ISB 06-01-2012_Layout 1 1/6/2012 4:55 AM Page 19
Friday, 6 January, 2012
Umar Akmal eager to make century against england LAHORE
Sports 19
PCB honours Misbah’s men for glorious year
UAe conditions similar to home, says Cheema LAHORE
staff RepoRt
staff RepoRt
The camp training of the national cricket team began here at Gaddafi Stadium and the players got training from interim coach Mohsin Khan’s supervision. Batsmen including Umar Akmal had proper batting practice after his return to the national Test team. Talking to journalists here on Thursday, Umar expressed his desire to record a century against England in the upcoming series in the UAE. “The position on which I play provide fewer chances to score century but its my desire to get one against England and I am concentrating on several factors to develop my innings to three figures,” he stressed. “My return in the team was all due to the support of the team and the team management and I would thank them by scoring for the country and bring victories,” he maintained. “All the members of the team are supporting each other and that was why the team is developing into a winning combination. This team work will surely earn them victory even against the strongest team like England,” said young Umar. “There is no limit to learning and coaching should be done at all levels of the career,” he said. He further said that with the same spirit and the hard work, the team is in a position to surprise England.
Pakistan fast bowler Aizaz Cheema has said Pakistan will have the advantage of being more used to conditions similar to those in the UAE when they take on England there later this month, reported Cricinfo. The pitches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are generally slow and batsman-friendly but Cheema said they were not too different from those in Pakistan and therefore he was confident of taking wickets on them. "Through my life I have played on similar pitches and I earned my place in the national side with the wickets I took on them," Cheema said after the second day of Pakistan's training camp in Lahore. "The conditions won't make a difference to me. I have pace but the main thing is being disciplined in my bowling. If I hit the right line and length it will be a problem for any batsman.” “I will try not to give runs in any spell I bowl and will try to take wickets. Our experience of the conditions is more than theirs because there is not much difference in the tracks in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates," he added. Cheema only played in one of the Tests during the three-Test series against Sri Lanka in the UAE last year, with Pakistan picking two spinners for the matches in Dubai and Sharjah. He will face further competition for his place this series with Wahab Riaz, the leftarm quick, returning to the squad.
Bahawalpur, Lahore on top in Inter Academy Hockey SIALKOT staff RepoRt
Bahawalpur and Lahore lead the points table after the first round of the second PHF Inter Academy Hockey Tournament at Sialkot Hockey Stadium. But on Thursday, Sialkot, Bannu and Gojra won their matches. Sialkot and Bannu got big margin wins while Gojra struggled for success. Results: Sialkot beat Faisalabad 5-1 (full time), 3-0 (half time) Sialkot: Qasim Ahmed two goals 12th & 36th minutes (FG), Ali Raza 24th minute (PC), Nohaiz Zahid 26th minute (FG) & M. Ali 51st minute (PC). Faisalabad: M. Shan 44th minute (PC). Bannu beat Quetta 6-0 (Full Time), 3-0 (half time) Bannu: Atif 2 Goals 1st & 27th minutes (FG), Shiraz 15th minute (FG) & Jamil Baber 3 goals 39th, 58th & 59th minutes (FG). Gojra beat Abbottabad 1-0 (full time), 1-0 (half time) Gojra: Mubashar 4th minute (PC).
point table ps 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
teaMs Bahawalpur Lahore Sialkot gojra Faisalabad Abbottabad Bannu Karachi Quetta
p 7 7 7 8 8 7 7 7 8
w 6 6 5 4 2 2 1 1 0
d 0 0 1 3 3 2 2 1 0
l 1 1 1 1 3 3 4 5 8
Gf 28 20 35 12 12 7 13 5 3
Ga 9 3 7 4 17 12 16 18 49
pts 18 18 16 15 9 8 5 4 0
Gd +19 +17 +28 +8 -5 -5 -3 -13 -46
Junaid fit to play Poms LAHORE staff RepoRt
The Pakistan cricket team bound for the England series got Junaid Khan boost after the bowler passed the fitness test. JUnaid, who was nursing an ankle injury on Thursday, underwent fitness test and during that he bowled a couple of overs with a speed of 140 km. After the test, the medical team of the PCB declared Junaid fit to travel with the team to play against England.
LAHOre: the Pakistan squad with PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf during a reception to mark the glorious ride of the team in 2011. MURTAZA ALI LAHORE
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asheR bUtt
HE Pakistan Cricket Board on Thursday took a journey back to 2011 to highlight the glorious performance of the national team during the year. The evening with the national team was attended by the officials of the PCB, Lahore cricket, cricket legends from the city, big names from the corporate world attached with Pakistan cricket who especially flew to the city to attend the function arranged at a local hotel. Even the family of Punjab governor Sardar Latif Khosa was also present on the occasion where all the players of the national team were awarded Rs 300,000 each while the support staff – the team management was given Rs 100,000. Standing ovation was accorded to the national team that marched into the arena lit with candles while the top performers of the team carried the trophies it won during 2011. The Pakistan team’s journey to suc-
cess during the last year started from the South Africa series in the UAE in which the they played 32 ODIs and won 24, figured in 10 Test matches with win coming in six and losing one while they played five T20 matches and tasted success in four and lost one. “The team’s turning point towards success was the Test match that Pakistan drew against South Africa,” said Misbahul Haq. The PCB especially arranged a proper presentation and video clips highlighting the team’s performance player by player and with every presentation, the player who performed well last year was called upon the stage and was asked about his views of the past and the coming series against England. Number one bowler of the world Saeed Ajmal, top allrounder Mohammad Hafeez, middle order start Umar Akmal, the Mr Reliable Younus Khan and the most consistent batsman of the team Misbah were called on the stage and all were of the view that it was the team’s hard work and the support of those people who work behind the
curtain main reason of their success. Particular mention was made of Shahid Afridi, who is in Australia playing for Big Bash, the resounding success of Aleem Dar and former PCB COO and captain Ramiz Raja expressed his confidence that the way the team has gelled after the spot-fixing saga, made everyone believe that they can beat even the top teams of the world. “They were noticed when they beat Sri Lanka and will be noticed the world over if they beat England in the forthcoming series. All they need to do is to transform all the anger of the 2010 and perform on the field to make the England series count suffer,” he maintained. Concluding the evening, PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf congratulated the team for their achievements and wished them good luck in the series against England. He also mentioned his talk with Ramiz about the team’s recent performance. Appreciating the way Misbah guided the team to such a glory, he showed his confidence saying 2012 will be the repeat of last year.
Olympia, PICIC Insurance advance in BoP Polo LAHORE
staff RepoRt
Olympia and PICIC Insurance registered wins in the Bank of Punjab Lahore Open Polo Tournament being played here at the Lahore Polo Club Ground on Thursday. Olympia had to fight for a win against Lahore Garrison while PICIC Insurance has easy-sailing against PAF Blues. Olympia managed 4-3 win as compared to PICIC Insurance’s 83 triumph. Hamza Mawaz Khan hit three goals and Abdul Rehman Monnoo registered one for Olympia while Lahore Garrison’s three goals came from Maj Omer Minhas and Maj Nauman Wasif who shared two and one goals respectively. In the easy ride of PICIC Insurance, Santiago Mendivil was the star of the day who with his solo effort scored seven goals while Waseem
LAHOre: the PICIC Insurance and PAF teams fight for the ball during the BoP Polo Cup match. NADEEM IJAZ Sial added the eighth goal of his team. For PAF Blues Kaiser Trimzi scored two goals with Tauheed
Ahmad getting one. Umpires for the matches were Raja Temur Nadeem and Bilal Hayat Noon.
UBL launches Students Sports Arena
Atif Bokhari and Dr Ishrat Hussain at the formal unveiling of foundation stone of the UBL Students Sports Arena. KARACHI pR
UBL in alliance with IBA-Karachi held a ground breaking ceremony for the ‘UBL Students Sports Arena – IBA’ at the IBA university campus Tuesday. The event was a component of UBL’s support for the enrichment of education in Pakistan as part of its CSR manifesto. Through UBL’s support, IBA was facilitated in its infrastructure enhancement efforts via a grand Sports Arena comprising of international standard cricket stadium, football pitch, tennis, badminton and volleyball courts along with other facilities. The construction of this facility is being undertaken by a renowned local architect firm. In his welcome address, Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Dean and Director IBA, thanked UBL for its long term support not only to IBA but also to the cause of education in Pakistan. “The IBA’s goal is to develop well rounded individuals – people who not only know the value of a sound education but also realize the necessity of sports, exercise and team-spirit,” said Dr. Hussain. Mr. Atif R. Bokhari, President UBL praised IBA for being a premium business institution.
Inti confirms another name added to coach’s list LAHORE staff RepoRt
Intikhab Alam, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) coach-hunt committee, has confirmed that a list of six shortlisted candidates has been sent to the board’s chief in order to seek his views before calling approved names for interviews. The committee had earlier shortlisted five candidates for the position of head-coach and a list was sent to the former PCB chairman Ijaz Butt. However, a change at the helm not only delayed the appointment but also forced the committee to send in a fresh list. Former Sri Lanka and Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore, who resigned from his post at the Kolkata Knight Riders earlier this week, remains a front-runner to get the nod but Intikhab said that candidates will be
called in for interviews after the approval of Zaka Ashraf. “We held a meeting for the purpose of finding Pakistan’s new coach and we’ve finalised six candidates after going through the applications for various coaching positions of the national squad,” Intikhab told reporters here. “There will be separate coaches for the bowling, batting and fielding departments, along with a head coach and whoever is appointed will be given a twoyear contract.” The PCB has kept faith in former chief selector Mohsin Khan since the resignation of Waqar Younis, who stepped down after the tour of Zimbabwe. Mohsin, so far, has lead Pakistan to clean sweeps of two tours – against Sri Lanka in the UAE and against BD last month. Mohsin’s tenure was extended for the Test, One-Day International and Twenty20 series against England that commences from Jan 17 in the UAE.
i’ll never accept captaincy: afridi lAHoRE: Pakistan’s all-rounder Shahid Afridi has claimed that he will never accept captaincy of the team in the future after having a bitter experience of leading the team. “I won’t take the job even if the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) offers it to me,” he reported to have said. The veteran player stated, “After the way I was treated last year I was heartbroken and I have decided never to be the captain again and to just carry on as a ordinary member of the team and do whatever I can for the team as a senior player. I don't want to be sacrificed time and again over the captaincy issue.” Afridi was captain of the Pakistan cricket team in ODI and Twenty20 cricket until the first quarter of last year. He led the team to the semi-final of the ICC World Cup 2011, but lost to arch rivals India in a tough clash. The veteran further added, “While playing in the UAE I did my best to ensure the environment remained good and even when I was captain I used to make every effort to ensure that the dressing room atmosphere remained good.” staff RepoRt