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Fakhar Zaman, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, and Shadab Khan have been rewarded for their impressive performances, in Pakistan’s run to the Champions Trophy title, with their first central contracts

Umar Farooq12-Jul-20171:46

Archive – The ups and downs of Umar Akmal

Umar Akmal’s international career appears to be at crossroads after the PCB omitted him from the list of 35 centrally contracted players for the year starting July 1, 2017. He was the most notable omission from the list, with his fitness having been a major concern for much of his career.Akmal was originally named in the Champions Trophy squad but was axed after failing two fitness tests leading up to the start of the tournament in England. Akmal had previously been dropped from a tour of the West Indies in April for similar reasons. He was excluded from that squad after he was the only player, out of 31, to fail the fitness test during a camp held at the National Cricket Academy in March.The Central Contracts list

Category A: Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Amir
Category B: Babar Azam, Imad Wasim, Asad Shafiq, Hasan Ali

Category C: Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Haris Sohail, Sami Aslam, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Junaid Khan, Ahmed Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Shahdab Khan

Category D: Mohammad Nawaz, Asif Zakir, Usman Salahuddin, Amir Yamin, Usman Shinwari, Faheem Ashraf, Ruman Raees, Imam-ul-Haq, Bilal Asif, Mir Hamza, Umer Amin, Mohammad Hasan, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Rizwan

He was named in the national high performance camp organised by the NCA but pulled out, citing a knee injury. He informed the relevant officials – including head coach Mushtaq Ahmed – and excused himself for five weeks, during which he intends to undergo rehabilitation with his private trainer in England.The selectors have handed out 15 new central contracts, with 10 players including now retired Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan dropped from the previous list of 30. Junaid Khan, who had been axed last year has been offered a Category C contract, while fellow left-arm fast bowlers Wahab Riaz and Rahat Ali have been demoted from Category B to C. Pakistan’s lead seamer Mohammad Amir, meanwhile, was given an A grade contract.Babar Azam and Imad Wasim were promoted from Category C to B while openers Sami Aslam and Shan Masood were retained in Category C along with Mohammad Nawaz – who has served out his two-month ban for failing to report an approach in the PSL 2017. The monetary value of the monthly retainer has also been increased by 10% for all categories.”The central contracts were awarded after keeping in mind the performances, fitness, and discipline of the players,” the PCB said in a statement. “A number of young players have been awarded central contracts this year keeping in mind that the national teams in all formats will be going through a transitional period after a number of retirements from last year’s central contract list.”The selectors have also picked an additional wicketkeeper, Mohammad Hasan, in the list along with Sarfraz Ahmed – captain in all three formats – and Mohammad Rizwan, who was demoted from Category C to D.Usman Salahuddin, who was given a contract in 2012 before fading away, has once more returned to national contention. As a possible contender for one of the vacancies in the Test team’s middle order, he was given a Category D contract. Umar Amin, who has also been absent from the central contracts list for the past few years, returns in Category D. Bilal Asif, who was included in Category D, is the only off-spinner among the 35 players to be offered central contracts.The PCB has named chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq’s nephew Imam-ul-Haq in the emerging players category. He recently had a productive stint with Pakistan Under-23, scoring two back-to-back hundreds in Bangladesh. Asif Zakir, a batsman from Karachi, has also been rewarded with a Category D contract for successive prolific domestic seasons after he scored 791 runs in 10 first-class matches in 2015-16 at an average of 56.50, and 853 first runs at 85.30 in 2016-17.

The Australian opener said he could have been out lbw in Bengaluru if he attempted the switch-hit to R Ashwin’s leg-stump bowling

Karthik Krishnaswamy12-Mar-20170:23

David Warner on why he did not try the switch-hit off R Ashwin in Bengaluru

David Warner is among the few batsmen in the world capable of successfully executing a switch-hit. It was an option he could have used against R Ashwin in Bengaluru, when the offspinner bowled over the wicket to him, targeting the rough outside his leg stump. Warner, however, has said he chose not to try it – not because of the inherent risk involved, but due to an apparent misunderstanding of the lbw law.Ashwin has dismissed Warner nine times in Test cricket, including twice in Bengaluru. During a media interaction on Saturday, a journalist asked Warner if he was thinking of using the switch-hit as a way to combat him.”Yeah, the last Test I was contemplating that,” Warner said. “I tried to play a reverse-sweep. The only concern for me was the variable bounce, that’s always the challenging thing because if you miss that and you switch-hit, you can still be given out lbw, but if you reverse-sweep, you can’t, so you’ve got to be careful.”Unlike the reverse-sweep, the switch hit involves the batsman changing his grip on the bat handle as well as reversing his stance, the bowler has begun his run-up. In May 2012, the ICC mulled a change in the lbw law, wherein a batsman attempting a switch-hit could be given out lbw even if the ball pitched outside his leg stump.No such law change, however, has been passed since, with the MCC ruling in May 2013 that the switch-hit should remain a legitimate part of the game, with some leeway afforded to bowlers in limited-overs cricket with regards to wide balls.As the lbw law currently stands, the batsman cannot be given out lbw if the ball has pitched outside his leg stump. The law also defines the off – and leg – side of the batsman’s wicket as being “determined by the striker’s stance at the moment the ball comes into play for that delivery”.The ball, according to Appendix D of the MCC’s Laws, comes into play when “the bowler starts his run up or, if he has no run up, his bowling action”. This means that the definitions of leg side and off side will not change if a batsman changes his grip and reverses his stance after the bowler has begun his run-up.Warner, in effect, could not have been given out had he tried switch-hitting Ashwin in Bengaluru, missed, and been struck on the pad, so long as the ball pitched outside his leg stump.

When we think of the greatest moments in Premier League history, the same, legendary voice comes to mind. And that’s Martin Tyler’s.The commentary legend recently hung up his mic at Sky Sports, calling an end to 30 years on the gantry as English football’s main voice. Thankfully, he is not retiring completely, however, which means we could still here his famous “and it’s live” catchphrase elsewhere across football.Though occasionally accused of being biased, Woking FC supporter Tyler remains one of the best commentators that the sport has ever seen.Where there was a big moment, there was a famous Tyler line.Things will certainly take some getting used to without him, that’s for sure, as the puns dwindle away – some, admittedly, better than others – and the veteran’s endless knowledge is no longer heard on Sky Sports.With that said, however, we’ve ranked Tyler’s most iconic moment, including, of course, a certain Manchester City title win.

5 2012: Chelsea leave it late in Champions League final

Ah, yes, the combination of a questionable Gary Neville noise and Tyler simply screaming the name of the goalscorer. That’s what we call an underrated duo.

With Chelsea heading for Champions League final defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich, Didier Drogba, as he often did, rose to the occasion to equalise in the 88th minute. The Blues then went onto famously win their first ever Champions League trophy, defeating Bayern on penalties.

A special moment deserved special commentary, and it was exactly that from Tyler.

4 2009: Macheda’s late winner

It’s almost difficult not to laugh at this one, but it’s Tyler’s voice break which makes it so special, as a 17-year-old Federico Macheda turned and unleashed an inch-perfect effort into the corner to secure a 3-2 win for Manchester United against Aston Villa late on.

It may have been a false dawn for Macheda’s United career, but the moment at Old Trafford remains one of Tyler’s best in the gantry.

3 2012: Ji shocks Manchester City

The only thing better than an underdog victory is when there’s commentary to match the league-wide shock at the result we’ve all just seen.

In 2012, Sunderland shocked the rest of England’s top flight to defeat league leaders Manchester City on New Year’s Day of 2012, with Ji Dong-Won wheeling away in celebration as the clock hit the 93rd minute.

The goal signalled a famous piece of commentary from Tyler, who screamed Ji’s name, before shouting: “He’s round the keeper, and he’s done it!”

2 2015: Welcome to the Premier League, Anthony Martial

There’s not many Premier League debuts better than Anthony Martial’s. The Frenchman introduced himself to the Premier League in style, slaloming past Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel who never really looked like standing a chance, before expertly firing home.

Tyler made sure to give him the welcome he had earned, too, screaming, “ohhhh yes”, before saying: “Welcome to the Premier League, Anthony Martial!”

It’s the kind of moment that can still give you goosebumps, courtesy of Tyler’s legendary line.

1 2012: Aguerooooooooooo

It was always going to be this one, wasn’t it? Quite possibly one of the most famous pieces of commentary in football history, let alone just the Premier League. It’s almost as if Tyler had written the script for the perfect climax to an incredible season, himself.

It feels fitting that it was the gantry legend who had the pleasure of voicing the most iconic moment of all time in the Premier League.

It’s a moment that we could watch again and again.

With Pakistan in trouble, they were steadied once again by Azhar Ali and Younis Khan on day two at the SCG

Osman Samiuddin at the SCG04-Jan-2017Pakistan’s batting may have lost them the series at the MCG but it has also been the one suit in which they have competed hardest with Australia. Twice they have gone past 400; the previous time they had crossed 400 in Australia, was 33 years ago when they also did it two innings in a row. The only problem of course has been the 142 and 163 that have bookended these two scores.Nevertheless they will look to their batting once again to salvage what they can from this dead rubber Test at the SCG. That begun disastrously on the second afternoon as they lost two wickets in their innings’ fourth over, before Azhar Ali and Younis Khan – not for the first time – began the repair work with a stand so far of 120.Azhar in particular appeared in pristine touch, continuing from where he left of at the MCG. He was on 58 at the close, bringing his tally since the start of last year to 1256 runs at an average of 66.10. He is just 18 runs short of 400 runs for the series.”He has been fantastic,” said Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur. “Over the last one year he has been the cornerstone of our batting. Just to see him come out with the intent as he did today is amazing.”The amount of time he has spent on field actually on this tour… we were just talking about it in the dressing room, it is almost beyond belief. For him to keep going, keep going and keep going shows a lot of resilience and shows a lot of toughness of mind.”Pakistan are still over 400 runs behind Australia, however, so for now, any targets as to how to move the Test ahead must be pragmatic ones. The ball is now over 40 overs old and the slowness of the surface might feel familiar.”I said earlier to the guys that you can never judge a pitch until the both sides have batted on it,” Arthur said. “At 2 for 6 we were in some serious trouble but to see the resilience and character and intent that has been shown by Younis and Azhar – it has been a real example to the rest of the dressing room and that is how we need to play.”Now we would like to play an attacking brand of cricket and I make no secret of that. Australia have bowled really well this series and kept us under check. We would like our rates to get bigger and to score a little bit quicker but I certainly think again that the resilience shown by these two has been brilliant and hopefully the other guys will take a leaf out of this book, particularly [in terms of] intent. We will carry on with the same intent and see where it takes us tomorrow.”Pakistan made two changes to their XI in the Test, including a significant one in replacing Sami Aslam with Sharjeel Khan. Aslam was one of three players – along with Sohail Khan and Mohammad Asghar – who flew back to Pakistan today as they are not part of the ODI squad.Pakistan have flirted with the idea of opening with Sharjeel since the beginning of the series against West Indies in the UAE, but have banked on giving Aslam a long run at the top. Aslam paid the price for dwindling returns of 22, 15, 9 and 2, as well as an inability to inject any sense of urgency in Pakistan’s starts, which is why Sharjeel was given a chance. But Arthur was adamant this was only a momentary setback in Aslam’s career.”Sami has got a very big future for us,” he said. “He is technically very good. Over the last four months he has developed significantly. Since the third Test in England he has developed significantly and has come off really well.”We just thought we had to change it up somehow. We had to try to do something. We let Sharjeel loose. It was a 50-50 chance. If Sharjeel came off, played really well, we get the momentum up front much like David Warner gives Australia and hopefully he set a tone for us. So that was the idea behind it. Sami Aslam is certainly not out of the picture and I think he has a bright future as an opening batsman for Pakistan.”

Alagappan Muthu in Rajkot07-Nov-20161:17

India’s history with DRS

Ajinkya Rahane’s plate is fairly full in Test cricket. At No. 5, he has often been the leader of an Indian counterattack. In the field, he is the first-choice at first slip for the spinners. Since the away series against West Indies in 2016, he has been vice-captain. One more responsibility has fallen on his shoulders ahead of the five Tests against England at home: helping India make optimum use of the Decision Review System, especially considering the hosts will be using it for the first time in a Test series since 2011, whereas England have rarely ever played without it.”It is a completely new concept for all of us,” Rahane said. “We’ll have to wait and see about the DRS, but yes, we’ve been discussing about this from the last series and we had some plan. Wicketkeeper is obviously very important and as a slip fielder, you have that role to convey that message to the captain and also bowler.”As a batsman, you are completely involved in the game, you have to see where the ball is going and you have to convey that message to your partner. You have to be sure all the time.”When asked if DRS might be a key influence on the outcome of the series, Rahane said: “Yes, but that comes later on, We will spend some time explaining about DRS, how it works and how we should approach it. But the main focus is to play good cricket here. DRS obviously comes later on.”We want to dominate this series, we’ve been playing some very good cricket in the last one, one-and-a-half years. So important to start well here in Rajkot and continue that momentum into the series.”The BCCI had been, for a long time, reluctant to use DRS because it felt the system could not provide 100% accuracy. MS Dhoni had previously wondered if the system existed to reach the correct decision or if it was there to protect the on-field umpire’s call. With time, however, the technology has improved which in turn has helped change the team’s view. Since their visit to Bangladesh in 2015, Virat Kohli’s first tour as full-time Test captain, India have spoken about how they were discussing the implementation of DRS. Anil Kumble’s inputs must have helped – the current India coach is also chairman of the ICC’s cricket committee, which has been working towards eradicating the possibility of faults in the system.In October, ICC general manager Geoff Allardice made a presentation to the BCCI about the improvements that have been made over the years. The HawkEye cameras that were used for ball-tracking in the 2011 World Cup in India recorded 50-75 frames per second. The ones in this series can record 340 frames per second. This means there is more data to calculate the predicted path of the ball – say, after it hits the pad in case of lbw decisions – and therefore less chance of error. Also with respect to the lbw protocol, the ICC has tweaked the rule to effectively make the stumps larger and as such there is the possibility that not-out calls made on the field have a high chance of being overturned by the third umpire.The BCCI is yet to reach a decision on whether it will continue using DRS after the England series.

Newcastle United and Eddie Howe are still eyeing a summer move for Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay.

What's the latest on Scott McTominay to Newcastle?

According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, reporting on Twitter, McTominay remains a target for the Magpies and PIF this summer as they get set to bolster their squad with Champions League football on its way to St. James' Park next season.

The Magpies finished fourth in the Premier League, four points above Liverpool after the Reds' late surge of form placed Newcastle and Manchester United under pressure to secure their spots in UEFA's showpiece for the 2023/24 season.

Romano reports that while McTominay is a target, Man United have yet to make a decision on his role in the squad for next season. It will depend on Erik ten Hag's vision for the Scottish international, who only started ten Premier League games for the Dutch manager this season.

"Scott McTominay remains in the list at Newcastle — he’s appreciated by Eddie Howe, already wanted him in January. Manchester United have not made any decision yet, it will also depend on Erik ten Hag plans."

Tthe 26-year-old will be out of contract with United in 2025, although the club has the option to trigger an automatic renewal for a further 12 months. With United in a strong position, they should be able to extract a decent fee should they decide to sell. If Newcastle follow through on their interest, The Daily Star previously reported it could cost around £50m for the academy graduate.

How did McTominay perform for United this season?

Appearing for a total of just 1,681 minutes this season, it's clear to see that McTominay has had a difficult time breaking into Ten Hag's first-choice starting XI.

Last season, he played 3,002 minutes of football – a drop-off in game time of 44%. At 26, the Scot may want to consider his options carefully to ensure he doesn't waste time on the sidelines at Old Trafford. He did battle with injuries this season, missing a total of 15 games as a result. Overall, the midfielder scored seven goals and assisted one.

Described as "top class" by journalist Josh Bunting, what McTominay thrives at is driving the ball forward and winning the ball back. According to Fbref, despite his limited minutes, he ranks in the 99th and 98th percentile for clearances and headers won by a midfielder.

He likes to take initiative in defensive situations, backed up by more data from Fbrefs. On average, he takes 4.92 touches in United's penalty area, ranking in the 99th percentile again.

Newcastle could give the Scot more regular game time and in doing so, sign a player that would add more physicality and power to their midfield, making this one to watch.

Wolverhampton Wanderers face a trip to Old Trafford next in the Premier League to face Manchester United, as Julen Lopetegui’s team look to end the season on a high in their final three fixtures.

Wolves will be full of confidence after reigning victorious over local rivals Aston Villa last weekend in a 1-0 win at Molineux.

Having just 38% of possession in the game, Toti Gomes’ goal in the opening ten minutes proved vital for the hosts, who have struggled to score all season.

While the victory was against Unai Emery’s in-form Villa side, the trip to Old Trafford will be a tougher challenge, with the hosts desperate for a win to remain as leaders of the pack in the race for the top four.

United have stumbled in their last two games, losing 1-0 to both Brighton & Hove Albon and West Ham United as their bid for Champions League football took a wobble. Despite still remaining in fourth place, Erik ten Hag’s side can’t afford to drop points again with a host of clubs fighting for the spot.

Loptegeui’s side will be reviewing the Red Devils’ weaknesses in recent fixtures, and aim to exploit them to get something from the game at Old Trafford.

One area for change has to be who leads the line for the visitors, with Diego Costa struggling to perform last time out.

Should Hee-Chan Hwang start ahead of Diego Costa against Manchester United?

United have suffered a significant double injury blow in central defence that has altered their performances towards the end of the season.

With no Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, Wolves should pry on ten Hag’s makeshift defence, which he can do by replacing Costa with Hwang Hee-chan in the starting lineup.

The Spaniard scored a poor 6.2 rating, as per Sofascore, against Villa last time out, and was replaced late on having made little impact on the game.

Lopetegui will need to inflict pace and directness against United if Wolves are to snatch anything from the Theatre of Dreams to take back to Molineux, attributes that the club's £14m signing could offer the side instead.

Lauded by Ian Wright as having “everything”, the former Arsenal legend expressed his delight in watching the South Korean striker whilst analysing Wolves’ win over Newcastle United on Match of the Day last season.

“He’s got pace, skill, touch and awareness and he’s always driving to get into the box.”

Known as ‘The Bull” by former RB Leipzig teammates, the 27-year-old is a livewire both on and off the ball, having once admitted himself to be "fearless" and "aggressive" to Sky Sports.

Averaging 0.91 successful take-ons per 90 minutes, Hwang is direct on the ball, which is also shown through his high scoring in shot-creating actions, averaging 2.23 per 90, via FBref.

Costa ranks lower for both attributes, winning an average of 0.32 take-ons per 90, as well as making just 1.73 shot-creating actions – showing that Hee-Chan is the more direct threat out of the two.

Therefore, Lopetegui could punish United for their poor luck with defensive injuries, should he unleash Hee-chan from the off this afternoon.

Wolverhampton Wanderers had to share the spoils at Molineux this afternoon in their Premier League clash with Everton and Julen Lopetegui will surely be slightly frustrated with the result.

Indeed, the Midlands club are comfortably safe in 13th heading into the final day of the season, however, a victory in front of the home support would have been the perfect way to end the difficult campaign on a high.

Lopetegui's side dominated throughout with 53% possession, more shots on target (5 v 4) and more accurate passes completed (349 v 286), as well as completing more clearances (29 v 5).

A goal from Hwang Hee-chan in the 34th minute put Wolves comfortably in front against their relegation-threatened opponents, and that opening goal saw them comfortably until the dying seconds of the game.

It was an equalising strike from Everton defender Yerry Mina in the ninth minute of added time that crushed Wolves' chances of taking all three points and will surely be leaving the squad, manager and supporters feeling hard done by, despite having nothing to play for at this point.

Whilst the majority of the home side put in the hard work needed to hold off the Toffees' attacking threat, some players appeared to already be on the beach, with Daniel Podence failing to make his presence known.

How did Daniel Podence get on vs Everton?

Despite being the joint top goalscorer in the Wolves squad this season with six goals tallied up so far, Podence's moments of magic have been few and far between over the campaign.

Over his 70-minute performance, the £60k-per-week dud – dubbed "sloppy" by journalist Liam Keen – had fewer touches than goalkeeper Daniel Bentley (24 v 52), completed just 12 accurate passes and delivered three shots off target, proving that the Portugal international not only failed to get stuck into the game, but missed golden opportunities to finish his chances.

This lack of consistency in front of goal has been one of the biggest problems that has contributed to Wolves' brush with the relegation battle this season, with no other Premier League team scoring fewer goals (31) so far.

Podence, in particular, has missed three big chances with just a 14% conversion rate on his shots on goal over 32 top-flight appearances – something he must significantly improve if he wants to continue to be in the manager's plans next season.

With that being said, Lopetegui must go into the summer with a clear recruitment plan in mind when it comes to improving the attacking presence and quality in the final third. Otherwise, the club could find themselves in a much more unstable situation this time next year.

تعال منتخب فلسطين مع شقيقه الإماراتي بهدف لكل فريق مساء اليوم الخميس، في إطار ثاني جولات دور المجموعات من كأس آسيا.

فلسطين واجهت الإمارات، على أرضية استاد الجنوب، في إطار مباريات الجولة الثانية لدور مجموعات كأس آسيا.

ويتواجد منتخبا فلسطين والإمارات في المجموعة الثالثة لـ كأس آسيا 2023، بجانب إيران وهونج كونج.

طالع أيضاً.. فيديو | منتخب إيران يهزم فلسطين برباعية في كأس آسيا 2023

وتلقى منتخب فلسطين هزيمة ثقيلة أمام إيران في الجولة الأولى بنتيجة 4-1، فيما فازت الإمارات على هونج كونج بثلاثية مقابل هدف.

ويلعب منتخب إيران مساء الجمعة مع هونج كونج في إطار نفس المجموعة الثالثة في البطولة الآسيوية. ترتيب مجموعة فلسطين والإمارات في كأس آسيا بعد نهاية الجولة الثانية

1/ الإمارات: 4 نقاط من مباراتين (+2 فارق الأهداف)

2/ إيران: 3 نقاط من مباراة واحدة (+3 فارق أهداف)

3/ فلسطين: 1 نقاط من مباراتين (-3 فارق أهداف)

4/ هونج كونج: 0 نقاط من مباراة واحدة (-2 فارق أهداف)