Posts Tagged ‘Karachi’
Written by admin on 21 October 2011
Karachi, Oct 21 (IANS/WAM) UAE Consul General Suhail Mattar Al Ketbi met Sindh Governor Ishrat-ul-Ebad to discuss a trade exhibition to be held in this southern Pakistani port city.
Al Ketbi said the ‘Wonders from the Seven Emirates’, to be organised by the UAE’s foreign ministry, aims to showcase investment opportunities in the UAE and Pakistan, promote the UAE’s products and expand trade exchanges between the two countries.
‘The UAE and Pakistan enjoy excellent economic relations. Pakistani businessmen are surely interested in boosting their trade relations with the UAE’s business community,’ Al Ketbi said.
Ishrat-ul-Ebad expressed his personal interest in providing all facilities for the success of the event.
–IANS/WAM
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Tags: Karachi
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Written by admin on 18 October 2011
Karachi, Oct 18 (IANS) Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi Tuesday came out of retirement saying he is available for selection for the limited-over formats now that a new chairman is in charge of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Afridi, who led his country to World Cup semi-finals earlier this year, announced his retirement two months later after he was stripped of the ODI captaincy following a spat with coach Waqar Younis and former PCB chairman Ijaz Butt.
He had, however, said it was a ‘conditional’ retirement, stating that if there were changes in the PCB and the team management, he would consider playing for Pakistan again.
‘I didn’t as such retire,’ Afridi was quoted as saying in Espncricinfo. ‘I only said I will not play under the previous board but now people are changed – exactly what I wanted – so I am available for selection for the country.’
Since then, Younis has quit as coach of the national team, and Butt has been replaced as PCB chairman by Muhammad Zaka Ashraf. Afridi said he had not really retired but had only said he wouldn’t play under the previous (Ijaz Butt-led) board.
Tags: Karachi
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Written by admin on 17 October 2011
Karachi, Oct 17 (IANS) Pakistan’s chief selector and interim coach Mohsin Khan has asked middle-order batsman Umar Akmal to ‘stop being selfish’ and work on playing big innings.
Akmal was dropped for the Test series against Sri Lanka in the UAE and advised to play in domestic cricket.
‘There is no doubt over his (Akmal’s) potential or talent. But he has not done enough to remain in the team,’ Mohsin was quoted as saying in espncricinfo.
‘Basically we have given him a message. ‘Go and play domestic cricket and learn to play big innings’. Learn to turn your thirties and forties into hundreds for the team. Stop being selfish.”
Akmal had not scored a Test century since making an impressive debut in 2009. He was dropped for the two Tests in New Zealand last year after a lean patch. He was recalled for the Tests in the West Indies, but was dropped from the Test squad against Sri Lanka after scoring only one half-century in 2011.
‘To tell you the truth, I was chief selector when we dropped Umar for the Test series [against Sri Lanka], but even if I had been the coach I would have still dropped him,’ Mohsin said. ‘He would not have found a place in my team.’
‘It is not my team or the PCB’s team. It is Pakistan’s team and those who are selected must justify themselves no matter how good they are.’
Mohsin was appointed Pakistan’s interim coach to fill the vacancy created by Waqar Younis’ resignation after the Zimbabwe tour.
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Written by admin on 15 October 2011
Karachi, Oct 15 (IANS) The Pakistani cricket team departed for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Saturday to play a bilateral series against Sri Lanka, starting with the first Test Tuesday.
The Pakistani squad led by skipper Misbah-ul-Haq flew to the UAE from the Allama Iqbal International Airport in the country’s eastern city of Lahore, Xinhua reported.
Team captain Haq said that the current team is balanced with the combination of junior and senior players, and it will try its best to give positive results in the series played at a neutral venue.
‘Boys (players) have worked on different areas to improve as tough matches are expected against Sri Lanka,’ Haq added.
On the occasion Pakistan’s interim coach Mohsin Khan stressed the need for the Pakistani players to focus on being mentally tough during the series.
‘We have talented players who have good records, and I hope that they would show their improvement in the game,’ said Khan.
Pakistan and Sri Lankan teams are scheduled to play five One-Day Internationals, three Tests and one Twenty20 International at the Sheikh Zayed International Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Sri Lanka led by batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan have already reached the UAE.
These matches were scheduled to be played in Pakistan but Sri Lanka refused to send their team for security reasons. The Sri Lankan cricket team bus was ambushed by unidentified gunmen March 3, 2009, in Lahore on its way to stadium. Eight Pakistanis, including six policemen, were killed and six Sri Lankan players and two officials were injured.
The grave incident meant international sports activities were stopped in the country as other nations refused to send their teams.
Tags: Karachi
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Written by admin on 13 October 2011
Karachi, Oct 13 (IANS) Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt called the spot-fixing incident a ‘very sad’ episode during his tenure, and hoped the measures taken by the board will curb the menace in the future.
The spot-fixing trial involving three Pakistani cricketers — former skipper Salman Butt, fast bowler Mohammad Asif and teenage bowler Mohammad Aamir — is now on at London’s Southwark Crown Court.
Butt and Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, relating to the Lord’s Test in August last year. They allegedly conspired with agent Mazhar Majeed, teenage fast bowler Aamir and other unknown people to bowl pre-determined no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.
‘I cannot control what individuals do. We cannot monitor them 24/7. It was and remains a very sad episode. We at the PCB have been trying to do what we can possibly do to ensure this sort of thing doesn’t occur in the future,’ Butt, whose tenure ended Saturday, was quoted as saying in pakpasion.net.
‘We have implemented educational programmes at all levels of domestic cricket, from first class cricket right down to club cricket, to ensure that all of the players know the difference between right and wrong.’
‘We have had a team of individuals working on this project led by Wasim Bari and they are working all over Pakistan, including in the rural areas, educating cricketers at all levels,’ he said.
Butt said he enjoyed his stint as the PCB chairmman and feels he had fulfilled the targets he set for himself.
‘I enjoyed my stay. I think I have tried my best. I accept some criticism as I have made some mistakes also. I think I have achieved what I had planned,’ Butt said.
‘I think there were a number of good things (during my term). The curbing and subsequent elimination of player power is one good thing and we have been able to get youngsters coming through the system and into the Pakistan team in all formats. The strengthening of domestic cricket is something that I feel has gone well and I think domestic cricket in Pakistan is set up nicely for the future,’ Butt said.
Speaking over former skipper Shahid Afridi’s fallout with the board, Butt said they had not hesitated in taking action against those who breached the discipline.
‘I don’t wish to talk about individual episodes but we have brought discipline into the team and we have been very strict on enforcing discipline and there have been no compromises on discipline.’
‘We took strict action on any player who didn’t adhere to the disciplinary codes we have enforced and who went beyond the disciplinary steps laid down by the International Cricket Council.’
Tags: Karachi
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Written by admin on 12 October 2011
Karachi, Oct 12 (IANS) Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has appointed close friend Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf as the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) replacing former Test cricketer Ijaz Butt.
Like all his predecessors, Ashraf is quoted in the Pakistan media as saying that his priority is to give the Pakistan cricket a face-lift.
Ashraf has been asked to take over the reins with immediate effect and Butt’s request for a six-month extension was rejected.
Ashraf, 59, a member of the executive committee of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, told a private TV channel that he would work hard to live up to the confidence reposed in him by the President, who is also the patron of the PCB, and promised to work for resumption of cricket ties between India and Pakistan.
‘People in both Pakistan and India love cricket so I will try to work for the resumption of ties between the two countries,’ Ashraf said.
Butt, who many thought would not see through his three-year tenure, had a tough time tackling the problems faced by the country’s cricket and the 73-year-old was under fire from both aficionados, former players and officials.
Butt got into trouble for alleging that the English players were mixed up in match-fixing and he had to retract the statement after being threatened to proceed against legally.
Butt also got into problems by sacking Shahid Afridi as captain and before that Australian coach Geoff Lawson. He had a running battle with former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad who was appointed in a key position in the PCB administration by Zardari.
It was after several days of speculation that President Zardari decided not to give extension to Butt and to appoint Ashraf.
Ashraf’s appointment was a bit of surprise as the President and CEO of the Zarai Tarqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) was not in the race.
A senior banker Ali Reza and former Pakistan Test captain Zaheer Abbas were the frontrunners for the job.
Ashraf pulled it off because of his close proximity to Zardari as he was a collegemate of Zardari.
The highly influential Ashraf is also the chairman of the Ashraf Group of Industries and has served on the public and private sectors boards. He was also the chairman of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA).
A PCB source said Ashraf has never been associated with any sports body and his knowledge of cricket is suspect.
The first signs of Ashraf’s appointment came when he was closeted with the President Tuesday evening even as Butt made a hurried exit from the PCB headquarters at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Butt had returned to Lahore Monday after attending an ICC Executive Board meeting in Dubai and he was told this afternoon that his request for extension was turned down by the President. Butt’s term ended Saturday.
Before bowing out, Butt announced that India had agreed to play a charity match against Pakistan to raise funds for the flood-hit people in Pakistan.
Butt also stated that the next ICC president would be from Pakistan or Bangladesh.
– Indo-Asian News Service
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