Sports

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”.     The ICC noted that Azam last year amassed 679 runs from just nine ODIs at an average of 84.87, with three centuries and five …

MILAN: Inter Milan missed the chance to go second in Serie A when they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Empoli on Monday. Empoli, whose previous victory against the Nerazzurri dates back to April 2006, moved up to ninth place on 25 points from 19 games. Inter remain third on 37 points, one point behind second-placed Milan who …

KARACHI: Their demeanor is such that it seems the officials of the Pakistan Football Federation Normalisation Committee feel they are a godsend for the sport in the country. Now, they’re talking like that too. Speaking in defence of the Pakistan Football Connect Progr­a­mme for club registration — the first step towards holding the elections of the PFF, NC chief Haroon …

LAHORE: The Indian baseball team is set to arrive here on Wednesday to participate in the 15th West Asia Baseball Cup after it was finally granted visa by the Pakistani authorities late on Tuesday night. According to Pakistan Federation Baseball pres­ident Syed Fakhar Ali Shah, the 20-member Indian squad will cross the Wagah Border to enter Pakistan, only two days …

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cric­ket Board has formally written to 27 leading departments of the country, seeking their interest in participating in the PCB Dom­estic Cricket Season 2023-24, which starts in August. According to a press release issued by the PCB on Tuesday, the letters were dispatched to the departments concerned on behalf of Najam Sethi, chairman of the PCB Management …

POTCHEFSTROOM: Pakistan journey at the inaugural ICC Women’s U-19 T20 World Cup came to an end when they were beaten by 103 runs by New Zealand by 103 runs in the Super Six stage match on Tuesday. A target of 179 runs proved too much for Pakistan, who could only manage 75 runs by the end of 20 overs, losing …

Rafael Nadal said he was “destroyed mentally” after slumping out of the Australian Open with a second-round defeat on Wednesday in which he struggled badly with a hip injury. But the 36-year-old defending champion said he loved tennis and hopes to keep going, despite his latest injury disappointment. The Spanish great hurt himself stretching for a shot in the second set against …

LONDON: 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 …

HYDERABAD: Shubman Gill scored a brilliant 208 as India held on to beat New Zealand by 12 runs in the first One-day International in Hyderabad on Wednesday despite a blistering century from Michael Bracewell. India looked to be coasting to victory with New Zealand in deep trouble at 131-6 while chasing 350 after opener Gill made just the 10th double …

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday took aim at Fox Cricket for “unsubstantiated personal allegations” against skipper Babar Azam. The cricketing board responded to a story shared by Fox Cricket on Twitter, wherein Babar was accused of “sexting a teammate’s girlfriend”, saying: “As our media partner, you might have considered ignoring such unsubstantiated personal allegations which Babar Azam has not deemed worthy of …