Sports

LONDON: Jos Buttler has been appointed England’s new limited-overs captain following the retirement of Eoin Morgan, the country’s cricket board (ECB) said on Thursday. The 31-year-old, who had been Morgan’s deputy since 2015, has played 151 One-day Internationals and 88 Twenty20s for England after making his international debut in 2011. Morgan retired from international cricket on Tuesday after battling form …

LONDON: World number five Stefanos Tsitsipas sailed into the third round with a 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 win over Australia’s Jordan Thompson at Wimbledon on Thursday, setting up a mouthwatering third-round match against Australian maverick Nick Kyrgios. Early second-round action at the All England Club was overshadowed by the withdrawal of Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut — the third player to pull …

NEW DELHI: India’s Virat Kohli could line up beside Pakistan skipper Babar Azam in the same team next year with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) planning to revive the Afro-Asia Cup. The 50-overs series was first played in 2005 before being discontinued after its next edition in 2007 as relations between India and Pakistan soured. Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has given separate contracts to players in the Test and limited-overs squads in a bid to build long-term depth, the chief selector said Thursday. Previously, top players were offered one contract and could be called on to play any version of the game, but specialisation has made this out of fashion for many cricketing nations. “These contracts are …

LONDON: Defending champion Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon third round for the 16th time on Wednesday as potential semi-final opponent Casper Ruud crashed out. Top seed Djokovic brushed aside 79th-ranked Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 and will face Serbian compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic for a last-16 place. Third seed and French Open runner-up Ruud was knocked out by 112th-ranked …

KARACHI: Playing for Pakistan at 18, emerging as the leader of the team’s bowling pack and being named the ICC Cricketer of the Year — all in the space of just four years — is not stopping Shaheen Shah Afridi from learning and striving for more. Perhaps it is his humble beginnings as a tape ball cricketer in Landi Kotal’s …

KARACHI: The 2025 Champions Trophy hosting rights being awarded to Pakistan came as a result of pressure on the International Cricket Council (ICC) , Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has claimed. New Zealand’s unilateral decision to abruptly abort their Pakistan tour and England’s last minute pull-out from their scheduled visit in September last year triggered criticism from the …

LEEDS: England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan is set to retire from international cricket, with an official announcement expected as soon as Tuesday, according to the BBC. Under Morgan, England won the 2019 50-over World Cup — their first major global limited overs title — and reached the top of the One-day International (ODI) and Twenty20 rankings. But the 35-year-old …

LEEDS: Jonny Bairstow led England to a whitewash of Test world champions New Zealand with a stunning fifty on his Headingley home ground on Monday. Bairstow made a blistering 71 not out, England’s second quickest Test fifty of all time, to follow a majestic 162 that helped revive the hosts from a first-innings collapse after they had slumped to 55-6. …

LONDON: Top seed Novak Djokovic overcame a dogged challenge from 81st-ranked Korean Kwon Soon-woo and his own grasscourt rustiness to reach the Wimbledon second round with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory on Monday. The defending champion, bidding for his fourth Wimbledon title in a row and his seventh overall, looked out-of-sorts at times against Kwon, who brought a lively …