Former Indian tennis star Sania Mirza’s father Imran Mirza has strongly reacted to the rumors of his daughter’s second marriage with cricketer Mohammad Shami.
Rumours of the nuptials of the two sports stars started circulating in Indian media recently.
It all started when someone posted photoshopped pictures of Shami with Sania on social media.
The reports claimed that the two are going to get married in August, but both of them did not respond to these rumours, while now Sania Mirza’s father Imran Mirza has reacted strongly to the rumours.
While talking to Indian media, Imran Mirza said, “All this is nonsense, Sania has never even met Mohammad Shami.”
Sania is the ex-wife of Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik; the couple also has a son, Izhan Mirza Malik, who lives with his mother.
Sania Mirza’s father confirmed his daughter’s divorce from Shoaib Malik earlier this year. In January 2024, Shoaib Malik tied the knot with Pakistan actress Sana Javed.
Spain has defeated Italy by 1-0 in the Euro Cup football match today in Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen.
Spain took the lead in the 55th minute of the game. Italy’s Ricardo Calafiori put the ball into his own net, which Spain took full advantage of, and Spain’s one-goal advantage remained until the end of the game.
On the other hand, the match between Slovenia and Serbia was tied by one goal each.
Australia defeated Bangladesh by 28 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis system in the Super 8 stage match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Australia won the toss against Bangladesh and decided to field first.
Bangladesh’s inning:
Batting first, the Bangladesh team scored 140 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Bangladesh captain Najam Al Hussain scored 41 runs off 36 balls, Tohid Riday scored 40 runs off 28 balls and Laton Das scored 16 runs.
Australian bowler Pat Cummins took 3 wickets for 29 runs and Adam Zampa took 2 wickets for 24 runs while Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stynes and Glenn Maxwell took 1 wicket each.
Australia’s inning:
In response, Australia scored 100 runs in 11.2 overs under the Duckworth-Louis system for the loss of two wickets.
David Warner scored 53, Travis Head scored 31 and Glen Maxwell scored 14 runs.
After the disappointing performance in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup, there is a possibility of a change in the selection committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
According to Geo sources, a change is expected in the PCB selection committee after the team’s poor performance. There is a strong possibility that Wahab Riaz will leave the committee, but no immediate decision is expected regarding Babar Azam’s captaincy.
The Pakistan team has no white-ball match scheduled until November, so no decision is being made regarding Babar’s captaincy.
Meanwhile, there is a strong possibility that new players will be given a chance in the home series of the national cricket team against Bangladesh.
In March, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi formed a new selection committee consisting of 7 members, which did not have a chairman.
The selection committee included Muhammad Yusuf, Wahab Riaz, Abdul Razzaq, and Asad Shafiq, as well as the head coach, captain, and analyst.
After it’s worst T20 World Cup performance, Pakistan is set to host Bangladesh in a Test series next month that will likely see many big names dropped from the team. The series will be a part of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Championship 2025.
The national team and cricketers are under severe criticism, with many demanding changes in the team, which are expected to be announced in the next few days.
There is a strong possibility that new and young players will be given a chance in the home series against Bangladesh.
According to ARY sources, Sarfraz Ahmed is likely to be in action in the Test series against Bangladesh. At the same time, some seniors, including Muhammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and others, have been “rested” along with white ball captain Babar Azam.
Among the young players who can be given a chance in the series against Bangladesh are the inclusion of Abdullah Shafiq, Salman Ali Agha and Saud Shakeel. In the case of the selection of Shahnawaz Dhani, Aamir Jamal, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza and Naseem Shah, the name of Haris Rauf will not be considered.
Test team captain Shan Masood wants Sarfraz to wear the wicket-keeping gloves instead of Rizwan in this series, and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selection committee has started consulting with captain Shan Masood and Test coach Jason Gillespie to form a good combination.
A photo of Pakistan cricket team’s former captain, Shahid Afridi has created a stir on social media, based on which the cricketer is being accused of being a ‘supporter of Israel’.
In a viral photo, Afridi can be seen allegedly participating in a protest organised by an Israel-supporting organization.
Users are claiming that Shahid Afridi was photographed in Manchester with officials of the Zionist organization ‘Northwest Friends of Israel’ in a protest organized for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas.
The photo was posted by the official X account of ‘Northwest Friends of Israel’.
The post stated, “Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi attended and expressed support for our protest for the recovery of Israeli hostages in Manchester on Sunday. Shahid Afridi is pictured with Rafi Bloom, the co-chairperson of the organization and Bernie Yaffe, the deputy chairperson.”
The post from the official account of the Israeli organization tagged Afridi and thanked him for his support.
A storm was unleashed on social media with many people criticizing the cricketer.
Many users started showering Shahid Afridi with various titles like ‘Jewish agent’, ‘friend of Israel’, and ‘anti-Palestinian’, while some users even called him a ‘traitor’.
After this controversy, Shahid Afridi released an explanation for the viral picture.
Taking to his official ‘X’ account, he wrote: “Imagine strolling down a street in Manchester (UK) and so-called fans approach you for a selfie. You oblige, and moments later, they upload it as some form of Zionist endorsement. Unbelievable! Please don’t believe everything that is uploaded.”
“Seeing innocent lives in Palestine suffer is truly heartbreaking. Thus, any photo or association shared by Manchester does not reflect my support for any situation where human lives are at stake. I take pictures with fans from all over the globe, and this situation was no different. I pray for peace, I pray for an end to this war, I pray for freedom.”
Many social media users are pointing out that Shahid Afridi went to Manchester two weeks ago where various people took pictures with him on the way.
Over the years, Afridi has multiple times expressed support for Palestine, including hoisting a Palestinian flag on his house.
In the first match of the Super 8 stage of the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup, South Africa defeated the USA by 18 runs.
America won the toss and invited South Africa to bat.
First inning:
South Africa had a disappointing start to the innings and lost their first wicket at the start of the innings at a total score of 16.
After that, de Cook and captain Aiden Markram batted responsibly and paved the way for the big target by forming a partnership of 110 runs.
In the scheduled 20 overs, South Africa scored 194 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. Quinton de Cook scored 74 and Aiden Markram scored 46 runs while Klaasen remained unbeaten with 36 runs.
USA’s Saurabh Natravakar and Harmeet Singh took two wickets each.
Second inning:
Chasing South Africa’s target of 195 runs, the American team managed to score 176 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in the allotted overs.
Andries Gous scored 80 runs on 47 balls. Apart from this Steven Tayler 24, Corey Anderson 12 and Harmeet Singh scored 38 runs for USA.
For Protease, Kagiso Rabada took three wickets while Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi took one wicket each.
Kiwi team captain Kane Williamson refused to take the central contract of New Zealand cricket and also resigned from the leadership of New Zealand’s white-ball team.
According to media reports, after refusing to take the central contract, Williamson became free from availability for the entire season. Still, despite not taking the central contract, Williamson has expressed his determination to be available for New Zealand cricket.
Kane Williamson will not be available to New Zealand during the summer season in January. Still, he will be available to the Kiwi team for the 8 Test Championship matches and the Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
The New Zealand team has been eliminated from the Super Eight stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup in America and the West Indies.
The national cricket team, especially the captain Babar Azam, is under severe criticism for being out of the mega World Cup event in the first round of the T20 World Cup.
Rumours of leadership change in the national team have become heated once again, but despite their worst defeat, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has no intention of leaving the top seat.
During a press conference in America, a journalist asked him whether Azam would quit being captain.
Azam, while answering the journalist’s question said, “I was given the leadership of the team by the Pakistan cricket board and I have no intention of giving up the captaincy myself.”
“No one could perform as expected. We didn’t play well as a team. Now I can’t go and play for every player. After returning home, I will meet the Chairman PCB and present my report in this regard.”
“If I have to leave the leadership, I will make a decision, but whatever I do, I will do it in front of everyone, I will not do it out of fear,” Azam said.
Azam had resigned from the leadership of all three formats of cricket after the poor performance of the team in the Asia Cup and ODI World Cup last year.
Shaheen Afridi was then, given the captaincy of T20 while Shan Masood was given the captaincy of the Test format. But before the start of the ongoing T20 World Cup, PCB appointed Babar as captain once again.
