Steve Smith, AB de Villiers Say No to Pakistan Leg of PSL 2019

Agencies
November 11, 2018

Karachi, Nov 11: Former Australian captain Steve Smith has given his conditional availability for the fourth edition of the Pakistan Super League, insisting that he would only be playing matches in the United Arab Emirates and not travel to Pakistan for the playoffs and final.

Smith, who is serving a 12-month ban for his role in the Cape Town ball tampering incident during a Test match against South Africa earlier this year, is allowed to appear in T20 leagues worldwide.

His ban ends before the World Cup in England next year, and it is the first time the Australian batsman has given his availability for the PSL.

According to a reliable source in the Pakistan Super League secretariat, besides some other top foreign players have also made it clear they wouldn't travel to Pakistan for the last leg of the PSL featuring eight matches including the final in Karachi.

"Smith and these players have said they will only be available to play in UAE," the source told PTI.

South Africa's AB de Villiers has also limited his first ever appearance in the PSL to just two weeks and that too apparently only for matches in the UAE.

The names of 371 foreign players and 311 Pakistani players will feature in the PSL players draft to be held on November 20th in Islamabad.

Except for India, players from all the test playing nations and associate member countries of the ICC are available for the players draft.

Many of the foreign stars will only be available for part of the PSL when they are free of national duty or after the conclusion of the Big Bash League in Australia.

For example Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and Australian opener Chris Lynn will only be available for the league following the conclusion of BBL.

The local list of players also includes the names of Pakistan's former captain, Salman Butt, who has completed a five-year ban for spot-fixing and discarded stars, Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Abdul Razzaq.

In the third PSL also the six franchises in the tournament faced difficulties when some of their overseas stars refused to travel to Lahore and Karachi to play in the playoffs and final due to security concerns.

The PCB has once again told the franchises it is their responsibility to decide whether they want to sign on foreign players who are not willing to play in Pakistan.

"The onus has been put on us that we must convince our foreign signings to also be prepared to play in Pakistan," a franchise owner said.

In a big boost for the PSL, the PCB has apparently already sold the tournament title rights for a booming 1.5 billion rupees for a three-year period a big increase on the previous sponsorship of one billion rupees.

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Agencies
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: Sanjiv Chawla, a key accused in the match-fixing scandal involving former South African cricket team captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, was extradited from the UK on Thursday, Delhi Police said.

The 50-year-old British national, accompanied by a crime branch team from London, reached IGI Airport this morning, a senior officer said.

He is likely to be taken to the crime branch office for questioning, he added.

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News Network
February 21,2020

Sydney, Feb 21: Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav bowled a magical spell in her comeback game to steer India to a comfortable 17-run win over defending champions Australia in the opening match of the Women's T20 World Cup on Friday.

Put in to bat, India struggled to a below par 132 before Poonam (4/19 in 4 overs) foxed the Aussies with her googlies, turning the match decisively into her team's favour.

Australia, who have won the competition four times in six editions, were all out for 115 in 19.5 overs

"A bowler like Poonam is someone who leads from the front. We were expecting a great comeback from her. Our team is looking nice, earlier we depended on two-three players," India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said after the match.

Poonam, who missed the preceding tri-series due to a hand injury, also got good support from other bowlers including pacer Shikha Pandey.

The 28-year-old from Agra was on a hat-trick but narrowly missed out as wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia dropped a difficult chance.

The tournament-opener saw a record 13,000 plus attendance with a sizeable chunk supporting India.

India next play against Bangladesh in Perth on February 24.

"It was great for me to come back from injury and perform like this. It was the third time that I was on a hat-trick but satisfied that I was able to do the job for the team," said Poonam at the post-match presentation.

Australia were off to a good start to their chase with opener Alyssa Healy making a 35-ball 51, laced with six boundaries and a six.

However, Indian spinners led by Poonam triggered a collapse as Australia suddenly slipped to 82 for six.

Poonam (4/19) snapped four wickets, two in successive deliveries in the 12th over, to break the back of Australia's chase.

Ashleigh Gardner (34 off 36) tried her bit but didn't get any support from the other end.

Earlier, India squandered a flying start to end up with a below-par total.

Sixteen-year-old Shafali Verma took India to 40 for no loss in four overs with a typically aggressive 29 off 15 balls but her fall derailed the innings as the other batters disappointed.

Deepti Sharma made a composed 46-ball 49 in the second half of the innings but the firepower that India needed in the death overs was badly missing.

India were cruising initially with Shafali taking the opposition to the cleaners, hitting five fours and a six.

However, left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen (2/24) snapped two quick wickets, Smriti Mandhana (10 off 11) and Harmanpreet (2 off 5) to reduce India to 47 for three.

Deepti then shared 53 runs with Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 33) to bring up the 100 in the 16th over.

For Australia, Ellyse Perry (1/15) and Delissa Kimmince (1/24) were the other wicket-takers.

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News Network
June 23,2020

Karachi, Jun 23: Pakistan cricketers Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and rookie Haider Ali on Monday tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed three players - Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan - have tested positive for Covid-19," said the PCB in a statement.

"The players had shown no symptoms until they were tested in Rawalpindi on Sunday ahead of the Pakistan men's national cricket team's tour to England."

The infected players will go into self-isolation.

"The PCB medical panel is in contact with the three who have been advised to immediately go into self-isolation," the statement said.

Earlier this month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was tested positive for the deadly virus.

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