Sports

NEW DELHI: Off-spin­ner Ravichandran Ashwin replaced left-arm spinner Axar Patel on Thursday in India’s squad for the Cric­ket World Cup on home soil after he failed to recover from a thigh injury. The 37-year-old Ashwin impressed against Aust­ralia earlier this month, taking four wickets in two games as he returned to the ODI team for the first time in over …

KARACHI: Just a month ago, Pakistan were riding high as the world’s top-ranked ODI team and one of the favourites to win the World Cup in India. But a crushing 228-run defeat to arch-rivals India and a narrow two-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup have cast a shadow over their prospects. This unpredictability is a constant feature …

Athletes can wear a hijab in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games athletes’ village without any restriction, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Friday, days after France’s sports minister banned it for the host country’s athletes. The Olympic body also said it needed to better understand the situation in France and had been in contact with the French Olympic Committee …

Rachin Ravindra and returning Kane Williamson played key knocks as New Zealand chased down 345 to thrash Pakistan by five wickets in a World Cup warm-up match on Friday. Chasing 346 for victory, New Zealand lost an early wicket before Ravindra (97) and Williamson (54) put on 137 to put their team on course and they achieved the target with …

TOKYO: Four-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek and world number four Jessica Pegula surged into the quarter-finals of the WTA Pan Pacific Open with straight-sets victories in Tokyo on Wednesday. Poland’s former world number one Swiatek beat Japan’s spirited Mai Hontama 6-4, 7-5 and faces Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova in the last eight. “I didn’t really start well,” Swiatek, the top …

The Pakistan squad landed in India’s Hyderabad on Wednesday to participate in the ICC World Cup 2023. The national team flew to India via Dubai and landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. A video shared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) showed the squad exiting the plane. AFP reported excited crowds, held back by officers, cheered and shouted the name …

MANCHESTER: Manchester United kept the critics at bay as they cruised into the League Cup fourth round with a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace on Tuesday. United boss Erik ten Hag and his players have been under fire after a disappointing start to the season. But, following Saturday’s narrow Premier League victory at Burnley, they secured a second successive win …

PALMA: Youngster Fe­r­min Lopez rescued Barce­lona a 2-2 draw at Real Mallorca on Tuesday whi­ch extended his team’s La Liga lead, even though the champions dropped two points. Barcelona came from beh­ind twice to secure a draw, Vedat Muriqi opening the scoring for the hos­ts early on, before Raph­inha pulled them level. However, Abdon Prats sent Mallorca ahead again and …

LAHORE: Twenty-five players earned the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) central contract on Wedne­sday, first time for a three-year period, with a significant increase in monthly retainers as well as match fees for all four categories. The period of the central contract starts from July 1, 2023 and runs until June 30, 2026. The PCB had to announce the contracts before …

Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka was cleared of sexual assault in Sydney on Thursday, saying outside the court that he “can’t wait” to play again. The 32-year-old batsman was arrested in November last year just hours after his country lost to England in their final Twenty20 World Cup match in Australia. He was initially accused of four counts of sexual intercourse without …