Sports

SYDNEY: While Usman Khawaja is ready to fill in for Travis Head in the fourth Ashes Test against England, the veteran Australia batsman hopes his would not be a stop-gap role this year. Head will miss the Sydney contest, which begins on Wednesday, after testing positive, and Khawaja is set to play his first Test in more than two years. …

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was given an approval by the government on Friday for the construction of a brand new cricket stadium in Islamabad by 2025. The decision was taken in a meeting held between PCB chairman Ramiz Raja and Prime Minister Imran Khan here. Pakistan is set to host the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy and Ramiz, since …

Indian captain Virat Kohli has every reason to be confident his team can seal an historic Test series win in South Africa when they face the hosts in the second Test at the Wanderers Stadium on Monday. “It’s a ground we all loving playing on and we are looking forward to it,” said Kohli after India won the first Test …

MELBOURNE: Cricket Australia’s high performance chief Ben Oliver said that a decision on head coach Justin Langer’s future would be made after the completion of the Ashes series, with the coach’s contract set to expire in mid-2022. Langer’s leadership was criticised amid player discontent in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup but he steered Australia to victory over New …

SYDNEY: Former England all-rounder Adam Hollioake has joined the team’s coaching staff, who have been hit by a Covid-19 outbreak ahead of the fourth Ashes Test against Australia. The match is due to start on Tuesday in Sydney with Australia having already retained the Ashes, leading the five-Test series 3-0 with two Tests to play. Hollioake will work with his …

CALANGUTE: A statue of Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has caused a stir in the southern Indian state of Goa, with locals accusing officials of insensitivity for honouring a sports star from the region’s former colonial power. Protesters with black flags gathered at the site after the statue was unveiled this week in the town of Calangute. They expressed anger that …

NEW DELHI: India opener K.L. Rahul has been named captain for the three-match One-day International series in South Africa with newly appointed skipper Rohit Sharma still unavailable due to injury, the Indian board’s (BCCI) selectors said on Friday. Rohit, who replaced Virat Kohli as India’s white-ball skipper earlier this month, picked up a hamstring injury during a training session in …

CENTURION: South African wicket-keeper/batsman Quinton de Kock announced on Thursday his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect. The shock announcement from De Kock, 29, came just hours after he was part of the South African team beaten by 113 runs in the first Test against India at the SuperSport Park. De Kock said he remained committed to playing international …

LAHORE: Fahad Khawaja and Haiqa Hassan emerged as the new national champions after winning their respective finals of the 57th National Table Tennis Champ­ionships here at the Nishter Sports Complex on Thursday. Though 144 men featured in the tournament, the men’s singles final was all about brothers Fahad and Umam Khawaja, both from Wapda. Elder brother Fahad faced some resistance …

DUBAI: UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has reiterated his opposition to FIFA’s plans to stage a biennial World Cup, saying the women’s tournament or the Olympics would be affected if they were held in the same year as the finals. The European football governing body and its South American counterpart CONMEBOL have strongly opposed the idea which FIFA president Gianni Infantino …