ISLAMABAD: The timid batting of Pakistan’s cricket team has left the country’s former cricketers and fans furious after rival India snatched a thrilling six-run win in the marquee game at the Twenty20 World Cup in New York.
A second successive loss in Group A on Sunday left Pakistan in danger of not advancing to the Super 8 stage of the tournament being jointly hosted by the US and the West Indies.
The United States, playing at the World Cup for first time, already made history last Thursday when it beat Pakistan in a Super Over after both teams were locked at 159 during the regulation 20-overs game.
Only two teams from each of the four groups advance to the second stage. So Pakistan needs to win its remaining games against Canada and Ireland and also hope results of other group games go in its favor to progress.
“I think I should have a template text ‘disappointed and hurt’ automatically set to be posted,” wrote former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“We should give credit to Pakistan, they tried their best to lose this game, I could not think any other way,” Akhtar said on national television’s sports channel PTV Sports. “It was run-a-ball, nobody asked you to hit and do anything stupid. Shocking, surprised, disappointed, but that was expected.”
Akhtar said the Pakistan team is made up of ordinary cricketers and he has no hope the team will get better in the future.
“They won’t change,” he said. “You are demanding extraordinary things from average people, you won’t get it. When mediocrity comes in you can’t get beyond that. That’s what you are getting from your investment (in cricket) for the last 20 years.”
Akhtar also criticized the International Cricket Council for the drop-in pitches in New York where all the five games have been low-scoring ones.
“Who makes that kind of tracks?” he questioned. “You had one year to prepare yourself. Hello ICC, wake up.”
Pakistan blew an ideal opportunity after its fast bowlers had bowled out India for 119 in 19 overs on another tricky surface where batters continued to struggle. It was cruising along at 80-3 in 13 overs when set batter Mohammad Rizwan played a reckless shot against Jasprit Bumrah and eventually Pakistan got restricted at 113-7.
“Batsmen throw it away as Pakistan lose to India in low-scoring nailbiter,” read the headline on the front page of English daily newspaper Dawn. The newspaper also splashed the picture of Rizwan on his knee after getting clean bowled and Bumrah celebrating the dismissal with Virat Kohli.
“Pakistan squander solid start as India claim T20 thriller,” headlined The News, another English daily.
Pakistan’s former fast bowling greats Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, who commentated on the game from New York, also vented their anger after the defeat against India.
“They have been playing cricket for 10 years and I can’t teach them,” Akram said. “Rizwan has no game awareness. He should have known Bumrah was given the ball to take wickets and that the wise thing would have been to play his deliveries cautiously, but Rizwan went for the big shot and lost his wicket.”
Younis said it was a horrible performance from the batters.
“Pakistan, if you can’t win this game, what should I say?,” he said. “This was given to you on a plate and Pakistan really spilled it. It was horrible performance by the Pakistan batters. There were a few partnerships in the beginning but they couldn’t really finish the game.
Thousands of cricket-mad fans had gathered in front of large screens in major cities in Pakistan to watch the blockbuster contest between the two nuclear-armed nations that have not played in any bilateral cricket matches for over a decade, but regularly play against each other in the ICC tournaments.
At least 17,000 people watched the game live on screens at the Pindi Cricket Stadium ‘fan park’, specifically set up by the ICC.
“I can’t believe it,” said 20-year-old university student Ibrahim Irfan after he walked out of the stadium in disbelief with his four friends. “It’s disgusting to say the least. How can they lose a game while chasing such a small target? We need a major overhaul. We are sick and tired of watching the same useless batters like Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim.”
Ahmed Awan, another fan who watched the game on giant screen in Karachi, said Pakistan players play for personal milestones.
“They bowled well but the batting was disappointing. They are playing for personal milestones … they should open the batting with tailenders and also in the middle order. The openers should come in the latter half of the game, be it (captain) Babar (Azam) or Rizwan.”
Loss to rival India at T20 World Cup leaves former Pakistan cricket greats and fans furious
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Loss to rival India at T20 World Cup leaves former Pakistan cricket greats and fans furious
- A second successive loss in Group A on Sunday left Pakistan in danger of not advancing to the Super 8 stage of the tournament
- The United States, playing at the World Cup for first time, already made history last Thursday when it beat Pakistan in Super Over
Pakistan launches operation in Kurram district, sets up camps for displaced families
- Tribal and sectarian clashes since Nov. 21 have killed at least 136 people in Kurram and caused medicine, food and fuel shortages
- A senior police official says military will lead the operation in Kurram’s Bagan area, with police providing ‘second-tier support’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have launched an operation to clear the northwestern Pakistani district of Kurram of militants, a senior police official said on Sunday, following months of unrest in the region.
Kurram, a district of around 600,000 people in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, has been rocked by tribal and sectarian clashes since November 21, when armed men attacked a convoy of Shia passengers, killing 52 people.
The attack sparked further violence and blockade of a main road connecting Kurram’s main town of Parachinar with the provincial capital of Peshawar, causing medicine, food and fuel shortages in the area, as casualties surged to 136.
The operation in Lower Kurram comes after the KP government announced the establishment of camps for temporarily displaced persons (TDPs), following an ambush on a supply convoy that killed 10 people on Thursday.
“The operation has commenced in Lower Kurram’s Bagan area and the sanitization process to clear the area is underway,” Abbas Majeed Marwat, the Kohat regional police officer (RPO), told Arab News.
“The military will lead the operation, with the police providing second-tier support through the Elite Force, regular police, and other security forces.”
Asked about the scale of the operation, Marwat said it was targeted at specific areas where militants were using hideouts to sabotage peace efforts.
“The operation will focus on certain pockets, particularly in Bagan and its adjacent areas,” he said.
Thursday’s ambush targeted a convoy of 33 vehicles set to resupply local traders in the region with rice, flour and cooking oil and two aid vehicles carrying essential medicine. It followed a similar attack on a supply convoy this month that injured five people, including a top administration official in the region.
The violence has continued despite a peace agreement signed between the warring tribes on Jan. 1. Under the peace agreement, both sides had agreed on the demolition of bunkers and the handover of heavy weapons to authorities within two weeks.
RPO Marwat said the operation aimed to target elements “embedded within the local community who were acting as spoilers.” He said authorities had completed arrangements for TDPs, while some families had already left the most affected areas to stay with their relatives elsewhere.
“The commissioner of Kohat and I visited the proposed sites for TDP camps in Hangu to inspect the administrative and security arrangements,” he told Arab News on Sunday.
“As of yesterday, more than 20 families had relocated [from Bagan] and more are leaving because the situation here remains critical.”
Separately on Sunday, the KP government announced action against militants in violence-hit areas of Kurram, following a high-level huddle in Peshawar.
“Action against few miscreants in the affected areas has become unavoidable and a decision has been made to take strict and indiscriminate action against miscreants,” said a statement issued from the office of KP government spokesperson Mohammad Ali Saif.
For the past three months, the statement said, the KP government had been working hard to restore peace and stability in Kurram, and a peace agreement was reached through a grand jirga in line with Pashtun traditions.
“A few miscreants in Kurram have attempted to sabotage the peace agreement,” it said, adding that the militants attempted to assassinate Kurram Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud, leaving him seriously injured, and were also targeting security personnel and supply convoys.
The statement said the government feared that the “miscreants” had infiltrated peaceful communities, and to protect peaceful citizens, they would be separated.
“Alternative housing arrangements have been made for the affected population,” it added.
Feuding tribes have battled with machine guns and heavy weapons in Kurram, cutting off the remote and mountainous region bordering Afghanistan from the outside world.
Provincial authorities have been supplying relief goods and transporting ailing and injured people from Kurram to Peshawar via helicopters since late last month.
Pakistan commerce minister arrives in Cambodia to hold bilateral trade talks
- The development comes amid Pakistan’s push to revive its $350 billion economy since avoiding a default in June 2023
- Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan will attend the inaugural Joint Trade Committee and Ministerial Meeting in Phnom Penh
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan on Sunday arrived in Cambodia on a three-day official visit to hold bilateral trade talks, his ministry said, amid Pakistan’s push for trade and investment.
The commerce minister will participate in the inaugural Joint Trade Committee and Ministerial Meeting in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, according to the Pakistani commerce ministry.
Upon arrival, Khan was received by Pakistan’s Ambassador to Cambodia Zaheer Uddin Baber Thaheem and Tith Rithipol, undersecretary of state from the Cambodian ministry of commerce.
“The visit aims to strengthen bilateral trade ties, explore new economic opportunities, and enhance cooperation between the two nations,” the Pakistani commerce ministry said in a statement.
“The meetings are expected to cover a range of topics, including trade facilitation, investment prospects, and market access.”
The development comes amid Pakistan’s efforts to revive its $350 billion economy since avoiding a default in June 2023. The South Asian country last year secured a new $7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and has been actively pursuing trade and investment opportunities to put the economy on the path of recovery.
The Pakistani commerce ministry said Khan’s visit marked a “significant step” toward deepening economic engagement between Pakistan and Cambodia.
“Further discussions and agreements are anticipated during the visit,” it added.
Minister calls for strict measures to curb carbon emissions to deal with Pakistan smog crisis
- Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province experiences smog each year, with the provincial capital of Lahore ranking second among world’s most polluted cities on Sunday
- Officials say smog is a byproduct of large numbers of vehicles, construction and industrial work as well as burning of crop residue at the start of winter season
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Sunday called for the enforcement of stringent policy measures to mitigate heat-trapping carbon emissions from vehicles in order to tackle the issue of smog, Pakistani state media reported.
Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province experiences dense smog each year, with the provincial capital of Lahore ranking second among the world’s most polluted cities on Sunday, according to Swiss air monitor IQAir.
Late last year, the province closed down schools and offices, banned outdoor activities and shortened timings for restaurants, shops and markets in a bid to contain the crisis.
The dangerous smog is a byproduct of large numbers of vehicles, construction and industrial work as well as burning of crop residue at the start of the winter wheat-planting season.
“Smog has emerged as a serious environmental and public health concern,” Tarar said as reported by Radio Pakistan, stressing the need to ensure conformity with Euro-5 or higher-grade fuels to improve the air quality and mitigate heat-trapping carbon emissions.
The comments came at a meeting of a committee to implement the National Climate Change Policy, aimed at steering Pakistan toward climate resilience and low carbon development.
Officials informed the participants that efforts had already been ramped up to transition the South Asian country to renewable energy sources, with significant investments in solar, wind, and hydropower projects.
“The government’s plan to achieve a 30 percent share of renewables in the energy mix by 2030 is well on track and all-out efforts are being made to promote Electric Vehicles to reduce the environmental impact of transportation,” they were quoted as saying.
Pakistan is among countries deemed most vulnerable to extreme weather caused by climate change, despite contributing less than 1 percent to global carbon emissions, according to officials.
In 2022, devastating floods, blamed on human-driven climate change, killed more than 1,700 Pakistanis, affected another 33 million and caused the country over $30 billion in economic losses.
Top Bangladeshi commander meets Pakistan Navy officials, discusses regional maritime security
- The development comes amid a thaw in relations between both nations since PM Sheikh Hasina’s ouster in August
- The two sides discussed joint military exercises, reciprocal visits and training exchange programs, Pakistan Navy says
ISLAMABAD: Lt. Gen. SM Kamr-ul-Hassan, principal staff officer (PSO) of the Bangladesh armed forces division, on Sunday met senior Pakistan Navy officials and discussed with them regional maritime security cooperation, Pakistan Navy said.
Lt. Gen. Hassan toured Pakistan Navy ships and units during his visit to the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, according to the Directorate General Public Relations (DGPR) of Pakistan Navy.
He met Pakistan Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Abdul Munib, Coast Commander Rear Admiral Faisal Amin and Managing Director of Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KS&EW) Rear Admiral Salman Ilyas.
“During these engagements, discussions focused on professional matters of mutual interests, including regional maritime security and bilateral defense collaboration,” the DGPR said in a statement.
“Various potential areas of cooperation were highlighted, such as joint military exercises, reciprocal visits, and training exchange programs between the two countries.”
Pakistan and Bangladesh were once one nation, but they split in 1971 as a result of a bloody civil war, which saw the part previously referred to as East Pakistan seceding to form the independent nation of Bangladesh.
In the years since, Bangladeshi leaders, particularly former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, chose to maintain close ties with India. Relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh have warmed up since Hasina’s ouster as a result of a student-led uprising in August, witnessing a marked improvement.
“The visit of Lt. Gen. SM Kamrul Hassan is expected to further strengthen defense ties between the two brotherly nations, enhancing cooperation and solidifying the bonds between the armed forces of Pakistan and Bangladesh,” Pakistan Navy said.
Lt. Gen. Hassan, who is currently on a visit to Pakistan, this week met Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir in Rawalpindi, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing. During the meeting, both military commanders stressed the need for an enduring partnership between the two countries to remain “resilient against external influences.”
Earlier in the day, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) said it would send two trade delegations to Bangladesh on Jan. 19-20 to increase bilateral relations and economic collaboration as both countries move to repair strained ties.
“The first delegation of dates comprising 13 exporters will leave for a week-long visit on Jan. 19 while the second delegation of citrus will leave for a business-to-business (B2B) meeting on Jan. 20,” the TDAP said.
The delegations will explore more trade opportunities, promote business partnerships and Pakistan’s export potential in the Bangladeshi market, it added.
The development comes days after the signing of a landmark agreement between Pakistan and Bangladeshi businesspersons to establish a joint business council between the two countries.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar is also scheduled to visit Dhaka at the start of February to further consolidate the relations between the two countries.
Pakistan to launch yuan-denominated Panda bonds by June, finance minister says
- The South Asian country intends to raise approximately $200 million from Chinese investors through Panda bonds
- Muhammad Aurangzeb says the move is part of a strategy to achieve sustainability in Pakistan’s balance of payments
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said that Pakistan plans to launch yuan-denominated Panda bonds in June to enhance its presence in Chinese capital markets, Pakistani state media reported on Sunday.
The development follows an upgrade in Pakistan’s sovereign rating by all three major credit agencies. The country aims to get into the “single-B” category that would allow it to return to global bond markets to raise funds.
Aurangzeb said the South Asian country intends to raise approximately $200 million from Chinese investors through the issuance of the Panda bonds, the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“This step is part of a broader strategy to transition Pakistan’s economy toward export-driven growth, with a focus on achieving sustainability in the country’s balance of payments,” he was quoted as telling Hong Kong’s TVB news channel.
The South Asian country is navigating a challenging economic recovery path and has been buttressed by a $7 billion facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in September. The government is optimistic it will meet the terms of the program.
Pakistan is being advised on the issuance of Panda bonds by the China International Capital Corporation, a partially state-owned financial services company, according to the finance minister. However, the latest figure is lower than the $300 million targeted by Pakistan last year.
Aurangzeb extended an invitation to Hong Kong to send delegations to explore trade and financial opportunities in Pakistan, according to the Radio Pakistan report.
“Hong Kong could serve as a strategic hub for joint ventures between Chinese and Pakistani companies,” he said.
To revive its $350 billion economy, Pakistan has been making efforts to position itself as a regional trade and transit hub by leveraging its strategic geopolitical position.
The South Asian country has witnessed a flurry of visits, investment talks and economic activity involving officials from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, China and Central Asian nations in recent months.
