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Gallery – Sports
Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof says the Twenty20 World Cup is a “big opportunity to showcase our talent” and boost recognition of women’s cricket in the country. The 31-year-old all-rounder will spearhead a Pakistan team which has never been beyond the first round in seven previous appearances at the tournament.
Days after being made chairman of the junior team selection committee, former Pakistan Test wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal got another role when he was named as one of three members of the Pakistan men’s national selection committee. The Pakistan Cricket Board announced that Kamran and his former Pakistan team-mates Mohammad Sami and Yasir Hameed will be part of the selection committee headed by Haroon Rasheed.
The women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa next month will feature for the first time an all-female panel of match officials, the International Cricket Council announced. Previous tournaments have all included a number of male umpires or match referees but for the South African event, all 13 officials — 10 umpires and three referees — will be women.
Indian trailblazer Sania Mirza bowed out of Grand Slam tennis Friday with defeat in the Australian Open mixed-doubles final playing alongside Rohan Bopanna — her first playing partner 22 years ago. The 36-year-old Mirza, regarded as her country’s greatest women’s tennis player, returned to Melbourne Park for one last hurrah and made it all the way to the decider.
In the wee hours of Wednesday, the Indian baseball team had arrived at the Wagah border, ready to enter Pakistan to play the West Asia Cup. With them was the Nepal team. But while the Nepalese entered Pakistan for the tournament, which opens on Jan 27 in Islamabad, the Indian security officials stopped their compatriots, asking them to show a NOC issued by the government.
Pakistan cricket captain Babar Azam on Thursday was picked as Men’s ODI Player of the Year for the second time in a row by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for his “match-winning knocks [and] spell-binding stroke-play”.
India’s cricket board on Wednesday earned $572.5 million as it announced the winners of bids to own five teams in the inaugural Women’s Premier League Twenty20 tournament in March. The women’s league will be an addition to the money-spinning Indian Premier League (IPL) men’s tournament for the world’s richest and most influential cricketing body. (Photo: AFP)
South African batting great Hashim Amla announced his retirement from cricket on Wednesday after helping Surrey to the English county championship last year.The 39-year-old had already retired from international cricket in 2019. Amla scored 18,672 runs for the Proteas across the three formats from 2004-2019 and is South Africa’s second highest Test run scorer of all time behind Jacques Kallis.
Pakistan registered their first series loss in the ongoing ICC Women’s Championship Cycle as they went down to Australia by 10 wickets in the second fixture of the three-match One-day International series, giving the hosts an unassailable 2-0 lead. Australia chased down a paltry target of 126 runs at the Allan Border Field with openers Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield ensuring they took the team across the finish line with 30 overs to spare.
Professional wrestling star Jay Briscoe – whose real name was Jamin Pugh – has died aged 38. Several news outlets including Sports Illustrated reported that he was killed in a car crash in Laurel, Delaware but this has not been confirmed. Tony Khan, the CEO of All Elite Wrestling, announced Briscoe’s death.
Russian and Belarusian flags have been banned from the Australian Open tennis tournament after a courtside incident. Russian and Belarusian athletes have not been able to play under their countries’ flags in several sports, including tennis, since the invasion of Ukraine began in February last year.
In one of the darkest on-field days in Sri Lankan cricket, two of their stars were stretchered off after a heavy collision in the outfield, before their batting lineup capitulated to the biggest loss in ODI history. India won the toss and batted, and were cruising at 2-298 when a Virat Kohli pull shot ran away to the mid-wicket boundary. In attempts to save the boundary and with both sets of eyes firmly focussed on the ball, Sri Lankan fielders Jeffrey Vandersay and Ashen Bandara collided heavily and were stretchered from the ground.
GUINNESS WORLD RECORD RUN, Erchana Murray-Bartlett crosses the finish line at the Pillars of Wisdom at the Tan Track, beating the Guinness World Record for the most consecutive daily marathons run by a woman – 107, in Melbourne, Monday, January 16, 2023. The 32-year-old nutritionist has completed a 150-day marathon pilgrimage from Cape York to Melbourne, running 42.2km each day to raise money for environmental advocacy organisation
Indian tennis great Sania Mirza confirmed she would hang up her boots after the Dubai Open in February 2023 in an emotional post ahead of her final Grand Slam appearance at the Australian Open. Sania, 36, will compete in doubles at the Australian Open along with Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina while she is expected to pair with Rohan Bopanna for the mixed doubles at the season’s first Grand Slam tournament. (Image: AFP)
Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka on Sunday pulled out of the opening Grand Slam of the year just over a week before it starts, organizers said. “Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the Australian Open. We will miss her at AO2023,” the tournament said on Twitter. No reason for the Japanese star’s withdrawal was given. It was another big blow for the tournament after US Open champion and world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz also withdrew on Friday with a right leg problem. Veteran American Venus Williams will also be a no-show after picking an injury at last week’s Auckland Classic. (Photo credit: Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)
India cricketer Rishabh Pant is in stable condition in hospital following a car crash in the early hours of Friday morning. Police said the wicketkeeper-batsman, who was alone in the car when it crashed in the northern state of Uttarakhand, had lost control of the vehicle when he “dozed off”. The car flipped over twice, police added.
Wimbledon’s verdict to ban Belarusian players from last year’s tournament “altered nothing,” world’s fifth placed Aryna Sabalenka asserted on Sunday, expressing her desire to return to the hallowed grass-court Grand Slam in 2023 and lamenting the lack of its invigorating fans and electrifying atmosphere. Wimbledon organizers banned players from Russia and Belarus last year due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Players from the two countries were blocked from competing in British grasscourt events in the build-up to the major. Sabalenka – who is playing in Adelaide this week before the Australian Open – said politics and sport should not mix.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday announced the nominations for the ICC T20I cricketer of the year with Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan and all-rounder Nida Dar making the cut in their respective sections. Rizwan was also crowned the T20I cricketer of the year by the ICC in 2021.
An Iranian chess player Sara Khadem competes without a hijab in the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. She is the latest of several Iranian sportswomen to appear at competitions without a head-covering since anti-government protests began in Iran.
Andoo Comanche has triumphed in a two-boat chase up the River Derwent to take out its fourth line honours in a late-night finish to the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. The 24-strong crew on the John Winning Jr-skippered supermaxi crossed the finish line at 12:57am AEDT on Wednesday with a time of 1 day, 11 hours, 56 minutes and 48 seconds.
Babar Azam on Monday became the Pakistani batter with the most runs — 2,436 — in all formats of the game in a calendar year. Babar broke the record of former captain and incumbent batting coach Mohammad Yousaf, who made the record in 2006 with 2,435 runs to his name.
Najam Sethi, who is heading a panel governing the Pakistan Cricket Board’s affairs till a chairman is elected, said on Thursday that the government’s “advice has to be taken” in cricket-related matters concerning India. Talking to the media in Lahore, he answered a reporter’s question that it was “too early” for him to comment about “strategic issues” regarding India, sporting ties for which were strained further since the neighbour refused to visit Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023.
Jubiliant Argentina fans went wild today as the country celebrated its first World Cup win for 36 years. Thousands poured into the streets of Buenos Aires to watch Argentina take the trophy after a nerve-shredding final.
England pulled off one of its most impressive and remarkable cricketing achievements in some time, defeating Pakistan by eight wickets to win the third Test in Karachi and claim a 3-0 series. Prior to its first visit to Pakistan in 17 years, England had toured the country eight times. It’d won just two of its 24 Tests against Pakistan.
Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali announced he was retiring from Test cricket after the third and final Test match against England in Karachi. With 7,097 runs in 96 matches at an average of 42.49, Ali is Pakistan’s fifth leading Test run-scorer. Azhar Ali also captained Pakistan in nine Tests in two separate tenures from 2016 till 2020.
Arjun Tendulkar, the son of Sachin Tendulkar, scored a century on his debut in first-class cricket on Wednesday, just as his Indian batting legend father had done 34 years ago. Playing for Goa, Arjun, 23, reached his ton off 177 deliveries on the second day of the four-day match against Rajasthan in India’s domestic Ranji Trophy competition.
Australia’s all-conquering women’s team have finally lost an international — but it took a dazzling Super Over by India’s big hitters to consign them to a first defeat in 2022. Their second T20 international in Mumbai on Sunday went to the extra over after a thrilling tie which featured India’s Devika Vaidya hitting a four off the final ball of the regulation 20 overs to level the scores in front of an ecstatic full-house of 45,238.
Mark Wood grabbed four Pakistan wickets to give England a hard-fought 26-run win on Monday in the second Test in Multan and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The fast bowler finished with 4-65 as Pakistan were dismissed for 328 about 50 minutes after lunch, having been set a challenging 355-run target.
British boxer Frank Arnold suffered a sickening knockout loss after woeful corner work and refereeing left him unconscious. The 23-year-old Hackney southpaw suffered a nightmare opener against Brayan Mairena but bravely avoided getting dropped, The Sun reported. Had he been the away fighter it is highly likely he would have been stopped on his feet inside the first three minutes after taking a beating.
Australia’s former skipper Ricky Pointing isn’t sure if Indian batter Virat Kohli can beat cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar’s record of a 100 centuries. Kohli’s 71st century came after a 1,020-hiatus during the recently concluded Asia Cup when he hit a 122 unbeaten ton off 61 balls against Afghanistan — equalling Pointing’s 71 centuries record. (AFP File photo)
England pulled off a thrilling 74-run victory over Pakistan after an absorbing day five of the first Test in Rawalpindi. An inspired bowling performance from seamers James Anderson and Ollie Robinson forced a remarkable victory to move into a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.
Pakistan debutant Abrar Ahmed mesmerised England on Friday, grabbing five wickets as the visitors reached 180-5 at lunch on the opening day of the second Test in Multan. The 24-year-old — nicknamed “Harry Potter” by friends because he wears glasses similar to those of the fictional boy wizard — spun magic of his own after England won the toss and decided to bat on a turning pitch. (Image Reuters)