Category: Sports

Get the latest sports news, opinion, analysis, player rankings, scores and updates.

  • Islamabad United’s Hassan Ali, Hussain Tallat reportedly infected with COVID-19

    Social media is abuzz with reports that Hassan Ali and Hussain Tallat have tested positive for coronavirus.

    Senior sports journalist, Shoaib Jutt revealed the news on Twitter, saying that two more cases of COVID-19 were detected earlier today in Islamabad United.

    In another tweet, the journalist shared pictures of Hassan and Hussain, saying: “May Allah grant you speedy and complete recovery.”

    The journalist further shared that four players of the final XI of Islamabad United fell victim to coronavirus because of which the match scheduled to take place today was cancelled. Other franchises feared that more cases would come to light with the passage of the day so the league should be postponed immediately.

    Earlier on Thursday, seven players and one support staff official had tested positive for the virus which led to question marks over PCB’s bio-secure bubble arrangements and reservations from foreign players. Quetta Gladiators’ Tom Banton and Islamabad United’s Fawad Ahmed and Lewis Gregory were among the players who tested positive which resulted in the postponement of the league.

    Meanwhile, the League or the franchise has not yet commented on Ali and Talat’s positive results.

    Islamabad United was scheduled to play against Lahore Qalandars in the fifteenth match of the Pakistan Super League 2021.

  • Imad Wasim blessed with baby girl

    Imad Wasim blessed with baby girl

    Captain of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Karachi Kings Imad Wasim has been blessed with a baby girl.

    Announcing the news on social media, Imad said: “Alhumdu’lillah by the grace of Allah SWT we have been blessed with a beautiful bundle of joy.”

    “Welcome to the world baby Syeda Inaya Imad,” he added. However, the cricketer did not share any pictures of his little one.

    Soon after, congratulatory messages poured in from friends and colleagues including Sarfaraz Ahmed, Bilal Asif, Hassan Ali, Haris Rauf and Junaid Khan.

    Imad got married to London-based Saniya Ashfaq in August 2019. The couple’s Nikkah ceremony took place at Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.

  • ‘PSL 2021 to continue as per schedule’

    ‘PSL 2021 to continue as per schedule’

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) will go ahead as per schedule amid false reports that the league could be postponed for a few days due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in the Islamabad United camp. It also said that the stadiums will see 50 percent crowds until March 16.

    Director Media and Communications at PCB Samiul Hasan Burney announced the news at a press conference and revealed that three out of the 244 PCR tests conducted returned positive.

    Two of the three infected personnel were foreign players, including Islamabad United’s Fawad Ahmed, whose positive test was made public on Monday and led to the rescheduling of Islamabad, Quetta fixture.

    “We conducted 244 PCR tests, in addition to the rapid tests conducted,” said Burney. “Of the 244 tests, three have come back positive. Two foreign players and one support staff have tested positive.”

    While the identity of the other foreign player has not yet been disclosed, journalist Abdul Ghaffar has said that the third person is a member of the support staff.

    Meanwhile, sports journalists and analysts are urging the board and public not to panic, highlighting that such incidents are common in events of such scale.

  • Virat Kohli becomes the first cricketer to join the ‘100 million followers club’ on Instagram

    Virat Kohli becomes the first cricketer to join the ‘100 million followers club’ on Instagram

    Virat Kohli has recorded yet another century, but not on the pitch this time. The Indian cricketer became the first cricketer in the world to have 100 million followers on Instagram. The 32-year-old captain of the Indian Cricket Team is also the first person in the Asia-Pacific region to achieve the feat.

    Announcing the news, the International Cricket Council (ICC) shared a picture of Kohli along with other personalities, who are already in the squad, writing: “Virat Kohli – the first cricket star to hit 100 million followers on Instagram.”

    Kohli is also the most-followed sportsperson in India.

    Meanwhile, Portugal football legend Christiano Ronaldo tops the chart with 266 million followers. He was also the first person to cross the 250 million feat. Argentina football captain and FC Barcelona legend Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Neymar are second and third on the list with 187 million and 147 million followers respectively.

    Others in 100 million club are Hollywood actor and former wrestler Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, American singer-songwriter Beyoncé and Ariana Grande.

    Kohli, who is regarded as one of the finest batsmen in the world, has 27 Test centuries and 43 tons in ODI cricket.

    For over two years now, Kohli has been the most followed person on Instagram in India. Even his wife Anushka Sharma hasn’t crossed 50 million followers on the social media app. She currently has 46.4 million followers.

  • Colleagues pray for Fawad Ahmed’s speedy recovery

    Colleagues pray for Fawad Ahmed’s speedy recovery

    Monday’s match between Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators was postponed after Australian legspinner Fawad Ahmed from United’s squad tested positive for coronavirus. While PCB clarified that the coronavirus test results of players from both squads came back negative, the match was postponed to “ensure players from both sides get time to prepare for the game.”

    Following the announcement, Ahmed requested everyone to remember him in their prayers and thanked them for their kind messages.

    Many colleagues, fans and noted people wished the Australian player a quick recover. Those who extended their prayers included Sarfaraz Ahmed, Azhar Mahmood, Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Nabi, Junaid Khan, Dr Nauman Niaz, Bilal Asif, Sawera Pasha, Muhammad Nawaz, Amir Yamin, Ahmed Shehzad, Sherfane Rutherford, Sandeep Lamichhane, Zafar Gohar and actor Asad Siddiqui.

    Meanwhile, after Fawad’s test came back positive, all other players were asked to remain at the hotel as their rapid coronavirus tests were conducted.

    In response to the development, Islamabad United confirmed that one of their players had tested positive, while all others players have been cleared to play.

    The team management clarified that “Fawad did not breach any Covid Protocols”. According to the PCB’s protocol, Ahmed will remain in isolation until he returns with two negative results in 10 days time.

  • Islamabad vs Quetta match delayed after player tests positive

    Islamabad vs Quetta match delayed after player tests positive

    Monday night’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) match between Islamabad United (IU) and Quetta Gladiators (QG) has been delayed after legspinner Fawad Ahmed tested positive for COVID-19.

    Ahmed had reportedly shown symptoms two days ago and had been immediately isolated, his franchise Islamabad United said in an official statement. Other members of Islamabad United have returned negative tests while the Quetta Gladiators players are being tested.

    In an announcement, PCB said: “A player from one of the sides featuring in this evening’s match has tested positive. The player had shown symptoms two days ago and had been immediately isolated.”

    “Members of his side have tested negative while the players of the other side are being tested,” the tweet added.

    PCB also later confirmed the match will start after some delay at ‘9 pm’.

    Later, the official account PSL and IU also tweeted and confirmed the news, writing: “One of our players, Fawad Ahmed tested positive for Covid and was immediately put in isolation 2 days ago. All other Islamabad United players & members have tested negative & have been cleared to play.”

    “We wish Fawad a speedy recovery. Sherus are ready to roar tonight,” the tweet added.

    The game, which scheduled to begin at 7 pm local time, has been pushed back to 9 pm.

    Fawad also took to Twitter and wrote: “Thanks for all the kind messages, please keep remember me in ur prayers, much needed raising hands IU and PSL, and please everyone stay safe.”

    PCB later announced that the match is rescheduled for Tuesday, March 2 at 7 pm. The match is rescheduled to ensure players from both sides get time to prepare for the game.

    The good news for the spectators who bought the tickets for tonight is that their tickets will be valid for tomorrow’s game as well.

  • Lahore beat Karachi at home ground

    Lahore beat Karachi at home ground

    Lahore Qalandars beat Karachi Kings at the 11th match of Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) sixth edition on Sunday in National Stadium Karachi.

    Kings’ Sharjeel Khan (64 off 39 balls) and Mohammad Nabi (57 off 35 balls) were able to steer the side to the handsome total, after an early fall of wickets in powerplay.

    However, the Qalandars lost two early wickets but Fakhar Zaman took the charge to sail the boat of the side to victory with his unbeaten 83 runs off 54 balls. Ben Dunk also scored a much need half century, scoring 57 off 43 balls.

    Fakhar got dismissed by Daniel Christian which ended in a blessing in disguise and David Wiese blasted 31 runs off just 9 balls to guide his team to victory.

    Kings were pretty confident as a day before they achieved a remarkable win over Multan Sultans when they convincingly chased 198 with seven balls to spare and ended up with high confidence.

    The Qalandars’ performance, today, however, showed that in the battle of the nerves, they can easily whip any opponent, beating Kings by six wickets.

    In total, the two arch-rivals have played 12 matches, of which Karachi Kings bagged seven and Lahore Qalandars secured five, including this match.

    Meanwhile, Shaheen Shah Afridi secured man of the match award, taking three wickets by giving only 27 runs in four overs.

  • Multan Sultans clarify ownership status

    Multan Sultans has officially announced that the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) franchise is no longer owned by Ali Khan Tareen and Alamgir Tareen is now the sole owner of the #JanoobKiPehchaan.

    Read more – ‘Sorry Lala’: Haris Rauf apologises to Afridi for dismissing him

    “Pursuant to an agreement between the co-owners, the franchise has started it’s HBL PSL6 journey under the sole management of Mr Alamgir Tareen,” read an official statement issued by the team. “Internal process for the transferring of the ownership rights has already begun and all formalities shall be concluded soon.”

    “The Multan Sultans franchise appreciates the contributions made by Mr Ali Tareen during the last two seasons and the franchise will no doubt continue to benefit from his support,” it continued.

    “Meanwhile, Mr Ali Tareen intends to increase his focus on grassroots cricket development projects and the domestic cricket structure in particular in South Punjab,” added the statement.

    Earlier, journalist Umar Farooq Kalson had stated: “The Multan Sultans ownership consortium has been broken. Alamgir Tareen has taken over complete ownership of the franchise, with Ali Tareen no longer with the franchise in any capacity.”

    Another senior journalist Faizan Lakhani had shared the news and said: “Ali Tareen will now shift focus to Southern Punjab region.”

    The franchise came into existence in 2018 and since then, the side’s ownership was partnered by Ali-Alamgir and a few authoritative persons.

  • VIDEO: Chris Gayle ties a shalwar in two minutes

    VIDEO: Chris Gayle ties a shalwar in two minutes

    West Indian Cricketer Chris Gayle, renowned for his jolly and fun-loving personality, recently took the ‘Shalwar Challenge’ in a video shared by the official accounts of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

    https://twitter.com/thePSLt20/status/1364914438109876225?s=20

    Though the legendary cricketer accepted the challenge, he was surprised by the width of the shalwar’s waistband.

    “What? Whose waist is this?” questioned Gayle upon seeing the shalwar.

    As he puts the drawstring in the shalwar, he continues to express his shock at the width of its waistband.

    “This person eats too much,” remarks Gayle. “I don’t know what this person has been eating. [Is this] extra large? It’s gotta be a joke.”

    He goes on to say that the person for whom the shalwar was stitched should “stay away from meat,” and “should be a proper vegan”.

    The clip also shows some funny bloopers wherein the Universe Boss could be seen struggling to wear the shalwar and getting help from other people.

    At the end of the video, Gayle wears the shalwar, without pulling the drawstring, and bursts into laughter.

    Read more – Quetta Gladiators’ Ben Cutting and PSL presenter Erin Holland tie the knot

    Earlier, the 41-year-old cricketer who was excited to be in Pakistan for the first time in 15 years, said that he’s eager to score runs for his new PSL franchise, Quetta Gladiators, and show the fans what he is and what they missed in all these years. After scoring 68 runs off just 44 deliveries against Lahore Qalandars, he also treated audiences to his googly dance.

    Later Quetta Gladiators also shared Gayle’s famous googly dance on their social media platforms.

  • Aleem Dar’s celebration after his decision remains unchanged despite DRS call goes viral

    Aleem Dar’s celebration after his decision remains unchanged despite DRS call goes viral

    Audiences have often witnessed batsmen celebrating a failed DRS call against them after surviving a loud shout, or even the fielding side. But during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 match between Karachi Kings (KK) and Islamabad United (IU) on February 24, it was the umpire who surprised everyone with a mini celebration.

    Pakistan’s renowned umpire Aleem Dar was delighted after his call for not-out remained unchanged despite it being referred to the third umpire. It was the first delivery of the last over in United’s innings when they scored the remaining one run to chase down 197 runs.

    Kings’ bowler Waqas Maqsood bowled a yorker as batsman Asif Ali tried to get the final run for the victory. The game was done and dusted right there but Karachi decided to go for a DRS thinking they might get the batsman out LBW.

    Replay showed there was a thick inside edge and also the ball had hit the boot well outside off; ruling out the possibility of a dismissal. The on-field umpire Dar was happy after confirmation from the third umpire and celebrated by pumping his fist before signalling the failed DRS. It was a win for Islamabad by 5 wickets.

    Later netizens picked up on the celebration and expressed happiness over Dar’s little jubilation move.

    https://twitter.com/taimoorze/status/1364635419204198404?s=20

    Australian comedian Dennis put forward a hilarious suggestion.

    https://twitter.com/DennisCricket_/status/1364669663691476992?s=20

    ‘Pawri Girl’ Dananeer also loved it, like thousands of others.

    A netizen jokingly suggested the move was Dar’s way of showing his support for Islamabad United.

    Sharing his own video on Twitter, the world famous umpire wrote: “Enjoy life. Life is very small.”

    https://twitter.com/UmpireAleemDar_/status/1364840460418752512?s=20