Pakistan’s dire recent performances in international cricket have sparked debate over the invasion of politics in sport, with claims nepotism at the top is sabotaging success on the field. Pakistan last week fell to eighth, their worst Test ranking in nearly six decades, after a shock 2-0 home series defeat to Bangladesh. It was the 10th winless home Test in a row for the country and came after humiliating early exits from both the 50-over and T20 World Cups in the past year. The current Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman is Mohsin Naqvi, who has a second full-time job as interior minister in a nation grappling with…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
NEW YORK: Aryna Sabalenka said she felt “super proud” to win the US Open and claim her third Grand Slam crown with a thrilling victory over a gallant Jessica Pegula in a rollercoaster final on Saturday. World number two Sabalenka triumphed 7-5, 7-5 to add the New York title to her back-to-back Australian Open victories. Pegula went down fighting, however, recovering from 0-3 and break point down to lead 5-3 in the second set before Sabalenka came through and fell to the court in her moment of triumph. The 26-year-old from Belarus clubbed 40 winners to become the first woman…
LONDON: England’s World Cup-winner Moeen Ali has retired from international cricket, with the 37-year-old insisting: “I’ve done my part.” The spin-bowling all-rounder, in an interview with Britain’s Daily Mail, said he made the decision after he was overlooked for England’s upcoming white-ball series against arch-rivals Australia. “I’m 37 years old and didn’t get picked for this month’s Australia series,” Ali told the newspaper. “I’ve played a lot of cricket for England. It’s time for the next generation, which was also explained to me. It felt the time was right. I’ve done my part.” Matthew Mott was sacked as head coach…
LAHORE: The future of Pakistan captains Babar Azam and Shan Masood will not be a point of discussion during the forthcoming Connection Camp — a meet planned by the country’s cricket board in order to brainstorm solutions amid the team’s recent downfall — an official of the body told Dawn on Sunday. The event, scheduled for Sept.23, in fact, will be mainly aimed at reviewing the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) policies rather than the national team’s issues, and will be attended by Pakistan’s respective white-ball and Test coaches Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie as well as the mentors of the recently-introduced five…
US soccer icon Alex Morgan bade an emotional farewell to football on Sunday as she played the final game of her glittering career before heading into retirement. The 35-year-old striker announced her decision to hang up her boots on Thursday after revealing she was pregnant with her second child. She played the first 13 minutes of the San Diego Wave’s 4-l National Women’s Soccer League loss to the visiting North Carolina Courage. “What a ride it has been,” Morgan told the cheering crowd after the match. “I want to thank my teammates who have constantly challenged me every day and…
A third of Pakistan’s urban population lives in Karachi and Lahore, leading to unplanned sprawl and growth of illegal developments. Informal settlements do not comply with planning rules, delivering substandard living conditions and disrupting city functions, says ADB’s report “Pakistan National Urban Assessment”. Karachi has two of the world’s most overpopulated residential areas, the Garden and Lyari subdivisions, according to ADB. In 2017, Karachi Central had 43,064 inhabitants/km², while similarly sized and high-rise Manhattan had 27,757 persons/km². By mid-2023, Manhattan’s population density was estimated at 28,016/km², still far below of Karachi Central in 2017. As anyone living in Karachi will attest, continuous…
Given Pakistan’s huge population, currently growing at 2.55 per cent annually, as revealed by the 7th National Population and Housing Census 2023, the country needs to boost agricultural output by at least the same rate, if not higher. Across the globe, the most common approach used to accomplish this is through intensification (enhancing crop yields and cropping intensity) and extensification (expanding cultivated area) of agriculture. From 2001 to 2022, the cultivable land area of Pakistan has remained nearly stagnant at approximately 22-22.5 million hectares, with urbanisation eating up any progress made in developing new land. However, large-scale ongoing efforts are…
Pakistan’s economy is beginning to show signs of stabilisation, as recent data on inflation and forex inflows suggest. While this is indeed a positive development and brings some much-needed optimism, steering the country towards sustainable high growth will require significant structural changes. In FY25, the federal government anticipates collecting nearly Rs13 trillion in taxes, with three-fourths of this amount being used solely for interest payments, leaving minimal fiscal space for other initiatives. To alter this trajectory, we must broaden, not just deepen, our tax base. However, Pakistan’s informal economy is almost as large as its documented sector, with currency in…
ISLAMABAD: The number of passengers travelling by air increased 31 per cent to 4.2 billion in 2023, according to a report by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The number was over 3.2bn passengers in 2022 but slightly below the pre-pandemic levels of 4.5bn passengers in 2019. In its ‘2024 Safety Report’ released this week, the global aviation body said 2023 was the safest of the past five years in terms of safety indicators such as global accident rate, number of fatal accidents, total fatalities and fatality rate. The number of commercial flight departures also increased by 13pc to over…
LONDON: Considered an experienced hand when it comes to dealing with the international lender of last resort, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has criticised the International Monetary Fund (IMF), accusing it of deliberately delaying disbursement of funds to the country after the Pakistan Democratic Movement took over the reins of the government from the PTI, leading many to speculate that Pakistan was on the brink of default. “In the past two and a half years, attempts have been made to sabotage Pakistan’s critical negotiations with the IMF,” Mr Dar, who is also the foreign minister, said at a Defence Day event organised last week…
