Lahore, 4 July 2023: by Nawaz Gohar

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 finalists will go head to head in May 2024 in the United Kingdom in the build-up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA).

World champions England will host Pakistan in a four-T20I series from 22-30 May before both the sides will depart for the tournament. The matches will be played in Leeds (22 May), Birmingham (25 May), Cardiff (28 May) and The Oval, London (30 May).

England had defeated Pakistan by five wickets with one over to spare in the T20 World Cup 2022 final in Melbourne. Prior to the Australia event, Pakistan had hosted England for a seven-match T20I series in Karachi and Lahore with the visitors winning by 4-3. England is ranked second on the ICC T20I Team Rankings, while Pakistan is ranked fourth – five points behind.

Before arriving in the UK, Pakistan will play a three-T20I series against the Netherlands and two-T20I series against Ireland, details of which will be announced in due course.

In addition to the men’s side, Pakistan women’s squad will also tour England in May 2024 for three T20Is and three ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 fixtures.

The tour will commence with the first T20I in Birmingham on 11 May with the remaining two matches in Northampton (17 May) and Leeds (19 May). Derby, Taunton and Chelmsford will stage the three ODIs on 23, 26 and 29 May, respectively.

England is ranked second and Pakistan seventh in the ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings, while Pakistan (10 points) is currently third in the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 and England seventh (six points) with one less series of three ODIs. England’s third series in the Championship is against Australia from 12-18 July.

The series against England will be Pakistan women’s last series in the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25. They will kick-start their 2023-24 season by hosting South Africa in Karachi from 1-14 September, which will be followed by series against Bangladesh (October/November, away), New Zealand (November/December, away) and West Indies (April/May, home).

In the three ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 series to date, Pakistan have defeated Sri Lanka (2-1) and Ireland (3-0), while they were beaten 3-0 by world champions Australia earlier this year.

Pakistan to England 2024

Women’s series
11 May: 1st T20I – Edgbaston, Birmingham
17 May: 2nd T20I – The County Ground, Northampton
19 May: 3rd T20I – Headingley, Leeds
23 May: 1st ODI –Derby
26 May: 2nd ODI –Taunton
29 May: 3rd ODI – Chelmsford

Men’s series
22 May: 1st T20I – Headingley, Leeds
25 May: 2nd T20I – Edgbaston, Birmingham
28 May: 3rd T20I – Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
30 May: 4th T20I – The Oval, London

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Pakistan’s presence in Special Olympics World Games is a happy moment for the nation: Dr. Mohammad Faisal

Ambassador Dr. Mohammad Faisal hosted a welcome reception at the Pakistan House, Berlin, for the Pakistani squad of Special Olympics World Games 2023. The delegation, comprising 54 male and 33 female athletes, alongside their coaches and support officials, was given a heart warming welcome by the officers and staff of the Embassy. Prominent members of the community were also invited to encourage the young privileged athletes aspiring to bag success in the event.

Pakistani differently abled athletes are participating in 11 different sports, including athletics, badminton, basketball, bocce, cycling, futsal, hockey, power lifting, swimming, tennis and table tennis.

In his welcome remarks, Ambassador, Dr. Mohammad Faisal, noted that “I feel very proud to see you all with shining eyes, hopeful hearts and firm determination to represent Pakistan.” He further added that, “I would also want to congratulate the team management, Ms. Ronak Lakhani, Ms. Yasmin Hyder and all the coaches and affiliated personnel who enabled our privileged guests reach this point with adequate training and the aim to raise the flag high.” He said that this indeed was a very happy moment for the nation, to see its privileged children participate in an international event and reiterated that the Embassy would render every possible support to the Special Olympics Team during their stay in Berlin.

Ms. Ronak Lakhani, Chairperson Special Olympics Pakistan, who is leading the delegation, thanked the Ambassador and the Embassy for their utmost support and hoped that the team will perform well in the event, which is scheduled to officially kick off on 17th and continue till 25th of June, 2023.

The Embassy also arranged music performances, alongside refreshments, for the guests, which the participants fondly enjoyed.

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Pak special athletes visit historic places in Berlin, Germany.

Berlin (Germany): The Pakistani contingent participating in the Special Olympic World Games was taken on a tour by the organizing committee of the Games in Berlin to visit various historical places.
Special children went to the Wall of Berlin, the German Parliament, the Future Museum, the main railway station, Berlin’s largest central park, and a school for special children.
The special children were made aware of the historical background of the Wall of Berlin l, which was built in 1961 and demolished in 1990.

Pakistani players and officials took pictures and selfies with the historic Wall of Berlin.
During the visit to the future museum, the athletes were very impressed by seeing the robots and other modern technology to be produced by Germany in the next 30 years.

Arise Grand Show was organized in Berlin’s biggest theatre for the athletes of Pakistan and other participating countries in the World Games, where the organizers welcomed the participants and briefed them on the information regarding the background of the Games and the mega event starting from June 17.
On this occasion, the audience was very entertained by the performance of German cultural dance artists. Meanwhile, the national athletes participating in the mega event will start their training sessions on Friday. Pakistan is participating in 11 different disciplines in the event.

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Pakistan A vs Hong Kong match washed out

Hong Kong, 15 June 2023: 

ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023 match between Pakistan and Hong Kong was abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain at the Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Hong Kong on Thursday.

The two teams get a point each of the match.

Pakistan, who won their first match against Nepal by nine runs at the same venue on Tuesday, will now take on India A in their third match of the tournament on Saturday. The first ball of the match will be bowled at 1030 PKT.

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Pakistan Basketball team reaches Maldives for five-nation championship

ISLAMABAD, June 14: Pakistan Basketball team reaches Maldives on Wednesday in order to participate in the five-nation international basketball championship to be starting from June 15th in Male.

Pakistan along with host Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal will fight for the championship title in a single league round where top four teams will qualify for semifinals of the championship.

The Pakistan team also met with Director General Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Shoaib Khoso before departure to Maldives. In this meeting, the President of Pakistan Basketball Federation (PBBF) Brig. (R) Muhammad Iftikhar Mansoor informed him about the preparations of the national team for the five-nation Championship.

DG PSB Shoaib Khoso is hopeful that talented Pakistan Basketball Team will perform brilliantly in the five-nation basketball championship. He said that Pakistan Sports Board will provide maximum support to active sports federations.

He also said that it would be a wonderful opportunity for young players to represent the country to display their sports potential in their respective game as Pakistan Sports Board is working hard for the promotion of sports across the country. DG PSB Shoaib Khoso also assured PBBF officials that PSB will provide maximum support for future training camps for any upcoming national and international events.

The President of the Pakistan Basketball Federation (PBBF) Brig. (R) Muhammad Iftikhar Mansoor and PBBF Associate Secretary Ouj E Zahoor thanked the Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Ehsan Ur Rehman Mazari and Director General Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Shoaib Khoso for their support and assistance, which enable PBBF to train the national basketball team in the camp for more than a month. This championship will be helpful for Pakistan team to get international exposure after a long period of seven years.

Under the supervision of the coaching staff, young players did extensive training at Pakistan Sports Complex Islamabad ahead of the event. The team staff includes Former International Malik Muhammad Riaz, who will be the head coach along with Umer Mehmood coach and Ahmed Ali Tipu will be the team manager. Besides the team, for the first time in decades a Pakistani Basketball Referee Syed Adnan Ali, from Karachi, who is also a FIBA certified referee will also officiate in the five-nation international basketball championship.

PBBF said that the five nation international championship will be a door opener for talented basketball players to represent Pakistan, the purpose of participating in the event is to provide opportunities to the players so that they can get experience as PBBF set the target of the Pakistan basketball team to win the medal in upcoming South Asian Games to be held next year.

According to details, Pakistan will play their first match against Nepal on June 15 while green shirts will be in action against host Maldives on June 16. Pakistan will play third league match against Bhutan on June 17 and will play his last match against Bangladesh on June 18. The semifinals will be played on June 20 while final of the championship will be held on June 22.

It is also mentioned that after getting the official affiliation with Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) few months ago, the top management of Pakistan Basketball Federation headed by Brig. (R) Muhammad Iftikhar Mansoor and Secretary General Khalid Bashir took many steps to organize national events as well as to send Pakistan teams to international level.

Pakistan squad: Muhammad Shahbaz Ali (captain), Abdul Wahab, Muhammad Umair Jan, Zain ul Hassan Khan, Muhammad Shahid, Imad Ahmed, Zia Ur Rehman, Saqib Ullah Mahsood, Mahtab Akram and Sheraz Aslam.

Officials: Malik Muhammad Riaz (head coach), Umer Mehmood (coach), Ahmed Ali Tipu(manager)

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