Sports

New Zealand’s cricket team returned to Pakistan on Thursday to play two Tests and three one-day internationals, a year after abandoning their tour over a security threat. The arrival of the Kiwis comes just days after England whitewashed Pakistan at home in a three-match Test series that has seen the hosts’ cricket board chief sacked. New Zealand sparked deep frustration in Pakistan in September last …

If 2021 was the year of ‘mauka’ revenge for cricket fans, 2022 will be remembered as the year of near misses — or wasted maukas. The recurring theme throughout the year was the pursuit of glory that ended up in anguish for Babar Azam and Co. But where men’s cricket disappointed, others sprang some wonderful surprises despite getting a mere fraction of attention …

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 …

KARACHI: England head coach Brendon McCullum said removing the fear of failure has helped the talent in his team come through after they became the first test side to complete a 3-0 whitewash in Pakistan on Tuesday. England comfortably chased a target of 167 to win the third and final match in Karachi, adding to their wins in Rawalpindi and …

Hundreds of thousands — millions by some estimates — of ecstatic Argentines flooded onto the streets of Buenos Aires on Tuesday to cheer the country’s World Cup-winning football squad led by Lionel Messi after their plane landed in the pre-dawn hours. The team arrived in the early hours at Ezeiza airport where despite it being around 3am, thousands were waiting with banners, …

Millions of jubilant fans turned out on Tuesday to welcome home Argentina’s World Cup winners led by Lionel Messi, but most were left disappointed when an open-top bus parade had to be abandoned due to the massive crowds, in favour of a hastily organised helicopter tour. Vast crowds of ecstatic fans cheered on their heroes along every meter of the planned 30-kilometer …

The completion of England’s 3-0 series success over Pakistan on Tuesday was the latest chapter in a remarkable revival, all the more extraordinary for the woeful run of red-ball results that preceded the ‘Bazball’ era. Inflicting the first home whitewash suffered by Pakistan in Test history, courtesy of an eight-wicket win in Karachi on Tuesday, was striking enough in itself. It also …

KARACHI: Babar Azam rued the absence of experienced players at his disposal after his Pakistan side became the first to suffer a whitewash in a Test series at home. Needing just 55 to win on Tuesday — the penultimate day of the third Test — here at the National Stadium, England finished the job in less than an hour to …

AN unprepared Pakistan drastically misjudged England’s stre­ngth as well as their intentions, and consequently paid the heaviest price ever at the National Stadium. The first-ever clean sweep at home is going to be extremely damaging for the hosts who suffered their fourth consecutive Test loss in their backyard on Tuesday. Firmly embracing the novel ‘Bazball’ mindset since May this year, England on …

DOHA: Didier Deschamps said he would wait before deciding whether to remain as coach of France in the wake of their World Cup final defeat, but the future prospects remain bright for a side brimming with young talent and led by Kylian Mbappe. Deschamps was hoping to lead the 2018 world champions to back-to-back titles in Qatar, and they came …