upsetting, for no reason this was and I’m just so disgusted that American Airlines would do this to us and ban me from travelling.”

    American Airlines said in a statement that before take-off, the aircraft had “returned to the gate to deplane two customers who reportedly refused to comply with repeated crew member requests to stow luggage, place cell phones in airplane mode and adhere to federal face covering requirements,” The Guardian has reported.

  • PCB to take tough stance against New Zealand

    PCB to take tough stance against New Zealand

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reportedly decided to take a tough stance against the New Zealand Cricket Team (NZC) at the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting, according to Geo News’ sources.

    The board has decided to contact influential players and commentators from around the world and seek their support in this matter.

    The ICC board meeting will be held during the upcoming T20 World Cup. The World Cup is scheduled to be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman from October 17 to November 14.

    Prior to this Prime Minister, Imran Khan spoke personally to the Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and informed her that Pakistan has one of the best intelligence systems in the world and that no security threat of any kind exists for the visiting team, PCB has confirmed.

    Earlier, Chairman PCB Ramiz Raja had said that New Zealand will hear Pakistan at the ICC meeting. Terming the abrupt decision as a “crazy day”, the chairman added that he felt sorry for fans and the players.

    Last week, PCB, in its press release, revealed that New Zealand Cricket authorities unilaterally called off the ODI and T20 series without taking them into confidence and had not shared any details about the threats with the board or Pakistan’s security agencies.

  • ‘NZ will hear us at ICC’: Ramiz Raja enraged after series abandonment

    ‘NZ will hear us at ICC’: Ramiz Raja enraged after series abandonment

    The newly appointed Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ramiz Raja has lashed out at New Zealand cricket board after they abandoned the series at the last minute. While transnational players, including Grant Eliot and Daren Sammy, also expressed their disappointment on the news.

    Taking to Twitter, PCB Chairman wrote: “Crazy day it has been! Feel so sorry for the fans and our players. Walking out of the tour by taking a unilateral approach on a security threat is very frustrating. Especially when it’s not shared!! Which world is NZ living in??NZ will hear us at ICC.”

    Meanwhile, transnational cricketer including Daren Sammy, Michael Vaughan, Angelo Perera, Grant Elliot and Sherfane Rutherford also shared their views on the cancellation of the series.

    https://twitter.com/SRutherford_50/status/1438807718727462917?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1438807718727462917%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthecurrent.pk%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D131302action%3Dedit
    https://twitter.com/angiperera/status/1438827329057292288?s=20

    The black Caps were set to play three ODIs and five T20Is in Pindi and Lahore respectively.

    New Zealand’s cricket board said arrangements were being made for the team’s departure back home, citing an escalation in threat levels and the advice of security advisors.

  • ‘We totally support the decision’: NZ PM Jacinda Ardern on Pakistan tour abandonment

    ‘We totally support the decision’: NZ PM Jacinda Ardern on Pakistan tour abandonment

    New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday backed her cricket board’s decision to call off the entire tour of Pakistan after a security alert just minutes before the first ODI in Rawalpindi, as the safety of the players was paramount.

    New Zealand Cricket said it received a security alert from its government and made the decision to cancel the tour just moments before the scheduled start of the One-Day International (ODI) series.

    This was going to be New Zealand’s first international cricket series in Pakistan in 18 years but sadly, it had to be called off after the visiting side refused to come to the stadium and stayed put inside their hotel rooms citing security concerns.

    Pakistan were scheduled to host New Zealand for a series of 3 ODIs and 5 T20 internationals in Rawalpindi and Lahore from September 17 to October 3.

    “When I spoke with the Prime Minister of Pakistan I conveyed our thanks for taking care of the New Zealand Cricket team. I know how disappointing it will be for everyone that the game hasn’t gone ahead, but we totally support the decision that’s been made. Player safety has to be paramount,” Ardern said in a statement sent to Reuters.

    New Zealand’s cricket board said arrangements were being made for the team’s departure back home, citing an escalation in threat levels and the advice of security advisors.