Sports

LAHORE: Mohammad Rizwan, the winner of PCB’s most valuable cricketer of 2021 award, has welcomed the statements of Australian cricketers, former players and broadcasters looking forward to touring Pakistan. Australia are scheduled to play three Tests, three ODIs and a T20 International in March-April. All three Tests are part of the ICC World Test Championship, while the three ODIs are …

India and Pakistan will lock horns in a blockbuster T20 World Cup group clash for the second year running after the fixtures for the October-November 2022 tournament in Australia were announced on Friday. The arch-rivals will lock horns at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on October 23, a day after Australia begin their title defence against New Zealand in Sydney …

BEIJING: Eagerly waiting to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics, Pakistan’s skier Mohammad Karim on Wednesday hoped the mega event would be a great success and sought to win medal for the country. The 26-year-old Karim is the only Pakistani skier to have competed in two Winter Olympic Games, (Sochi 2014) and (Pyeongchang 2018). “I have been preparing for Beijing …

PAARL: Captain Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen scored centuries and shared a partnership of 204 as hosts South Africa beat India by 31 runs in the first One-day International on Wednesday.** The home side elected to bat and posted 296 for four in their 50 overs, with Bavuma’s 110 from 143 balls the anchor to go with an …

LONDON: English cricket club Yorkshire announced on Wednesday they had appointed former West Indies all-rounder Ottis Gibson as their new head coach on a three-year deal. The 52-year-old replaces Andrew Gale, who left the county club along with the rest of the coaching staff in the fallout from a damaging racism scandal. Pakistan-born former bowler Azeem Rafiq accused Yorkshire of failing to …

WELLINGTON: New Zealand Cricket (NZC) called off an upcoming tour of Australia on Wednesday, 11 days before the scheduled first match, because of strict Covid-19 quarantine requirements. Since the tour was arranged, the New Zealand government has changed its rules for entry into the country because of the threat posed by the Omicron variant. There is now a 10-day mandatory …

MELBOURNE: The Australian Cricketers Association is confident that all selected players for the month-long tour of Pakistan would not have any reservations touring the country in March-April this year, the ACA chief executive said on Wednesday. Australia would play three Tests, an equal number of ODIs and a one-off T20 International on the tour beginning with the first Test at …

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday announced its ODI team of the year featuring two Pakistani players — Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman — with the former given the reins to captain the honorary line-up, just as in the T20I eleven. The cricket body had unveiled its T20I team of the year a day ago, naming Azam as its skipper for …

LAHORE: ICC’s chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle will make his HBL Pakistan Super League debut when he officiates at the seventh edition of PCB’s marquee event starting in Karachi later this month. Former Sri Lankan Test cricketer Madugalle has refereed in 125 T20 Internationals. Madugalle, 62, has been a regular visitor to Pakistan for international assignments, with his last visit …

MELBOURNE: Five years and five long sets later, five-time Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray finally has won another match at the season-opening Grand Slam tournament. The former top-ranked Murray, playing thanks to a wild-card invitation as he continues his career comeback from hip operations and thoughts of retirement, beat 21st-seeded Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 on Tuesday …