Wednesday, 25 May, 2016
Players are not getting right oPPortunities, exPosure: Zaheer abbas i
NTerNATIoNAL Cricket Council (ICC) President Zaheer Abbas has said lack of opportunities and exposure has landed Pakistan cricket in hot waters. “our players are not getting the right opportunities and exposure,” said Abbas. “They are also not in the Indian Premier League. I feel sorry for the young players who can’t play international cricket or against touring sides at home.” Zaheer expressed his concern that Pakistan cricket has stopped producing legends for the young players to look up to. He added,“It pains me to see that the national team is now not producing quality performances of the past. our players are just not
producing the sort of performances we expect and saw in the past. In the past, our youngsters had a lot of idols and legends to look up to and emulate and today we look towards the Indian players.” The 68-year-old, who will step down from his ICC post on July 27 after one-year tenure, said Pakistan cricket has still not recovered from the aftereffects of the attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009. “It will take time for international cricket to return to Pakistan and lot depends on what the situation is in the country in future. But I am optimistic that in this context the scenario is improving,” he said. He said he had enjoyed his tenure as ICC President and learned a lot.
“I have done all I can to help the Pakistan Cricket Board convince other boards they need to
support Pakistan cricket by sending their teams and things are looking up a bit.” Agencies
Hafeez retaliates to PCB chief’s ‘lack of education’ comment Nehra to undergo knee surgery in London SportS DeSk Ashish Nehra will undergo surgery on his right knee, to repair a high-grade tendon injury he sustained during his IPL stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad, the BCCI said on Tuesday. Nehra, 37, sustained the injury during the match against Kings XI Punjab on May 15, when he pulled up while running in to bowl. While the extent of his injury was unknown then, Nehra was advised to consult Dr Andrew Williams, an orthopaedic specialist in London, and the surgery is expected to take place soon. Nehra also missed four matches in the first half of IPL 2016 with a groin injury. The left-arm pace bowler was one of Sunrisers’ key players, with nine wickets from eight matches at an average of 22.11 and an economy rate of 7.65.
laHore sTAFF RePORT
Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez tweeted against Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar Khan’s ‘lack of education’ comment. resultantly, a formal reply has been sought from the opening batsman for posting such tweet. The reaction came after Hafeez condemned the statement of Shaharyar Khan that absence of well-educated players in the team has caused a downfall of cricket. While disagreeing with the remarks of the PCB chairman, Hafeez said that education is very important for everyone but getting degrees is not enough in the life. He said that being a Test
SPORTS 15 IPL FIxtures
ELIMINATOR SUNRISERS V KKR AT DELHI
20:00 LOCAL | 14:30 GMT
Cricketers laud workout under army trainers The ever reliable middle-order great of Pakistan Younus Khan, Twenty20 captain Sarfraz Ahmed and Spinner Mohammad Asghar lauded on Tuesday the training given by Pakistan Army in ongoing fitness camp at Army School of Physical Training in Kakul. “everyone had a lot of worries and queries when the fitness camp was organised for the national team,” Younus said in a video interview. He also hoped that the camp will bear fruitful results. The right-hand batsman also vowed to deliver results, “I am saying this from the bottom of my heart that we gained a lot from here. We will now try as best as possible that we don’t let down the Pakistan Army and their trainers. We will try our best to fulfill all the expectations of our fans as players and as a team.” However, Pakistan T20 captain Sarfraz Ahmed admitted the first few days of the fitness camp were hard with the army but the players are now enjoying it. Meanwhile, Mohammad Asghar said that players have learned a lot under Pakistan Army’s supervision. The national cricketers also vowed to improve their skills by holding regular fitness sessions. Mohammad Hafeez and Shahid Afridi missed their tests at the cricket academy owing to injuries. on the other hand, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will announce the final squad for upcoming england Test series in the first week of June. The first Test match would be played on July 14. Agencies
Chameera ruled out of England tour due to back injury cricketer is his degree. earlier talking to newsmen in Quetta, the PCB chairman said that: “There is no graduate player in the
team right now except Misbah-ul-Haq and the absence of educated players in the team is a primary reason for its recent downfall.”
ROYAL CHALLENGERS IN FINAL AFTER DE VILLIERS’ RESCUE ACT Bangalore
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Agencies
uMBLINg wickets. A high but not out-of-reach asking rate. one specialist batsman at the crease, with only the lower order for company. An atypically dry and grippy pitch provided the conditions for such a situation - usually more common in 50-overs cricket than in T20 - to arise in the first Qualifier of IPL 2016. AB de Villiers was the specialist batsman, and when Iqbal Abdulla joined him in the 10th over of royal Challengers Bangalore’s chase of 159, they needed 91 to win off 62 balls with four wickets in hand. The Chinnaswamy surface still good to bat on, but slower than usual - had torn up the script that the match had been expected to follow. There was no uncontrollable torrent of run scoring from either set of top-order batsmen. gujarat Lions were 9 for 3 after being sent in. Then in the chase, royal Challengers lost Virat Kohli for a duck and slipped to 29 for 5. Then, when ravindra Jadeja had Stuart Binny lbw sweeping -
though replays showed ball hitting pad marginally outside off stump they were 68 for 6. It began drizzling soon after Abdulla’s entrance, with royal Challengers needing 63 from 36 balls. De Villiers was at the nonstriker’s end. Abdulla, on 8 off 14, slashed at a gentle, back-of-alength ball from Dwayne Smith, and missed. Kohli - who had struggled to contain his temper right through the game - gestured angrily from the dugout, telling Abdulla to take a single and give de
Villiers the strike. Abdulla steered the next ball to deep point. De Villiers, on 47, faced Smith now. He stepped down the pitch, Smith shortened his length, and a tennis-style flatbat hit flew to the straight boundary. The next ball was fuller, and de Villiers miscued his lofted hit, skewing it high, with the outside half of his bat. It was a rare mis-hit in an innings of surface-defying fluency. It may have been caught at long-off in a bigger ground, but it cleared the leaping Aaron Finch
in Bangalore. It seemed like a sign. This would be de Villiers’ day. on strike to the first ball of the next over, he shuffled across to off stump even before Shadab Jakati released his left-arm dart. Having covered the line, he quickly sunk to one knee and swung the ball away over the square leg boundary. When Abdulla swatted a mishit six of his own later in the over, royal Challengers had the final in their sights, needing only 35 off 25. They got home with 10 balls left to play, with de Villiers having just enough time to unfurl a couple more spectacular shots, the pick of them a reverse-sweep off a Praveen Kumar delivery pitching outside leg stump. Abdulla played a key role with the ball too, dismissing Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch in the second over of Lions’ innings after Kohli had sent them in. Kohli may have used his left-arm spinner that early simply because two righthanders were opening for Lions, and two left-handers were waiting in the middle order, but he may also have observed that the pitch was unusually dry.
CMYK
SportS DeSk Sri Lanka fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera has been ruled out of the england tour after suffering a stress fracture to his lower back. Chameera has been advised rest for four months and will return to Sri Lanka to continue his treatment. Chameera is also likely to miss the home Tests against Australia, which start from July 26. The Sri Lanka selectors are expected to meet by Wednesday to pick a replacement for the squad in england. The loss of Chameera is the second big blow to Sri Lanka’s bowling attack after fast bowler Dhammika Prasad returned home last week because of a shoulder injury. The stress fracture was confirmed after Chameera underwent a scan on Tuesday morning. The fast bowler had taken 3 for 64 including the wicket of Jonny Bairstow who top-scored with 140 - in the first Test at Headingley, which Sri Lanka lost by an innings and 88 runs. Chameera has played five Tests since his debut in June 2015 against Pakistan, taking 21 wickets at an average of 27.28. He suffered a side strain after his first Test, which kept him out of the Pallekele Test against Pakistan, and played only one match in the series against India that followed. He had made his international debut earlier - in January 2015 - and replaced Dhammika Prasad in Sri Lanka’s squad for the 2015 World Cup, where he played two matches. overall, Chameera has taken 10 wickets in nine oDIs and 13 T20Is, respectively.