Sports

With the cricket World Cup less than four weeks away, South Africa’s pace attack is under an injury cloud with fast bowler Kagiso Rabada the latest concern. South African team manager Mohammed Moosajee said in a statement on Friday that he had recalled Rabada from India where he is starring for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League. Rabada had …

BRISBANE: The return of Steve Smith and David Warner to the Australia squad has generated excitement, not tension, among the playing group but the pair will need to learn “humility” after losing their leadership roles, coach Justin Langer said on Friday. Former captain Smith and Warner were selected in Australia’s World Cup squad last month after their ball-tampering bans expired …

KARACHI: When Mohammad Hussain’s dream of becoming a professional footballer came to an end, not even in his wildest imagination had he thought he would get a chance to play at Anfield. In less than 10 days’ time he would be leading out a team from Pakistan, hoping to lift a trophy, at the iconic venue which is home to …

KARACHI: Batting legend Javed Miandad has denied the allegations levelled against him by former all-rounder Shahid Afridi in his autobiography Game Changer, which has caused quite an uproar in Pakistan cricket. The autobiography, which according to reports will be officially launched in Karachi on Saturday, has caught attention of many primarily due to the fact that Afridi has openly criticised …

Four years ago, two-time World Cup winner Steve Waugh predicted young fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain would one day make a name for himself on the international stage. Now the 19-year-old can prove Waugh right after his blistering pace earned him a call-up to Pakistan’s squad for the World Cup. Pakistan’s chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq, a member of the country’s first and …

BUDAPEST: China´s Ma Long captured a third world table tennis title on Sunday, completing a dream comeback after six months on the sidelines with a knee injury. The 30-year-old, nicknamed the ´Dragon´, defeated Sweden´s Mattias Falck 4-1 in the final. Ma is only the third man to claim three world titles after Victor Barna, who claimed four between 1932 and …

LONDON: Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk was named as England´s PFA Player of the Year for 2019 on Sunday. Van Dijk succeeded Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah in winning the award, voted for by his fellow players and saw off competition from Manchester City striker Raheem Sterling. But Sterling, 24, was named the Professional Footballers´ Association Young Player of the Year, …

LAHORE: The Pakistan cricket team management has given leave to Shoaib Malik so that he can return home to deal with a domestic issue, a PCB statement said Monday. He is expected to rejoin the team in 10 days’ time, it added. The board will not be making any further comments and fully expects all concerned to respect Shoaib’s privacy, …

MUMBAI: Andre Russell has represented West Indies in only a single One-day International since 2015 but his World Cup call-up was not surprising and the hard-hitting all-rounder is hungry to represent the Caribbean side again. Contractual disputes between the players and Cricket West Indies (CWI) have weakened the team for several years now with the frosty relations famously culminating in …

Beckenham (England): Pakis­tan launched their England tour on a winning note here on Saturday when they completed a 100-run defeat of Kent after putting up a commanding batting performance earlier in the day at the Kent County Cricket Ground in Beckenham (partly reported in Sunday’s edition). Imad Wasim, the Swansea-born all-rounder, starred in Pakistan’s total of 358-7 with a career-best …