Bari applauds Zimbabwe cricketers courage to tour Pakistan K ARACHI —Former skipper, Wasim Bari Wednesday applauded the courage of Zimbabwean cricket team to tour Pakistan and open the door of international cricket in Pakistan. “Zimmbabwean players officials board should be applauded for the courage in touring Pakistan,” he told APP in an interview here. The whole nation should salute them,” he added. “They have taken this decision because they know that isolation is very dangerous and does not promote the cause of international cricket. He thanked them for helping brotherly cricketing nation of Pakistan to come out of isolation and strengthen the bonding and bilateral relation between the two brotherly countries. “Its great gesture by Zimbabwe
Shoaib, Barkat win U-14, U-18 Age Group Tennis C’ship
team and Cricket Zimbabwe to go ahead with the historic tour despite apprehensions,” Pakistan greastest gloveman, commented. Elton Chigumbura’s Zimbabwean team is first Test side to tour Pakistan after terrorists attacked Sri Lankan team bus on second march 2009. He said Zimbabwe team is fighting unit and they can offer Pakistan team a great challenge in Twenty20 Internationals as well as One-day series. “Zimbabwe may be without Brendon Taylor, Burt in my opinion they they got the firepower in batting, bowling and fielding to offer stiff challenge to Pakistan team,” he said. He said Security is the problem everywhere in the world and some risk has to be taken for a worthy cause. “Cricket in Pakistan very much
needed this tour as the cricket supporters were hungry for seeing international cricket. “Young cricket players will get an opportunity of watching international cricket after over six years and selecting their role model to become themselves future cricket stars for Pakistan,” he said. “I sincerely hope that this tour will give confidence to other cricketing nations to follow in the steps of Zimbabwean team”. He said Pakistan Cricket Board must also be complemented as well for finalizing this tour in a difficult situation. “Cricket in Pakistan is not a game but a passion, I end my statement by recalling great late Nelson Mandela saying “Sport has power to change the world.—APP
FATA stun Sindh in PSB Inter-Provincial Badminton P ESHAWAR —FATA stunned Sindh by 2-1 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are taking part. and took berth into the semi-finals of the
It is for the first time that FATA reached
minton Championship, which got under way here at Tariq Wadood Hall, Qayyum Sports Complex on Wednesday. Adviser to the Chief Minister on Sports Amjad Khan Afridi was the chief guest on this occasion who formally inaugurated the Championship. Member Provincial Assembly PML (N) Akbar Hayat, Director Sports Female Games Rashida Ghaznavi, Director Sports Training and Games Tariq Mehmood, Secretary KP Badminton Association Haji Amjad, Organizing Secretary Syed Sadaqat Shah were also present. The opening ceremony started with the recitation from Holy Quran by Khalil of Balochistan, followed by national anthem. The March Past of the participating teams four of the girls teams comprising Punjab, Sindh, Islamabad and Peshawar, and six boys teams including Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Islamabad, FATA and host
Sheraz of FATA beat Haris of Sindh by 3-1, the score was 21-23, 21-19, 21-18 and 23-21 and in the doubles Fawad Ali and Sheraz of FATA beat Haris and Zain Ahmad by 3-0, the score was 21-19, 21-18 and 21-19 while in the reverse singles Fawad Ali beat Zain Ahmad by 3-0, the score was 21-19, 23-21 and 21-18. In the Girls event KP beat Islamabad by 3-0. Malika beat Tayaba by 3-0, the score was 21-19, 21-19 and 21-18, Arif beat Arena by 3-0, the score was 21-19, 21-18 and 2117, while Punjab beat Sindh by 3-0. In the first singles Maryum beat Sana by 3-0 while Zainab beat Yusra by 3-0 and Sanam and Asifa beat Zanaib and Sadaf by 3-0, in the boys event Islamabad beat Balochistan by 3-0. Zain beat Shah Nawaz by 3-0 while in the doubles Tahir and Zain beat Najeeb and Shah Nawaz by 3-0 and moved to the next round.—APP
P ESHAWAR —Shoaib Khan PSB Inter-Provincial Boys and Girls Bad- the semi-final after defeating Sindh team.
and Barkat Ullah clinched the titles of the Under-14 and Under-18 Age Group Tennis Championship, which concluded here at Synthetic Courts of Qayyum Sports Complex on Wednesday. Adviser to the Chief Minister on Sports Amajd Khan Afridi, former Sports Minister Syed Aqil Shah, Member Provincial Assembly PML (N) Arbab Akbar Hayat, Director General Sports Captain (Retd) Mian Adil Iqbal, President Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tennis Association Dr. Tahir, Secretary Umar Ayaz, officials, players and spectators were also present. In the Under-14 final Shoaib Khan beat Aqib Umar in marathon final, the score was 3-6, 6-4 and 7-5 (66). Both Shoaib Khan and Aqib Umar gave each other tough fight. Shoaib Khan, a baseline player, played very attacking game but failed to click in the first set won by Aqib Umar at 3-6. The score was tied at 3-3 all but charged Aqib Umar gave no chance to top seed Shoaib Khan and won three consecutive sets by 6-4 and 7-5. Earlier, in the semi-finals Shoaib Khan beat Hamza Roman by 6-3, 6-3 in another thrilling battle while Aqib Umar beat Kashan Umar by 6-1, 6-3 and marched into the final. In the Under-18 Barkat Ullah, who was recently enrolled in the PIA, defeated Saqib Umar by 6-3 and 6-4 in a thrilling final. Both Barkat Ullah and Saqib Umar exhibited their class and received thundering applauses.—APP
PESHAWAR: Provincial Minister Sports Amjad Afridi with players at inaugurating cremony of male and female badminton championship.
PESHAWAR: Director General Sports giving trophy to Inter-Regional Hockey Championship winner at Qayyum Stadium.
Over 3000 athletes to feature in 1st Inter-Provincial games ISLAMABAD–Over 3000 athletes will participate in the 1st Quaid-e-Azam InterProvincial Games that will roll into action from June 912 June at Pakistan Sports Complex, Islamabad. Teams from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan as well as Gilgit-Baltistan, AJK, FATA and Islamabad Sports Boards are eligible to participate in the four-day mega event, a Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) spokesman told APP. The event being organized by PSB was part of a sports’ programme launched by federal government for continuous sports’ activities spread over a period of five years with maximum participation from all over the country. “Competitions will be held in male and female categories in athletics, badminton, football, hockey, judo, karate, squash, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and volleyball. However, wrestling will be competed in male category only,” the spokesman added. He said winners would be awarded cash prizes, medals and merit certificates adding that four Provincial Sports Boards, including Fata, AJK, Gilgit Baltistan and Islamabad had confirmed their participation. “The basic objective of the event is to promote national harmony and to promote healthy activities among the youth,” he added.—APP
Proposals for re-structuring of the PCB..! SYED NAYYAR UDDIN AHMAD
A
S they say the proof of pud ding is in the eating. Let us evaluate only the ODI results since Mr. Najam Sethi and later on Mr. Shahryar Khan, took over the charge of the PCB: 1. Pakistan after losing all the matches, came last in the 8 nation champions trophy, played in the UK, in June-July 2013. 2. When Pakistani team visited Zimbabwe, it was defeated in an ODI and also in a Test match, in August 2013. 3. Pakistan lost the ODI Asian championship and in the T20 World Cup, for the first time we did not even play the semi finals in Dhaka, during February & March 2014. 4. Now, during the tenure of Mr. Shahryar Khan, we lost 2-1 to SL in SL, 3-0 to Australia & 3-2 to NZ in UAE. Went to NZ & lost 2-0 to its B team and then again 2-0 to NZ. 5. PCB deliberately kept under the carpet the review report of the World Cup debacle, submitted on 4 April, 2015. 6. The Chairman PCB, promised another review of the BD debacle, where we even lost to the B team of the BD, in the practise match and were throughly humiliated and consequently relegated to the 9th position, in the ODI team rankings and from 3rd to 6th position among the Test teams. 7. Now the chairman PCB is again silent over the Dhaka debacle and wants to bury the vital issues of the accountability of the three pillars of the edifice of the cricket i.e., the chief selector, captain and the coach. 8. The nation demands resignation of Mr. Haroon Rashid after
his statement in a live TV program of Syed Yahya Hussani that he was responsible for the team’s performance in Bangladesh. 9. If Muhammad Sami is to be recalled for the T20 matches vs Zimbabwe, then why not also call back Saleem Jaffer, who is almost of the same age group? Moreover, the inclusion of Shoaib Malik in the T20 team (not even deserving to be in the Test team) proves beyond any shadow of a doubt, the intellectual bankruptcy of all the selectors, who instead of moving forward, are taking our cricket back to veterans era. 10. The chairman must take (for the sake of Pakistan) ruthless and surgical actions in the cricket administration of the PCB, against all the persons (including Mr. Misbah ul Haq) who are responsible for destroying our cricket since after the World Cup 2011, to the extent that we have started losing with consistency, against the B teams of NewZealand and Bangladesh. 11. The worry is not that we are losing against all and sundry. Rather, the point to ponder is that we have regularly started losing in 32-34 overs. Even we lost to Bangladesh in 39 overs. Moreover, our team very rarely bats full quota of 50 overs. We are the shameful holders of the world records for playing highest number of DOT balls, lowest score average of ALL teams in 1st 10 overs i.e., 39 runs and lowest score (14 runs) world record in 1st 10 overs. All this proves that we are totally out of sync with the demands of the modern day cricket; and the entire cricketing experts in the PCB, are hell bent selecting old cricketers who can be much better off,
playing golf very leisurely. 12. Under the circumstances, we should be ready for more humiliating defeats in the coming days, after the euphoria of the Zimbabwe tour is over. 13. If we can’t beat the Sri Lankan team in the tour of Sri Lanka, starting from 6th June, then it will be curtains for Pakistan’s participation, in the next champions trophy. 14. As such, the only way for improvement is ruthless accountability for all those directly and indirectly associated with the cricket in the PCB, including the person who allowed paid holidays for the chief selector (s) to the World Cup and then recently to Sri Lanka, on the pretext of witnessing the performance of Pakistan’s A team in Sri Lanka; which by the way was again a dismal story, because our expert selectors headed by the genius chief selector, selected players like Khurram Manzoor for the ODI team. 15. The PCB man who allowed the chief selector and another selector to do commentary in the recently held T20 domestic tournament, in clear violation of the rules of the CONFLICT OF INTEREST, should also be severely taken to task. This rule is so much important that the Indian Supreme Court removed Mr. N. Srinivasan from the post of the president of the BCCI, just on the basis of conflict of interest. 16. Until and unless, the chairman PCB is willing for an internal overhaul, rather than the current policy of MITTI PAOO, nothing good should be expected, even from the Zimbabwe team’s tour to Pakistan. 17. In this regard, after abolish-
ing the post of the COO, the PCB should be immediately restructured and divided in two areas of Cricket Affairs and Administration Affairs, each to headed by a Director General. 18. The current COO should be re- designated as DG (Administration) with Finance, HR, Supply Chain, Administration & Logestics, Security and IT departments directly reporting to the DG (Administration). 19. The DG Cricket Affairs should look after all matters relating to the cricket development or Academies, domestic and international affairs, matters relating to the appointments of chief selector and selectors, coaches, team selection etc. DG (CA) should also look after all the domestic and international affairs of the women’s cricket. The selection of DG (CA) should be decided on the following criteria: a). Must be a man of impeccable integrity and honesty with spotless cricketing career. b). Must be a renowned legendary cricketer of international repute. c). Must have known international connections with officials of the ICC board members and international retired and playing cricketers. d). Must be a communication expert. e). Must posses a graduation degree, as a minimum educational qualification. 20. The authority of the chairman PCB to appoint the captains, should remain intact with the chairman PCB and the DG (CA) must be answerable to the chairman PCB for the achievement of the key performance indicators.
Peshawar clinch Inter-Region Youth Games Hockey C’ship PESHAWAR—Peshawar clinched the trophy tional camp, with his drag-push netted a after securing 2-0 victory against Bannu in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inter-Region Youth Games Hockey Championship played here at Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium on Wednesday. Director General Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Captain (Retd) Mian Adil Iqbal was the chief guest on this occasion. Organizing Secretary Syed Zahir Shah, Chairman KP Hockey Association and Vice President Pakistan Hockey Federation Muhammad Saeed Khan, Director Sports Tariq Mehmood, officials and players were also present. The match was stared on fast temp and soon Peshawar opened the account through full back Zahid who netted a penalty corner. This was the inside left Sami Ullah who travelled past three defenders and when reached near the D area got the penalty corner. Zahid, who recently attended the na-
fine goal to make the tally 1-0. After taking lead, Peshawar made some attacking moves but failed to score any goal. Bannu, after conceding a goal managed their position and raided the rival defence time and again but failed to score. Till the end of the first session, Peshawar was leading by 1-0. It was the second session in which Peshawar kept up pressure by making some fine inroads as a result in the 59th minute Peshawar slammed in another goal through inside left Sami Ullah on the field attempt. Bannu on the other hands tried their hard to level the tally but failed and thus Peshawar won the match by 2-0. At the end, the chief guest gave away trophies, certificates and medals to the winners and runners-up. Teams from Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Kohat, Mardan, Swat, Hazara and host Peshawar took part in the Championship.—APP
Aamer fired up after ‘tough’ fix ban S YDNEY —Pakistan’s Mohammad Aamer vation for me,” he said. admits he almost gave up cricket after being hit with a five-year ban for spot-fixing, but the paceman is now fired up to take wickets and repair his reputation. The left-arm quick, along with new-ball partner Mohammad Asif and then-captain Salman Butt, was banned for delivering pre-arranged no-balls in return for money during the Lord’s Test against England in 2010. The International Cricket Council relaxed his penalty in January after the Pakistan Cricket Board requested he be allowed to play domestic cricket before the ban officially expires in September. “I must admit I have been given a new life,” Aamer said on the Cricket Australia website Wednesday. “I will try my best to avail this opportunity. I am ready to put in the hard yards to serve Pakistan.” Since the ban was relaxed Aamer has been playing in the Patron’s Trophy in Pakistan, which is one level below first-class, and has been taking wickets. His manager Syed Noman Nazir told the website teams were trying to lure him to play in Australia’s Big Bash League, but Aamer’s “preference will be to feature in Pakistan’s first-class tournament starting this September”. Aamer said he is aiming for a gradual return to international cricket, but only after regaining his full rhythm. There have been suggestions he is focusing on a place in the Pakistan Test side for a potential series to be played against India in the UAE in December. “I am extremely pleased to see the crowd and fans supporting me after the comeback. It really is huge force of moti-
“They have lot of expectations from me. Now it is my responsibility to not let them down.” During his long hiatus, Aamer admitted that he thought about giv-
ing up cricket but his coach Asif Bajwa convinced him to stay focused on the game. “I don’t have words to explain how tough last four years were for me. It is not easy when your bread and butter is stopped and you have no other income,” he said. “I was in a situation that I wasn’t even allowed to touch a ball. It was really difficult. “To be honest, yes, there were a few moments when I had lost hope, when I couldn’t see anything coming my way.”—AFP
KARACHI: Winner Mirpurkhas team with Mehtab Uddin Chawala, Yahya Polani Mrs Asma Shah, Ateeq-ur-Rehman, Jehangir Mughal, Kalim ur Rehman, Jamil Ahmed Memon, Ms Mariam Chaudhry, Zeeshan Taqi and others.