Will the Pakistani bowlers be able to produce something spectacular on an almost dead pitch on the final morning today?
Is India going to make the move of setting a competitive target?
Will either team be looking for a draw?
Such are the questions being asked and probed around as the last day of the third and final test match between India and Pakistan kicks off.
Continue reading ‘Pakistan vs India – It ain’t over till the fat lady sings!’
While the news of the sports of cricket back in to the Olympics is already making headlines around the world, the latest advancement to come in this regard is the definite nod from the International Olympics Committee that the Twenty20 form of the game will be a demonstration sport in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
The opportunity could not have come at a better time. The venue is perfect too. London being home to the Lords and the Oval will ensure that there are no additional construction costs involved in this regard and the cricket loving nation will definitely welcome the Twenty20 championship with open arms.
It will however take till atleast 2020 Summer Games for cricket to be fully integrated in to the Olympic Games but nevertheless, these are exciting times to look forward to.
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Due to non-sighting of the Zilhaj moon yesterday, Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman has declared that Eidul Azha will now be celebrated on Friday, December 21 this year.
Over at Gulf News, I just read about Maulana Samiul Haq, the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam with their recent (yet nothing new) demands for only males being eligible for the position of Prime Minister and President of Pakistan. How primitive is that! I don’t support BB but that does not mean I object to this radical and gender-biased approach by the party in its election manifesto!
Further to that, the JUI-S said it would discourage co-education, open separate women universities, make the Arabic language as a compulsory subject and declare English as an elective instead. The manifesto also promises to abolish interest-based banking across the country and to curtail the 17th amendment to the Constitution.
Can’t really say if this is for real or yet another chain of ‘a politician’s promises’ for the upcoming elections. We all know how ‘true’ the politicians are as far as keeping up with their election manifestos is concerned. The JUI-S is aiming for the support of the conservatives and the maulanas of Pakistan whose majority (if not entirity) are as naive as they are illiterate. I wonder how come they forgot to add ‘beard is a must’ in the manifesto. Maybe in version 2 by end December?
The JUI-S has announced its 24 candidates for the National Assembly from the North West Frontier Province and Punjab while it announced 38 candidates for the four provincial assemblies.
There goes the neighborhood!
Herald Tribune is reporting of a suicide bomber who struck a bus carrying schoolchildren today morning at a military base in Kamra, wounding at least five of the children. According to Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the wounded children have been transported to a nearby hospital. Stay tuned for more updates on this.
Seems like there are tough times ahead for either side as India and Pakistan go one on one in the last of the three test match series in Bangalore.
In the Indian camp, ace wicketkeeper and batsman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni might sit out due to a left webbing injury that he sustained while keeping during the second test match at Kolkata. The stand by keeper, Dinesh Karthik will keep wickets if Dhoni does not play. Also Yuvraj Singh is expected to take fill the gap in the batting line-up.
Over to the Pakistani camp and we see the captain Shoaib Malik also sitting out for sure with an ankle injury while Mohammad Yousaf seems to struggling with a stiff and painful back. There have also been reports of severe differences between the Pakistan Cricket Board Director and the Pakistan Team Management in Bangalore over the replacement sent for the ill fast bowlers Shoaib Akther and Mohammad Sami. The management wanted Abdul Rauf and the Director sent Iftikhar Anjum instead! In place of Shoaib, the stand in captain, Younis Khan has ‘reluctantly’ decided to lead Pakistan in to the third and final test while “keeping the country’s best interests in mind,” as he puts it. Younis is said to be pouting these days over the fact that no one in the management including the coach seemed too eager to pay any attention to his suggestions on what to do in the second test that ended in a draw.
Continue reading ‘Pak-Ind Third Test: Injuries, Replacements, Differences, and Controversies!’
President Pervez Musharraf inaugurated the first ever Burns Care Center of Pakistan at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) today. The Burns Care Centre is a state-of-the-art unit at PIMS, equipped with modern facilities to cater to the needs of patients with burn injuries coming from across the country. The 20-bed facility is the country’s first ever Burns Care Centre established in public sector, which was started in 2003 and completed with a cost of Rs 398 million.
“If you love the sport then I don’t think anybody would ever think of it. Representing your country as a player, you go out on the court to give your best and I don’t think anybody would throw a match for money. After all, tennis is a sport which pays you well!”
According to Pakistan’s ace professional Tennis player, Aisam Qureshi, it is hard to believe that the recent allegations and rumors of extensive match-fixing in professional tennis are substantial claims.
The famous sport has been rocked by allegations of match-fixing at a level as high as the Davis Cup after unusual betting patterns were observed by the ATP. Russian Nicolay Davydenko is one of the few big names under the scanner for being “deliberately” below-par in some matches.
“If it happens then it is unfortunate. It takes away the beauty of the game. It is disappointing for the millions of fans as well. Ultimately it’s about respecting the game that has given you so much and I don’t think anybody who loves the game would fall to the lure,” he added.
Aisam is currently ranked 129th in the ATP rankings. He has his eyes set on pushing in to the top 100 slots and also representing Pakistan in the upcoming Olympics in Beijing in 2008.
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He is a rebel at heart and he loves to party! These are two vital facts about Shoaib Akhtar that seem to have over-shadowed his professional statistics in Cricket in the past couple of years it seems. Amid all the controversies and confrontations he has been involved (or is currently involved) in, he wastes no opportunity to do what he desires the most: party hard and late in the company of the beautiful. In Kolkata, he did just that, yet again!
According to mid-day news website, the Pakistan team management is extremely upset over his recent romps at a discotheque which actually happens to be the third time he has been caught partying out when he shouldn’t be. Team manager Talat Ali has every reason to be frowning at Shoaib Akhter. His late night partying habits are getting a bit out of hand and some thing needs to be done about it soon. Last time I checked, we needed professionals not celebrities to play for our country. I am assuming and silently praying that PCB realises this and do take care of our very own party boy.
My personal prediction: May be Shoaib is happy about finally getting a role in Bollywood that he was talking about during the second test. He wanted to ‘express’ and ‘celebrate’ his upcoming success and therefore did what he does better than bowling. Maybe it is about time he has a career change.
Ah well, cest la vie!
Meet Trouble, a small white Maltese female. She’s cute and playful and an adorable pet. But that is not why she’s important. What differs her from any other member of her species is that she has recently inherited a fortune of £6million from her late property and hotel billionaire owner Leona Helmsley and is now receiving death threats!
Continue reading ‘Multi-millionaire dog receives death threats’
Gary Kirsten, the 40-year-old stylish former opener from South Africa will now be seen in a new role: the national coach of Indian Cricket! 
He is said to link with his new team during the third test against Pakistan in Bangalore this coming Saturday. However, he will have to wait until March to formally take charge. Till then Kirsten would act as a consultant starting from India’s scheduled tour of Australia that starts later this month.
Kirsten has currently been appointed on a two-year term and will be India’s third foreign coach ahead of the proposed home series against South Africa after the team return from Australia.
According to Kirsten, there had been some reservations and concerns over whether senior players were behind his appointment but said on Tuesday he had signed the contract. He will succeed Greg Chappell, who quit after the team’s shock first round exit from the one-day World Cup in March earlier this year.
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Pakistan government has formally retired 37 judges including the former Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chowdhury. The retired judges also includes the lone Hindu judge in Pakistan, Rana Bhagwandas.
“Thirteen judges of the Supreme Court and 24 judges of the high courts of Lahore, Peshawar and Sindh stand retired with the issuance of notification by the law ministry,” Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum.
The notification was issued last night. The judges will also not be entitled to their post-retirement benefits and will have to vacate their official residences to facilitate their successors.
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Pakistan’s major opposition parties joined forces on Tuesday in drawing up a list of demands for President Pervez Musharraf to meet if he wants to avoid a threatened boycott of next month’s elections. As conditions for their participation in parliamentary elections, the parties are preparing to demand the end of emergency rule and the release of former Supreme Court judges.
The move raises the stakes for Musharraf’s government as part of efforts that Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister, likened to a war to “save Pakistan from further destruction.”
Continue reading ‘Boycott option is still open – Pakistan Opposition Parties’
She shaved her head… attacked a photographer’s car with an umbrella… checked in and out of rehab… locked horns in a desperate custody battle with her ex-hubby Kevin Federline over her two kids… flashed her panty-less crotch in public… made out with random people… released an average album after a gap of four years… is rumored to be pregnant for the third time… and the list goes on and on.
Even though the disgraced pop diva has had one hell of a roller coaster year, she still managed to fascinate people the most in 2007 as she heads the list of the top 10 searches on Yahoo.
Over time she has become completely unpredictable and at times you just can not imagine what to expect from her next.
“From when she shaved her head and rumours emerged from the rehab mill that she was calling herself the anti-Christ and shaved 666 on her scalp, there was constant tracking of this almost modern-day Greek tragedy happening in front of us.”
Britney Spears has topped the annual Yahoo list for six of the past seven years, only losing out once in 2004 to her friend and fellow party girl PARIS HILTON. But overall the Britney Spears searches were up from a year ago.
Fellow friend and actress LINDSAY LOHAN came sixth in the search list, up from No 10.
The No 2 search, unchanged from last year, was for WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment, with a lot of interest in the death of professional wrestler CHRIS BENOIT who killed his wife and son then hanged himself and his steroid use.
Now here is some good news for all of you die hard fans of the Prince of Persia series. Collider has confirmed that the shooting for the epic video-game based movie will commence in June 2008. It’s about time!
Personally, Prince of Persia is one franchise I would simply love to see made in to a movie. I mean come on, the prince deserves it after countless duels with monsters and wizards and all that running after (and from) other heavenly creatures and what not.
It is still to be decided as to what will be the storyline for the movie but it sure promises to be a treat! Watch out for more news on this in the coming months!
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