Ahmed Shameel

The inaugural edition of Euro T20 Slam has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, ESPNcricinfo has reported. The tournament was to be contested in 2019. However, it was postponed due to financial reasons just two weeks before it was due to commence. The cricket boards of Ireland, Scotland and Netherlands were pondering on several contingencies to host the T20 competition which included staging the tournament entirely in Malahide. “We had been discussing in recent weeks alternative arrangements to get the competition started – single venue, reduced team and player pool, a shorter competition – and, given the speed with which we set up the tri-series between the three boards in Dublin last September, we felt confident to leave the decision as late as possible to give ourselves the best chance to make it work,” the Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland Warren Deutrom said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. The Cricket Ireland official added that it became inviable to host the ...

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said having the opportunity to lift the Premier League trophy at Anfield meant the world to him despite having to do so in an empty stadium with fans shut out due to coronavirus. The Reds sealed a first top-flight title for 30 years last month, but had to wait until after a thrilling 5-3 win over Chelsea in their final home game of the season to lift the Premier League trophy for the first time. “You make the best of what you can,” Klopp told Sky Sports. “Today our families are allowed to be there which is incredible. It means the world to me. Everything would be better with fans but for months we knew that would be impossible. A few months ago I thought it was impossible that we play football. “I couldn’t be happier to be honest, it would be perfect if the stadium would be full but we cannot change it. What we tried to do is make it clear to the people that we really do it for them. It’s an absolutely great moment.” Despite pleas for fans...

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani has clarified that Pakistan will not chase after India to play a bilateral series with the arch-rivals. “I have taken the view and let the PCB know that we will be ready to play India but will not be running after them,” he said in Oborne & Heller On Cricket podcast. “It is their call and we will be willing to play them when they are ready.” The PCB chairman stated that the suspension of cricketing ties between Pakistan and India was of ‘great pity’, adding that no other cricket match is as closely followed as when the two arch-rivals square off against one another. “I have been told that around 200-250 million people watch every time the two sides play each other.” However, he said the current situation is a little different. “My predecessor had tried very hard to persuade Pakistan and India to play. They even signed a memorandum of understanding. India turned around and said they can’t honour it as their government ha...

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) board of directors has approved a $250 million loan to help Pakistan strengthen its response to the social and economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, according to reports released by MarketScreener. Co-financed by the World Bank, this money will help strengthen the government’s Resilient Institutions for Sustainable Economy (RISE) programme, which aims to encourage investment in human capital, improve lives of vulnerable families and individuals, reduce the adverse health and economic shocks, and boost economic growth.   According to the MarketScreener report, the health crisis is expected to have a far ranging and long-term effect on growth, which may undermine the hard-fought progress the country has made in restoring macroeconomic stability. Employment in the formal and informal sectors has already seen a downturn with the poor, women and other vulnerable groups disproportionately affected. The programme is, ...

Gold has become 30% more expensive since January 1 as international prices reach a nine-year high. The price of gold is hitting a new high almost every day. A tola of gold is now selling for Rs115,000 in Pakistan, up by Rs1,500 from the previous day’s tally. This is the highest price gold ever sold for in the country’s history and Rs26,850 more expensive than Rs88,150, its price on January 1.  The prices of gold in Pakistan are largely determined by its international prices, which rose by $15 to reach $1,856 per ounce – the highest in nine years. Rays Commodities COO Adnan Agar says that there’s high uncertainty this year, which means gold prices may continue to increase. “Coronavirus cases are yet to peak in America and the country with the biggest economy is also preparing to hold uneasy elections later this year as the pandemic would force the government from holding elections in a traditional way,” he told  Samaa Money.  ...

A NAB team reached Karachi on Thursday as part of its investigations into the Roshan Sindh Programme against Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. The team will be collecting evidence and touring the provincial finance department where it will look into records. The team will be recording the statements of a number of government officers whose names were given to them by CM Shah. Read more: Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah decries Ali Zaidi’s ‘irresponsible behaviour’ The investigators will be in Karachi for the next two days. The Roshan Sindh programme case relates to the installation of solar streetlights in different districts of the province. It is one of the 28 cases that fall under the fake accounts case. CM Shah is being investigated for ignoring the finance secretary’s recommendations regarding the programme during his tenure as finance minister.

China sends probe to Mars China  launched  a rover to Mars on Thursday, another milestone for its space programme after putting humans into orbit and landing a probe on the Moon. It is among a trio of nations, along with the United Arab Emirates and the United States, launching missions to the Red Planet this month, taking advantage of a period when Mars and Earth are favourably aligned. Beijing’s space programme has made huge strides in recent years as it tries to catch up with the United States and Russia. China’s Mars probe lifted off on July 23 from the southern island of Hainan. The mission was dubbed Tianwen-1 (“Questions to Heaven”) in a nod to a classical Chinese poem that has verses about the cosmos. The probe aims to go into Martian orbit, land on the planet and release a small rover to conduct research on its surface. The craft will travel at least 55 million kilometres (34 million miles) to reach its destination. It will arrive seven months afte...