No image available
/ 20 February 2007
Fitness and fielding hold the key if Pakistan want to turn their huge potential into success in the World Cup in the Caribbean. Pakistan have had a dismal build-up to their Cup campaign as question marks hang over the fitness of key bowlers Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul, with fears that none could feature.
No image available
/ 19 February 2007
Pakistani investigators were searching on Sunday for clues to a bloody suicide bombing in a court after one person wounded in the blast on the previous day died, taking the death toll to 16. The bomber blew himself up in a court in the south-western city of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, while it was in session on Saturday.
No image available
/ 17 February 2007
A judge and six lawyers were among 15 people killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack on a courtroom in the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta on Saturday. Police found a head amongst the carnage, raising suspicions that the blast could be have caused by a suicide bomber.
No image available
/ 8 February 2007
Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi has been charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for conduct unbecoming after an incident during the first one-day international against South Africa. The ICC said on its website on Thursday that the charge was brought by chief executive Malcolm Speed for conduct that could bring players and officials or the game of cricket into disrepute.
No image available
/ 5 February 2007
Pakistan have recalled all-rounder Azhar Mahmood for the remaining four one-day internationals in South Africa after being faced with an injury crisis. Mahmood (31) has not played for Pakistan since February 2005 against Australia in Sydney and he replaces bowler Shabbir Ahmed, who has returned home with a groin injury after playing in just the Twenty20 international match last week.
No image available
/ 28 January 2007
Pakistan ordered a federal probe and beefed up security on Sunday after a suspected suicide bomb killed 14 people, including two top police officers — the second such attack in two days. As investigators hunted for clues about the bombing in Peshawar, thousands of mourners attended the funeral prayers of its slain police chief and deputy superintendent.
No image available
/ 27 January 2007
A suspected suicide attacker exploded a bomb near a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar late on Saturday, killing at least 11 people, including the city police chief, and wounding 35, police said. Most of the victims were police and municipal officials who were clearing the route for a procession of Shi’ites.
No image available
/ 27 January 2007
Fit-again all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and hard-hitting Shahid Afridi were recalled on Saturday for Pakistan’s five-match one-day series against South Africa starting early next month. Also back in the 17-man squad is lanky fast bowler Shabbir Ahmed, whose one-year ban over an illegal bowling action ended last month.
No image available
/ 23 January 2007
Former cricket greats on Tuesday hailed Pakistan’s comeback win over South Africa, a victory described as the ”best ever” by captain Inzamam-ul-Haq. Led admirably by Inzamam, Pakistan achieved a comprehensive five-wicket win over Graeme Smith-led Proteas on the fourth day of the second Test at Port Elizabeth on Monday to level the three-match series at 1-1.
No image available
/ 22 January 2007
Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has been ruled out of action for two weeks with a hamstring injury and will take no further part in the Test series in South Africa, an official said on Monday. Akhtar played his first Test in 11 months at Port Elizabeth last week and took four wickets in South Africa’s first innings.
No image available
/ 16 January 2007
A Pakistan army air strike on a militant camp near the Afghan border on Tuesday killed up to 20 fighters in a tribal area regarded as a hotbed of support for the Taliban and al-Qaeda, according to intelligence officials. ”The operation was carried out at 6.55am [local time] in Zamzola in South Waziristan,” said Major General Shaukat Sultan, Pakistan’s military spokesperson.
No image available
/ 10 January 2007
India’s new Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected in Pakistan on Saturday for talks that are likely to show that a three-year-old peace process is on track. It is more than 15 months since the last visit by an Indian foreign minister to Islamabad, and while Mukherjee was only appointed in October, the Pakistani leadership know him well from his previous job as defence minister.
Pakistani cricket authorities have decided to rush fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar to South Africa to join the team before the first Test in Johannesburg, which starts on Thursday. Akhtar, who was last month cleared of a doping offence, was being sent to South Africa as young fast bowler Umar Gul had been ruled out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury.
Pakistan have lost batsman Mohammad Yousuf and all-rounder Shoaib Malik for the first Test against South Africa while fast bowler Umar Gul is also a doubt, a Pakistan Cricket Board official said on Monday. Saleem Altaf, director cricket operations, said Malik had been ruled out with a knee injury while Yousuf would miss the first Test to be with his pregnant wife.
No image available
/ 29 December 2006
Pakistan on Friday announced a 17-man squad to play three Test matches on their tour of South Africa starting next month. The team for one Twenty20 and five one-day internationals which follow the Tests would be named later, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced.
No image available
/ 27 December 2006
A Taliban commander confirmed on Wednesday that the rebels’ military chief in southern Afghanistan had been killed in a United States air strike on December 19, adding his death was a blow for the Islamist movement. The US military said last week Akhtar Mohammad Osmani, who had close links to Osama bin Laden, had been killed in an air strike.
No image available
/ 22 December 2006
Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq has been ruled out of the first two Tests in South Africa because of fitness concerns and appears likely to miss the entire series, a Pakistan Cricket Board official said on Friday. Razzaq injured a calf muscle in the final one-day international against the West Indies in Karachi on December 16.
No image available
/ 17 December 2006
A fire broke out in a tent at a wedding party in eastern Pakistan, triggering a stampede and wall collapse that killed 27 women and children, police said on Sunday. More than 30 other people were injured when the wedding party turned into a tragedy late on Saturday night in Jhok Utra.
No image available
/ 13 December 2006
Marlon Samuels hit his first century in four years to help the West Indies beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the fourth one-day international on Wednesday. The 25-year-old Jamaican was unbeaten on 100 to help his team recover from an early wobble and added 141 runs for the third wicket with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (60) as the tourists achieved the target with 15.1 overs to spare.
No image available
/ 12 December 2006
The organisers of next year’s Cricket World Cup are taking every possible step to ensure security during the event in the Caribbean, a top official said on Tuesday. Foreign experts have been called in to advise on the security plans for the championship, which begins in March, chairperson of the World Cup 2007 organising board Ken Gordon told the media.
No image available
/ 11 December 2006
Opener Imran Farhat hit an aggressive half-century and paceman Rana Naved-ul-Hasan took 3-37 to help Pakistan beat the West Indies by seven wickets in the third one-day match on Sunday. The dashing left-hander hit five boundaries and two sixes in his 72-ball 58 to help Pakistan achieve a revised target of 191 with eight deliveries to spare and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
No image available
/ 9 December 2006
Elderly Mohammed Nabi pounded his fist on the rug at his mudbrick house in south-west Pakistan and told how the Taliban recruited his cousin to avenge Nato bombings across the border. "He didn’t say he was going for jihad, he said he was going to Afghanistan to visit our ancestral village about two months ago," raged the white-bearded Afghan refugee.
No image available
/ 7 December 2006
Pakistan skipper Inzamam ul-Haq capped his return with an uncharacteristic unbeaten 42 to help his side beat the West Indies by two wickets in the second one-day international on Thursday. Inzamam hooked his 86th ball for his fourth boundary to pull off an exciting victory with 10 balls to spare.
No image available
/ 5 December 2006
Pakistan fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif on Tuesday had their bans for doping overturned by an appeals committee. The pair was cleared because neither was advised on taking vitamin supplements that may have led to them testing positive for the banned steroid nandrolone, chairperson Fakhruddin Ibrahim told reporters in Karachi.
No image available
/ 1 December 2006
Pakistan won the third and final Test against the West Indies by 199 runs after leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and pace bowler Abdul Razzaq took the last four wickets for 17 runs after tea on Friday. West Indies, set an improbable victory target of 444, were dismissed for 244 in 76 overs with Kaneria (3-69) and Razzaq (2-23) cleaning up the lower order in 69 balls.
No image available
/ 30 November 2006
West Indies were struggling to avoid a big defeat against Pakistan after run-machine Mohammad Yousuf broke several records on day four of the third and final Test on Thursday. Yousuf made his second century of the match and his ninth of 2006 to break Vivian Richard’s 30-year old record for most runs scored in a calendar year.
No image available
/ 29 November 2006
Mohammad Hafeez scored an undefeated 57 to give Pakistan a lead of 174 runs at close of play on the third day of the final Test against the West Indies on Wednesday. Pakistan reached 130-2 after plodding along in the final two sessions, having bowled out West Indies for 260 runs at the stroke of lunch for a first-innings lead of 44.
No image available
/ 29 November 2006
For Pakistan’s new class of affluent but bored young people, action sports like paragliding are providing a healthier outlet than fast cars and recreational substances. "It is better than drugs and drag racing on city roads," says local pioneer Sajjad Shah (43) as he unloads gliders from his green Toyota Prado in the scenic north-western village of Thipra.
No image available
/ 28 November 2006
West Indies opener Daren Ganga played a lone hand of 77 to keep his team alive in the third and final Test against Pakistan on Tuesday. Ganga steered West Indies to 191-6 at the close on day two with a defiant and unbeaten knock on a slow, low bouncing pitch on which Umar Gul and Danish Kaneria took six wickets.
No image available
/ 28 November 2006
Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has described the pitch for the third and final Test against West Indies as substandard. Pakistan were 265 for eight on the second day after struggling to 257 for seven on day one despite a hundred from Mohammad Yousuf.
No image available
/ 27 November 2006
Mohammad Yousuf set a batting record with his eighth hundred of 2006 but West Indies restricted Pakistan to 257-7 at close of play on the first day of the third and final Test. Pakistan lost four wickets for 83 runs in the last session on Monday, including that of Yousuf who made 102, his 22nd career century.
No image available
/ 23 November 2006
Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf missed a double century by nine runs as the second Test against the West Indies ended in a high-scoring draw on Thursday’s final day. Yousuf made 191, his seventh hundred of the year, putting on 152 runs for the sixth wicket with Abdul Razzaq, who was out for 80, as Pakistan reached 461-7 before play was called off after tea.