Sports

VIENNA: Novak Djokovic virtually ensured equalling Pete Sampras’s record of ending the year as world number one for the sixth time on Wednesday when he reached the Erste Bank Open quarter-finals. Djokovic defeated Croatia’s Borna Coric 7-6 (13-11), 6-3 and will secure the year-end top spot as long as Rafael Nadal does not take an unlikely wild card into the …

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan captain Babar Azam warned his side shouldn’t take Zimbabwe lightly on eve of the first of three One-day Internationals at the Pindi Cricket Stadium here on Friday with points at stake for both teams in the newly-instituted World Cup Super League, which is the qualification process for the 50-over mega event in 2023. The Zimbabwe series, which also …

pcb LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), it seems, is hushing up the affairs of HBL Pakistan Super League, as it continues to avoid responding to media queries over the affairs of the League, the country’s flagship Twenty20 event. Second time in a month’s time, neither the PCB media department nor the marketing department was ready to answer the queries …

ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has made it mandatory to wear face masks in crowded places and ordered the provincial government for taking strict measures in view of the rising cases of coronavirus pandemic. The NCOC made it mandatory for the nationals to wear face masks while coming out of their homes, especially in public places including …

LAHORE: Former national side captain Salim Malik has claimed that the decision of independent adjudicator of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in the ICC’s transcript case has gone in his favour and that he’ll now approach the board to grant him a ‘No Objection Certificate’ after claiming he had received a job offer from abroad. “I will request the PCB …

TOKYO: The Tokyo 2020 organisers and Japanese officials said on Tuesday they may set up an infectious disease control centre at next year’s Covid-19 pandemic-postponed Olympic Games, as they debate how to hold the event safely. The tentatively named Organising Committee Infectious Disease Control Centre would coordinate the mammoth task of testing and tracing infections and organising isolation and treatment …

NEW DELHI: The extent of Rohit Sharma’s hamstring injury has intrigued batting great Sunil Gavaskar after the opener was seen practising on Monday, hours after his omission from India’s tour of Australia on fitness grounds. Mumbai Indians captain Rohit missed his team’s last two matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) currently underway in the United Arab Emirates with the …

KARACHI: Zahid Mahmood reminded the national selectors of his capability as a match-winner by spinning Southern Punjab to an emphatic innings and 96-run drubbing of Norther, the runners-up of last season’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, here on Tuesday. The scheduled four-day fixture at the NBP Sports Complex concluded at 2:49pm — 11 minutes prior to the tea interval — on the third …

RAWALPINDI: Insisting that he has been working hard to bring consistency in his batting, Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman on Tuesday said he would try his best to do well in the forthcoming ODI and Twenty20 series at home against Zimbabwe. “The whole world had been locked down due to the way circumstances were because of the Covid-19 pandemic, so it …

LAHORE: The Ministry for Inter-Provincial Coord­ination (IPC) and the Pak­istan Olympic Association (POA) seem to be at odds over the venues for next year’s South Asian Games. The Games have been allocated to Pakistan but while the POA initially marked venues in three cities of Punjab, the IPC ministry has approved funds in millions for the renovations of Pakistan Sports …