A 23-year-old youngster from Lahore has been crowned the world’s best Tekken 7 player at 2019 Evolution Championship Series (EVO) in Las Vegas.
According to the details, Arslan Siddiqui aka Arslan Ash, who was relatively unknown in the competitive circuit a year ago, has edged out Jae-Min Bae aka Knee in the grand finals of one of, if not the biggest, fighting game tournament series in the world.
He was also awarded a cash prize of around $14,000.
According to VICE, it’s the third time Siddiqui has bested South Korea’s Jae-Min, who many from the gaming community considered a “god” of the game. It’s a monumental win, considering the former was virtually unheard of a year ago.
The 23-year-old had previously also won the second Evo Japan in February, becoming the first-ever unified EVO champion.
EVO hosted nine official fighting games this year, including Tekken 7, whose competitive scene is centered around a few countries: Japan, the United States (US), and South Korea.
This year’s top eight consists of players from those very same countries: four players from Japan, two players from South Korea and one player from the US, however, Siddiqui is the exception.
New Zealand’s cricketing stalwart Jimmy Neesham has responded to a Pakistani’s biryani invitation, which has made his fans in Pakistan love him even more.
As per the details, Jimmy had last weak turned to Twitter to ask for recommendations for a good place to have dinner in Toronto where he is currently playing the Global T20 League.
Anybody have any recommendations for nice spots in Toronto for dinner/beers? Thinking rooftop bar maybe, nice views etc etc. Many thanks
Pakistan cricket stalwart and ace fast-bowler Mohammad Amir is planning to obtain a British passport so that he may permanently settle down in England in future, Cricket Pakistan reported Saturday.
According to reports, the left-arm pacer married a British citizen, Nargis Malik, in September 2016 and has already applied for a spouse visa, which allows him to stay in England for 30 months.
In the case of obtaining a spouse visa, the 27-year-old will be able to work and take advantage of various other perks that come along with it.
It is not yet clear if Amir has already obtained the visa as he has previously spent jail time in the United Kingdom (UK) for his role in the spot-fixing scandal; however, he is reportedly also looking to purchase a house in London.
After getting permanent residency, the paceman will also be able to apply for a British passport.
The report comes a day after Amir announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect, but reaffirmed his commitment to playing white-ball cricket for Pakistan.
Amir’s teammates in Pakistan have been aware of the fact that the pacer is not interested in playing for the national team anymore and wants to play T20 leagues in England and around the world.
Former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, commonly known as MS Dhoni, after making himself unavailable for the West Indies tour, will serve the army in Indian-occupied Kashmir.
According to media reports, the 38-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman will be undertaking the duties of patrolling, guard and post in held Kashmir for a period of 15 days starting July 31.
“As requested by the officer and approved by army headquarters; he will be taking on the duties of patrolling, guard and post and would be staying with troops,” the statement read.
The right-handed batsman holds the honourary rank of lieutenant colonel in the Territorial Army Unit of the Indian army’s Parachute Regiment since 2011.
He had earlier made himself unavailable for the Men in Blue’s upcoming West Indies tour where the two teams will be crossing swords in three T20s, three ODIs and two Test matches.
Cricketing legend and former Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram on Tuesday shared how he was humiliated for carrying an insulin bag with him while boarding a flight from the Manchester airport.
Taking to Twitter to share his ordeal, Akram said he was humiliated by Manchester airport staff who “asked rude questions and told him to dump the insulin case in a plastic bag” from its travel cold-case.
“Very disheartened at Manchester airport today, I travel around the world with my insulin, but never have I been made to feel embarrassed,” he tweeted.
Very disheartened at Manchester airport today,I travel around the world with my insulin but never have I been made to feel embarrassed.I felt very humiliated as I was rudely questioned & ordered publicly to take my insulin out of its travel cold-case & dumped in to a plastic bag pic.twitter.com/UgW6z1rkkF
“I felt very humiliated as I was rudely questioned and ordered publicly to take my insulin out of its travel cold-case and dump into a plastic bag,” the cricket star wrote.
Indian tennis star and Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik’s wife, Sania Mirza, has said she is proud of her husband, who announced retirement from ODI cricket following Pakistan’s last match of the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
“Today I retire from One Day International [ODI] cricket. Huge thank you to all the players I have played with, coaches I have trained under, family, friends, media and sponsors. Most importantly, my fans. I love you all. PakistanZindabad,” the all-rounder tweeted, ending his career spanning over 20 years.
Today I retire from One Day International cricket. Huge Thank you to all the players I have played with, coaches I have trained under, family, friends, media, and sponsors. Most importantly my fans, I love you all#PakistanZindabadpic.twitter.com/zlYvhNk8n0
As soon as Malik announced his decision, Sania took to social media to congratulate the veteran on an astounding career.
“Every story has an end, but in life, every ending is a new beginning. Shoaib Malik, you have proudly played for your country for 20 years and you continue to do so with so much honour and humility. Izhaan and I are so proud of everything you have achieved but also for who you are,” she wrote.
“I am retiring from one-day cricket. I’m sad as I’m leaving the format I loved the most but this will allow me to spend more time with my family and concentrate on the Twenty20 World Cup next year,” Malik had said in a press conference after the match against Bangladesh Friday.
Malik played 287 ODIs and scored 7,534 runs with nine hundreds. His performance in the 2019 World Cup, however, left his fans disappointed.
New Zealand’s defeat against England has put a heavy dent to Pakistan’s chances of qualifying for the 2019 World Cup semi-finals, but some fans are still hopeful to see Green Shirts end up among the top four teams.
Pakistan will get through if any of the following scenarios take place in their match against Bangladesh today.
FIRST SCENARIO:
If Pakistan win the toss and opt to bat first; they will have to score 400 runs and dismiss Bangladesh for just 84 runs.
SECONDSCENARIO:
The Green Shirts can also qualify by putting 350 runs on the scoreboard and dismissing all Bangladeshi batsmen for just 38 runs; however, if Bangladesh bat first, we stand no chance of qualifying.
These two scenarios would guarantee that Pakistan overtake New Zealand on net run-rate (NRR) as both teams are still running for the final spot in the semi-finals race.
New Zealand’s defeat to England has ended their campaign at 11 points on the World Cup points table. Pakistan is currently on nine points.
Teams receive two points for a win and one point for a tie or no-result washout.
If two sides are level on points at the end of the group stage, the one that has won more games goes through. Since they remain level, the side with the superior NRR — which in this case is New Zealand — advances.
The world is coming down, the flags are up and the
similarities between the 1992 and 2019 cricket world cups are uncanny.
Back in the 1992 edition, Pakistan were hanging loosely off
the edge, having their World Cup journey on the verge of conclusion before
striking back; which is something that can be witnessed in 2019 as well.
Good thing for Pakistan? The Imran Khan-led 1992 squad
lifted the coveted trophy 27 years ago.
While not just fans and critics, but even the International
Cricket Council (ICC), observe the eerie similarities between the two
tournaments, here’s a list of players from our current squad and their counterparts
from the ’92 cup.
Mohammad Amir and Wasim Akram
Like Akram in 1992, Amir is carrying Pakistan’s bowling
attack forward in 2019.
BabarAzam andJaved Miandad
Like Miandad, Babar has stepped up to perform brilliantly and
rack up runs for his side.
Shaheen Afridi and Aaqib Javed
Like Aaqib was a second fiddle to Wasim, Shaheen is undoubtedly
that to Mohammad Amir.
Haris Sohail and Inzamamul Haq
Inzamam played some brilliant innings in ’92; quite similar
to Haris’s against South Africa and New Zealand.
Shadab Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed
Mushtaq had a huge impact 27 years ago, while Shadab has one
for Pakistan in 2019.
Hassan Ali and Iqbal Sikandar
Hassan is rather non-existent in the World Cup so far; and just
like Sikandar, not many people might even remember if he even played or not.
Shoaib Malik and Saleem Malik
Saleem was horribly out of form in 1992 and did nothing for
his side; Shoaib hasn’t done anything so far either.
Imad Wasim and Ijaz Ahmed
Just like Ijaz, Imad is an “all-rounder” who is playing in the team for the sake of his label. Does knowing a little bit about both batting and bowling really make you an all-rounder? (Ijaz quit bowling in the later days of his career)
Imamul HaqandRamiz Raja
The thing both Imam and Ramiz have in common is the strike
rate. Imam in 2019 bats at the same strike rate as Ramiz did in 1992.
Sarfaraz Ahmed and Moin Khan
Both Sarfaraz and Moin, other than being wicketkeeper-batsmen, have a role crucial for the entire team. In Shoaib Akhtar’s words, “Moin didn’t, while Sarfaraz doesn’t perform up to the mark”.
Imran Khan
Last, but undoubtedly not the least is Imran Khan – the dashing skipper who steered his ‘Cornered Tigers’ to victory in the 1992 World Cup. In all honesty, Khan has no match on the cricket field; however, he still is the captain.
Former Pakistan cricketer Abdul Razzaq has offered to coach Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya to “improve his faulty techniques”.
“Today I saw Pandya batting against West Indies and found a few issues in his foot movement, bat swing and body balance while hitting,” the former all-rounder said in a video on his official YouTube channel.
WATCH VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IXIaYFasBE
On Thursday, Pandya scored a brisk 46 and shared a crucial 70-run partnership with MS Dhoni to help India post a competitive total of 268/7 against West Indies in their ICC World Cup 2019 game at the Old Trafford.
Pandya chipped in with the ball and also took the wicket of opener Sunil Ambris. In fact, his send-off to the Windies opener became one of the talking points of the game.
However, Razzaq, who scored 5,080 runs in ODI, said Pandya’s game had weaknesses, which needed to be worked upon.
“If Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) gives me just two weeks to coach Pandya, he can become world’s no 1 hitter and all-rounder,” he added.
The video of a Sikh fan cheering for the Pakistan cricket team at Edgbaston on Wednesday, has gone viral over the internet.
The unnamed fan has won hearts of Pakistani supporters all across the globe with his gesture during the must-win match against New Zealand at the packed cricket stadium.
WATCH VIDEO:
A Sikh supporting Pakistan cricket team and chanting slogans “Pakistan Zindabad” in Edgbaston yesterday. #PAKvNZ#CWC19 Via Wadood Mushtaq pic.twitter.com/MUZ6zQd0wl
In the video, he can be heard raising the slogan “Pakistan Zindabad” while thousands of other Pakistan team supporters join him.
Green Shirts defeated New Zealand by six wickets to stay in the hunt for a place in the World Cup Wednesday. They next face Afghanistan and Bangladesh on June 29 and July 5, respectively.
