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Boy killed in celebratory gunfire after Pak team's win

Agencies
June 20, 2017

Karachi, Jun 20: "Papa, I've been shot," were the last words of a 15-year-old boy who died after being struck by a stray bullet from aerial firing as frenzied celebrations rang across Pakistan over its cricket team's Champions Trophy triumph.

gunfire

As the nation celebrated Pakistan's victory over arch- rivals India in the ICC Champions Trophy, 2017, on Sunday, Syed Hussain Raza Zaidi fought for his life in an operation theatre at Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) here.

The country-wide jubilation turned into a day of mourning for Syed Qazim Raza Zaidi's family, who lost their eldest son, Hussain, due to the aerial firing in the name of celebrations for Pakistan's victory, The Express Tribune reported.

It was not an isolated incident as several people were reported to have been injured in celebratory aerial firing. Nearly a dozen people were injured in Karachi itself as residents resorted to indiscriminate aerial firing following Pakistan cricket team's triumph. Several were reported to be injured in aerial firing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Hussain was standing on the balcony of his house and watching fireworks in the area soon after Pakistan defeated India by 180 runs when he told his father, "Papa some men holding guns are firing (now) that Pakistan are the new champions".

Qazim asked his son to come inside and as soon as he turned to go in his room, he heard his son scream.

"He (Hussain) shouted 'Papa, mujhe goli lag gai (Papa, I have been shot)," Hussain's uncle, Syed Hassan Raza Zaidi said, narrating the boy's last words.

Hussain's parents rushed their son to JPMC, but he had lost too much blood by the time they reached the hospital. "JPMC doctors started operating on Hussain, but he breathed his last at 2AM," Hassan told the daily.

The boy's funeral prayers were offered at the Model Colony mosque and he was laid to rest in the Model Colony graveyard.

At 9:30 PM, when the whole nation was overjoyed with Pakistan's victory, around four men on two motorcycles passed by the street of Model Colony firing shots in the air and one of which hit Hussain in the ribs and passed into his stomach, explained another uncle, Syed Nazir Raza Zaidi.

Also, in a separate development, police arrested Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Amanullah Mehsud for aerial firing following Pakistan's victory. Mehsud was arrested and an FIR was also registered against him at the Darakhshan police station in Karachi.

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News Network
May 26,2020

Mumbai, May 26: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that if he was playing currently he and Virat Kohli would have been the best of friends off the field, but real enemies whenever they stepped on the field.

Akhtar also said that he would have liked to challenge Kohli to drive the ball.

"Virat Kohli and I would have been the best of friends as both of us are Punjabi, but on the field, we would have been the best of the enemies. I would have loved to get inside the head of Kohli. I would have told him that you cannot play a cut or pull shot against me," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I would have gone wide of the crease and bowled a ball that would go away from him, I would have forced him to drive the ball as it is his favourite shot. So I would keep forcing him to play the drive shot at my pace," he added.

Akhtar also said that he wishes that Kohli could have played against some of the top bowlers in the game.

The Rawalpindi Express said that Kohli would have enjoyed the challenge of facing bowlers like Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, and Waqar Younis.

"I would also keep talking to him, because if I get him to lose his focus then that would have been great. The great thing about Kohli is that he gets more focused when he is challenged. But I believe Virat Kohli would have still scored the same amount of runs if I was playing," Akhtar said.

"I really wish that he had played against Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shane Warne, and then Virat would have also enjoyed the challenge," he added.

Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

Over the years, comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in second place in the Tests rankings.

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News Network
March 4,2020

Mar 4: The BCCI has decided to implement strict cost cutting measures with the notable decision being IPL 2020 champions' prize money will be halved as compared to 2019. In a circular sent to all IPL franchises, the BCCI has notified that instead of a whopping Rs 20 crore, the IPL champion team will now receive Rs 10 crore only. "The financial rewards have been reworked as a part of the cost cutting measures. The champions will get Rs 10 crore instead of Rs 20 crore. The runners-up will get Rs 6.25 crore from earlier Rs 12.5 crore," a BCCI notification, in possession of news agency, read.

The two losing qualifiers will now get Rs 4.375 crore each.

"The franchises are all in good health. They also have multiple ways like sponsorships to bolster their income. Hence the decision on prize money taken," a senior BCCI source said.

However, a state association hosting IPL games will get Rs 1 crore each with franchises and BCCI contributing Rs 50 lakh each.

It has also been learnt that mid-level BCCI employees won't be allowed to avail business class flights like earlier times for flying to the Asian countries (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE) where the flying time is less than eight hours.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

Silverstone, Aug 2: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on Sunday won his seventh British Grand Prix title after a dramatic last-lap at the Silverstone Circuit.

Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas were at the first and second spot respectively until tyre drama struck.

Second-placed man Bottas was the first to suffer as his tyre deflated on lap 50, resulting in 11th place finish. Hamilton also suffered a similar issue before the final few seconds of the race.

However, with Max Verstappen having opted to pit a few laps from the end to try and claim the fastest lap, Hamilton had enough time in hand to just cross the line first, five seconds ahead of Verstappen and the third-placed Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

McLaren's Carlos Sainz had been set to finish fourth, but his own last lap tyre issue saw him eventually come home P13, allowing Renault's Daniel Ricciardo to claim fourth, following a late pass on the sister McLaren of Lando Norris.

Renault's Esteban Ocon finished sixth, having enjoyed a race-long battle with Lance Stroll's Racing Point, with Pierre Gasly having enjoyed a fine race to finish seventh for AlphaTauri.

Alex Albon finished eighth for Red Bull, having recovered from a lap 1 tussle with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen that saw him fall to last, while Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10, Vettel holding off a late charge form the recovering Mercedes of Bottas.

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