Misbah as skipper for SA Tests

Misbah-ul-Haq was retained as Pakistan captain for next month’s Test series against South Africa despite poor results in a first loss to Zimbabwe in 15 years.

Misbah’s position was announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Thursday, but the full Test squad will be announced later. The PCB also said 23-year-old batsman Umar Amin will skipper Pakistan A in a three-day warm-up game against the Proteas. A training camp for Pakistan will be held in Lahore next week from Monday, and 28 players will participate.

Pakistan have won only one of five Tests this year, and that against lowly ranked Zimbabwe this month. Zimbabwe, however, came back to win the second Test to square that series two weeks ago, its first win over a major Test team in 12 years. Pakistan hadn’t lost to Zimbabwe since 1998.

South Africa whitewashed Pakistan 3-0 in a Test series at home in February. They will meet again in two Tests in Abu Dhabi from October 14-18, and Dubai the following week. The three-day match will be in Sharjah from October 8-10 followed by the Tests. After that series will be five One-day Internationals and two Twenty20s.

The A team includes Pakistan Test players Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faisal Iqbal and Aizaz Cheema. Legspinner Usman Qadir, son of former Test cricketer Abdul Qadir, is also among the 15 players.

Pakistan A team includes Umar Amin (captain), Shaan Masood, Ahmed Shehzad, Azhar Ali, Faisal Iqbal, Asad Shafiq, Ehsan Adil, Ahmad Jamal, Akber-ur-Rehman, Usman Qadir, Yasir Shah, Sohaib Maqsood, Aizaz Cheema, Imran Khan, Mohammad Rizwan.

Pakistan probables: Khurram Manzoor, Sohaib Maqsood, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Adnan Akmal, Abdul Rehman, Usman Qadir, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali, Wahab Riaz, Ahmed Shahzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Yasir Shah, Aizaz Cheema, Ehsan Adil, Ahmed Jamal, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Imran Khan, Mohammad Rizwan.

Shane Warne admits rocky phase

Shane Warne is seemingly fighting hard to save his relationship with British actress and model Elizabeth Hurley. According to media, Warne cancelled a high-profile event in Melbourne on Wednesday to launch his own foundation's ambassadors programme, fuelling speculation that relationship with Hurley was over. 

According to reports in the Australian and British media, Warne is lying low after splitting with the former model and actress. The rumours come exactly two years since Warne proposed to Hurley following a whirlwind romance. In September 2011, the lovebirds got engaged.

In spite of not reaching out to each other for several weeks, both Warne and Hurley broke their 'silence' on Wednesday.

Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik urge Pakistan selectors

Senior cricketers Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik have stepped up their campaign to earn a recall to the national team after Pakistan's dismal show in their recent tour to Zimbabwe.

Pakistan lost second Test against a lowly-ranked Zimbabwe to level the two-match series by (1-1). They had also lost a game in the three-match ODI series earlier on the tour.

With the axe likely to fall on a number of players, who were a part of the team during the Zimbabwe tour, both Razzaq and Malik have met with the caretaker chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Najam Sethi in Lahore and pleaded their cases.

While Razzaq, after his meeting, told that he had been assured of being given a fair chance and be considered for selection for the upcoming South Africa series, " former Pakistan captain Malik said" he just informed the board and selectors about his form and fitness. I believe in performing and letting the selectors do their task,.

Razzaq said he was keen to play for Pakistan again.

He said "I have been involved in cricket and have been training regularly. I still have a lot to give to Pakistan cricket. The selectors have assured me of a fair chance and said 'I should go and concentrate on my game'," . 

Sources in the PCB said Razzaq had told Sethi that he had not been treated fairly by the selectors, who had ignored him for national selection since last September.

"Razzaq also blamed Mohammad Hafeez and Misbah-ul-Haq for him not getting a fair chance from the selectors," the source said.

Razzaq had publicly blamed the two for his ouster from the team and for being continuously ignored after he last played in a World T20 Cup match against Australia in Sri Lanka in September 2012.

The experienced all-rounder was fined by the board and was cautioned last year after he told the media upon returning from Sri Lanka that Hafeez should be questioned about his captaincy decisions.

Razzaq had also refused to play for the Lahore Lions team in the last national super eight T20 tournament in Lahore because Hafeez was captaining the side.

Sania Mirza

Tennis Player:

Sania Mirza is a professional Indian tennis player, well known for her powerful forehand ground strokes. She holds the record for being the highest ranked player from India for over a decade. 

She born in Mumbai, India on November 15, 1986. She married with Shoaib Malik in 2010 Famous Pakistani Cricket Player and former captain. 

Shoaib Malik is Famous Pakistani Cricket Player and former captain born on 1st February 1985. He made his One-Day International debut in 1999 against the West Indies and his Test debut in 2001 against Bangladesh.

Basketball takes hold in Central Asia

Basketball, historically a stepsister among Central Asian sports, is expected to grow in popularity now a new organisation is being formed to promote it.

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The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) August 25 announced plans to create a Central Asian Basketball Association (CABA), which will be headquartered in "Almaty" and cover Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Freestyle Wrestling in Kyrgyzstan

More girls take up freestyle wrestling in Kyrgyzstan.

Coach say prospects for international success are good.

Women’s Hockey Asia Cup 2013

Women’s Hockey Asia Cup 2013 begin from 21st September to 27 September 2013 in Malaysia. This will be the 8th edition of Women’s Asia Cup. Malaysia hosting this tournament for the very first time. The matches will be played at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil. This tournament will also determine a qualifier for the World Cup 2014 which will take place in The Hague, Holland.

This Asia Cup will witness the participation of eight nations – India, China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, and Kazakhstan. These eight teams have been divided into two pools of four teams each. 

Pool A:  has India, China, Malaysia, and Hong Kong China. 

Pool B:  has Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Kazakhstan. A total of 20 matches will be played in this Women’s Hockey Asia Cup, 2013.

The top-two teams from each pool will qualify for the knock-out stage whereas the bottom-two teams from each pool will battle for 5th-8th position in the table. The semi-final matches will be played on 26 September 2013 and the final will take place on 27 September 2013.