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  • Here is what you need to know about PSL 7 draft, schedule

    Here is what you need to know about PSL 7 draft, schedule

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) seventh edition will begin on January 27, 2022, with the draft to be held on December 12. The league, which begins about a month earlier than usual to make room for Australia’s upcoming tour in March-April, will have the final take place on February 27.

    “Following an opening ceremony, defending champions Multan Sultans will take on hosts and 2020 champions Karachi Kings at the National Stadium with the first ball to be bowled at 7pm” on January 27, a PCB press release said, adding that 2019 champions Quetta Gladiators would go toe to toe with 2017 winners Peshawar Zalmi the following day.

    “After Karachi, which will host 15 matches from January 27 to February 7, action will shift to the Gaddafi Stadium where the remaining 15 league matches and the four play-offs will be played from February 10-27,” the PCB said.

    It will be the first time since 2017 when the headquarters of Pakistan cricket will host the PSL final.

    The National Stadium in Karachi had staged the league’s finals from 2018 to 2020, while Abu Dhabi was the venue for the 2021 final, where Multan Sultans defeated Peshawar Zalmi by 47 runs.

    Speaking on the matter, PCB Chairperson Ramiz Raja said: “I am delighted that the HBL PSL 7 schedule has been announced. This will now get the ball rolling with the teams to start planning and finalising their line-ups and the PCB increasing the pace of the operational delivery to ensure they provide quality playing facilities for the players as well as a five-star experience to the fans and our valued commercial partners.”

    “The HBL PSL 7 will also kickstart what will be a bumper year for Pakistan cricket with the Australia men’s cricket team to play a full series in March-April with England men’s cricket side to tour Pakistan twice for white-ball and red-ball cricket,” Raja added.

    Player draft

    According to the press release, the PCB has decided to hold the player draft for the league at its National High Performance Centre in Lahore on December 12.

    “Each side will come to the draft with a maximum of eight-player retentions from the last event,” it further stated. “Following the finalisation of player categories, the transfer and retention window is now officially open and will close on December 10.”

    According to the press release, Lahore Qalandars will have the first pick in the Platinum category, Diamond category, Gold category and Emerging category, Peshawar Zalmi will have the first pick in the Silver category, and Quetta Gladiators will have the first pick in the Supplementary category.

    Local players’ category renewals

    The press release said the PCB, after a review and assessment process, had updated local players’ categories.

    “In the biggest moves, Pakistan wicketkeeper/batter and Multan Sultan’s captain Mohammad Rizwan (previously Silver), Asif Ali of Islamabad United (previously Gold) and Lahore Qalandars’ Haris Rauf (previously Diamond) have been placed in Platinum Category.”

    Moreover, Multan Sultans’ Sohaib Maqsood, who was named the Player of HBL PSL’s sixth edition, and Haider Ali of Peshawar Zalmi have moved up from Silver and Gold categories to Diamond category, respectively.

    Schedule for matches in Karachi:

    • Jan 27: Karachi Kings vs Multan Sultans

    • Jan 28: Quetta Gladiators vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Jan 29: Multan Sultans vs Lahore Qalandars; Karachi Kings vsQuetta Gladiators

    • Jan 30: Peshawar Zalmi vs Islamabad United; Karachi Kings vsLahore Qalandars

    • Jan 31: Quetta Gladiators vs Multan Sultans

    • Feb 1: Islamabad United vs Multan Sultans

    • Feb 2: Peshawar Zalmi vs Lahore Qalandars

    • Feb 3: Quetta Gladiators vs Islamabad United

    • Feb 4: Karachi Kings vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Feb 5: Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandars; Peshawar Zalmi vs Multan Sultans

    • Feb 6: Karachi Kings vs Islamabad United

    • Feb 7: Quetta Gladiators vs Lahore Qalandars

    Schedule for matches in Lahore:

    • Feb 10: Multan Sultans vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Feb 11: Lahore Qalandars vs Multan Sultans

    • Feb 12: Islamabad United vs Quetta Gladiators

    • Feb 13: Peshawar Zalmi vs Karachi Kings; Lahore Qalandars vs Quetta Gladiators

    • Feb 14: Islamabad United vs Karachi Kings

    • Feb 15: Peshawar Zalmi vs Quetta Gladiators

    • Feb 16: Multan Sultans vs Karachi Kings

    • Feb 17: Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Feb 18: Multan Sultans vs Quetta Gladiators; Lahore Qalandars vs Karachi Kings

    • Feb 19: Lahore Qalandars vs Islamabad United

    • Feb 20: Quetta Gladiators vs Karachi Kings; Multan Sultans vsIslamabad United

    • Feb 21: Lahore Qalandars vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Feb 23: Qualifier (1 vs 2)

    • Feb 24: Eliminator 1 (3 vs 4)

    • Feb 25: Eliminator 2 (Loser Qualifier 1 vs Winner Eliminator 1)

    • Feb 27: (Qualifier v Eliminator 2) Final

  • AGP asks Rana Shamim to arrange delivery of his ‘original affidavit’ to Pak High Commission in London

    AGP asks Rana Shamim to arrange delivery of his ‘original affidavit’ to Pak High Commission in London

    Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan asked Rana Shamim, the former chief judge of Gilgit-Baltistan, to arrange the delivery of his ‘original affidavit’ to the Pakistan High Commission in London, reports Dawn.

    The AGP asked Shamim to arrange the delivery of his affidavit “at the earliest” so that it could be forwarded to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) registrar through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    The High Court had observed that in case the original affidavit was not produced on the due date, it would raise an assumption of its non-existence.

    The AGP forwarded a copy of his letter to Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary and the country’s High Commissioner in London.

    Meanwhile, United Kingdom (UK) oath commissioner Charles Guthrie, who authenticated the affidavit of Shamim, has claimed the affidavit’s authenticity, and also said that he was ready to appear before at any legal forum, including the IHC, for confirmation.

  • End of toxic smog in Punjab: Met Office predicts rain across country

    End of toxic smog in Punjab: Met Office predicts rain across country

    The people of Punjab will finally be able to take a deep breath. The Met Office has predicted rain across the country, in the upcoming 36 hours, which will clear the blanket of toxic smog in the province.

    The most awaited rain, as per the forecast of weather experts, is expected at different parts of the country during the weekend after a prolonged dry spell and help subside the prevailing smog in the plain areas of Punjab.

    Travellers had been facing severe inconvenience, especially on the motorways, due to the intense fog in most areas of Punjab at morning and night hours while some motorways authorities imposed travel restrictions at certain places with severe smoggy conditions.

    Rain would give relief to the citizens facing allergies, as well as influenza and cough due to the dry weather spell. Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) revealed that a weak westerly weather system is likely to enter upper parts of the country and would persist till Sunday.

    Under this weather system, rain with snowfall over the hills is expected in Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad and Northeast Punjab on Saturday (evening or night) and Sunday.

    Rain with wind-thunderstorm is also expected in Quetta, Ziarat, Pishin, Zhob and its surrounding on Saturday (evening or night).

    Rain-wind-thunderstorm with snowfall over the hills is expected in Kashmir, Chitral, Dir, Swat, Malakand, Kohistan, Shangla, Buner, Mansehra, Abbottabad on Sunday.

    Light rain/wind-thunderstorm is expected in Haripur, Swabi, Mardan, Nowshera, Peshawar, Charsadda, Bajaur, Kurram, Waziristan, Kohat, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Mandi Bahauddin, Hafizabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot, Narowal and Lahore on Saturday night and Sunday.

    Snowfall is also expected in Neelum valley, Bagh, Rawalakot, Nathiagali, Galliyat, Naran, Kaghan, Hunza, Gilgit, Skardu, Astore, Chitral, Dir, Swat and Malam Jabba on Sunday. About the possible impacts of the rain, the Met office said the prevailing smog conditions would likely to subside in plains of Punjab while the dense fog would likely to develop over plain areas of Punjab from Monday. The night temperatures would likely to fall gradually after the wet spell and severe cold weather conditions may prevail at certain places.

  • ‘Shattered and heartbroken’: Saba Qamar, Ayesha Omar strongly react to the Sialkot incident

    ‘Shattered and heartbroken’: Saba Qamar, Ayesha Omar strongly react to the Sialkot incident

    A Sri Lankan factory manager has been tortured to death on the charges of blasphemy. As per social media reports, he was working as a manager at a private sportswear manufacturing factory.

    As per District Police Officer (DPO) Umar Saeed Malik, the man was murdered by factory employees. According to the DPO, the police have arrived at the place of incident.

    In the video shared on social media, it can be seen that the man’s body was burnt publicly after he was murdered.

    Sialkot mob lynches Sri Lankan factory worker to death, burns corpse over blasphemy allegations - Pakistan - DAWN.COM

    According to sources, the Sri Lankan national allegedly tore posters off a wall in the factory, which had religious text written on it. He removed it from the wall as the wall was not a place where posters were allowed. After taking down the poster, hundreds of people gathered, dragged him outside, killed him and then burnt his body.

    His name was Priyantha Diyawadana. He joined the factory in 2010 and has been here since.

    According to journalist Rabia Mehmood, “Factory workers Talha, Furhan complained and decided on the spot to kill the SriLankan national.”

    She shared a picture of the two men who claimed to be part of the lynch mob and complained against the manager and then “dragged him out to burn him to death, and are using Tehreek Labbaik’s violence inciting narrative to justify why they did it”.

     Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar have termed the incident as “horrific”. Buzdar has also instructed IG Police to investigate the incident.

    A-list actresses Saba Qamar and Ayesha Omar expressed their grief and shock at the shocking incident on social media. Earlier the Raees diva Mahira Khan tagged PM Imran Khan and asked him to provide an answer for this.

    READ MORE: ‘A failure, killing middle class, shame’: Mathira lashes out at Imran Khan

    READ MORE: ‘Ashamed, sick to my stomach’: Mahira Khan expresses shock, asks PM Khan for answers on Sialkot tragedy

  • ‘Social media calls for ‘obscenity ban’ on Farhan Saeed’s concert in Abbottabad university

    An event organized by a students society in COMSATS Abottabad has been receiving criticism for organising a concert among other events.

    Such actives are very common in universities in Pakistan. However, this particular event is being opposed by some people terming the activity as, “obscenity.”

    The media coordinator of COMSATS Nasir Ahmed while talking to SAMAA said, “We have always had such events at the varsity.” “For the past two years, we were unable to hold the festival because of the coronavirus lockdown.”

    The event has been scheduled for Sunday December 5 and the concert will feature singer Farhan Saeed. 

    People used the hashtag #Ban_Obscenity_in_ComsatsAtd to express their disapproval. Journalist Ansar Abbasi also used the hashtag to show his support of the ban.

  • ‘Read history, grow’: Faizan Sheikh grills Iffat Omar for saying Salahuddin Ayyubi is not our hero

    ‘Read history, grow’: Faizan Sheikh grills Iffat Omar for saying Salahuddin Ayyubi is not our hero

    Actor Iffat Omar recently appeared on Naumaan Ijaz’s show G Sarkar on which the Dour diva pressed on the fact that the Turkish history is not Pakistani history and urged the government to instead invest on promoting out scientists- the actual Pakistani heroes.

    “They [Turks] invaded us. Understand this. We do not need fictional characters, we need stories about scientists. There’s not a single mathematician, a scientist in Pakistan that is known world over,” asserted Omar.

    Speaking further about the upcoming Pak-Turk collaboration on an upcoming series on Salahuddin Ayyubi also featuring Adnan Siddiqui and several Turkish actors, Omar iterated that Ayyubi is not a Pakistani hero.

    the role of salahuddin ayyubi has previously been essayed by syrian actor ghassan massoud in 2005 s kingdom of heaven

    “He [Salahuddin Ayyubi] is not our hero,” she asserted. “This has been indoctrinated in Pakistanis since our country has been formed. We think of ourselves as superiors. Our history is of sub-continent, we need to endorse that. Our history isn’t of Turkey.”

    Comedian and actor Faizan Sheikh took to his Instagram stories to school the senior actress.

  • Karachi Police begins murder investigation of Bar Council Secretary, Lawyers boycott court

    Karachi Police begins murder investigation of Bar Council Secretary, Lawyers boycott court

    On Thursday, the police launched an inquiry for the murder of a Bar Council Secretary who was killed in broad daylight in Karachi, to find the motive behind the targeted killing and identify the assailants.

    On Wednesday morning, Sindh Bar Council Secretary, 40-year-old Irfan Ali Mehr, was shot dead in Karachi, when he was returning back to his residence after dropping off his daughter to school.

    On the call of Sindh Bar Council, lawyers boycotted the city courts session.

    The newly elected secretary of Sindh Bar Council, Umer Soomro and other members requested the judge to suspend the hearing for today which was accepted.

    A rally was also taken out from the City Courts to the Karachi Press Club with protestors demanding that the authorities arrest the killers immediately.

    The brother of a victim, Rizwan Mehr registered the case against unknown suspects at Shar-e-Faisal Police station. The complainant also told the police that the family had no enmity.

    The First Information Report (FIR) has been filed under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, and Section 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

    Karachi Police Chief, AIG Imran Yaqoob Minhas has formed a high-level investigation team.

    According to the police official, they did not find any related clues regarding the murder case so far. The spent bullet casings which were recovered from the crime scene have been sent to the forensic science lab for further examination. The final results from the lab have yet to be revealed.

  • ‘Ashamed, sick to my stomach’: Mahira Khan expresses shock, asks PM Khan for answers on Sialkot tragedy

    ‘Ashamed, sick to my stomach’: Mahira Khan expresses shock, asks PM Khan for answers on Sialkot tragedy

    A Sri Lankan factory manager has been tortured to death on the charges of blasphemy. As per social media reports, he was working as a manager at a private sportswear manufacturing factory.

    As per District Police Officer (DPO) Umar Saeed Malik, the man was murdered by factory employees. According to the DPO, the police have arrived at the place of incident.

    In the video shared on social media, it can be seen that the man’s body was burnt publicly after he was murdered.

    Sialkot mob lynches Sri Lankan factory worker to death, burns corpse over blasphemy allegations - Pakistan - DAWN.COM

    According to sources, the Sri Lankan national allegedly tore posters off a wall in the factory, which had religious text written on it. He removed it from the wall as the wall was not a place where posters were allowed. After taking down the poster, hundreds of people gathered, dragged him outside, killed him and then burnt his body.

    His name was Priyantha Diyawadana. He joined the factory in 2010 and has been here since.

    According to journalist Rabia Mehmood, “Factory workers Talha, Furhan complained and decided on the spot to kill the SriLankan national.”

    She shared a picture of the two men who claimed to be part of the lynch mob and complained against the manager and then “dragged him out to burn him to death, and are using Tehreek Labbaik’s violence inciting narrative to justify why they did it”.

     Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar have termed the incident as “horrific”. Buzdar has also instructed IG Police to investigate the incident.

    A-list actress Mahira Khan has expressed her grief and shock at the shocking incident on Twitter. The Raees diva tagged PM Imran Khan and asked him to provide an answer for this.

    READ MORE: ‘A failure, killing middle class, shame’: Mathira lashes out at Imran Khan

  • Ramiz Raja confirms PSL for women cricketers

    Ramiz Raja confirms PSL for women cricketers

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja has confirmed Pakistan Super League (PSL) for women cricketers.

    In an interview to international media, Raja said that Pakistan does not have any system for women’s cricket, we do not have any schools or colleges for it.

    While talking about women cricket, Chairman PCB said that this kind of cricket will be the first in Asia because women cricket is also an integral aspect of Pakistani cricket.

    Referring to the difficulties faced by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (AFG) in the interview, Raja said that cricket in Afghanistan is currently facing difficulties but like the cricket boards of other countries, PCB also stands by Afghanistan.

    Earlier in a video posted by PCB, Raja hinted at the possibility of organising a women’s Pakistan Super League in the near-future. Ramiz was speaking after ECB CEO Tom Harrison visited Pakistan last month to try and repair relations following the recriminations of England pulling out of a two-match T20I series in October.

  • ‘It could be’: Alec Baldwin admits career could be over after fatal shooting on film set

    ‘It could be’: Alec Baldwin admits career could be over after fatal shooting on film set

    Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin has admitted that his career could be over after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust.

    The 63-year-old actor admitted it in an interview to George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, adding that he did not care.

    The actor accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Hutchins when a prop gun he was holding went off during filming for the Western in New Mexico.

    In his first interview since her death in October, Baldwin told Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos he dreams about the incident “constantly”, adding: “I couldn’t give a s**t about my career anymore.”

    Stephanopoulos then asked Baldwin, “Is it over?”, to which he replied: “It could be.”

    Baldwin said he cocked the gun that killed Hutchins but “didn’t pull the trigger”.

    On the day of the shooting, Baldwin told Stephanopoulos he and Hutchins met to rehearse a scene in which he was playing a character who drew his weapon on two foes.

    Baldwin recalled that during the rehearsal, the film’s first assistant director, Dave Halls, handed him a revolver and told him “this is a cold gun” – an industry term for a weapon that is either empty or loaded with dummy rounds.

    The actor said Hutchins proceeded to instruct him on where and how to hold the weapon, “which ended up being aimed right below her armpit”.

    In order to get a particular shot, Baldwin said he needed to cock the gun but not fire it.

    He said: “I cock the gun. I go, ‘Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?’”

    “And then I let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off. I let go of the hammer of the gun, the gun goes off.”

    Stephanopoulos then asked if Baldwin ever pulled the trigger.

    “No, no, no, no, no,” Baldwin replied. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them.”

    The actor was also asked if he felt any personal responsibility for Hutchins’ death.

    “No. no. I might have killed myself if I thought I was responsible, and I don’t say that lightly,” Baldwin said.

    “I don’t know what happened on that set. Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”

    “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”

    Although there has been speculation that Baldwin could face criminal charges over the incident, he told Stephanopolous people “in the know” believe that to be “highly unlikely”.

    However, he said the events of the day continue to weigh on him.

    “I go through my day, and I make it through the day. Then I collapse at the end of the day. Emotionally, I collapse.”