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  • ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 to be held in UAE, Oman

    ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 to be held in UAE, Oman

    ICC has officially announced that Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 is to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.

    The cricket governing body announced the news on their social media accounts.

    Earlier, it was reported that the T20 WC 2021 is set to begin from October 17 in the UAE, with the final for the 16-team tournament scheduled for November 14. The tournament will start days after the Indian Premier League (IPL) final, which is likely to be held on October 15.

    As per details, the venue for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 has been shifted to the UAE and Oman, with the tournament set to run from October 17 to November 14.

    The tournament was originally set to be staged in India, but had to be shifted given the deadly second wave of Covid-19 there.

    The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will remain the hosts of the event, which will now be held across four venues – Dubai International Stadium, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the Sharjah Stadium, and the Oman Cricket Academy Ground.

    The first round of the tournament, comprising eight qualifying teams, will now be split between Oman and the UAE. Four of these teams will then progress to the Super 12s round where they will join the eight automatic qualifiers.

    “The BCCI is looking forward to hosting the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 tournament in UAE and Oman,” said Saurav Ganguli in the official statement.

    The upcoming edition will be the first Men’s T20 World Cup played since 2016, when the West Indies beat England in the final in India.

    The eight teams competing in the preliminary stage are Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman and Papua New Guinea, before the play-off stage and the Final on November 14.

  • Portugal knocked out of Euro 2020 despite Ronaldo being a top scorer

    Portugal knocked out of Euro 2020 despite Ronaldo being a top scorer

    The 2016 Euro Cup champions haven’t managed to defend their title as Portugal were beaten 1-0 by Belgium on Sunday in Seville.

    As per reports, the Portuguese footballer went home despite being the top scorer player with five goals in this championship. Ronaldo has become the oldest player to score for Portugal at a major tournament at age 36 years,130 days. He broke the record set by Pepe at World Cup 2018 (35 years, 124 days).

    Portugal’s team manager Santos complimented the team’s overall performance before stating that some of the players were “crying in the dressing room”. According to him, Ronaldo didn’t score on Sunday but he is a true captain in every sense of the word.

    The big moment came after the match when the official Twitter handle of Euro 2020 posted a video in which Ronaldo can be seen having a quick chat with Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. “Lucky, eh? (The ball) didn’t want to get in today! Good luck man,” Ronaldo was heard telling Courtois.

    Ronaldo’s performance was overshadowed by Belgian midfielder Thorgan Hazard as his 43-minute strike secured the big win. His brilliant goal was the standout of the night. “In these games, if you have a chance, you have to have a go. It went in, with a bit of luck and it was the goal that got us through. It’s a dream for me,” said Thorgan. 

    Belgium will now face Italy who beat Austria by 2-1, on Saturday. The match will be played on July 2 in Munich with full Covid-related SOPs as masks are mandatory in and around the stadium for the audience.

  • Dale Steyn thanks Rumman Raees for birthday wish in a unique style

    Dale Steyn thanks Rumman Raees for birthday wish in a unique style

    Dale Steyn has thanked his former Islamabad United fellow cricketer Rumman Raees from Pakistan Super League ina unique style

    Raees took to Twitter and wished the speedster saying: “Number one and nothing rest, the legend. Happy Birthday Dale Steyn , stay blessed. Thanking the Pakistani bowler, Steyn shared his selfie with a framed photo with Raees when he had a fanboy moment with him and when Steyn used to played for Islamabad.

    It was a wholesome moment when Steyn gave Raees his jersey of IU and Raees gave him a framed picture of the two when he shared his fanboy moment with the South African pacer.

    Hassan Ali also wished his “favourite” bowler, appreciating him and calling him an inspiration.

  • Younis Khan, Hassan Ali reportedly involved in heated exchange on South Africa tour

    Younis Khan, Hassan Ali reportedly involved in heated exchange on South Africa tour

    Younis Khan, who recently resigned from the post of batting coach in Pakistan’s men’s cricket team, was reportedly involved in a heated exchange with star pacer Hassan Ali during the South Africa tour, sports journalist Saleem Khaliq reported.

    As per details, Younis had approached Hasan over a matter outside his domain in the dressing room after the match, but the latter hit back with a strong response which left the former batting coach unhappy. Younis also remained quiet and reserved during the rest of the tour, after the incident.

    No comment has been made by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on the matter yet, while Younis has not shared anything about the incident either.

    PCB and Younis, on June 22, mutually agreed to part ways. A dental treatment and strained relationship between Younis Khan and the top PCB officials was the reason behind the former’s resignation as the batting coach of the Men in Green.

    Younis was also allegedly accused of leaking team lineups to his friends in the media before matches.

    Khan, along with former wicketkeeper Rashid Latif, made a special appearance on ARY News’ popular program ‘Har Lamha Purjosh’, where he recounted the events that took place in the dressing room during his tenure as captain in 2009 and how they used to say that the cricketer is very rude.

    Rashid, while endorsing Khan’s position, revealed that the former players had a big hand in grouping the team against him.

  • Memes break the internet after Multan Sultans win PSL 6

    Multan Sultans won Pakistan Super League 6 (PSL 6) after defeating Peshawar Zalmi by 47 runs last night. As cricket lovers are happy for Multan Sultans’ maiden PSL victory and #Champions is trending on Twitter, here are some memes to celebrate their victory.

    https://twitter.com/Zi99Ham/status/1408140816573423621?s=20

    Read More: Firdous Ashiq Awan vs Qadir Mandokhel: Memes you can’t miss

  • Haider Ali and Umaid Asif suspended from PSL final for violating bio-secure bubble

    Haider Ali and Umaid Asif suspended from PSL final for violating bio-secure bubble

    Peshawar Zalmi’s Haider Ali and Umaid Asif have been suspended from Pakistan Super League (PSL) final against Multan Sultans in Abu Dhabi after the duo admitted to charges of violating the tournament’s health and safety protocols by meeting people from outside their bio-secure bubbles. They also failed to maintain the prescribed social distancing.

    A press release from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that the incident occurred on Wednesday and the decision to withdraw the two players was taken on the morning of the final by the tournament’s Covid-19 management panel comprising PCB chief operating officer Barrister Salman Naseer and Director-Commercial and PSL 6 head Babar Hamid.

    “The two cricketers were found not to have interacted with any other squad members at any time after the incident and have been placed in room isolation,” the PCB said.

    For the same reason, Ali has also been withdrawn from the upcoming tours of England and the West Indies and replaced by Sohaib Maqsood.

    Earlier in March, PCB had reportedly allowed Wahab Riaz and Daren Sammy to reintegrate with the Peshawar Zalmi team without completing the three-day quarantine period after the two had allegedly breached COVID-19 protocols before the postponement of PSL6. The violation took place when the two met franchise owner Javed Afridi outside the team’s bio-security bubble. Similarly, Naseem Shah was ruled out of PSL after he broke COVID-19 protocols but later when his test was clear and accepting his mistake, he was allowed to join the rest of the team in Abu Dhabi.

    Meanwhile, Sultans, who made it to the finals for the first time, will face the four-time finalists Zalmis on Wednesday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.

  • ‘Good things happen to good people,’ Babar Azam, Ramiz Raja congratulate NZ on winning World Test Championship

    ‘Good things happen to good people,’ Babar Azam, Ramiz Raja congratulate NZ on winning World Test Championship

    Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam, Ramiz Raja and several members from the cricket fraternity took to social media to congratulate New Zealand for winning the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) title. The black caps defeated India by eight wickets at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton, on Wednesday.

    Taking to Twitter, Babar wrote: “Congratulations to New Zealand on this remarkable feat. WTC is indeed a premier contest and you can’t succeed without perseverance and dedication. Team India also put up a great show throughout the tournament. Awesome contest!”

    Former Pakistani cricketer and commentator Raja said: “Good things happen to good people. Congrats Kane Williamson.”

    “Congrats @BLACKCAPS on winning the #WTC21. You were the superior team. #TeamIndia will be disappointed with their performance. As I had mentioned the first 10 overs will be crucial & Flag of India lost both Kohli & Pujara in the space of 10 balls & that put a lot of pressure on the team,” tweeted Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar.

    Virender Sehwag praised Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor for their match-winning partnership. “Missed being 50-over champions 2 years ago in the same country, but winning the inaugural World test Championship in style, many congratulations @BLACKCAPS , absolutely worthy champions. Happy for Kane Williamson and @RossLTaylor”, he tweeted.

    Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum took to Twitter to pass on his wishes to Kane Williamson and his team. “To Kane and all of the boys, We love you”, he wrote on Twitter.

    https://twitter.com/Bazmccullum/status/1407766493492781058?s=20

    Test cricket legend VVS Laxman also congratulated New Zealand for their win in the WTC Final. He tweeted, “Congratulations @BLACKCAPS on being deserving champions. NZ bowlers were terrific, Williamson & Taylor brought in their experience to finish the job. Indian batsman will rue not playing to potential in 2nd innings,but India can be proud of the way they played the WTC cycle.”

    “Congratulations NZ” started trending on Twitter even before the New Zealand openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway came out to bat.

    New Zealand’s four-pronged pace attack led by Tim Southee produced an excellent exhibition of seam bowling on the reserve day of the WTC final against India to bowl them out for a score of just 170 in the third innings of the match.

    India set a target of 139 runs. New Zealand reached 140 for two in 45.5 overs, winning by eight wickets. Williamson smashed 52 runs off 89 balls, packed with eight fours. Meanwhile, Taylor, who hit the winning boundary, slammed an unbeaten knock of 47 off 100 balls.

  • Peshawar Zalmi is the ‘strongest’ team in the tournament, says Shahid Afridi

    Former Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi said that Peshawar Zalmi is the strongest team of the tournament, while talking to Arab News.

    “I believe if Multan Sultans continues with its [current] form, it can win,” Afridi told the news media publication. “But the combination of Peshawar is excellent when we see their bowling and batting. So in my view, the strongest team [in this tournament] is Peshawar.”

    Afridi said it was a matter of happiness that his team, Multan Sultans, has qualified for the finals. “I extend congratulations to the entire squad, especially [captain Muhammad] Rizwan.”

    The final of the sixth season of the PSL will be played today between Multan Sultans and Peshawar Zalmi.

  • Jahangir Khan wants Humayun Saeed to play him in his biopic

    Jahangir Khan wants Humayun Saeed to play him in his biopic

    Squash legend Jahangir Khan has said that if a film was made on his life, the hero should be Humayun Saeed.

    Khan was invited to Shahzad Iqbal’s Jashan-e-Cricket. The Host asked that who is your favourite actor? To which the legendary player replied that he doesn’t watch many films but he likes Abid Ali, Nasir Sahab and Jamshed Ansari from Pakistani dramas. He also mentioned Shehnaz Sheikh’s name as his favourite actress.
    Shahzad further asked: “If a biopic is made on you, who do you think can act well in it?” The host gave him the options of Fahad Mustafa, Fawad Khan, Humayun Saeed and Sheheryar Munarwar, Khan chose Humayun.

    He added: “It is very important for inspiration and I think it is very important for our children. We have many sports legends, I think biopics should be made for their learning.”

    Shahzad also asked that if he has any plan to write an autobiography, to which Khan said: “I haven’t think about it as yet but I think I should.”

    On November 28, 1981, Khan became the world’s youngest world champion. He is a great squash player who won 555 events consecutively. He retired from Squash in 1993 after helping Pakistan to win the World Team Championship in Karachi.

  • Norway takes back decision to boycott Qatar World Cup 2022

    Norway takes back decision to boycott Qatar World Cup 2022

    Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) on Sunday ruled out the decision of boycotting next year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar, amid the pressure from grassroots activists over accusations of the mistreatment of migrant workers.

    As per reports, a congress was called by the federation to make a final decision in which 368 delegates voted for a motion rejecting a boycott while 121 were in favour.

    In addition to this, Sandvik, spokesman of the Norwegian Supporters Alliance (NSA), said the matches in Qatar will “unfortunately be like playing on a cemetery”.

    The movement was highlighted when the Norwegian professional football club, Tromsø IL, spoke out against the Gulf State. This year in March, Norwegian National Football players wore t-shirts with the slogan ‘Human rights, on and off the pitch’, as they were warming up before FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualification match.

    Norway is currently fourth in its World Cup qualifying group and hasn’t qualified for a major international Football competition since Euro 2000.

    It is to be noted that not only Norway but other European countries such as Germany and Netherlands have protested against the Gulf State.

    The major reason behind the boycott is that a media report published earlier this month alleged that approximately 6,500 migrant workers from South Asia had died in Qatar since 2010 when the country was awarded hosting rights of the 2022 tournament. In the past, there were also a lot of protests against harsh working conditions, especially during the summer, they are forced to work under the scorching sun.

    There is a lack of rights for migrant workers, who comprise about 95 percent of Qatar’s population, reports Al Jazeera.