Sports

KARACHI: Khurram Manzoor may no longer be in the Pakistan frame but the seasoned batter proved his true worth when it mattered on Friday playing a pivotal role in helping Sindh upstage Southern Punjab by five wickets in the early National T20 Cup action in Rawalpindi on Friday. The 35-year-old’s outstanding 49-ball 84 was 25 runs more than the Twenty20 …

LAHORE: No deliberations were held over the longstanding demand of Pakistan Super League (PSL)’s franchises to review the financial model of the franchise-based T20 competition when PCB chief Ramiz Raja had a brief preliminary meeting with the owners. Although detailed discussions have been scheduled for Monday, Friday’s meeting was physically attended by representatives from Multan Sultans and Lahore Qalandars, while …

LIVERPOOL: A perplexed Mohammad Abbas said on Thursday that Pakistan felt ‘hurt’ by the ‘strange’ decision of English cricket chiefs to cancel tours for their men’s and women’s teams next month. Paceman Abbas added it was a poor reward for Pakistan’s decision to tour England last year at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in Britain. “Obviously when you give …

England cricketers had no role in the team’s decision to abandon their tour of Pakistan next month, the players’ union has said. New Zealand returned home from Pakistan after abruptly abandoning their tour minutes before the opening fixture in Rawalpindi, citing a security alert from their government. England followed suit this week, calling off their men’s and women’s teams tour of Pakistan, citing …

MADRID: This time, Real Madrid didn’t need to rely solely on Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior to keep winning in La Liga. Benzema scored twice to reach 200 league goals but Real also got a hat-trick from Marco Asensio on their way to a comfortable 6-1 win over Mallorca at home on Wednesday, a result that extended the team’s winning …

MELBOURNE: Pakistan-born Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja says “money talks” and no team would say no to touring India but it is “easy for players and organisations” to turn down assignments in Pakistan or Bangladesh. England followed New Zealand in pulling out of Pakistan tour, citing security concerns, dealing a massive blow to the country’s efforts to bring back international cricket. …

SYDNEY: England cricketers heading to Australia for the Ashes this year will get ‘no special deals’ allowing their families to join them, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared. The five-Test series is due to start in Brisbane on Dec 8, but whether England bring a full-strength squad remains to be seen. Some players, particularly those with young children, have expressed …

KARACHI: Despite being something of an enigma at the international level, Asif Ali sent out a strong reminder he can be a real force with the willow and the finisher Pakistan had been desperately searching for. The 29-year-old batter, one of the stunning selections on the Twenty20 World Cup-bound Pakistan squad, produced a typical act of belligerence to enable former …

LONDON: Former captain Michael Atherton says it was strange that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) called off the Pakistan tour citing players’ welfare but allowed them a three-month window to play the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 event. In a scathing assessment of ECB’s decision, Atherton said it was worse than India’s recent withdrawal from the Manchester Test. …

Former English football player Michael Owen has signed a three-year deal to become the official ambassador of the Pakistan Football League (PFL), according to a media release from Global Soccer Ventures (GSV). “Owen will take the reins of Pakistan football to help devise a strategic partnership programme by uniting the nation with the might of football in England. Owen will reveal the …