SPORTS 15
Friday, 29 May, 2015
MAlik All PRAiSe foR AzhAR, WAQAR AND MUShtAQ thailand to host icc Women’s t20 Qualifier Thailand will host the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier from November 28 to December 5 later this year. The top-two sides from the eight participating countries will meet reigning champion Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies in the World T20 2016 in India. Hosts Thailand will be joined by China, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland and Zimbabwe which all qualified for the tournament through regional tournaments. Bangladesh and Ireland will also have to go through qualification after finishing ninth and 10th in the previous World T20 held in Bangladesh. sports Desk
Chelsea fans pose for photos with Premier League trophy outside Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium
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AKISTAN all-rounder Shoaib Malik is of the opinion that Azhar Ali is a good captain and he should be given enough time by the PCB to establish himself. He was talking with the media after hitting 112 off 76 deliveries which played a vital role for Pakistan to beat fighting Zimbabwe by 41 runs in the first ODI at the Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday. Malik said Pakistan cricket team was going through a rebuilding phase and that everyone should show patience. He hoped Pakistan cricket would again reach the top. The all-rounder said he had been passing through a difficult period and looking for an opportunity to grab. Malik said he was thankful to head coach Waqar Younis and spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed for sending him to bat at number three following a good opening stand by Mohammad Hafeez and captain Azhar Ali. “This strategy really helped me as I found maximum overs to regain confidence. Otherwise, I usually bat at number five,” he added. When asked why Pakistan bowlers could not impress against Zimbabwe in the first ODI, Malik said it was difficult for bowlers to grip the ball properly from the 30th over due to dew while the outfield was fast. He hailed Zimbabwe’s fight back and said the visitors played remarkably. The all-rounder admitted that he had made mistakes in the past and that everyone should learn from their mistakes. Malik added that he was focused and wanted to play his role in the betterment of Pakistan cricket. He dedicated his match-winning century to his
mother and said she had been praying for his career which had been in doldrums for the last six years. Meanwhile, some players of Pakistan and Zimbabwe held a practice session for four hours on Wednesday. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif will host a dinner in honour of the Zimbabwe cricket team on Thursday.
Justin Ontong, the South Africa batsman, has been ruled out of the upcoming Caribbean Premier League after requiring operation to attend to damaged cartilage on his knee. He was to represent Barbados Tridents in next month’s CPL, but will be out of action for six weeks. Ontong was hopeful of making a comeback to the national T20 side with a strong showing in the CPL, but will now be looking at the South Africa A tour to India to push for national re-selection. He has played 14 T20Is, scoring 158 runs at a strike-rate of 144.95. In January 2015, Ontong captained South Africa in a T20 against West Indies, which was the most recent of his 44 international games in all three formats. Ontong led South Africa A to unofficial Test series wins against Australia in 2013 and 2014, and also captained Cape Cobras to wins in the Sunfoil Series in 2012 and 2013. sports Desk
Afzal to lead Hong Kong in World T20 Qualifier SpORTS DESk Fast-bowling allrounder Tanwir Afzal has been named captain of Hong Kong and allrounder Mark Chapman Afzal’s deputy for the upcoming ICC World T20 qualifiers. Afzal replaced Jamie Atkinson who resigned from the post earlier this month.
The Premier League champions decided to rub Arsenal’s noses in it by turning the Emirates Stadium blue, albeit temporarily. Chelsea’s rivalry with Arsenal has soured since Jose Mourinho’s arrival at Stamford Bridge in 2004. From Mourinho calling Arsene Wenger a “voyeur” and “specialist in failure”, to the Frenchman dubbing his counterpart “disrespectful” and “stupid”, it’s fair to say there is no love lost between the two clubs or managers. While Arsenal prepare for Saturday’s FA Cup final against Aston Villa, a handful of triumphant Chelsea fans decided to continue their own post-Premier League winning title celebrations by posing for photos in front of the Emirates Stadium. The Chelsea supporters draped a Blues flag on the Tony Adams statue outside the north Londoners ground, while holding a replica Premier League trophy in front of it. Agencies
Justin ontong ruled out of cPl
weeks will be fielding and game plans.” Hong Kong are drawn in Group A and will play Ireland, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Namibia, USA and Jersey. The top four teams in each of the two groups will progress to the quarter fi-
nals, and the top six qualify for the group stages of the ICC World Twenty 20 to be held in India in 2016. The HKCA have also announced the full squad for the 2015-16 season and named seven development players.
the full squad: tanwir Afzal (captain), Adil Mehmood, Aizaz khan, Ali skhawat, Anas khan, Anshuman rath, Baber Hayat, ehsan nawaz, Haseeb Amjad, irfan Ahmed, ishtiaq Muhammad, Jamie Atkinson, kinchit shah, Manjinder singh, Mark chapman, nadeem Ahmed, niraj patwari, nizakat khan, Waqas Barkat, Waqas khan Development squad: Awais Mohammad, cameron McAulsan, giacomo Lamplough, karan shah, Li kai Ming, nick Way, raag kapur.
squad for the icc World t20 qualifiers tanwir Afzal (capt), Mark chapman (vc), Aizaz khan, Anas khan, Anshuman rath, Babar Hayat, ehsan nawaz, Haseeb Amjad, irfan Ahmed, Jamie Atkinson(wk), kinchit shah, nadeem Ahmed, nizakat khan, Waqas Barkat, Waqas khan
“The selectors have had a tough job, however, this would have to be one of the strongest squads we have ever had,” Charlie Burke, the director of Hong Kong cricket, said. “The T20 format best suited us and I’m confident that we will qualify for the World Twenty20 again. The tournament requires us to play our best cricket from the first match, hence we are going to the venues earlier to prepare and get the right balance in the team.” “It’s great to have the likes of Anshuman (Rath), Chappy (Mark Chapman) and Kinchit (Shah) back as they are quality batsmen and very good fielders. The focus for the coming
Taufel wants change in attitude to Indian umpiring Simon Taufel has expressed disappointment at the general perception prevalent not just among fans but importantly also among the Indian players that the Indian umpires were not meeting global standards. Taufel said the umpires from the country have made “tremendous progression” despite there being no Indian presence on the ICC’s Elite Panel. Taufel who is advisor and mentor to the BCCI’s Elite panel of umpires was blunt in his remarks against the Indian players who he felt did not give the required respect to the umpires. “We would love the players to appreciate and show equal empathy for the difficult nature of our job, appreciate that better umpires get it right, that we are human beings after all,” said Taufel in an interview. “We do it because we love it and because we want to add value.” Relations between players and the umpires have always been frosty, but Taufel managed to keep his head high based on the high percentage of correct decisions he made. However, most umpires have received flak, at times in
public, from the players. One prominent example occurred recently when Chennai Super Kings’ captain MS Dhoni called Richard Illingworth’s decision “horrible” after the England umpire had ruled Dwayne Smith lbw erroneously. The players, Taufel said,
needed to provide constructive feedback and not just grumble about the shortcomings of the match officials. “When the umpires do well they won’t get noticed. When the umpires do something wrong they stick out,” he said. “So within the cultural aspect here in India I’d love the
players and the captains to realise they need to be part of the solution to improve Indian umpiring and not part of the problem. At the end of the day, you can tell a winning captain’s report from a losing captain’s report. Umpires either have given too many lbws or they have not given enough. What we are
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trying to promote is transparency and integrity. The BCCI tried to address the issue several years ago by putting in video cameras. That is important. “Don’t tell us they missed three caught-behinds and three lbws. Tell us he seemed to lose concentration and focus in the last session on day 1. That he was not in a good frame of mind to communicate effectively. That he was in a bad position to make that runout decision.” Asked whether players taking up umpiring could change the mindset, Taufel said that could definitely prove useful. “What I would like to see more in India is players respecting how difficult umpiring is; maybe try it themselves. It would be great to see a Rahul Dravid or a Sachin Tendulkar donning a white coat,” Taufel said. Taufel said that historically the match officials, the third team in any match, have never been acknowledged. But people involved have to start altering that longstanding trend. “Everybody has a role to play. The media in the way it promotes positiveness of umpir-
ing and match officiating. The players in the way respect the role and they conduct themselves on the field and the feedback that they give us. The administrators in creating an environment where people can excel and the pathways are clearly defined. And public in the way they talk about umpiring and in the way they encourage people to be involved in the game as well. We are not soft targets. We are participants in the game.” Since the Elite Panel was constituted by the ICC in 2002 only one Indian S Venkataraghavan has been on it. It has been a matter of debate frequently, but without many answers. “The goal is not to put an Indian umpire on the Elite Panel. It is a nice by-product,” Taufel said. “The goal here is to improve and to shift umpiring in this country and position ourselves and deliver best umpiring to people who play.” “That tells me, tells the rest of the world and tells the Indian umpires that people who are selecting them for those matches had faith and trust in the performance abilities of those umpires.” Agencies