KARACHI: Pakistan’s ex-stars blamed team discord and biased selection for the Asian cricket powerhouse’s humiliating first-round exit from the Twenty20 World Cup. The 2009 champions were knocked out after the USA-Ireland match was abandoned because of rain — the earliest-ever elimination from a T20 World Cup for Pakistan. They suffered a shock defeat to first-timers USA before losing to arch-rivals India. Pakistan’s only win was against Canada. “Pakistani players think that if they don’t perform well, the coaches will be sacked, and nothing will happen to them,” former captain Wasim Akram said during a broadcast after the defeat to India. “It is time to keep the coaches and…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
LAUDERHILL (Florida): India’s T20 World Cup group match against Canada in Lauderhill, Florida was abandoned on Saturday, after rain left the Central Broward Park stadium with wet patches in the outfield. India progressed to the Super Eight stage as the top team in Group ‘A’ with seven points from four matches. Canada, already eliminated, finished with three points. The United States’ match against Ireland at the same venue was also called off on Friday due to a wet outfield after unrelenting rain, which had put South Florida at risk of life-threatening flooding. The cancellation resulted in Pakistan being eliminated and the US…
AS on many previous occasions, Pakistan needed other results going their way, and some divine intervention, to stay in the tournament. That did not happen this time. On cricket’s newfound land, at the T20 World Cup in the US, Pakistan’s luck ran out. The rains and the accompanying flooding in Florida washed away the last vestiges of hope for Pakistan. The abandonment of the US-Ireland clash, without a ball being bowled on Friday, meant the hosts advanced to the Super Eights at the expense of Pakistan. The US team’s shock Super Over victory over Babar Azam’s men propelled them into the next round of…
LAUDERHILL (Florida): With arch-rivals India and USA sealing the two spots for the Super Eight stage from Group ‘A’, Pakistan have been confined to some introspection and relook at their T20 game. But before all that, Babar’s side will have to first thwart the Irish challenge. Ireland had beaten Pakistan comprehensively in a bilateral game in days leading to the T20 World Cup and the contest — if at all it happens — could see both the teams in green fighting hard for a final laugh. Ireland are the only team without a win in Group ‘A’ and they will be inspired…
ISLAMABAD: Julian Gorman, head of Asia-Pacific at GSMA, has expressed concerns that Pakistan’s recent increase in taxes on mobile phone manufacturing could jeopardise the GSMA’s Smartphone for All initiative. Talking to the media, Mr Gorman highlighted that mobile phone penetration in Pakistan is currently at 40 per cent, a figure that should exceed 70pc given the country’s substantial youth population. He noted that less than 60pc of mobile users in Pakistan own smartphones, limiting access to fintech and other essential digital services. The GSMA has said that Pakistan lacks a vision and direction for digitalisation, which is necessary to achieve…
KARACHI: While appreciating Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s decision to cut the electricity rate by Rs10.69 per unit for the industrial sector, the trade and industry leaders continued to criticise the budgetary measures announced for the fiscal year 2024-25. Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Atif Ikram Sheikh acknowledged the government’s efforts in formulating a comprehensive budget under challenging economic conditions. He, however, said some specific provisions in the Finance Bill 2024 may negatively impact exporters. In a letter to the PM, the FPCCI chief said the shift from a fixed one per cent withholding income tax to the…
ISLAMABAD: Textile and clothing exports experienced a significant rebound with double-digit growth in May after a slower growth in the previous two months. According to data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), exports increased 18 per cent to $1.55 billion in May, compared to $1.32 billion in the same month last year. On a month-on-month basis, exports surged 25.94pc. However, textile and clothing exports posted a paltry growth of 1.41pc to $15.24bn in 11MFY24 from $15.02bn last year. The increase in growth was attributed to the release of the stuck orders from previous months. The government has introduced…
QUETTA: Balochistan Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Ahmed Nosherwani will present over Rs800 billion budget for the next financial year 2024-25 in the provincial assembly on June 22, officials disclosed on Saturday. Officials in the finance department said Balochistan would receive Rs667.5bn as its share under the NFC Award from the federal government during the year 2024-25, while the province was given over Rs493.70bn under NFC Award in the current financial year. According to sources, the province would receive Rs20.55bn on account of oil and gas royalties during the financial year 2024-25. While presiding over a consultative meeting of the coalition…
STOCKHOLM: Sweden and Iran carried out a prisoner exchange on Saturday, officials said, with Sweden freeing a former Iranian official convicted for his role in a mass execution in the 1980s while Iran released two Swedes being held there. The prisoner swap was mediated by Oman, the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “Omani efforts resulted in the two sides agreeing on a mutual release, as those released were transferred from Tehran and Stockholm,” it said. Sweden had freed former Iranian official Hamid Noury, Iran’s top human rights official said on X. Noury, who had been convicted for his…
HAVANA: A Canadian navy patrol ship sailed into Havana on Friday, just hours after the United States announced a fast-attack submarine had docked at its Guantanamo naval base in Cuba, both vessels on the heels of Russian warships that arrived on the island earlier this week. The confluence of Russian, Canadian and US vessels in Cuba — a Communist-run island nation just 145 km south of Florida — was a reminder of old Cold War tensions and fraught ties between Russia and Western nations over the Ukraine war. However, both the US and Cuba have said the Russian warships pose…
