Sports

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 …

When we think of cricket, we don’t exactly think of it in relation to art. However, PSL franchise Islamabad United is bridging the gap between these two worlds through a unique campaign with visual artist Imran Qureshi. Under the project AANideasLAB: IQ X IU, Qureshi interacted with some Islamabad United players and conducted a visual art project over the course …

TRINIDAD: Haseebullah Khan and Awais Ali shone with the bat and the ball respectively as Pakistan U-19 got off to a flying start at the ICC U-19 World Cup, beating Zimbabwe U-19 by 115 runs in their Group ‘C’ match at the Diego Martin Sporting Complex in Trinidad on Monday. Opener Haseebullah smashed a 155-ball 135 (10 fours and four …

KARACHI: Pacer Mohammad Hasnain will compete in the Pakistan Super League despite having his bowling action being called out by umpires in Australia’s Big Bash League. The 21-year-old underwent a test on his bowling action at the International Cricket Council-accredited biomechanics laboratory in Lahore on Tuesday after it was reported by umpires Gerard Abood and Simon Lightbody during the BBL …

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Wednesday that the government had given it the go ahead to allow spectators up to 25 per cent of the stadium’s capacity in the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022’s Karachi matches, which will be played at the National Stadium from January 27 to February 7. According to a statement issued by the …

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday unveiled its T20I team of the year with three players from Pakistan — Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi — making the cut. Azam, who captains the Pakistan side, has been named the skipper of the ICC team for the shortest format. The team consists of Jos Butler, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam …

MELBOURNE: The first test of Naomi Osaka’s new approach to tennis might have been when she completely whiffed an overhead to give her opponent a break point on the first day of the no-Novak Djokovic Australian Open. Osaka didn’t throw her racket. She didn’t roll her eyes. She smiled. “There are situations where I previously would get upset. But at …

BEIJING: China on Monday cancelled plans to sell tickets to the public for the Winter Olympics in Beijing, as the number of Covid-19 cases in the country reached its highest since March 2020. Organisers said last year there would be no international spectators at the Games — partly due to China’s weeks-long quarantine requirements — but they had promised to …

HOBART: England skipper Joe Root said their disastrous Ashes campaign should serve as an opportunity to prioritise Test cricket again after their collapse in Hobart on Sunday saw Australia claim the series 4-0. England have reinvented themselves as a white-ball powerhouse since their early exit from the 2015 World Cup, winning the next edition of ODI cricket’s biggest title on …

PAARL: India’s Jasprit Bumrah says former captain Virat Kohli still has a big role to play for the Test side following the latter’s surprise resignation in the wake of the 2-1 series loss to South Africa last week. Kohli stepped down from the Test captaincy on Saturday, saying the time was right for a new direction for the team, and Bumrah has …