Sports
Pakistan retain Shan Masood as Test cricket captain despite poor record
Under-pressure Pakistan Test cricket captain Shan Masood will continue to lead the side in the upcoming series against England despite losing his first five matches at the helm.
Masood, a 34-year-old top-order batter, kept his place as Pakistan named a 15-man squad on Tuesday for next month’s first Test in the southeastern city of Multan.
Following Pakistan’s shock 2-0 home series loss against Bangladesh in August, local media had speculated that Masood faced an axe ahead of a busy Test calendar for the team. Pakistan had never lost a Test match to Bangladesh before and the twin defeats in Rawalpindi also marked only the second time that Pakistan lost all matches in a series at home, the first instance coming in 2022 against England, their opponents in an upcoming series.
It took Masood’s record to five losses since replacing Babar Azam as skipper in November. He lost his first series 3-0 in Australia.
The left-handed opener’s batting form remains below par as he has failed to score a Test century since August 2020 and has a batting average of 28.6 in his five matches as captain.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) stuck with Masood as their Australian head coach Jason Gillespie sought consistency.
Pakistan currently languish in eighth position in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) men’s Test team rankings with 76 rating points after 20 matches in the current cycle of the World Test Championship. Australia lead the table with 124 points, with India close behind and England are third.
The first of three Pakistan-England Tests starts in Multan on October 7, the second will be played in the same city from October 15 and the third in Rawalpindi from October 24.
The PCB said the team announcement was for the first Test only. “The 15-man squad is for the first Test and based on the recommendation of head coach Gillespie, the selected players will attend a training camp in Multan from October 1,” the board said in a press release.
Left-arm spinner Noman Ali has replaced fast bowler Khurram Shahzad, who is recovering from a side strain. Pacer Mohammad Ali, who played both Bangladesh Tests, and batter Kamran Ghulam, an unused member of the squad, have been dropped. All-rounder Aamer Jamal returns after missing the Bangladesh series with a back problem.
“We are very much looking forward to the series against England here in Pakistan and cannot wait for it to begin,” Gillespie was quoted as saying by the PCB.
Squad (for first Test): Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi.
[Aljazeera]
by Reemus Fernando
Sri Lanka will field three athletes including sprinter Chamod Yodasinghe and hurdler Kaveesha Bandara for next week’s World Indoor Athletics Championship which will be held in Nanjing, China.
Sprinters Chamod Yodasinghe and Kalinga Kumarage and hurdler Kaveesha Bandara are the only Sri Lankan athletes to have reached qualifying standards for the global event according to Sri Lanka Athletics.
It is the first time all three athletes are competing at a global event at senior level. While sprint veteran Kumarage has competed at major international events including the Asian Game, the Indoor World Championship is the first major international senior level event at which both Bandara and Yodasinghe are taking part.
Yodasinghe who has the 2028 Olympics as his long term goal had this year’s Asian Championship as his major goal for the year but his impressive 6.63 seconds finish in the 60 metres at last month’s National Short Track Championship has positioned him in the 36th place in the World Athletics’ Road to Nanjing rankings to be eligible for the event.
Hurdler Bandara is ranked 31st in the World Athletics’ Road to Nanjing rankings by virtue of his 7.80 seconds performance at the National Short Track Championship held in February.
Of the three athletes Kalinga Kumarage is the highest ranked Sri Lankan in the ‘Road to Nanjing rankings’. In the 400 metres Kumarage is ranked 17th for his 45.93 seconds feat achieved at a championship in Japan last year.
Sri Lanka has not been a regular participant at these championships. The country had to skip major athletics events in the recent past due to the difficulty in obtaining visas for events taking place in Europe and the USA.
With the Indoor World Championship taking place in China the three athletes will be eager to produce their best in a bid to improve their world rankings in a world championship year.
Junior Davis Cup Asia Oceania Pre Qualifying Tournament
Sri Lanka boys reached the semi-finals of the Junior Davis Cup Asia Oceania Pre Qualifying Tournament as an unbeaten team. They are set to meet Indonesia today in the semi-final in the tournament conducted in Kunchi Malaysia.
Sri Lanka team booked their semi-final spot with a convincing 2-0 win over Mongolia in the quarter-final where Aahil Kaleel (beat Zolbadar Urnukh 6-4, 6-1) and Saha Kapilasena (beat Zolbayar Ganbold 6-0, 7-5) emerged victorious.
In the other encounters Sri Lanka recorded dominant victories. They beat Bhutan 3-0 and Maldives 3-0.
In the encounter against Bhutan, Mayooran Kubheran (beat Jurmi Khedrup 6-1, 6-2) and Saha Kapilasena (beat Dorj Tshering 6-0, 6-0) won the singles before Aahil Kaleel and Mayooran Kubheran joined to win the doubles with a 6-0, 6-0 win against Dorj Tshering and Urmi Khedrup.
In the matches against Maldives, Mayooran Kubherane (beat Mohamed Salaam 6-0, 6-1) and Aahil Kaleel (beat Neyaz Adam Aal 6-0, 6-0) won the singles before the latter was joined by Saha Kapilasena (beat Mohamed Salaam and Neyaz Adam Aal) to register victory in the doubles.
ITF Junior Circuit J30 Week 1 Tournament
Dinara de Silva reached the quarter-final stage of the ITF Junior Circuit J30 week 1 tournament with a 6-3, 6-0 win over India’s Sanmita Lokesh at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts on Thursday.
Earlier in the tournament Dinara beat Eyu Yoshida of Japan 6-1, 6-0.
The tournament which commenced on Monday is set to conclude in Sunday.
(Pic by Kamal Wanniarachchi)
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