SPORTS BULLETIN REPORT Karachi (September 5, 2021):-A total of 14 matches will be played in the four-team Pakistan Cup Women’s One-Day Tournament that will kick-start the 2021-22 women’s domestic and international cricket season at the National Stadium, Karachi on Thursday, 9 September. Blasters led by Sidra Nawaz, Challengers led by Pakistan women’s captain Javeria Khan, Dynamites led by Muneeba Ali Siddiqui and Strikes led by Kainat Imtiaz will compete in the tournament that will conclude with a day-night final at the National Stadium on Tuesday 21 September. The Strikers have been added as the fourth team in the rebranded tournament for the first time. With the women’s player pool continuing to increase gradually, the PCB has included Strikers for the upcoming season, a move that is aimed to provide more opportunities for upcoming players to prove their mettle in domestic competitions. The induction of the fourth team has doubled the total number of the 50-over tournament matches from seven in previous years to 14 this year. On each of the seven playing days, two matches will be played simultaneously at the main National Stadium ground and the Oval Academy Ground that is a part of the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre, located inside the National Stadium arena. On the seventh and last match-day, a third position play-off will be also be played, the match like the rest of the games will start at 10:00 am while the final will be played from 2:00pm, both these matches will be played on 21 September. The four squads will assemble in Karachi on Sunday and after clearing their covid tests will start the practice for the tournament on Tuesday, 7 September. The second practice session will be held on 8 September, a day before the commencement of the event. Squads for the Pakistan Cup Women’s One-Day Tournament Blasters: Sidra Nawaz (captain and wicketkeeper), Aisha Javed, Arijah Haseeb, Bibi Nahida, Fajar Naveed, Fatima Sana Khan, Gull Firoza, Momina Riasat, Nida Rashid, Noreen Yaqoob, Omaima Sohail, Saima Malik, Shawal Zulfiqar and Syeda Aroob Shah Support staff: Waqar Orakzai (Head Coach), Aqil Khan (Assistant Coach), Rabia Siddiq (Physiotherapist) and Fizza Abid (Manager). Challengers: Javeria Khan (captain), Anoosha Nasir, Diana Baig, Dua Majid, Fareeha Mehmood, Gull Rukh, Iram Javed, Khadija Chishty, Najiha Alvi (wicketkeeper), Nazish Rafique, Saba Nazir, Sidra Amin, Syeda Masooma Zehra Fatima and Waheeda Akhtar. Support staff: Waseem Yousafzai (Head Coach), Shakir Qayyum (Assistant Coach), Anjali (Physiotherapist) and Rabail Khalid Hashmat (Manager). Dynamites: Muneeba Ali Siddiqui (captain), Aliya Riaz, Fatima Zahra, Ghulam Fatima, Humna Bilal, Huraina Sajjad, Kaynat Hafeez, Maham Tariq, Nashra Sundhu, Neha Shermeen, Rida Aslam, Sadaf Shamas, Soha Fatima (wicketkeeper) and Syeda Insharah Asad   Support staff: Muhammad Kamran Hussain (Head Coach), Muhammad Ali Niazi (Assistant Coach), Yumna Khan (Physiotherapist) and Asiya Khan (Manager). Strikers: Kainat Imtiaz (captain), Aima Saleem Satti, Ayesha Naseem, Ayesha Zafar, Bisma Amjad, Fatima Khan, Gul Uswa, Hafsa Khalid, Jaweria Rauf, Natalia Parvaiz, Umme Hani, Syeda Asma Amin (wicketkeeper), Tuba Hassan and Yusra Amir (wicketkeeper).                      Support staff: Arshad Khan (Head Coach), Shahid Mehmood (Assistant Coach), Sabrina (Physiotherapist) and Shagufta Bano Qasim (Manager). Tournament schedule (matches to start at 10am, final to start at 2pm): 9 September – Dynamites vs Blasters, National Stadium Challengers’ vs Strikers, Oval Academy Ground. 11 September –Dynamites vs Challengers, National Stadium Blasters vs Strikers, Oval Academy Ground. 13 September –Dynamites vs Strikers, National Stadium Blasters vs Challengers, Oval Academy Ground. 15 September – Challengers vs Strikers, National Stadium Dynamites vs Blasters, Oval Academy Ground. 17 September –Blasters vs Strikers, National Stadium Dynamites vs Challengers, Oval Academy Ground 19 September –Blasters vs Challengers, National Stadium Dynamites vs Strikers, Oval Academy Ground 21 September –Third position play-off, Oval Academy Ground Final (day and night) National Stadium.

SPORTS BULLETIN REPORT Lahore (September 4, 2021):-The six Cricket Association squads for the 2021-22 domestic season have been unveiled. Each squad was selected by the head coach, chairperson and chief executive of the respective Cricket Association in the presence of national men’s chief selector Muhammad Wasim, Nadeem Khan, High Performance Director, Junaid Zia, Domestic Cricket General Manager and chief executives of the other icket Associations as observers. Each Cricket Association squad comprises 40 players – 32 of which will be awarded domestic contracts, to be announced in due course – along with 10 additional players. Every Cricket Association will name 16 players ahead of the First XI and Second XI tournaments, and these players can be transferred between the two teams. While majority of players from the 2020-21 domestic season were retained, the gaps in each of the six sides were plugged with top performers of the City Cricket Association tournaments, after head coaches had a close look at them in the pre-season training camps that were held last week at each of the six Cricket Associations. The selected players are: Balochistan – Aftab Ahmed (Loralai), Fahad Hussain (Jaffarabad), Mohammad Idrees (Quetta), Mohammad Javed (Pishin), Sana Ullah (Loralai), Shoaib Ahmed (Lasbela), Syed Zainullah (Pishin) and Tariq Jameel (Loralai) Central Punjab – Asad Ali Jnr (Hafizabad), Gohar Hafeez Butt, Haider Ali (both Lahore), Mohammad Faizan (Faisalabad), Mohammad Tabraiz (Sialkot), Mohammad Waheed (Lahore) and Mudassar Riaz (Faisalabad) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – Aitzaz Habib Khan (Mardan), Farhan Khan (Mohmand), Khayyam Khan (Swabi), Mashal Khan (Haripur), Mohammad Ibrahim (Swabi), Mohammad Tahir (Bannu), Niaz Khan (Swat) and Yasir Khan (Bannu) Northern – Aqib Liaqat (Poonch), Asad Raza (Faisalabad), Hamza Arshad, Kashif Ali (both Rawalpindi), Sadaqat Ali (Faisalabad), Sarmad Hameed (Jhelum) and Zaman Khan (Mirpur) Sindh – Asif Mehmood (Hyderabad), Imtiaz Leghari (Khairpur), Junaid Ilyas, Khuzaima Bin Tanveer, Mohammad Afzal, Mohammad Shahid Mihrani (all four Karachi), Mushtaq Ahmed Kalhoro (Sukkur) and Usman Khan (Karachi) Southern Punjab – Ali Majid (Khanewal), Humayun Altaf (Lodhran), Kaleem Ullah (Layyah), Mohammad Sharoon Siraj (Sahiwal), Mohammad Jahangir (DG Khan), Mohammad Shahriyar and Mohammad Sudais (both Muzzafargarh) and Moin-ud-Din (Bahawalpur) This move is in line with the PCB’s policy of incentivising and rewarding top performers at each rung of domestic cricket and setting a clear pathway for graduation to the next level. The head coaches of the six Cricket Associations, who served as lead selectors of their sides, retained the core players, following which the remaining players were sent to a selection pool from where they were picked by other teams. Balochistan’s squad includes 55 per cent local players, which is a jump by 10 per cent from the last season as the PCB continues its efforts to develop the game in the province and provide opportunities to the youth to establish their careers as cricketers. In line with the promotion of the sport in the province, the PCB will commence the 2021-22 season from Quetta’s picturesque Bugti Stadium with the Cricket Associations T20 tournament starting on 15 September. The six squads will gather at the major centres in their jurisdictions for the pre-season camp from Sunday. Balochistan will have their camp at Quetta’s Bugti Stadium, Central Punjab’s will be conducted at LCCA Ground, Lahore, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Northern’s at House of Northern, Islamabad, Sindh’s at National Stadium, Karachi and Southern Punjab’s at Multan Cricket Stadium. Balochistan head coach Faisal Iqbal: “The CCA tournament provided a great opportunity to me to watch the upcoming cricketers of Balochistan and it helped me in further increasing the percentage of players in the squad. Last year, we had 45 per cent local players, which has now gone up to 55 per cent, which is a great sign for Balochistan cricket. Many of these top performers will be getting opportunities in the Second XI side, so when they reach the First XI team, they are well-prepared for the challenge, and can progress to Pakistan team.” Balochistan squad Abdul Hanan (Killa Abdullah), Abdul Nasir (Quetta), Abdul Rehman Muzammil (Multan), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai (Quetta), Aftab Ahmed (Loralai), Akbar-ur-Rehman (Karachi), Akif Javed (Kohat), Ali Waqas (Sargodha), Amad Butt (Sialkot), Awais Zia (Chakwal), Ayyaz Tassawar (Sheikhupura), Azeem Ghumman (Karachi), Bismillah Khan (Quetta), Fahad Hussain (Jaffarabad), Fahad Iqbal (Karachi), Gohar Faiz (Quetta), Gulraiz Sadaf (Vehari), Haris Sohail (Sialkot), Hayat Ullah (Peshawar), Hidayatullah (Quetta), Jalat Khan (Quetta), Junaid Khan (Swabi), Kashif Bhatti (Shaheed Benazirabad), Khurram Shehzad (Mandi Bahauddin), Mohammad Ibrahim Snr (Quetta), Mohammad Idrees (Quetta), Mohammad Javed (Pishin), Mohammad Junaid (Quetta), Mohammad Shahid (Dera Murad Jamali), Najeebullah Achakzai (Quetta), Raza-ul-Hasan (Karachi), Sana Ullah (Loralai), Shehbaz Khan (Quetta), Shoaib Ahmed (Lasbela), Syed Zainullah (Pishin), Taimur Ali (Jaffarabad), Taj Wali (Peshawar), Tariq Jameel (Loralai), Umaid Asif (Sialkot) and Zainullah (Quetta) Additional players: Abid Ali Mengal (Naseerabad), Aqib Junaid (Lasbela), Bakhtiar Ahmed Shah (Noshki), Ehsan Ullah (Killa Abdullah), Nasir Khan (Loralai), Nazar Hussain (Quetta), Nizam Uddin (Panjgur), Salim Mal (Lasbela), Syed Ahmed Shah (Noshki) and Zubair Khan (Jaffarabad) Central Punjab head coach Abdul Razzaq: “It will be an exciting challenge to coach Central Punjab after spending last year at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was a great move to organise a camp of the top performers of the CCA tournament as it provided a fair and equal chance to all performers to display their skills and potential in front of coaches and it helped me in selecting promising players. I am confident that we have selected a squad that can outperform other sides in the season and I am eager to work on the skills of these players who can serve Pakistan in the future.” Central Punjab squad Abdullah Shafiq (Sialkot), Ahmed Bashir (Lahore), Ahmed Safi Abdullah (Faisalabad), Ahmed Shehzad (Lahore), Ali Shan (Faisalabad), Ali Zaryab (Lahore), Anas Mehmood (Lahore), Asad Ali Jnr (Hafizabad), Bilal Asif (Sialkot), Bilawal Iqbal (Lahore), Ehsan Adil (Gojra), Gohar Hafeez Butt (Lahore), Haider Ali (Lahore), Haseeb-ur- Rehman (Lahore), Hussain Talat (Lahore), Junaid Ali (Lahore), Kamran Afzal (Lahore), Kamran Akmal (Lahore), Mohammad Ali (Sialkot), Mohammad Faizan (Faisalabad), Mohammad Hafeez (Lahore), Mohammad Imran Dogar (Lahore), Mohammad Irfan Jnr (Sheikhupura), Mohammad Saad (Lahore), Mohammad Tabraiz (Sialkot), Mohammad Waheed (Lahore), Mudassar Riaz (Faisalabad), Muhammad Akhlaq (Gujranwala), Nisar Ahmed (Lahore), Qasim Akram (Lahore), Raza Ali Dar (Lahore), Rizwan Hussain (Faisalabad), Saad Nasim (Lahore), Saif Badar (Sialkot), Shoaib Malik (Sialkot), Sohaib Ullah (Sialkot), Umar Akmal (Lahore), Wahab Riaz (Lahore), Waqas Maqsood (Faisalabad) and Zafar Gohar (Lahore) Additional players: Abdul Ghaffar (Lahore), Abdul Samad (Faisalabad), Ali Hamza Snr (Hafizabad), Asfand Mehran (Lahore), Fahad Munir (Lahore), Irfan Khan Niazi (Mianwali), Mohammad Afzal (Kasur), Muhammad Saleem (Sheikhupura), Shahzaib Bhatti (Sialkot) and Yawar Bashir (Lahore) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa coach Abdur Rehman: “I have worked at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for 10 years and I am very excited to be returning to the players with whom I had been working after spending two years at Southern Punjab. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has maintained high standard of cricket throughout the last season as they won every First XI tournament. The region has produced exciting cricketers recently, and my philosophy of coaching here would be to enhance the skills of the youngsters and provide them opportunities so they can be fruitful for Pakistan cricket.” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa squad Aamer Azmat (Peshawar), Adil Amin (Peshawar), Ahmed Jamal (Abbottabad), Aitizaz Habib Khan (Mardan), Arshad Iqbal (Swabi), Ashfaq Ahmed (Charsadda), Asif Afridi (Peshawar), Farhan Khan (Mohmand), Iftikhar Ahmed (Peshawar), Imran Khan snr (Peshawar), Irfanullah Shah (Bannu), Israrullah (Dir Lower ), Kamran Ghulam (Peshawar), Khalid Usman (Swabi), Khayyam Khan (Swabi), Mashal Khan (Haripur), Mehran Ibrahim (Peshawar), Mohammad Abbas Afridi (Peshawar), Mohammad Amir Khan (Swat), Mohammad Arif Shah (Mardan), Mohammad Haris (Peshawar), Mohammad Ibrahim (Swabi), Mohammad Imran (Swat), Mohammad Irfan Khan (Peshawar), Mohammad Khayyam (Swabi), Mohammad Mohsin Khan (Peshawar), Mohammad Sarwar Afridi (Peshawar), Mohammad Tahir (Bannu), Mohammad Wasim jnr (Peshawar), Musadiq Ahmed (Abbottabad), Nabi Gul (Nowshera), Niaz Khan (Swat), Rehan Afridi (Peshawar), Sahibzada Farhan (Peshawar), Sajid Khan (Peshawar), Sameen Gul (Peshawar), Saqib Jamil (Peshawar), Waqar Ahmad (Dir Lower), Yasir Khan (Bannu) and Zohaib Khan (Peshawar) Additional players: Arslan Sajjad (Abbottabad), Fazal-ur-Rehman (Kurram), Haris Khan (Charsadda) Junaid Khan Afridi (Khyber), Mahmood (Kurram), Mohammad Asad (Swabi), Mohammad Bilal (Mardan), Mohammad Wasim Khan (Bannu), Syed Fahad Shah (Mansehra) and Zeeshan Tahir (Dir Lower) Northern head coach Ijaz Ahmed Jnr: “Northern is rich of cricketing talent and it has produced some wonderful cricketers over the years. I am delighted to be coaching them for the upcoming season. We have been able to put together a well-balanced side for the upcoming season by keeping both red and white ball specialist players in the side. The camp of the CCA performers helped us in identification of young players in the region and it played a crucial role in helping me in having a close look at the upcoming cricketers, some of whom are selected for the 2021-22 season.” Northern squad Aamer Jamal  (Islamabad), Ali Imran  (Islamabad), Ali Sarfraz (Islamabad), Aqib Liaqat (Poonch), Asad Raza (Faisalabad), Asif Ali (Faisalabad), Ather Mehmood  (Gujranwala), Faizan Riaz (Islamabad), Farhan Shafiq (Islamabad), Haider Ali (Attock), Hammad Azam (Attock), Hamza Arshad (Rawalpindi), Imad Wasim (Islamabad), Jamal Anwar (Rawalpindi), Kashif Ali (Rawalpindi), Kashif Iqbal (Karachi), Mohammad Amir (Lahore), Mohammad Huraira  (Sialkot), Mubasir Khan (Rawalpindi), Munir Riaz (Rawalpindi), Musa Khan  (Rawalpindi), Nasir Nawaz (Rawalpindi), Raza Hassan  (Sialkot), Rohail Nazir (Islamabad), Sadaqat Ali (Faisalabad), Salman Irshad (Poonch), Sarmad Bhatti (Islamabad), Sarmad Hameed (Jhelum), Shadab Majeed (Mirpur), Sohail Akhter (Haripur), Sohail Tanvir (Rawalpindi), Taimur Sultan (Sargodha), Umair Masood  (Rawalpindi), Umar Amin (Rawalpindi), Umar Waheed (Rawalpindi), Usman Khan Shinwari (Khyber Agency), Waqas Ahmed  (Sialkot), Zaman Khan (Mirpur), Zeeshan Malik  (Rawalpindi) and Ziad Khan  (Rawalpindi) Additional players: Badr-ud-Din (Attock), Hasan Raza (Mirpur), Javed Khan (Muzaffarabad), Mohammad Aamer (Islamabad), Mohammad Ismail Khan (Rawalpindi), Naqi Raza (Rawalpindi), Shahid Ahmed (Mirpur), Shiraz Khan (Attock), Syed Aqib Shah (Rawalpindi) and Zaid Alam (Lahore) Sindh head coach Basit Ali: “The thought-process while putting together this squad was to fill in the gaps from the last season. We have strengthened our fast bowling and spin bowling departments as we have brought on board Zahid Mahmood and picked up young fast bowlers from the pre-training camp of the CCA top performers. My focus was to build a side which can turn around our red ball fortunes as we finished last in the last year’s first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.” Sindh squad Ahsan Ali (Karachi), Ammad Alam (Karachi), Anwar Ali (Karachi), Arish Ali Khan (Karachi), Asad Shafiq (Karachi), Ashiq Ali (Karachi), Asif Mehmood (Hyderabad), Danish Aziz (Karachi), Ghulam Mudassar (Karachi), Hassan Mohsin (Karachi), Ibrar Ahmed (Karachi), Imtiaz Leghari (Khairpur), Jahanzaib Sultan (Karachi), Jahid Ali (Karachi), Junaid Ilyas (Karachi), Khurram Manzoor (Karachi), Khuzaima Bin Tanveer (Karachi), Mir Hamza (Karachi), Mohammad Afzal (Karachi), Mohammad Asghar (Karachi), Mohammad Hasan (Karachi), Mohammad Shahid Mihrani (Karachi), Mohammad Suleman (Mirpurkhas), Mohammad Taha (Karachi), Mohammad Umar (Karachi), Mushtaq Ahmed Kalhoro (Sukkur), Omair Bin Yousuf (Karachi), Rameez Aziz (Karachi), Saad Ali (Karachi), Saad Khan (Hyderabad), Saifullah Bangash (Karachi), Saim Ayub (Karachi), Saud Shakeel (Karachi), Shan Masood (Karachi), Sharjeel Khan (Hyderabad), Sohail Khan (Karachi), Syed Faraz Ali (Karachi), Tabish Khan (Karachi), Usman Khan (Karachi) and Zahid Mahmood (Dadu) Additional players: Aamir Brohi (Larkana), Aashir Ahmed Siddiqui (Karachi), Amir Ali (Dadu), Daniyal Hussain Rajput (Hyderabad), Mohammad Ali Khan (Karachi), Mohammad Asad Malik (Hyderabad), Mohammad Makki (Karachi), Rumann Raees/ Tariq Khan (Karachi), Shahzar Hasan Khan (Karachi) and Shehzar Mohammad (Karachi) Southern Punjab head coach Shahid Anwar: “It is another great challenge of my coaching career to move to Southern Punjab. The Southern Punjab region is full of rich talent. We have developed squad keeping in mind that we have to build teams with the right combination of youth and experienced cricketers.” Southern Punjab squad Aamer Yamin (Multan), Ahsan Baig (Multan), Ali Majid (Khanewal), Ali Shafiq (Sialkot), Ali Usman (Vehari), Dilbar Hussain (Faisalabad), Hassan Khan (Karachi), Humayun Altaf (Lodhran), Imran Rafiq (D.G Khan), Kaleem Ullah (Layyah), Khushdil Shah (Bannu), M. Sharoon Siraj (Sahiwal), Maqbool Ahmed (Sahiwal), Mohammad Abbas (Sialkot), Mohammad Azam Khan (Karachi), Mohammad Ilyas (Peshawar), Mohammad Irfan (SLA) (Lahore), Mohammad Junaid (Muzaffarghar), Mohammad Shahriyar (Muzzafargarh), Mohammad Sudais (Muzzafargarh), Mohammad Umair (Bahawalpur), Moin-ud-Din (Bahwalpur), Muhammad Imran (Khanewal), Mukhtar Ahmed (Sialkot), Naseem Shah (Lahore), Naved Yasin (Vehari), Rahat Ali (Multan), Rameez Alam (Sahiwal), Salahuddin (Lahore), Salman Ali Agha (Lahore), Sohaib Maqsood (Multan), Tayyab Tahir (Lahore), Umar Khan (Rawalpindi), Umar Siddiq Khan (Lahore), Usman Salahuddin (Lahore), Waqar Hussain (Okara), Yousaf Babar (Multan), Zain Abbas (Khanewal), Zeeshan Ashraf (Okara) and Zia ul Haq (Vehari) Additional players: Abdullah Hamdani (Muzzafargarh), Abdul Rehman (Bahawalnagar), Anas Mustafa (Lahore), Faizan Zafar (Layyah), Hamza Akbar (Lahore), Mohammad Basit (D.I.Khan), Mohammad Jahangir (DG Khan), Shahbaz Khan (Lodhran), Usman Liaqat (Sahiwal) and Waseem Mehmood (Bahawalnagar)

SPORTS BULLETIN REPORT Multan (September 4, 2021):-Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) and  Muslim Club Chman registered their victories in the 13th Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) after beating their respective challengers at Qasim Bagh Football Stadium, here. Alamgir Ali Khan got first hat-Trick for KRL in the match. In the first match, KRL defeated Pakistan Navy by 5-2 goals. KRL took 3-0 lead at the end of the first half. Alamgir Ali Khan scored three goals for KRL and made first hat-Trick in the tournament for his team. In the 4th minutes of the first half, Ali Khan scored first goal and opened the account for KRL while Imran Khan doubled the score 2-0 in the 19th minutes of the same half. Alamgir Ali Khan scored three goals in the 39th, 75th and 78th minutes and got first hat Trick for KRL. Awas Gul and Noman reduced the margin 5-2 in the 62nd and 65th minutes respectively for Pakistan Navy. The match was ended 5-2 goals at the stipulated times.   For KRL team, Rajab Ali and Mohammad Shahid received yellow card for KRL for playing foul, in the 45th and 85th minutes respectively. In the second match, Muslim Club, Chman beat Pakistan Army by 1-0 goal. At the end of the first half, Muslim Club took 1-0 lead and both teams could not make any score in the second half. In the 16th minute of the first half, Fareed Ullah scored lone goal for Muslim Club and Pakistan Army could not equalize the score during the match. Referee showed yellow card to the players of Muslim Club, Hazrat Umer and Mairaj Uddin in the 39th and 53rd minutes, respectively while the same was received by Bilal Hassan of Pakistan Army in the 27th minutes. Sunday’s Fixtures: Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) Vs Huma Club Islamabad Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) Vs Pakistan Air Force (PAF)

SPORTS BULLETIN REPORT Islamabad (September 4, 2021):-After thirteen days of serious competitions with the Paralympians' best performance, the Tokyo Paralympics comes to a close tonight with the closing ceremony to be held at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium.  “Harmonious Cacophony”, the theme of the closing ceremony, is acknowledging diversity among people and transforming their difference into a shared unity. Let’s welcome the Pakistani Paralympic team back home with a massive applause! Ambassador Mstsuda Kuninori expressed his sincere gratitude to all concerned with the Tokyo Paralympic Games including athletes, coaches, the staff and their families and friends who have supported the Paralympics. The Ambassador also congratulated the Pakistani athletes for their performance, saying that “The commitment and hard work by those athletes is exemplary.  They have made their country proud especially the performance by Mr. Haidar Ali for achieving the Gold medal. This could be the defining moment in which we see Pakistan's athletes rising in the world of sport”. We all wish Pakistani para-athletes well in the future Paralympic Games!

ABDUL JABBAR FAISAL Islamabad (September 3, 2021):-Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshall, Zaheer Ahmed Baber has been elected the president of Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) in the 48th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of federation that held at Air Headquarters, Islamabad on Friday. The General Council elected the head of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber as president of the squash federation, who later on, presided over the meeting. Besides squash legends, representatives from provincial squash associations, affiliated members and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) attended the proceeding of house. Addressing the general council members, President PSF thanked participants for imposing their full confidence to him. While showing his satisfaction over revival of international squash in the country, President PSF emphasized that there was still a need of collective efforts by the provincial squash associations and affiliated departments like Pakistan Army, Navy, Wapda, SNGPL, PIA, etc to jointly work together and support the national cause of glorifying Pakistan squash at highest levels. He urged the players to focus on the game and further improve on the physical and mental strength. Besides assuring support by PAF, the President PSF asked all member associations to generate further resources to meet the challenging tasks through an improved system. President PSF directed the member associations to promote squash and increase the pool of players to thousands and also ensure age verification at association level.  Zaheer Ahmed further stressed upon the implementation of a comprehensive training strategy to further groom the skills of our players. He also emphasized on the role of associations and departments in generating adequate funds from provincial governments and corporate sector to sponsor their players and events. He also directed all associations and affiliated departments to conduct maximum number of tournaments events every year. The performance evaluation of provincial association for the year 2020 was also carried out by the General Council. The KP Squash Association was awarded Winner’s Trophy for Pride of Performance by the General Council.  President PSF presented trophy to the Rep of provincial association and appreciated them for making their efforts despite the pandemic situation. While he emphasized that PSF would continue to sponsor best men and women players in international events, he also directed the associations to generate adequate funds and sponsor for all their respective players for national and international events to afford them adequate exposure. On this occasion, he advised associations to conduct the open trials of all age categories and conduct league matches to generate healthy competition among players. Squash is an individual game therefore, President PSF also urged the players to ensure their fitness to prove their worth in squash court by winning in every tournament at every level to glorify Pakistan in the game of Squash. The meeting concluded with the hope that federal and provincial governments would provide adequate financial and administrative support to revive Pakistan’s power in the international arena of Squash.   

SPORTS BULLETIN REPORT Islamabad (September 3, 2021):-Ambassador Mstsuda Kuninori extended congratulations to Haider Ali, Pakistan’s premier para-athlete, for showing his great talent by winning the gold medal in the final of men’s Discus throw (F37) competition in the Tokyo Paralympics and conveys best wishes for his future endeavors. He said in his message, “I am truly delighted to see Pakistani athlete’s success in the Tokyo Paralympics. I have sincere congratulations for Haider Ali, his family and the people of Pakistan for this amazing success to achieve the gold medal in the top international sports event.  I believe that you have made your country proud and won many hearts back home for your brilliant performance in the world’s mega event. ”, said the Ambassador. It is pertinent to mention here that Haider Ali secured the gold medal in men’s Discus throw (F37) with a throw of 55.26m, which also was his personal best score.  

SPORTS DESK ISLAMABAD (September 2, 2021):-St Kitts & Nevis Patriots carried on their unbeaten start in the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with a six wicket victory over the Jamaica Tallawahs. The Patriots won the toss and elected to field first and a disciplined bowling performance restricted the Tallawahs to 166/8, a total that appeared under par for the track. In reply the Patriots proved that assessment to be accurate as they made it four wins from four with another dominant batting display led by the tournament’s top scorer Sherfane Rutherford. The Tallawahs got their innings off to a lightning start with the hard-hitting duo of Chadwick Walton and Kennar Lewis putting on a blistering partnership of 41 runs inside 3.3 overs. However, once Paul Van Meekeren dismissed Kennar Lewis that led to a shift in the innings with the Patriots tightening the screws courtesy of some economical bowling by captain DJ Bravo. Things were to go from bad to worse for the Tallawahs when Walton had to retire hurt, tweaking his hamstring after running a quick single. It took an enterprising counter-attack by Rovman Powell and Carlos Brathwaite in the back end of the innings to revitalise the Tallawahs and this was further boosted by some late blows by the lower order to ensure they posted a respectable total. The Patriots made a similar start in their innings, with Evin Lewis bringing the early fireworks, but the wickets of Devon Thomas and Asif Ali in quick succession followed by Evin Lewis left the game in the balance. If things were finely poised Sherfane Rutherford and Fabian Allen made light work of the equation, a fantastic display of power hitting saw the pair smash 55 runs from 20 balls to seal the win at a canter.

By BIPIN DANI Sri Lankan Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne has cancelled his plan to go to England to play the County matches this season. The 33-year-old opening batsman was invited to play for the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club (NCCC). "No, he is not going there now. Due to the Covid restrictions in the UK, he has to cancel his plan to play for this County this season", one of his confidants, speaking exclusively over the telephone from Colombo, said on Thursday morning. "He was asked to be present there within 12 days but it was practically impossible to reach there via green-list country, where he was required to be in quarantine for 10 days", the source added. Even former captain Mahela Jayawardene had to take a flight to other country, spend ten days there in quarantine and then reached England for coaching in one of the teams in The Hundred tournament.

SPORTS BULLETIN REPORT Lausanne, Switzerland: There may not have been any changes at the highest levels of the FIH World Rankings, but the match action at last month's Euro Hockey Championship II competitions has resulted in some climbers and fallers elsewhere. Austria men have climbed from 20th to 19th courtesy of their EuroHockey Championship II tournament victory in Gniezno, Poland, exchanging places with beaten finalists Scotland. Ireland's third place finish in that competition has resulted in a drop from 13th to 14th, while fourth placed Poland remain in 26th position. Fifth placed Italy and sixth placed Ukraine both climb one place to 22nd and 28th respectively, with seventh placed Switzerland holding onto 34th position in the rankings. Croatia's eighth place finish in Gniezno has resulted in the biggest fall, dropping from a ranking of 39 to 56. The women's Euro-Hockey Championship II took place in Prague, Czech Republic, with Belarus winning the event to retain 21st place in the FIH World Rankings. France claimed a superb second place thanks to finishing above four higher-ranked teams, seeing them end the competition one place higher than they started it, climbing from 28th to 27th. Third placed Poland and fourth placed Wales were also one-place rankings climbers, rising to 23rd and 25th respectively, while sixth placed Czech Republic have dropped one place to 24th. Seventh placed Austria remain 31st, while Lithuania's eighth place finish has resulted in them dropping from a ranking of 34 to 49. Due to a lack of match action there has been no change to the respective women's and men's top ten, where the Netherlands women and Belgium men - both gold medallists at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 sit proudly at the top of the standings. Tokyo 2020 was the first Olympic Games to take place since the introduction of the match-based rankings calculated model, which came into play in January 2020. The move away from the previous tournament-based system to one where opposing teams exchange points in official matches means that, for the first time, the results of the fixtures in Tokyo will have a direct, real-time effect on FIH World Ranking positions.  More information about the new rankings model can be found below. How the FIH World Rankings work: The number of points exchanged depends on the result of the match, the relative ranking of the teams and the importance of the match. FIH World Rankings explained: Based on the Elo rating system, which is used as the basis of many other sports ranking systems When two nations play against each other, a number of ranking points are exchanged between them In every match, the number of points gained by one team is exactly matched by the number of points lost by the other Teams will win more points for beating teams ranked above them, and therefore teams will lose more points for losing to a team ranked below them Teams will win less points for beating teams ranked below them, and therefore teams will lose less points for losing to a team ranked above them If a draw occurs, the lower ranked team will gain a small number of points and the higher ranked team will lose the same number of points The number of points exchanged is dependent on the result of the match (win, lose, shootout win/loss or draw), the importance of the match (part of a major tournament, or a test series for example), and the relative difference in ranking points between the teams before the match.

SPORTS BULLETIN REPORT Lahore (September 1, 2021):-Pakistan cricket selectors have named a 20-player squad for the three ICC Cricket World Cup Super League One-Day Internationals against New Zealand, which will be played in Rawalpindi on 17, 19 and 21 September. Uncapped wicketkeeper Mohammad Haris, fast bowlers Mohammad Wasim and Shahnawaz Dahani, and wrist-spinner Zahid Mahmood have been named in the squad, while middle-order batters Iftikhar Ahmed and Khushdil Shah have been recalled. Iftikhar’s seventh and last ODI was against Zimbabwe in Rawalpindi, while Khushdil’s only ODI appearance was also in the tied match against Zimbabwe in Rawalpindi. Players who were part of the ODI series against England in July but have failed to retain their places are Haris Sohail, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Sohaib Maqsood. Pakistan ODI squad: Babar Azam (captain, Central Punjab), Abdullah Shafique (Central Punjab), Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab), Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Haris Rauf (Northern), Hasan Ali (Central Punjab), Iftikhar Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Imam-ul-Haq (Balochistan), Khushdil Shah (Southern Punjab), Mohammad Haris (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh), Mohammad Nawaz (Northern), Mohammad Rizwan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Saud Shakeel (Sindh), Shadab Khan (Northern), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shahnawaz Dahani (Sindh), Usman Qadir (Central Punjab) and Zahid Mahmood (Southern Punjab) Chief selector Mohammad Wasim: “The series against New Zealand is extremely important for Pakistan as the matches are part of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 qualification. While we have tried to put together a formidable and a balanced unit, we have continued to ensure that we give opportunities to high performing players while looking into the future so that we can develop a strong bench-strength. “Shahnawaz Dahani was unfortunate to miss the selection for the England matches as the squad was announced before the start of the remaining 20 HBL PSL 6 matches. Hence, he was a straightforward selection when we sat to discuss and finalise the side for the New Zealand series. We have also given continued run to Mohammad Wasim, who impressed everyone in the T20Is against the West Indies. “Zahid Mahmood has been added to support Usman Qadir. While picking him, we took into consideration that he had excelled last time he played in a white-ball match in Lahore against South Africa. Although this time the format will be different, but in domestic 50-over competitions he has shown through his performances that he has the temperament to also perform in ODIs. “Mohammad Rizwan remains the first-choice wicketkeeper, as such, it has been decided to include 20-year-old Mohammad Haris in place of Sarfaraz Ahmed. This is not only to reward Haris for his outstanding domestic performances in the previous season, but also to give him a taste and flair of international cricket along with its rigours and demands and to ensure that we continue to groom young wicketkeepers who are fit and ready to step up when the opportunity presents itself. “Middle-order has remained our concern and, as such, after trying a few options, we have decided to give another run to Iftikhar Ahmed and Khushdil Shah, The two batters have played sufficient 50-over cricket at the domestic level and boast the required firepower to utilise the slog overs. We are optimistic they will come good in home conditions. “I know a few players will feel disappointed at missing out on the selection but we have a busy season of cricket ahead, which means there will be ample opportunities down the line for everyone to put up strong performances and push their case for national selection.”