Sports

KARACHI: Despite England’s defeat in the opening Test of the three-match West Indies series, Shan Masood has refused to tip Pakistan as favourites when the tourists come up against Joe Root’s side next month in their three-Test rubber. Speaking to reporters here during an online Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) media conference from the national team’s base in Derby on Tuesday, …

MANCHESTER: A ruling in a Swiss court and the concession of a late, late goal ensured the Champions League qualification places remain tantalisingly out of reach for Manchester United in the English Premier League. United missed a chance to climb back into the top four of the league for the first time since September when Southampton substitute Michael Obafemi scored …

LAHORE: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has planned to resume its activities with a five-a-side league hockey in the month of August and to hold the National Championship in Sept-October this year, besides announcing a financial grant for 30 players, including seniors and juniors, amounting to Rs. 30,000 each as pandemic allowance. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the PHF had …

KARACHI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) is all set to postpone the World T20 this month due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. However, some controversy is likely to be created over who will be staging the next editions of the ICC World T20 — in 2021 & 2022 — as the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) and Cricket Australia both are …

NEW DELHI: India’s batting great Sachin Tendulkar has renewed demands for cricket rules to give greater weight to TV playbacks over umpires in making LBW decisions. Tendulkar, a long-standing critic of the decision review system (DRS), returned to the fray after multiple LBW calls in the West Indies’ victory over England in the first Test at Southampton. If a ball-tracking …

TOKYO: Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, often floated as a future Japanese premier, said on Monday the Olympics must go ahead next year as a symbol of world unity in overcoming the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), even as her city grapples with stubborn spikes in cases. Japan has not seen an explosive Covid-19 outbreak as suffered in some other places but a …

LAUSANNE: Manchester City are free to play Champions League football next season after the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday lifted a two-season ban from European competitions imposed by UEFA. An initial fine of 30 million euros ($34 million, 27 million) was also reduced to 10 million euros on appeal. City were accused of deliberately inflating the value of income from …

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)-appointed independent adjudicator and retired Supreme Court judge Faqir Muhammad Khokhar reserved order on Umar Akmal’s appeal in the spot-fixing case after hearing arguments of both parties on Monday. The Pakistan team discard had appealed against the three-year ban from all types of cricket imposed on April 27 by PCB’s Disciplinary Panel chairman retired Justice …

SOUTHAMPTON: West Indies captain Jason Holder praised the ‘massive, massive heart’ of Shannon Gabriel following the tourists’ four-wicket win in the first Test against England at Southampton on Sunday. Fast bowler Gabriel was named man-of-the-match after taking combined figures of nine wickets for 137 runs as international cricket returned from lockdown. The 32-year-old Trinidad quick was originally only named as …

LAHORE: After successfully completing the 14-day self-isolation period in Worcester, the Pakistan squad reached Derby from Worcester on Monday for the second leg of their training camp ahead of the Test series opener against England. The first Test starts on Aug 5 at Old Trafford, Manchester. From Derby, the tourists will travel to Manchester on Aug 1 for the first …