The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management committee announced the names of eight governing board members in yesterday’s meeting.
However, the Ministry of Interprovincial Affairs stated that the committee’s term concluded on 19th and 20th June, invalidating its decisions. Moreover, it is expected that the individuals announced as governing board members will not be accepted.
Former Pakistan captain, Aamer Sohail, has already taken a legal and proactive stance by sending legal notices to the Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Minister and Election Commissioner to impede the committee’s functioning and operations.
It should be noted that an important meeting of the management committee of PCB has been called this evening which will be chaired by Najam Sethi.
The main agenda of the meeting is the formation of the governing board of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
According to sources, four representatives of the department and four representatives of the regions will be approved in the meeting.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had given the task of holding the election to the management committee as the governing board.
The management committee includes Najam Sethi, Shakeel Sheikh, Haroon Rasheed, Azad Syed, Tanveer Paanzai, and Gulzada Kakar, but former captain Shahid Afridi and Sana Mir have resigned from working in the management committee.
In response to an inquiry from the Cricket Pakistan representative, Ahmed Shahzad Farooq Rana, the Deputy Chairman of the Election Commission and Acting Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), confirmed that he had directed the legal department to evaluate the current situation and meet him on Wednesday morning to address the matter. Following this, a certain future action plan will be devised.
Now, the question is who holds the authority to form the governing board? To which he said that as per Article 38, Section 6, the management committee was supposed to do this.
Furthermore, he said that any of the ten members of the BOG (Board of Governors) have the option to nominate themselves for the position of chairman. The final decision will be reached through a voting process.
As of yet, no notification has been received regarding the two members announced by the government. Rana further mentioned that the appointment of the new PCB chairman might take two more weeks because of the upcoming Eid holidays.
Asia Cup 2023 will be held in a hybrid model with four matches taking place in Pakistan, and the remaining nine matches being played in Sri Lanka.
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced last night that the tournament will take place from August 31 to September 17 later this year. The tournament will feature top teams from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Nepal, competing in 13 thrilling ODI matches.
Nepal’s participation is particularly significant as it marks their first-ever appearance in an Asian event.
Under the hybrid model, Pakistan will host matches between Pakistan and Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore.
The 2023 edition will have two groups, with two teams from each group progressing to the Super Four stage.
The top two teams from the Super Four stage will then face each other in the final. This tournament holds great importance for the Asian teams as it will provide valuable preparation for the ICC World Cup, which will take place in India.
Previously, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) declined to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup due to security concerns.
To ensure the hosting rights of the event were preserved, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) proposed two options in a hybrid model. The first option suggested that India play their matches at a neutral venue, while all other matches would be held in Pakistan.
The second option proposed playing four group stage matches in Pakistan and moving the subsequent phase, including matches with the Indian team and the final, to a neutral venue. Ultimately, the second option of the hybrid model was accepted. The organizers will soon announce the complete schedule of the tournament, providing further details on the matches and venues.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain has advised Indian batsmen to learn how to handle pace and swing from Babar Azam and Kane Williams. He gave the remarks after India’s 209-run defeat against Australia in the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).
In an interview with a sports channel, Hussain expressed disappointment with the batting performance of the Indian team and suggested that their top-order batsmen should observe the techniques employed by Pakistan’s Babar Azam and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson when facing the seam and swing ball.
He mentioned that Babar and Williamson exhibit patience by playing the swing ball late, which is a valuable lesson for Indian batsmen.
Renowned Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar also criticized Virat Kohli’s shot selection, questioning his technique despite scoring over 70 centuries.
Gavaskar pointed out that Kohli often plays the out-swinger too far ahead of the off-stump, resulting in poor shot selection and a compromised head position.
Gavaskar emphasized that such non-serious shots may be acceptable when the team is in a winning position, but during crucial moments, when a century is required, Kohli should refrain from rushing to play the out-swinger, particularly with three slips waiting to capitalize on any mistakes.
Former Indian all-rounder, Irfan Pathan has expressed anger at being trolled by Pakistani fans on Twitter.
Pathan, who regularly trolls Pakistani fans himself, became the target of trolling after India’s humiliating 209-run loss against Australia in the final of the ICC World Test Championship 2023 at the Oval Stadium, London.
It has been a decade since India last succeeded in winning an ICC event.
Pathan expressed his displeasure towards the Pakistan fans who flooded his social media timeline with celebrations of arch-rival India’s defeat.
The former pacer recalled his previous ‘GRACE’ tweet during last year’s ICC T20 World Cup and confidently asserted that his assessment of Pakistan fans was entirely accurate.
“Suddenly, all the padosi [neighbours] are entering my timeline with happiness cos team India lost the WTC FINAL. I was so right abt them..,” Pathan wrote.
Suddenly all the padosi’s are entering my time line with happiness cos team India lost the WTC FINAL. I was so right abt them… #grace
Last year, after Pakistan successfully qualified for the final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 by defeating New Zealand, Pathan strongly criticized their fans for their lack of “grace.”
Australia thrashed India in the World Test Championship (WTC) in England, galloping to victory with a huge margin of 209 runs to bag the WTC mace.
On day four at the Oval, the Indian team was unable to chase down the target of 444 runs, scoring only 243 runs, losing seven wickets on only 77 runs. Virat Kohli remains on top from the Indian side, scored 49 runs. Ajinkya Rahane scored 46 and captain Rohit Sharma managed to ass 43 runs to the total.
For Australia, Nathan Lyon took four catches in the second innings while Scott Boland took 3 wickets, Mitchell Starc took two and Pat Cummins dismissed one.
Australia had scored 469 runs in the first innings while the second innings was declared at 270 runs for 8 wickets after the Indian team was out by scoring 296 runs in the first innings.
Two times world champions, the once-mighty West-Indies and 1996 champions Sri Lanka will have to pass the qualifier round for the upcoming World Cup 2023. The tournament will be taking place in India, who won the coveted trophy the last time they hosted the tournament.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the schedule for the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier. The tournament will be held in Zimbabwe from 18 June to 9 July 2023. The 10 teams taking part in the qualifier are split into two groups of five teams.
Group A:
West Indies Netherlands Nepal Papua New Guinea United States
Group B:
Sri Lanka Zimbabwe Ireland Scotland United Arab Emirates The top three teams from each group will advance to the Super Six stage, where they will play each other once. The top two teams from the Super Six stage will qualify for the 2023 Cricket World Cup, which will be held in India from 9 October to 20 November 2023.
The full schedule for the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier is as follows:
Group A
18 June: West Indies vs Netherlands (Harare Sports Club) 19 June: Nepal vs Papua New Guinea (Takashinga Cricket Club) 19 June: United States vs Ireland (Queen’s Sports Club) 20 June: West Indies vs Nepal (Harare Sports Club) 20 June: Netherlands vs Papua New Guinea (Takashinga Cricket Club) 21 June: United States vs Ireland (Queen’s Sports Club) 22 June: West Indies vs United States (Harare Sports Club) 22 June: Nepal vs Ireland (Takashinga Cricket Club) 23 June: Netherlands vs Papua New Guinea (Queen’s Sports Club)
Group B
19 June: Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe (Harare Sports Club) 19 June: Ireland vs United Arab Emirates (Queen’s Sports Club) 19 June: Scotland vs Netherlands (Takashinga Cricket Club) 20 June: Sri Lanka vs Ireland (Harare Sports Club) 20 June: Zimbabwe vs United Arab Emirates (Queen’s Sports Club) 21 June: Scotland vs Netherlands (Takashinga Cricket Club) 22 June: Sri Lanka vs Scotland (Harare Sports Club) 22 June: Ireland vs Netherlands (Queen’s Sports Club) 23 June: Zimbabwe vs United Arab Emirates (Takashinga Cricket Club)
Super Six
26 June: 1st Group A vs 2nd Group B (Harare Sports Club) 26 June: 3rd Group A vs 4th Group B (Queen’s Sports Club) 27 June: 1st Group B vs 2nd Group A (Harare Sports Club) 27 June: 3rd Group B vs 4th Group A (Queen’s Sports Club) 29 June: 1st Group A vs 3rd Group B (Harare Sports Club) 29 June: 2nd Group A vs 4th Group B (Queen’s Sports Club) Playoff
3 July: 3rd/4th place play-off (Harare Sports Club) 5 July: Final (Harare Sports Club) The 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier is a crucial tournament for the teams involved, as the top two teams will qualify for the 2023 Cricket World Cup. The tournament is also a chance for the teams to gain valuable experience playing against top-quality opposition.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee has confirmed three new appointments in the men’s team selection committee ahead of two international mega-events, Asia Cup 2023 and World Cup 2023.
These selection committee changes will create an impact on the team’s current performance and the current squad as many changes in the squad are expected upon the arrival of director Mickey Arthur.
The new selection committee comprises Haroon Rashid (chair), Hassan Cheema (selection committee secretary and manager analytics and team strategy for national men’s side), Mickey Arthur (national men’s team’s director), and Grant Bradburn (national men’s team’s head coach).
Mickey Arthur previously served Pakistan as head coach in Champion’s Trophy 2017, which Pakistan won and in the 2019 World Cup.
The presence of Cheema, who has worked as strategy manager and data analyst in franchise cricket around the world, Arthur, and Bradburn will aid in strategising for the ipcoming series, enhance the bench strength and provide a proper pathway to performing players in Shaheens and U19 sides to graduate to the national side.
The first task of the selection committee is to name the players for the fast and spin bowling camps next month in Lahore, which will be announced in due course.
Claim: A screen grab of a news channel apparently airing news that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif’s wife Tehmina Durrani is experiencing heart trouble is doing the rounds on social media.
The screenshot says that Tehmina Durrani is experiencing heart complications.
Fact: Taking to Twitter, Durrani clarified that she is doing very well.
She wrote, “A country that makes falsehood it’s national language needs to recognise that TRUTH is Islam. By the grace of God, I am very well.”
Anchor Muhammad Junaid made the country proud when he became the first ever Pakistani journalist to participate in the Boston Marathon and the London Marathon, a feat he completed in a week.
In the Boston Marathon, held on April 17 in Eastern Massachusetts, Junaid completed the run in 3 hours, 36 min and 38 seconds. He participated along side other Pakistani-Americans like Salman Khan, Hamid Butt, Prem Kumar, Aamad Butt and Shariq Samad. Dr Salman & Hamid Butt are Abbott 6 Start Finishers.
Whereas in the London Marathon, which Junaid finished in 3 hours, 21 minutes and 38 seconds, he ran alongside others Pakistani or Pakistani origin marathons runners. Sadiq Shah, Faisal Shafi, Semeena Khan, Danish Raza, Prem Kumar, Farrukh Sadiq, Dr Jehanzeb Mughal, Danish Elahe, Imran Aleem & Ammar Mumtaz were also among them.
Saqid Shah, a Quetta born and currently a Karachi resident made history at the London Marathon by completing the race in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 20 seconds, becoming the fastest Pakistani runner in London Marathon. He appeared on the Geo News show ‘Geo Pakistan’, along with Muhammad Junaid.
The Current reached out to Junaid to chat about his recent accomplishments, and how running become one of his favorite hobbies, and the Geo News anchor gave us some interesting insights.
Q. You mentioned in your bio that you previously participated in the Boston Marathon. Is running your passion?
Junaid: I started more organised and focused running a few years ago and ran marathons in Karachi and Istanbul. Women and men of the running community realised that the number of Pakistanis in International marathons is very limited and we decided to train to run them. Every marathon has its own value but running Boston marathon can be any runner’s biggest dream. I collaborated with Pakistani Americans & partnered with South Asian Circle of Hopkinton through Hopkinton Board in Massachusetts to run Boston Marathon and open paths for more South Asians in future. It’s an achievement for South Asians in USA and Pakistanis here.
Q. Winning this race seems like an impossible task, so how did you train for this marathon? Especially considering that you’re a Karachi food lover.
Junaid: The goal is to finish the marathon in a good time, preferably faster than your previous time, for any marathon runner 70 KM per week is considered a standard mileage. Per week can vary for everyone, but yes you have got be careful with food. Protein is most important in that because it helps make and repair cells, which are critical for growth and development. So yes chicken, yogurt, milk, eggs, cheese, seafood, nut butters and then good carbs like wholegrain items, sweet potato, brown rice, and lots and lots of water, in my experience anyone involved in sports should avoid carbonated drinks because of the amount of processed sugar in them.
Q. You met politicians like MP Zarah Sultana who congratulated you for your prestigious win! How did that feel?
Junaid: For the Boston Marathon, Pakistani-American Shahid Ahmed Khan, who is currently a member of US President Joe Biden’s prestigious President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts (PACA), Irfan Nasrullah, and the President of South Asian Circle Ruta Upalekar and her team’s role was significant in helping me prepare for the marathon. From Pakistan, it was nearly impossible without support of Geo News. London Marathon was a collaboration for me with the Pakistani-British Journalist Saima Mohsin to raise funds for Scope, a UK charity working mainly for people with disabilities and facing cost of living crises. In that collaboration, we met British Pakistani MPs Naz Shah and Zarah Sultana, who are an inspiration for many and they assured us of their support to work in order to send more Pakistanis of all genders in world sports specially London Marathon.
Q. These initiatives are wonderful but sadly such things have not taken place in Pakistan. Should Pakistani politicians also start setting up running marathons, now that petrol prices are soaring and we’re looking for cheaper ways to travel?
Junaid: Pakistan does not have any international standard running events so far but Shoaib Nizami and other partners are working to organise Pakistan’s first internationally recognised marathon, Karachi Marathon, this year, which can help people here to get first hand experience of running an official marathon.
Junaid revealed that currently he is gearing up along side other Pakistani marathon runners to participate in the upcoming Berlin Marathon being held on September 24, where 50 runners from Pakistan are expected to participate.
Besides the fact that Pakistanis are underrepresented at these races, the number of women runners is even less but the running community is trying to change that. Last year, at London Marathon, Kaukab Sarwar and Hira Diwan ran in the race for TCF with the help of a friend of Pakistan, Mike Nithavrianakis. It is expected that a bigger number of women will be participating in Berlin Marathon this year. Hira Diwan, who is a British Pakistani, has run four world major marathons including New York & Chicago.
Sri Lanka is now one of the strongest contenders to host Asia Cup 2023 as the recent meeting of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee Chairman with the Vice-President of Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Pankhaj Khimji seems to have not gone as well as was expected.
According to a report, PCB Chief Najam Sethi met with ACC officials on Tuesday, May 9, where it was decided that Pakistan would pull out of the tournament because their proposal of hosting it in the UAE was not accepted.
Asia Cup is scheduled for September this year, but the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, who is also the President of Asian Cricket Council (ACC) had threatened that the Indian government would not allow their team to travel to Pakistan because of security concerns.
Regardless of the current political crisis in Pakistan, the country has just concluded a New Zealand series in peace. Yet Indian media and BCCI officials have based their decision to not send their team to Pakistan on security concerns.
In the recent meeting with Jay Shah and ACC officials, Najam Sethi proposed a revised ‘Hybrid Model’ in which four teams Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh will play their matches in Pakistan and then all the teams along with Pakistan will move to Dubai to play the whole tournament.
ACC officials straight away rejected the proposal by raising questions about logistics, asking how broadcasters will travel between the two countries with all the crew and equipment.
Sethi reply was that they only had to travel to Pakistan only once and then will go to Dubai.
ACC officials said that ahead of World Cup they cannot take the risk and that weather conditions are not suitable in Dubai for playing cricket. Sethi reportedly pointed out that the BCCI held IPL 2020 in Dubai and also in the same season.
An ultimatum on the matter is expected by the end of this month. Should the decision go against Pakistan, the country’s status as a participant in the Cup would be up in the air, with a boycott being likely in that event.
