Sports

DUBAI: Australia captain Pat Cummins and England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt were named Cricketers of the Year by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday. Cummins won the men’s award after a year in which he led Australia to the World Test Championship and World Cup titles. “It’s a huge honour. It has been a big year, lots of wonderful team success,” …

LAHORE: Pakistan team director Mohammad Hafeez will not see an extension following the completion of his three-month tenure, marked by disappointing performances against Australia and New Zealand. Despite only securing a consolation victory in a T20I match, Pakistan endured defeats in three Test matches against Australia and four T20Is against New Zealand during Hafeez’s tenure. After returning from the challenging …

Cricketer Shoaib Malik on Friday responded to reports regarding the termination of his contract with Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) franchise Fortune Barishal, saying he had left the country due to a “pre-committed media engagement in Dubai”. The statement came after several media outlets, without citing a clear source, reported that Shoaib’s BPL contract was terminated over suspicions of match-fixing. According to Bangladeshi …

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp announced in a shock decision on Friday that he will leave the club at the end of the season. Klopp, who led Liverpool into the final of the League Cup on Wednesday, had informed the club’s hierarchy that he would end his eight-and-a-half years at Anfield at the end of the current campaign. Assistant managers Pepijn Lijnders and …

MELBOURNE: Alexander Zverev served up a huge shock at the Australian Open on Wednesday by stunning second seed Carlos Alcaraz to make the semi-finals after third seed Daniil Medvedev fought hard to avoid an upset at the hands of Hubert Hurkacz. Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska and Chinese 12th seed Zheng Qinwen earlier progressed to the last four of a Grand …

ABIDJAN: Former champions Algeria crashed out of the Africa Cup of Nations in the group stage on Tuesday after a shock defeat against Mauritania, but Cameroon secured a last-16 place with a dramatic victory over Gambia. Algeria won their second AFCON title in Egypt in 2019 but were then sent packing in the group stage at the last edition in …

MELBOURNE: Mitchell Marsh will captain Australia for their Twenty20 series against the West Indies with regular skipper Pat Cummins being rested, the country’s cricket board (CA) said on Wednesday. Australia are hosting West Indies for three T20s between Feb. 9-13 as part of their preparations for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in the Caribbean and US in …

DOHA: Palestine and Syria qualified for the knockout stages of the Asian Cup for the first time on Tuesday with victories in their last group matches. Palestine wrapped up their Group ‘C’ campaign in style with a 3-0 win over Hong Kong after Oday Dabbagh grabbed a double, securing their spot in the last-16 as one of the four best …

MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff were both made to toil for semi-final places on a blazing Tuesday at the Australian Open but organisers were spared a ridiculously late finish as Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner roared through the night session. Two epic battles in the afternoon meant defending women’s champion Sabalenka did not walk onto Rod Laver Arena until …

LAHORE: Shah Khawer, the current election commissioner of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is set to take on the role of the board’s acting chairman on Wednesday. His primary responsibility lies in overseeing the elections for a regular PCB chairman for a three-year tenure. However, concerns arise over the potential implications of holding these elections prior to the impending general …