14 SPORTS
Sunday, 4 May, 2014
I AM TRYING HARD TO COMEBACK INTO PAKISTAN SIDE, SAYS HAMMAD AZAM
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We Will learn from Pain: adkins SPORTS DESK Reading manager Nigel Adkins has vowed that his team will bounce back next season after the last-gasp disappointment of missing out on the Sky Bet Championship play-offs. Although Reading lay in sixth place at the start of the day, Brighton overtook them by winning 2-1 away to Nottingham Forest, meaning the Royals' 2-2 draw at home to promoted Burnley was not enough to keep them in the play-off places. However, Adkins feels his side will learn the lessons from their heartache. "It's important you feel the pain and the hurt because that's what makes you work even harder," he said. "You need to have a negative experience to make you stronger. "We can't change anything now, we've given it a good go, and the future is still very bright at this club. We'll take a couple of days to chill out and then reflect on it. "This was effectively a play-off game and we started brightly. We changed shape in the second half and got a good stranglehold on the game. "We were well aware what was happening at Nottingham. There were a lot of oohs and aahs going on. We were going for everything. We couldn't have done much more." Needing to win against Burnley to definitely rubberstamp their place in the play-offs, Reading were rewarded in the 16th minute when they went ahead, albeit it with a large slice of good fortune. Jobi McAnuff broke clear, after being released by a pass from Adam Le Fondre, and his low cross to the near post was turned into his own net by Kieran Trippier. But Burnley, with only five defeats this season, were quick to respond, scoring twice in the space of eight minutes to take a 2-1 half-time lead. Scott Arfield grabbed the leveller in the 20th minute and, with the Reading rearguard still in disarray, Burnley forged ahead when Danny Ings thundered in his 26th goal of the season from close range. Ings was denied another soon after by a fine save from home keeper Alex McCarthy, but Reading grew steadily more dominant in the second half and equalised through a stunnign volley from Garath McCleary. Try as they did, though, Reading could not add to it and were left at the mercy of Brighton's late winner at the City Ground. Burnley captain Jason Shackell hacked a goalbound shot from Pavel Pogrebnyak off the goal-line and keeper Tom Heaton made fine saves from McCleary, Alex Pearce and Sean Morrison as Reading's luck finally ran out. "That was just about a fair result," Burnley manager Sean Dyche said. "Reading obviously had to go for it but we defended very well. After the own goal, I thought that we were good value. "I was very happy with the team and individual performances. There were so many good things today, good habits and good displays. I'm proud of all the players and all the staff. "We had to focus on just ourselves. That's the marvel of the last day of the season, with all its twists and turns. But Reading will come back. They're a good club."
SPORTS DESK
AKISTAN has had a proud history of producing fast bowling all-rounders. It is therefore a matter of grave concern to the management and fans alike, that the current allrounder slot in the team has no established player. Ever since the decline in form and eventual omission of Abdul Razzaq, the team has struggled to find a suitable international replacement for this all-important role in modern day cricket. Whilst the all-rounder may not be the crucial cog in the wheel for the Test format, the shorter formats of the game demand as many world-class all-rounders as a team can possibly afford to employ and this is something which Pakistan has dearly missed in its recent appearances in ICC tournaments. Amongst the names mentioned quite often as inheritors of the crown previously worn by the likes of former great Imran Khan as well as Abdul Razzaq and to an extent even Wasim Akram, recent records suggest that Bilawal Bhatti and Anwar Ali are as close as Pakistan will get to filling the slot. However, another name which seems to hover on the fringes is that of the 23 year old Hammad Azam. Hailing from Attock in Punjab province Azam, widely regarded as one of the most promising talents that Pakistan has in its armoury, has already played eight One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and five Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) for his country. He made his ODI debut for Pakistan against West Indies in 2011 and last played for Pakistan
against Bangladesh in the 2011-12 Asia Cup. In T20Is, he made his debut against England in Dubai in 2012 and last played in this format against the West Indies in Kingstown (2013). Away from International commitments, Azam has also led Pakistan Under-23 to the finals of the Emerging Teams Cup in 2013, where his team lost to India. Whilst his record in both formats of the game in the international arena has shown steady progress, the lack of eye-catching performances may well have contributed to his exclusion from international squads in the recent past. This is a fact that Azam recognizes and he opined to PakPassion.net, “At the moment my sole focus is to concentrate on my cricket and to perform to the best of my abilities. I am trying very hard to make my way back into the Pakistan international side.” The SuperStarsT20 tournament is considered as one of the region’s toptier tournaments with 16 clubs from the UAE taking part. The tournament commenced on 19th April and is being played in a round robin format with four groups comprising of four teams each. After the round-robin matches the knock out stage will be hosted with the qualified teams from the round robin format competing in quarter finals and semi-finals. The tournament comes to an end with the final game being played on 16th of May. Azam, alongside fellow Pakistani Fawad Alam, is making an appearance in this tournament for the Yas Sports Rawalpindi Royals Club, where he made an immediate impression in his first game with his side’s Super Over victory over the Colombo Lions. Azam
Brighton boss Oscar Garcia is already plotting revenge on Derby County as they prepare to face the Rams in the Sky Bet Championship play-offs. Oscar Garcia's, right, Brighton have lost twice to play-off opponents Derby this season. Leonardo Ulloa's injury time goal propelled the Seagulls to a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest - and into the top six on a day of high drama at the City Ground. Brighton will now face Derby in the first leg of the semi-final on Thursday,
Pakistan and also mentioned the help of former Pakistan fast bowler and current UAE coach, Aaqib Javed, in his attaining this goal, “I am obviously pleased with my performance last night and am focusing on my batting. I feel that I am in good form at the moment and I am working hard on my bowling as well and trying to take wickets rather than just containing batsmen. I am also thankful to Aaqib Javed for his help.
PAKISTAN CRICKET CAN FOLLOW SQUASH’S LEAD: NAWAB Squash becomes first sport to lift ban on overseas players competing in Pakistan Dubai AGENCIES
The Professional Squash Association (PSA) became the first global sports body to lift a ban on international players competing in Pakistan last month. The decision came five years after the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore, which prompted the sanction. Syed Razi Nawab, the senior vice-president of the Pakistan Squash Federation, hopes the breakthrough will pave the way for more sports to return to the country. He also believes that the lifting of the ban will see Pakistan regain its status as a squash playing superpower. Before the inception of the World Open in 1976, the British Open served as a de facto world championship. Pakistan won 13 of them in a row from 1951 to 1963, thanks to Hashim Khan (7), Azam Khan (3), Roshan Khan (1) and Mo Khan (1) with another in 1975 from Qamar Zaman. Jahangir Khan then won six World Open titles from 1981 to 1988 before Jansher Khan won eight titles between 1987 and 1996. As a result, Pakistan is the most successful squash playing nation of alltime with 28 world titles. The Green Shirts haven’t won a title in 18 years, but with the recent lifting of the ban, Nawab told
Gulf News that glory could return. Following are the excerpts of an exclusive interview: Syed Razi Nawab: We couldn’t invite overseas seniors for tournaments, but we could invite veterans. So, we hosted the Asian Masters in 2012. This broke the ice and restored confidence. We also hosted six former world champions on the sidelines of the event, which conveyed the message that Pakistan is a safe, sports loving country that knows how to take care of its guests. Pakistan getting representation back in the Asian Squash Federation (ASF) with my election as senior vice-president in 2013 also allowed us to squeeze back into decision making circles. We hosted an Asian junior event with nine Asian countries later that year and invited officials to see for themselves. How was the ban affecting Pakistan Squash? At 11 per cent, Pakistan has one of the highest number of registered squash players with the PSA, but we only host two per cent of tournaments. Players had to travel abroad for tournaments but often have difficulty with obtaining visas. The talents of a whole generation of squash players were being wasted through no fault of their own. Also, due to the international player ban we were being allocated weaker prize-fund and point-value tournaments, because the PSA didn’t want Pakistan players to have an unfair
GARCIA PLOTTING PLAY-OFF REVENGE SPORTS DESK
stamped his seal of authority on the game with 31 off 31 balls and then followed it up with 2 wickets in four overs. With the 20-over game ending in a tie, it was left to Azam to see his team to victory, as he was chosen to bat and bowl in the decisive Super Over. Clearly overjoyed with his experience so far, Azam agreed that performances like the one in his first game here was what he needs to make his presence known to the selectors in
looking to secure their place at Wembley. And Garcia says they will have extra motivation - having lost twice to Derby already this season. "They have beaten us twice this season. But we will be ready this time, we will be prepared and we will look to beat them this time around," said the Brighton head coach, who credited his players for their never say die attitude. "We knew that our players would never give up; that they would fight until the end and we got the goal we deserved. "It is a special time to score, in injury
time, but I was happy for the players and for the fans, because they deserved this. "The players never gave up, which makes me so happy. Craig Mackail-Smith had been out injured for a long time, so it was great to see him involved in the goal, when he crossed for Ulloa. "It is impossible to get into the playoffs if you are not a team, but we were a team on the pitch." Garcia said that he had not kept track of Reading's progress against Burnley with their draw allowing Brighton to move above them.
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advantage in the rankings, progressing only by virtue of their being no visiting competition. We could only host four US$10,000 tournaments a year, but in our prime we had been holding three US$150,000 events a month. With bigger tournaments, will Pakistan’s players get back up the rankings? With the lifting of this international ban and the return of bigger prize-money and point-value tournaments, I expect Pakistan to break into the Top 20 by the end of the year. We already have Nasir Iqbal who is currently ranked World No.42. This is a realistic prediction. It’s not realistic to believe we will come back and be world champions, yet. We have to regain and retain our lost position and get back to the top, but this will take time. We have seen the zenith and have come down but an ascent is there. When will international players compete in Pakistan and will they be safe? We will host a US$25,000 tournament open to international players in Islamabad from October 18. This is just the first step, as we are expecting bigger tournaments in the future. However, in order to do that we must prove we can put on a safe, conducive and comfortable event in October. It will be safe. I’m making this claim with heavy pressure on myself. We’ve done it with veterans and juniors during the ban so I see no reason why we can’t do it again.