Category: Sports

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises have accepted Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s new financial model which was presented to them during last month’s Governing Council meeting on October 27.

ARY and PTV scoops rights of ICC for Pakistan – to be shown on Pakistans first hd channel A-Sports

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  “A sports” a full spectrum HD sports channel is launching on the 16th of October 2021. This is amazing news for our sports fans who have been waiting for such a platform to be able to fulfill their sporting needs for a very long time.

This will bring all ICC events, including the Twenty20 World Cup 2021, to audiences here in Pakistan in their full glory.

A Sports HD. The channel is set to change the very landscape of sports programming in Pakistan. Cricket superstar, Waseem Akram is slated to be the President of the channel. The launch date for A Sports is set as Saturday 16th October 2021, with one of its first privelages  being of broadcasting the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup 2021 in HD quality. The group stages for the tournament will begin on 17th October 2021, with the big Pakistan-India clash scheduled for 24th October. The ARY Network and Pakistan Television have acquired the broadcast rights for ICC events for the next three years.

A Sports HD will feature a flagship cricket show ‘The Pavilion’ hosted by Fakhar e Alam and feature cricketing giants such as Waseem akram, Waqar Younis, Misbah ul Haq and Wahab Riaz. Besides cricket, A Sports HD will also feature a variety of local and international sports broadcasts, commentaries, talkshows and much more. This channel will also organize and promote sporting events at grass root levels to raise the level of sports talent in Pakistan and shine the light on aspiring athletes.. The launch of A Sports is yet another milestone in the promotion of and access to quality sports programming to the Pakistani and international audience.

 

AzCorp Entertainment takes a crack at the Board Gaming industry With first of its kind Pakistani Board Game.

After publishing critically acclaimed comic book series, audio books and producing a children’s TV show, AzCorp Entertainment is now all set to dive into a highly lucrative and competitive board-game publishing industry, a market which is currently valued over $11 billion globally with an expected growth rate of 13% year over year.

It will be interesting to see how the board-game market which is often inspired by the Greek and Nordic my thologies, will react to a South Asian post-apocalyptic world with jinns and heroes from this part of the world. The board-game is being launched exclusively on Kick starter for only 30 days with 15% discounts being offered to buyers in their first 24hrs of launch, which is on OCTOBER 12, 2021 at 10pm Pakistan Standard Time (1pm Eastern Standard Time)To register all you need to do is click on their campaign preview link https://bit.ly/WOB_Prelaunch and push ‘Notify me on launch’ button and you will receive an email as the campaign goes live.

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Pakistan’s experienced all-rounder Shoaib Malik on Thursday became the first Asian cricketer to complete 11,000 runs in T20 cricket.

Malik, 39, reached this milestone while playing for Central Punjab against Southern Punjab in the National T20 match at Lahore’s Gadaffi stadium.

Malik achieved the feat during his 411th T20 inning and he is one of only four players with experience of over 400 professional T20 matches.

The 39-year-old is one of the only two active cricketers who made international debuts in the 1990s, and are still available for selection to their respective countries — the other one is Chris Gayle of West Indies.

The Pakistani all-rounder is overall the third to reach the mark. He is also the first “non-Caribbean” cricketer to achieve this feat as two others to score 11,000 T20 runs — Chris Gayle, 14,276 runs, and Keiron Pollard, 11,223 runs — are from West Indies.

With 67 scores of 50s+, Malik is also Pakistan’s leading player in the list of players with the most numbers of scores over 50 (including centuries). He is followed by Babar Azam with 65 such scores in the list.

 

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

England and Wales Cricket Board Chairman Ian Watmore has resigned after increasing pressure since the cancellation of England’s tour to Pakistan.

The 63-year-old is leaving after consultations with the board of directors this week, The Times reported.

Watmore served as the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board for only 10 months, despite having been appointed for a five-year term.

His resignation will go into effect immediately, the British publication said.

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Former Pakistan captain and Boom Boom all-rounder Shahid Afridi Monday recalled the day his “dreams come true” when he smashed a record-breaking 37-ball century against Sri Lanka, effectively announcing his arrival in international cricket.

When Pakistan came out to bat against Sri Lanka in Nairobi on October 4, 1996, nobody knew the carnage that was about to follow, least of all the Sri Lankan bowlers.

Shahid Afridi was relatively unknown at the time. However, after Pakistan batted first and played their inning, the right-handed batsman had made headlines around the world.

Afridi smashed his way into the record books by scoring the fastest ODI century in the history of the game, achieving it in 37 balls. Afridi hit the ball out of the park frequently during his inning, smashing 11 sixes and six fours to score 102 runs off 40 balls before he was sent back to the pavilion.

The stylish Saeed Anwar also put up a strong performance, scoring 115 off 120 balls. However, the day belonged to Shahid Afridi.

A day I will never forget! To all my fans around the world, do remember, dreams do come true! 💚 https://t.co/eCo5N5guXb

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) October 4, 2021

In the tweet, Shahid Afridi said he would never forget the day he shattered the world record for the fastest ODI century.

“To all my fans around the world, do remember, dreams do come true!” he tweeted.

Pakistan won the match by 82 runs after handing Sri Lanka a mammoth 372-run target. The Sri Lankans batted well but fell short of the target, as they were bowled out for 289 with only one ball to spare.

Shahid Afridi picked up one wicket from his 10 overs as well. Fast bowler Waqar Younis was the pick of the bowlers, taking five wickets while Saqalin Mushtaq took four wickets too.

 

 

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) After the disappointment of two international series withdrawal from New Zealand and England in Pakistan earlier this month, Daraz will bring the entire country together on its platform to watch the ICC T20 World Cup free of cost. Daraz announces their exclusive partnership to stream the biggest cricket tournament of the year. Through this partnership, the app users will be able to watch all the matches of the tournament from anywhere on Daraz’s app. The shopping platform launched Daraz Live in September 2021 bringing state-of-the-art technology introducing the concept of shoppertainment to its user. With a monthly user base of 15 Million and growing, Daraz aims to attract more users with this partnership on their app.

Muhammad Ammar Hassan, Chief Marketing Officer of Daraz Pakistan, said “Cricket is the most watched sport in our country and we want all Pakistanis to follow cricket anywhere through their mobiles. Through this we are aiming to promote Daraz Live which is our new live commerce technology where users can watch cricket and enjoy shopping at the same time.”

The partnership is a key component of Daraz’s marketing strategy to accelerate the growth of the brand through association with high-profile sports teams. With cricket commanding a huge following across the South Asian region, it presents an effective platform for Daraz to engage with the region’s passionate fans and drive the brand to the next level.

Featuring a total of 45 matches in UAE, the ICC T20 World Cup will start from 17th October 2021 with semi final scheduled for 10th and 11th of November and Final on 14th of November 2021. All the matches will be streamed on Daraz App. Advertisers in Pakistan will be able to advertise on Daraz during the live stream of ICC T20 World cup which daraz will be showing exclusively. With the largest digital audience base in Pakistan, It will be a great opportunity for advertising fraternity to expose their brands to millions of people who are digital natives.

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam added another feather to his cap when he became the top T20 centurion from Pakistan by scoring his 6th T20 hundred during Central Punjab’s National T20 Cup match against Northern on Thursday. Babar smashed three 6s and stroked 11 shots to the fence to score an unbeaten 105 off 63 to help his team post 200/2 in 20 overs. This was Babar’s sixth T20 century — the most by a Pakistani batsman in the format.

He is followed by Ahmed Shahzad and Kamran Akmal, both have 5 centuries against their names, apiece. Khurram Manzoor has scored 4 while Sharjeel Khan and Mukhtar Ahmed have scored 3 centuries, each. Babar is also the 9th batsman in the world to score at least six T20 centuries. The most numbers of centuries, 22, are scored by West Indian Chris Gayle.

The Pakistani batsman reached this milestone in the 185th inning of his career.
In these 185 innings, Babar has a total of 64 scores of 50 or more (that also include 6 hundreds) putting him fifty/inning ratio to 2.89 – the best among all the leading batsmen. Babar is now eyeing to break Chris Gayle’s record of quickest to 7,000 runs. He needs 16 runs in 6 innings to break the record set by Gayle by reaching 7000 runs in 192 innings. Babar currently has 6984 in 185 innings.

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Lahore (NUT-DESK)

England Cricket Board chief Ian Watmore has tendered an apology after controversially cancelling the team’s tour of Pakistan.

England, who were scheduled to feature in two T20Is on October 13 and 14, called off their tour citing concerns of mental and physical well-being of players and support staff. The women’s cricket team was also set to play two T20Is and three ODIs from October 13 to 21 in Rawalpindi.

“I’m very sorry to anyone who feels hurt or let down by our decision, particularly in Pakistan,” Watmore told Daily Mail. He reiterated that the decision was made with the primary consideration being the welfare and mental health of our players and staff.

Watmore announced that ECB is looking forward to a proper tour of Pakistan next year. “We’ve recommitted to a proper tour and we will have longer to plan that trip,” he added.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry also welcomed ECB’s decision, stating that it is a welcome step.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Winner of the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) Jaffna Stallions have a new owner as Sri Lanka-born British entrepreneur, Allirajah Subaskaran, enters the second season of the premier T20 tournament of the Island Nation by acquiring the Jaffna-based franchise in the tournament.

Speaking about the new venture, Mr Subaskaran said, “I have been observing the gradual growth of the LPL. It has turned out to be a spectacular sporting event, and I believe that the LPL can become a major event in the cricketing calendar. Many Sri Lankans globally look forward to this tournament, with better funding and drafting of bigger names, the league is bound to be a global phenomenon, and I don’t want to be left out of the party.”

Mr Allirajah Subaskaran is the founder and chairman of Lyca Group of companies in the UK, and the group has been diversifying its businesses in the South Asian region with a strong presence in India and Sri Lanka, making their venture into the LPL, a well-calculated move. When asked why he chose the Jaffna team, Mr Allirajah Subaskaran said: “Well, it makes sense to put your money on the team that won last year, and, I do have some sentimental attachments to the North of the Island.”

Welcoming the new owner, Mr Anil Mohan, Founder and CEO of Dubai-based production giant IPG, the official promoter of LPL, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to welcome on board Lyca Group Chairman Mr Allirajah Subaskaran as the owner of the Jaffna franchise. I am sure that his love and passion for the game will enable him to connect with the team and engage the fans and all its stakeholders going forward.”

Mr Jawad Ghulam Rasool, Chief Operating Officer of Dubai-based production giant IPG, the official promoter of LPL, said, “We at the IPG group recognize that it takes many individuals whether in management, players or franchise owners to put together a league that we can be proud of, a league like LPL. We would like to welcome Jaffna franchise owner Mr Allirajah Subaskaran, chairman of the LYCA Group to the LPL community and look forward to growing stronger together.”

With the LPL Player’s Draft scheduled for next month, the new owner of the Jaffna franchise expects to rope in some big international and local stars. He said, that like last year, he’s confident of having a very competitive team this year too.

The inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) which was played in a bio-secure bubble at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota from November 26 till December 16, 2020, reached a cumulative audience of 557 million people through TV, digital-social space, and traditional media outlets. Sponsors enjoyed a media evaluation (visibility) of $54.5m and title sponsor MY11CIRCLE enjoyed a ROI of 9.85x. Winner of the first edition of LPL Jaffna Stallions tops the valuation chart with $3.98m followed by Galle Gladiators ($3.82m), Dambulla Viikings (Now Dambulla Gaints) ($3.54m) Colombo Kings ($3.44m) and Kandy Tuskers ($3.19m).

The LPL matches which were telecast live by Sky Sports, Sony Sports Network, Geo, PTV, and Willow TV in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, UK, US, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand saw 155 million people tuning in to catch live action. On social media, it achieved a reach of 218 million and LPL found 133478 mentions as the league came alive with each and every match with some scintillating performances on the ground.