Iran is currently scheduled to play its group matches in the US in this year’s tournament.

“We will be preparing for the World Cup. We will boycott the United States but not the World Cup,” Taj said in the video released on Wednesday.

“The national team is holding a training camp in Turkey, and we will also play two friendly matches there,” he added.

Iran’s football federation says it has opened talks with FIFA about potentially relocating its matches from the United States, though the global governing body has so far maintained that the tournament’s schedule remains unchanged.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that her country is prepared to host Iran’s first-round matches if required, due to the conflict in the Middle East.

Iran’s participation at this summer’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico has been in doubt since the war began last month, with President Donald Trump warning that the safety of Iranian players would be at risk if they travelled to the US.

Asked directly if Mexico was open to hosting the matches, Sheinbaum told a press conference on Tuesday: “Yes. Mexico maintains diplomatic relations with every country in the world, therefore we will wait to see what FIFA decides.”

FIFA president Gianni Infantino initially said that Trump had given assurances that the Iranian team — scheduled to face New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles, followed by Egypt in Seattle — would still be welcome.

But the Republican president then triggered uproar last week after stating that Iran’s football team should not travel to the tournament “for their own life and safety”.

Iran hit back at Trump’s comments saying that “no one can exclude Iran’s national team from the World Cup”.

Iran were the second Asian team after Japan to qualify for the World Cup, securing their place almost a year ago as they topped their qualifying group.

The Iran team’s base camp for the tournament is currently slated to be in Tucson, Arizona.

Abolfazl Pasandideh, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, on Monday denounced “the US government’s lack of cooperation regarding visa issuance and the provision of logistical support” for the Iranian delegation ahead of the World Cup, in a statement published on the embassy’s website.Should Iran not take part in the World Cup, it is not yet clear which country would replace them.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2026

The World Cricketers’ Association (WCA) rankings released on Thursday put the IPL (62.6) third of 10 leagues, behind England’s The Hundred (75.2) and South Africa’s SA20 (68).

The world’s richest 20-overs tournament received maximum points for average payment and payment reliability but lagged in areas such as “right to organise” and “dispute resolutions”.

Devajit Saikia, secretary of the Indian cricket board which runs the IPL, was not immediately available for comment.

WCA Chief Executive Tom Moffat said on Thursday that while cricket had benefited from the increasing numbers of domestic events in recent years, it was important to ensure players were taken care of.

“The growth of the domestic leagues landscape has been overwhelmingly positive for our sport, but it has the potential to be even better,” he said. “We want all sanctioned leagues to be successful, and to provide fair protections and standards for people within them.”

The IPL came in for criticism in January when Bangladesh player Mustafizur Rahman was dropped by Kolkata Knight Riders amid tensions between the South Asian neighbours.

The Indian board’s policy of banning contracted male players from appearing in other franchise leagues around the world has also come in for criticism.

The 19th edition of the IPL gets underway on March 28.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2026

PARIS: Barcelona hit Newcastle United for seven to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, while Liverpool overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Galatasaray in their last-16 tie and both Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid advanced to the next round.

Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski both scored twice as La Liga leaders Barcelona tore apart Newcastle at the Camp Nou, winning 7-2 in the second leg of their last-16 encounter to progress 8-3 on aggregate.

A spectacular match saw Anthony Elanga twice score for Newcastle inside the opening half-hour to cancel out goals by Raphinha and Marc Bernal.

However, the Catalans went back in front when Lamine Yamal converted a penalty deep in first-half stoppage time to make it 3-2 on the night, and they never looked back.

Fermin Lopez ran through for 4-2 early in the second half before Lewandowski added a quick-fire double either side of the hour mark, and Raphinha completed the scoring in the 72nd minute.

“The confidence that we got in the second half was good to see,” said Barca coach Hansi Flick.

It was a chastening defeat for Newcastle and just the third time since 1955 that an English team has conceded at least eight goals on aggregate in a European tie — one of the other occasions was this week, when Chelsea lost 8-2 on aggregate to Paris St-Germain.

“When the game was effectively over we didn’t react well to that, so it became a very difficult second half,” said Newcastle coach Eddie Howe.

It was also just the third time Barcelona have scored seven in a Champions League game, and Flick’s side can now look forward to an all-Spanish quarter-final next month against Atletico.

Diego Simeone’s men lost 3-2 on the night to Tottenham Hotspur in London, but progressed 7-5 on aggregate thanks to their 5-2 victory last week.

Randal Kolo Muani headed in on the half-hour to give Spurs the lead on the night and suggest a stunning comeback in the tie was possible.

A superb Julian Alvarez strike just after half-time doused the home side’s hopes, even if a fine Xavi Simons effort put Tottenham back in front.

David Hancko headed in Atletico’s second on the night, before Simons converted a last-minute penalty for his second of the game as Spurs rescued some pride by ending a run of eight matches without a win.

Half-centuries for kane, salah

Liverpool were too good for Galatasaray, overturning a 1-0 first-leg deficit against the Turkish side with a comprehensive 4-0 win at Anfield.

Arne Slot’s side went ahead on 25 minutes through a lovely first-time finish at a corner from Dominik Szoboszlai.

Mohamed Salah then had a poor penalty saved in first-half stoppage time, but the Egyptian made up for that in style after the break.

He laid on two goals in the space of three minutes, one for Hugo Ekitike and the other for Ryan Gravenberch.

Salah then scored the fourth himself just after the hour, curling a superb effort into the far corner from the edge of the area from a Florian Wirtz lay-off.

It was his 10th club goal this season was also his 50th in the Champions League, and it sealed a 4-1 aggregate victory which takes the Reds through to a quarter-final against PSG.

That will be a repeat of a last-16 tie a year ago which PSG won on penalties — the French club have won four knockout ties against English opponents since the start of 2025.

“We could (have) won 10-0, but we did a good job. We can be proud,” said Ekitike.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has urged his side to keep their composure following their dominant performance.

“There was a lot at stake, that was pretty obvious, so we had to show how much we wanted it,” said Van Dijk. “I think occasionally we have been playing good games but not consistently on a regular basis and it’s been frustrating for all of us and for the fans as well.”

Things got even worse for Galatasaray as Victor Osimhen broke his right arm in the defeat with Dutch international Noa Lang set to undergo surgery on his thumb, the Turkish club confirmed on Thursday.

Bayern’s progress against Atalanta was never in doubt after their 6-1 win in the first leg in Italy, and they followed that with a 4-1 success in Munich.

Harry Kane opened the scoring with a retaken first-half penalty — his initial effort had been saved — and then added a brilliant second on 54 minutes.

The brace took the Englishman to a half-century of Champions League goals, as he joined Salah and Thierry Henry on that overall mark — Kane has done it in 66 games compared to 97 for Salah.

Teenager Lennart Karl got Bayern’s third and Luis Diaz the fourth, with Lazar Samardzic pulling one back as the Germans progress 10-2 on aggregate.

Last-eight pairings

Real will play Bayern Munich, in a clash of 15-time and six-time European champions. They still have never met in the final across 71 years of the European Cup and Champions League.

“We don’t fear anyone,” Kane told DAZN when asked about the prospect of that tie.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said: “Every club would live for these games. As a neutral, I’d watch it.”

Liverpool face defending champion PSG with the first leg at Parc des Princes. It’s a rematch of their thrilling round-of-16 games last season, that Slot reminded Wednesday: “We were the only team that brought them to extra time and penalties.”

The second leg at Anfield should be on Tuesday, April 14. Liverpool hasn’t played on April 15 since the Hillsborough Stadium disaster on that date in 1989.

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid meet again twice just weeks after they played a two-leg domestic cup semifinal. Then, Atletico won 4-0 at home and lost 3-0 at Camp Nou to reach the Copa del Rey final.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2026

The 2026 World Cup is expected to showcase top-quality hockey, with fans set to witness thrilling and competitive encounters during the event to be co-hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands.

The game’s international governing body unveiled the schedule of the World Cup, featuring teams from 16 nations, being staged from Aug 15 to 30.

Former four-time World Cup winners Pakistan are placed in pool ‘D’ alongside England, India and Wales.

The Green-shirts, who will be competing in a World Cup after eight years, begin their campaign in the event with a match against England on Aug 15 at the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen, Netherlands.

Pakistan in their second pool-stage match face Wales on Aug 17 at the same venue before locking horns with India two days later.

Pakistan secured qualification for the mega event by reaching the final of the qualifier held in Ismailia, Egypt, will be aiming to make a strong impression and progress to the knockout stage. Pakistan suffered a 4-1 loss to England in the Ismailia final.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2026

Widely regarded as one of the outstanding white-ball batsmen of his generation, Buttler managed just 87 runs in eight innings at the tournament as England reached the semi-finals before losing to co-hosts and eventual champions India.

“Obviously I had a poor tournament, which is disappointing,” Buttler, who remains on an England and Wales central contract, said on his For the Love of Cricket podcast with former England fast bowler Stuart Broad.

“But I have been playing some of the best cricket of my (career) in recent years, so hopefully I can get back to playing my best.

“I certainly have ambitions (to play for England again), but no longer being a captain, I am not a selector and whatever, so what will be, will be.”

Buttler, 35, is set to play for Gujarat Titans in the upcoming Indian Premier League and hopes time away after the World Cup “up the mountains” in France with his family will leave him feeling reinvigorated.

“I couldn’t have been further away from cricket, which for me at the time was just perfect,” said Buttler. “It is exactly what I needed.

“Obviously the tournament didn’t go personally how I would have liked it to go, and I just felt like I needed some space from cricket and not to think about the game, and I could not have been further away from cricket where I was in that week.”

Buttler, a member of England’s 2019 one-day international World Cup-winning team and also the skipper for their T20 triumph in Australia three years later, added: “It was really refreshing — I really enjoyed it, a complete sort of release, and slowly but surely, I would say at the start of this week, (I am) just starting to reflect a bit and have a few thoughts about what is important to me and my cricket, and why it probably didn’t go quite as I would’ve liked.

“There’s elements that I actually don’t really know exactly. For all your best intentions and hard work and efforts to perform, it just didn’t work, and sometimes that is OK as well.

“That is something I have had to realise. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, it just didn’t quite happen.”

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2026

Several Senegalese players controversially walked off the pitch in Rabat during the final on Jan 18 in protest when the hosts were awarded a penalty late in second-half stoppage time.

After Senegal’s players eventually returned having been coaxed back onto the pitch by captain Sadio Mane, Morocco missed the penalty and Pape Gueye went on to score the goal in extra time that gave his team a 1-0 victory.

CAF said that having studied Morocco’s appeal, “the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match” and the result was “officially recorded as 3-0” in favour of Morocco.

“By calling into question a result achieved at the end of a match that was properly played and won in accordance with the rules of the game, the CAF seriously undermines its own credibility”, government spokeswoman Marie Rose Khady Fatou Faye said in a statement.

“Senegal unequivocally rejects this unjustified attempt at dispossession” she added while calling for “an independent international investigation into suspected corruption within the CAF’s governing bodies”.

In her statement, Faye called the matter “a grossly illegal and profoundly unjust decision”.

“Senegal will pursue all appropriate legal avenues, including before the competent international courts, to ensure that justice is served and that the primacy of sporting results is restored”, she said.

The CAF Appeals Committee justified its decision by applying Articles 82 and 84 of the AFCON Regulations, which state that if a team “refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee, it shall be considered (loser) and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition”.

The articles add that the team contravening the regulations “will lose its match by 3-0”.

Pending a final arbitration ruling, the secretary-general of the Senegalese Football Federation asked CAF in a letter “to suspend the execution of this decision and to freeze all trophy return procedures in Morocco”.

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) said in a statement its appeal “was never intended to contest the sporting performance of the teams participating in this competition, but solely to request the application of the competition regulations”.

“The Federation reaffirms its commitment to respecting the rules, to the clarity of the competitive framework, and to the stability of African competitions,” the statement added.

Senegal’s football authorities said they will appeal “as soon as possible” to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“The Senegalese Football Federation condemns this unjust, unprecedented and unacceptable decision, which brings African football into disrepute,” it said in a statement.

CHAOTIC SCENES

Minutes before the end of the match, some Senegalese supporters attempted a pitch invasion, while Senegal’s players halted the game for nearly 20 minutes to protest the late penalty awarded to Morocco.

The controversial spot-kick was awarded by Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala right at the end of the allotted eight added minutes in normal time following a VAR check for a challenge on Brahim Diaz by El Hadji Malick Diouf.

The game was goalless at the time and Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with the spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time.

But Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted ‘Panenka’ chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.

The game at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium then went to extra time, and Gueye’s brilliant 94th-minute strike won it for Senegal.

Several of the team’s players posted on social media after the announcement that they had been stripped of the title.

Defender Moussa Niakhate, who plays for French club Olympqiue Lyonnais, posted a picture of himself lifting the Africa Cup of Nations trophy with a message that said “they’re mad”, in an apparent reference to CAF.

In the immediate aftermath of the final, FIFA president Gianni Infantino had condemned “some Senegal players” for the “unacceptable scenes”.

“It is unacceptable to leave the field of play in this manner, and equally, violence cannot be tolerated in our sport, it is simply not right,” Infantino, who attended the match, said.

In late January, CAF imposed a series of disciplinary sanctions, including fines amounting to several hundred thousand euros, on the federations of both countries for unsportsmanlike conduct and violations of fair play principles.

The appeal trial of 18 Seneg­alese supporters, imprisoned since the final and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three months to one year for “hooliganism,” which was scheduled to take place on Monday, has been postponed until March 30.

DISGRACE OF AFRICA

Senegal football fans on Wednesday slammed the decision to strip the country of the title, calling the move a “disgrace for Africa”.

Gora Ndiaye, a resident of Dakar who works as a driver, told AFP he felt like he had “been hit over the head” when he heard the news on the radio.

“If this law was applicable, it should have been applied immediately and the cup should have been awarded to the Moroccans”, Ndiaye said, calling the move “a disgrace for Africa”.

With the news ricocheting across social media and the airwaves on Wednesday fans are now waiting for the results of a promised appeal by their country’s football authorities.

“I started by laughing and being surprised at the same time, because it really shocked me that two months later they took away our victory”, Assietou Diallo, a 25-year-old accounting assistant, told AFP from downtown Dakar.

Senegalese press were unanimous, with headlines such as “Big Continental Farce”, “Joke of the Century” and “Unpr­ecedented Scandal”.

Senegal defender Moussa Nia­k­hate posted a photo on Insta­gram of himself holding the Africa Cup and wearing a medal, with the comment “Come and get them! They’re crazy!” Senegal fans maintain that even if the team are stripped of their trophy, they are still the true victor in the eyes of spectators.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2026

Conway’s 60 off 49 balls set the home side up for a competitive 175-6 after being sent in to bat at the Seddon Park.

The Proteas lost wickets regularly to be dismissed for 107 off 15.3 overs, with pace bowlers Ben Sears and Lockie Ferguson snaring three wickets each.

South Africa won game one in Mount Maunganui on Sunday by seven wickets.

Both the sides are fielding largely second-tier line-ups, choosing to rest their first-choice players in the wake of the T20 World Cup.

New Zealand lost the final of the global tournament to hosts India earlier this month, having beaten South Africa in the semi-finals.

Conway produced easily the most important innings of the game, the 34-year-old posting five fours and two sixes.

The South African-born left-hander played with controlled aggression as wickets fell around him to reach his 13th half-century in the format.

Conway was delighted to contribute after being an unused squad member throughout the World Cup.

“It has been a very quiet couple of months for me, going over to India and not featuring at the World Cup,” he said. “It’s been nice to come back and play and be able to contribute for the boys and the group.”

Josh Clarkson raced to 26 not out at the death while all-rounder Wiaan Mulder took 2-14.

Mulder’s addition was the only change to South Africa’s team from game one, replacing Jordan Hermann, who was ruled out of the remainder of the series with a hamstring injury.

The tourists never recovered from 31-3 and four wickets fell for three runs late in the chase, before George Linde added some respectability by top-scoring with 33.

The final T20 of the series is scheduled to be held in Auckland on Friday.

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND:
D. Conway c Esterhuizen b Mulder60
T. Latham c Baartman b Maharaj11
T. Robinson b Linde1
N. Kelly b Mulder21
M. Santner b Baartman20
J. Neesham c Esterhuizen b Coetzee8
C. McConchie not out18
J. Clarkson not out26

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-8)10
TOTAL (for six wickets, 20 overs)175
DID NOT BAT: K. Jamieson, B. Sears, L. Ferguson
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-48 (Latham), 2-55 (Robinson), 3-92 (Kelly), 4-120 (Santner), 5-124 (Conway), 6-140 (Neesham)
BOWLING: Coetzee 4-0-28-1 (2w), Mokoena 4-0-22-0 (1w), Baartman 4-0-31-1, Maharaj 3-0-45-1 (1w), Linde 3-0-33-1 (3w), Mulder 2-0-14-2

SOUTH AFRICA:
W. Mulder c Conway b Santner16
C. Esterhuizen c Robinson b Sears 8
T. de Zorzi c Clarkson b McConchie1
R. Hermann c Ferguson b Neesham19
J. Smith c Sears b Santner12
D. Forrester c Ferguson b Sears10
G. Linde c McConchie b Ferguson33
G. Coetzee c McConchie b Sears2
K. Maharaj c Robinson b Ferguson0
N. Mokoena c Neesham b Ferguson0
O. Baartman not out0

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-4)6
TOTAL (all out, 15.3 overs)107 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-29 (Esterhuizen), 2-29 (Mulder), 3-31 (de Zorzi), 4-59 (Hermann), 5-67 (Smith), 6-89 (Forrester), 7-91 (Coetzee), 8-92 (Maharaj), 9-92 (Mokoena)
BOWLING: Jamieson 3-0-22-0 (1w), Ferguson 3.3-1-16-3, Sears 3-0-14-3 (2w), Santner 3-0-19-2, McConchie 2-0-24-1, Neesham 1-0-10-1
RESULT: New Zealand won by 68 runs.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Devon Conway

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2026

Iran’s participation in the global showpiece event was thrown into doubt after co-hosts the US launched joint airstrikes on the country along with Israel on Feb 28.

US President Donald Trump said last week that Iran were welcome to participate but suggested it might not be appropriate for them to play in the US “for their own life and safety”.

“When Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America,” said Taj in a post on the Iranian embassy in Mexico’s X account.

“We are negotiating with FIFA to hold Iran’s World Cup matches in Mexico.”

FIFA did not confirm any specifics.

“FIFA is in regular contact with all participating member associations, including Iran, to discuss planning for the FIFA World Cup 2026. FIFA is looking forward to all participating teams competing as per the match schedule announced on Dec 6, 2025,” a FIFA spokesperson told Reuters.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Tuesday that her country was prepared to host Iran’s first-round matches at the World Cup if needed due to the conflict in the Middle East.

Asked at a press conference about reports that Iran’s football federation was negotiating with FIFA to relocate its matches from the US, Sheinbaum said that her country could respond favourably.

Huge logistical switch

Iran secured a trip to a fourth successive World Cup by topping their group in the third round of Asian qualifying last year.

The tournament is due to kick off on June 11 in the US, Canada and Mexico, with Iran scheduled to play two group matches in Los Angeles and one in Seattle. Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand are Iran’s opponents in Group ‘G’.

The organising committees for matches in Los Angeles and Seattle did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal US business hours.

The prospect of shifting Iran’s fixtures to Mexico would mark a significant logistical switch for the tournament, though relocating matches for security or geopolitical reasons is not unprecedented.

In September last year, Scotland secured a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Belarus at Zalaegerszeg near the Austrian and Slovenian borders, after a ruling by UEFA over the role of Belarus as a staging ground for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In other sports, soured political relations between India and Pakistan means the nuclear-armed neighbours in South Asia only face each other at neutral venues in multi-team events of the ICC.

India refused to travel to Pakistan for last year’s ICC Champions Trophy and were allowed to play all their matches in Dubai instead in accordance with an ICC-endorsed hybrid model agreed upon with Pakistan. As agreed upon in the model, the latter played all their matches of this year’s T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, who were the joint hosts alongside India.

Fedaration Decides

Should FIFA reject a switch of venue to Mexico, it seems unlikely that Iran would travel to the US and take part in the tournament while at war with one of the co-hosts.

Iran’s sports minister said last week it was not possible for the Iranian players to participate after the US launched airstrikes alongside Israel against Tehran, killing the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

An official withdrawal would be the first in the modern era and leave FIFA with the urgent task of finding a replacement. The Asian Football Confe­deration said on Monday that it had not received any notification that Iran will withdraw.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2026

According to an official announcement, Pakistan will face India, England and Wales in what is being viewed as one of the most competitive pools of the tournament.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), in a press release issued here on Tuesday, said the groups were finalised following a transparent draw process.

“The Pakistan hockey team has been placed in the challenging Pool ‘D’, where they will face formidable opponents including traditional rivals India, England and Wales,” the PHF stated.

The inclusion of both Pakistan and India in the same pool is expected to generate significant global interest, with the much-anticipated clash between the two sides set to take place at the world level after several years.

Pakistan’s recent struggles and lower international ranking had limited opportunities to face top-ranked teams prior to their participation in this year’s FIH Pro League.

Hockey followers are particularly looking forward to the Pakistan-India encounter, traditionally regarded as one of the sport’s biggest rivalries.

FIH World Cup pools:

Pool ‘A’: Netherlands, Argentina, New Zealand and Japan; Pool ‘B’: Belgium, Germany, France and Malaysia; Pool ‘C’: Australia, Spain, Ireland and South Africa; Pool ‘D’: India, Pakistan England and Wales.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2026

Australia granted humanitarian visas to six players ​and one support staff member after ​they sought asylum, saying they feared persecution if ⁠they returned to Iran.

Concerns over their ​safety surfaced after several players failed to sing ​the national anthem at a women’s Asian Cup match earlier this month.

Five of the group have since ​changed their minds and decided to return ​home, with Australian media reporting the latest withdrawal on ‌Monday.

They ⁠rejoined the rest of the squad in Kuala Lumpur, where the team had been staying since leaving Sydney last week, leaving ​only two players ​still ⁠in Australia.

The team’s Asian Cup campaign began just as the United ​States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, ​assassinating ⁠supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They were eliminated from the tournament over a week ago.

It ⁠was ​not clear how the team ​would continue their journey home to neighbouring Iran from ​Istanbul.

Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have seemingly insurmountable mountains to climb, even with home advantage this week, as they trail by three goals against Real Madrid, Paris St-Germain and Atletico Madrid, respectively.

Liverpool and Arsenal will expect to still get past Galatasaray and Bayer Leverkusen, while Newcastle United are dreaming of shocking Barcelona in the Camp Nou after outplaying the Spanish champions in a 1-1 draw at St. James’ Park.

The Premier League’s financial advantage over Europe’s other major leagues, thanks to far more lucrative television rights deals, has not been reflected in the latter stages of the Champions League for some time.

Only three of the last 13 Champions League winners have come from England.

Arsenal were the only Premier League club to reach the last four last season and none reached the semi-finals in the 2023/24 campaign.

Fatigue after a gruelling winter schedule is often cited as the main factor for the decline of English sides as the only major league without a winter break and two domestic cup competitions.

French great and former UEFA president Michel Platini once referred to English sides as “lions in winter, lambs in spring”.

“In general, I think it is not helpful for English clubs not to have a winter break,” said Liverpool boss Arne Slot.

Of the six English sides involved in the Champions League, four of them also made the League Cup semi-finals and five were involved in FA Cup action in the days before their European disappointment last week.

Despite the Premier League’s collective financial might, in three of the six last-16 ties involving English clubs, they are facing sides with greater revenue.

Real Madrid remain the world’s richest club and defied recent poor form to blow away Manchester City 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

But City manager Pep Guardiola has insisted “many things can happen” as his side try to overturn the deficit.

“It’s a football game, many things can happen,” Guardiola, speaking at his pre-match press conference on Monday told reporters.

“We have to focus and try to win the game and after see what happens. I don’t have a specific plan — just try.”

Guardiola has opted not to train on the day prior to the game as the team recover from the trip to Madrid and their 1-1 draw at West Ham on Saturday which damaged City’s Premier League title hopes.

“Training won’t improve us a lot and we don’t have time to train,” Guardiola said. “I prefer them to be at home.”

The Spaniard, who made his name as a player and manager with Real’s arch-rivals Barcelona, added: “We will train tomorrow (Tuesday). We will arrive at 2:00 pm (1400 GMT), move the legs a little and go. I’ve done it two or three times this season.”

Defending champions PSG also clicked back into gear to see off Chelsea 5-2 and Barcelona were happy to escape Newcastle on level terms after Lamine Yamal’s penalty snatched a late draw.

Tottenham’s 5-2 defeat by Atletico was also little surprise given Spurs’ sorry domestic form which has left them fighting for their survival in the Premier League.The Premier League has become even more attritional this season, with games littered with long throw-ins and physical battles at set-pieces.

“It’s so relentless, physically. There’s not much control; it’s a running game. It’s about duels,” said Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon earlier in the season.

Slot commented earlier this month that the English game is no longer a “joy to watch” due to the emphasis on dead balls.

“Here, you can almost hit a goalkeeper in his face and the referee still says ‘just go on’,” added the Dutchman.

By contrast, Slot was angered by Spanish referee Jesus Gil Manzano’s reluctance to allow any physical contact from corners as the Reds had an equaliser ruled out in their 1-0 defeat in Istanbul.

Guardiola has responded to the fashion for a more physical Premier League by beefing up his City side.

But they lack the control and poise to dominate the ball they used to have and were cut open by Federico Valverde’s first-half hat-trick in Madrid.

In the two games without an English team, the remarkable Norwegian underdog Bodo/Glimt takes a 3-0 lead to Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday and Bayern Munich are up 6-1 hosting Atalanta on Wednesday.

Bodo/Glimt should have no fear going to Sporting’s 52,000-seat José Alvalade Stadium that is more than six times bigger than their home stadium.

Coach Kjetil Knutsen’s team already won this year in front of bigger crowds and intense atmospheres at Atletico’s Metropolitano Stadium and the San Siro against Inter Milan.

Bodo’s shocking 2-1 win at Atletico in the last round of league-phase games in January meant squeezing into the 24-team knockout phase placed 23rd in the 36-team standings. A 2-1 win in Milan completed a 5-2 scoreline in the knockout playoffs round in February.

Both teams should be fresh in Lisbon after skipping scheduled domestic league games at the weekend to help them prepare.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2026

INDIAN WELLS: Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabal­anka claimed their maiden Indian Wells titles, after gripping matches under the California desert sun on Sunday.

Sinner downed Daniil Medvedev 7-6(8/6), 7-6(7/4) while Sabalenka saved a match point on the way to a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(8/6) victory over Elena Rybakina.

The Italian was imperious throughout, finishing with 28 winners, 10 aces and a perfect eight out of eight net points.

He is now only the third player in history to win all six ATP Masters 1000 hard-court titles, joining Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Furthermore, with his first title of the year, he became the first player since 1990 to win consecutive Masters 1000 titles without dropping a set and extended his winning streak in this category to 11 matches, dating back to his Paris title last November.

“I kept believing and kept pushing,” Sinner said after the match. “I went for my shots a little more. A third set, we would have started even, so I tried my best to close it out and I am very happy. It was an incredible ending.

“It was a very, very tough match,” Sinner said. “It is great to see Daniil back playing this level. I am very happy. I came here from day one, training really hard and this result makes me very happy,” he added.

Medvedev reached the final in superb form, having stunned the world number one, Carlos Alcaraz, in the semi-finals ending the Australian Open champion’s perfect 16-match winning streak at the start of the season.

However, he has now lost three Indian Wells finals.

Earlier in the women’s decider, Sabalenka claimed a long-awaited first Indian Wells title.

Sabalenka ended a frustrating run of finals futility against Rybakina, who had won their last four title clashes starting with a triumph at Indian Wells in 2023 and including a nail-biter at the Australian Open in January.

Sabalenka rallied from a break down in the second set and fought off a match point trailing 5-6 in the tiebreaker before finally gaining the longed-for title — and a healthy measure of revenge.

“Thanks God I got this trophy,” said the Belarusian, who lost to Russian teen Mirra Andreeva in last year’s final.

She had appeared on her way with a break for 2-1 in the third set.

But Rybakina piled on the return pressure to break back for 5-5 and fought off five break points in the next game.

Deflated but determined, Sabalenka held at love to force the tiebreaker, rallying from 3-5 down before saving match point with a stunning backhand winner. She won the next point on Rybakina’s serve and delivered another massive serve herself to seal it.

“On that five-all game, I was really upset each time I would miss her second serve,” Sabalenka said. “I felt like I had a lot of opportunities in that game, which I didn’t use. I didn’t feel my best, for sure, after that game.

“But what I’m happy with is that in the next one I was able to pull out great serves to get that game and get into the tiebreak.”

Sabalenka said that the “boiling” temperature on court had her “dying” in the tiebreaker, but she could see that Rybakina was affected, too.

“I think the first set I played really well, and I was much more with the energy. Second set, big drop,” Rybakina said. “Then in the third, I think for both of us was quite difficult.”

Sabalenka will now head into her Miami Open title defense aiming to complete the “Sunshine Double.”

Rybakina will arrive in Miami ranked second in the world, climbing one spot to overtake Poland’s Iga Swiatek.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2026

MOUNT MAUNGANUI: A new-look South Africa scythed through New Zealand’s batting lineup to comfortably win Sunday’s first Twenty20 International by seven wickets, with 20 balls to spare.

The visitors’ seam attack proved unplayable early on as World Cup finalists New Zealand were reduced to 36-5 before being dismissed for 91 in the 15th over, their 10th lowest total in T20s.

South Africa eased to 93-3 in response, with opener Connor Esterhuizen’s unbeaten 45 off 48 balls ensuring they would claim early honours in the five-match series.

The 24-year-old was one of four South African players making their international debut in any format, alongside Rubin Hermann, Dian Forrester and Nqobani Mokoena.

Teenage pace bowler Mokoena impressed with the ball, exploiting unpr­edictable bou­nce at Mount Maun­ganui’s Bay Oval to take 3-26 off 3.3 overs.

The 19-year-old ripped through New Zealand’s tail to ensure they didn’t push their total past 100.

“It was quite cool making my debut. I just went out there and enjoyed it,” Mokoena, 19, said.

“The whole team was backing me and I was quite excited for it. I just stuck to my plans and thank God it came off.”

Fellow pacemen Gerald Coetzee and Ottneil Baartman took two wickets each for South Africa.

The match came a week after New Zealand were beaten by India in the T20 World Cup final in Ahmedabad.

Only captain Mitchell Santner and allrounder Jimmy Neesham were retained, with most of New Zealand’s leading players rested.

Santner was the pick of their bowlers, taking 1-8 off four overs while Neesham top-scored with 26 before he was Mokoena’s first victim.

South Africa’s last match was their World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand.

The only Proteas survivor from that match was spinner Keshav Maharaj, who is captain for this series and played his 50th T20 international.

Game two is in Hamilton on Tuesday.

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND:
D. Conway c de Zorzi b Coetzee1
T. Latham lbw b Coetzee7
T. Robinson c Linde b Baartman6
N. Kelly b Baartman2
B. Jacobs run out10
M. Santner b Maharaj15
J. Neesham c Esterhuizen b Mokoena26
C. McConchie c Herman b Mokoena15
Z. Foulkes c Esterhuizen b Mokoena1
K. Jamieson b Maharaj2
B. Sears not out0

EXTRAS (W-6)6
TOTAL (all out, 14.3 overs)91
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-2 (Conway), 2-14 (Latham), 3-20 (Robinson), 4-21 (Kelly), 5-36 (Jacobs), 6-54 (Santner), 7-80 (Neesham), 8-83 (Foulkes), 9-86 (Jamieson)
BOWLING: Coetzee 3-0-14-2 (2w), Mokoena 3.3-0-26-3 (2w), Baartman 3-0-22-2 (1w), Maharaj 4-0-25-2, Forrester 1-0-4-0

SOUTH AFRICA:
T. de Zorzi c Jacobs b Foulkes2
C. Esterhuizen not out45
R. Hermann c Latham b Jamieson7
J. Smith st Latham b Santner10
D. Forrester not out16

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-5, NB-1, W-3)13
TOTAL (for three wickets, 16.4 overs)93
DID NOT BAT: J. Hermann, G. Linde, G. Coetzee, K. Maharaj, N. Mokoena, O. Baartman
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-7 (de Zorzi), 2-28 (Hermann), 3-55 (Smith)
BOWLING: Jamieson 3.4-0-28-1 (2w, 1nb), Foulkes 2-0-8-1, Sears 3-0-16-0 (1w), Santner 4-0-8-1, McConchie 4-0-24-0
RESULT: South Africa won by seven wickets.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Nqobani Mokoena

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2026

PARIS: RC Lens missed the chance to move top of Ligue 1 and put pressure on Paris St-Germain as they slipped to a 2-1 loss at Lorient on Saturday.

Pierre Sage’s side were aiming to go two points clear of PSG at the summit, with the reigning champions not playing this weekend so they can rest for Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 second leg at Chelsea.

But Lens, targeting a second Ligue 1 title and first since 1998, fell to a costly defeat and have now won only one of their last four league matches.

“We had a lot of possession, but we weren’t creative enough to fashion chances,” said Lens coach Sage. “We missed an opportunity.”

Bamba Dieng put Lorient into an 18th-minute lead. The visitors hit back, though, shortly after half-time, as Odsonne Edouard collected the ball inside the Lorient half, carried it to the edge of the box and unleashed a low shot into the bottom corner.

But Lorient regained the advantage in the 65th minute, as Aiyegun Tosin stabbed the ball in from almost on the goal-line after just about controlling Arsene Kouassi’s cross.

Lens piled on the pressure late on with a series of set-pieces but could not force another equaliser.

Lorient climbed to eighth in the table, just four points behind sixth-placed Lille, who have a game in hand, in the race for European qualification.

Elsewhere on Saturday, AS Monaco moved into fifth place with a fifth consecutive Ligue 1 victory as Folarin Balogun scored his 14th goal of the season in all competitions in a 2-0 win over Brest.

Nice won 2-0 at Angers with goals from defender Melvin Bard and Elye Wahi. The striker, a France youth international, joined the Riviera club on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt this winter until the end of the season.

Nice climbed eight points clear of the relegation play-off place and snap a six-game winless run in the league.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2026

INDIAN WELLS: Daniil Medvedev ended Carlos Alcaraz’s perfect start to 2026, stunning the world number one 6-3, 7-6(7/3) on Saturday to book an Indian Wells title clash with Jannik Sinner.

Medvedev avenged losses to Alcaraz in back-to-back Indian Wells finals in 2023 and 2024, using an impressive service display and aggressive play from the baseline to keep the Spanish star on the back foot throughout.

“Super happy to beat someone as strong as he (is),” Medvedev said. “It’s a great feeling.”

He’ll have his work cut out for him again in Sunday’s clash with four-time Grand Slam champion Sinner, who beat fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-4.

Alcaraz, 22, became the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam with his Australian Open triumph this year. He followed with a title in Qatar and took a 16-0 2026 record into Saturday’s contest.

But Medvedev was up to the challenge, last month’s Dubai champion running Alcaraz ragged in the intense desert heat as he pushed his own ATP win streak to nine matches.

“I just felt like the long rallies, especially when you play against Daniil, that the rallies are long, that you have to increase all the power in almost every shot,” Alcaraz said.

“So it feels like you’re wasting extra energy after every shot. And with the heat, sometimes it’s really tricky to deal with all of that.”

After Medvedev needed just one break of serve to pocket an opening set in which he didn’t face a break point himself, Alcaraz made some adjustments broke first in the second for a 3-1 lead.

But Medvedev broke back immediately, and his control in the rallies had Alcaraz gasping after one long point in the ninth game.

“The first set … he just made it that I had to struggle a little bit,” Alcaraz said. “In the second set, I started to feel much better. I realized what I have to do. I realized that I have to suffer, and I accept it.”

Alcaraz hung on to hold serve for a 5-4 lead in the second set, but he was unable to convert a pair of set points in the next game and they went to a tiebreaker that was all Medvedev.

“He’s an amazing player with amazing shots, defense, attack, serve, return, everything,” Medvedev said. “So you need to be at your best — and I was.”

Medvedev’s form, after a disappointing 2025 campaign in which he fell as low as 18th in the world, has caught Sinner’s eye.

“He’s back to very, very high level, very big serve. He’s returning very well, very deep,” Sinner said of the 2021 US Open champion.

The Italian was delighted to finally punch his ticket to the final after falling to Alcaraz in the semis to Alcaraz in 2023 and 2024.

And he was delighted with his play in his sixth straight win over Zverev, the world number four from Germany.

“It was a great performance — very solid from the back of the court,” said Sinner, who saved the only break point he faced in a commanding display of precision and power.

Zverev delivered two impeccable service games before he began to falter.

Sinner broke him twice as the German’s errors began to climb, and Zverev cut a dejected figure after Sinner pocketed the opening set.

Zverev found renewed energy after fending off three break points in the opening game of the second set, but Sinner saved a break point in the sixth game with an ace and broke Zverev in the next game to gain the only advantage he needed.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2026

In a statement issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board, Ahmed said he had “always tried to play fearless cricket and build a united team”.

In a post on X, the PCB said Chairman Mohsin Naqvi presented a “special shield” to Sarfaraz on his international retirement, honouring his services to Pakistan cricket.

Ahmed captained Pakistan in 100 international matches across formats (50 One Day Internationals, 37 T20Is, 13 Tests) and led the side to the No.1 ranking in T20I cricket.

His captaincy saw the green shirts achieve a world-record streak of 11 consecutive T20I series victories and recorded six clean sweeps against the West Indies (2016 and 2018), Sri Lanka (2017), Australia (2018), New Zealand (2018) and Scotland (2018).

He also led his side to victory during the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2006 and a historic win against arch-rivals India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

“It has been the greatest honour of my life to represent Pakistan. From leading the U19 team to a world title in 2006 to lifting the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017, every moment in Pakistan colours has been special. I am grateful to my teammates, coaches, family and the fans for their unwavering support throughout my career,” he was quoted as saying in the PCB statement.

The former skipper’s leadership saw the emergence of several future stars, including Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Faheem Ashraf, and Imamul Haq. Seeing them “grow into match-winners during my captaincy is one of my proudest achievements”, he said.

His individual achievements include a 10-catch record in a Test match against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2019. He remains, to date, the only Pakistani wicketkeeper-batter to score an ODI century at Lord’s, which he scored against England in 2016.

Sarfraz who played his first ODI in 2007 made his last international appearance in an international Test against Australia in Perth in 2023.

Following the announcement of his retirement, former Pakistan captain Babar Azam said playing under his leadership had been a “privilege”.

In an X post, he said, “Saifi Bhai, playing under your leadership was a privilege. Thank you for your guidance, belief, and the memories you gave to Pakistan cricket.”

Azam also wished him “success and peace in this new chapter of life”.

Chasing a total of 291 runs, Pakistan’s batters fell short by 11 runs as a fighting 106-run knock by Salman Agha went in vain.

Green Shirts lost early wickets as openers Sahizada Farhaan and Maaz Sadaqat went back to the pavilion after scoring just six runs each. Debutant Saad Masood scored 38 runs, while captain Shaheen Afridi added 37 runs to the scoreboard.

Bangladesh’s Taskin Ahmed’s heroic 4-wicket haul was impressive as he also took the key wicket of Salman Agha, who was looking unswerving to outdo the winning mark.

Mustafizur Rehman also grabbed three wickets, while Nahid Rana managed to secure two.

Winning the toss, the visitors decided to bowl first in the series decider.

Bangladesh’s openers provided a sturdy start to the innings with Tanzid Hasan scoring his maiden ODI century, which also earned him the man of the match award.

Towhid Hridoy and Litton Das added 48 and 41 runs, respectively, for Bangladesh, which helped the tally to reach the 290-run mark at the end of 50 overs at a loss of five wickets.

Haris Rauf took three wickets for Pakistan while Afridi and Abrar Ahmed claimed one wicket each.

Green Shirts had made a comeback in the series by defeating the hosts in the second ODI match after a hammering eight-wicket loss in the series opener, in which Pakistan’s batting lineup was bundled up at a total of just 114 runs.

“I as a member of the [national] selection committee picked 15 players [for the T20 World Cup], while finalising the playing XI was the responsibility of the captain and the head coach. Therefore, everyone should accept the responsibility [for Pakistan’s poor show in the event],” Aaqib said in Lahore at a media conference which was the first appearance of a PCB official after Pakistan’s yet another dismal show in an ICC event.

Aaqib, who is also director of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), at the presser was flanked by selectors Misbah-ul-Haq, Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq.

Former captains Misbah and Sarfraz were added to the national selection committee recently.

Babar Azam was unfit during global event, claims the selector

Led by Salman Ali Agha, the Pakistan side flopped at the 20-team global event held during February-March in India and Sri Lanka, crashing out in the Super Eights stage. While recording victories against relatively weaker opponents including the Netherlands, United states and Namibia in the group stage, the Green-shirts suffered a 61-run loss in the highly-anticipated group match against arch-rivals India.

After losing the Super Eights match to England by two wickets, Pakistan’s chances to qualify for the semis dwindled and eventually ended after their narrow five-run victory over Sri Lanka.

Answering a question about Babar Azam’s selection for the World Cup, Aaqib said picking the batter was not his sole decision citing a six-member panel, including four selectors, captain and head coach, discussed the matter before naming the 31-year-old in the squad.

“In the last Asia Cup we dropped Babar but then we realised that the team needed a technically sound batter for Sri Lankan pitches [in the World Cup]. Therefore, he was selected,” Aaqib said.

“However, it was up to the captain [Salman] and the head coach [Mike Hesson] to include or exclude him [Babar] for a particular match.”

Considered by some as the mainstay of Pakistan’s batting, Babar — amid criticism over his below-par strike-rate — failed badly with the bat in the T20 World Cup with scanty scores of 15, 46, 5 and 25.

In a surprising revelation, Aaqib claimed that Babar, opener Fakhar Zaman and pacer Salman Mirza were not fit so they were not selected for the ongoing ODI series in Bangladesh.

However, when highlighted that there had been no news when Babar or Fakhar got injured during the recently-held World Cup, Aaqib said that an inquiry was being conducted to know when Fakhar got unfit.

“Babar was unfit,” Aaqib said while insisting that the selectors should be kept updated by the team management about injuries, if any, to the players.

After every defeat suffered by Pakistan, some former cricketers and journalists wanted selectors, captain and even the PCB chairman to be sacked, Aaqib lamented.

“But when we look deep into our system we find that we have made a number of mistakes,” Aaqib said.

“Just compare Pakistan’s domestic cricket [system] with other cricket boards. One needs to see how much consistency we have shown in our domestic system and how many changes other countries have made, and you will get the answer,” he said.

Interestingly, under the present PCB regime of Mohsin Naqvi, several changes in domestic cricket as well as in the selection committees, coaching staff and captaincy were made during the past two years.

During this time period, changes were made in the selection committee at least five times. Aaqib himself, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Aleem Dar, Azhar Ali and now Misbah, Sarfraz have been inducted as selectors.

Similarly, Aaqib, Yousuf, Saeed Ajmal, (Australia’s) Jason Gillespie, (South Africa’s) Gary Kirsten, (New Zealand’s) Hesson, Azhar Mahmood, Imran Farhat and Hanif Malik were employed in the coaching panel during this time.

Despite these changes, the Pakistan team could not produce any considerable performance in any ICC or ACC events during the past couple of years.

While recalling that Pakistan prior to the World Cup had whitewashed the Australian team — though a depleted one — 3-0 in a T20 home series, Aaqib said that naturally everyone expected a good show from the team in the mega event.

“But just look at the Super Eights stage, where we lost only one match against England while our game against New Zealand was washed out, and we won against Sri Lanka,” the selector said.

Against India, Aaqib underlined, Pakistan did not have an impressive record in the ICC events even during the 1990s and onwards.

Aaqib said that when Pakistan lost the home Test series against Bangladesh 2-0 and the first Test to England in Multan, he was included in the selection committee after which he talked to Gillespie, the then head coach.

“While Gillespie was not ready to change the selected [Test] team, we made [the] changes and we won the series against England [2-1],” he recalled.

In principle, Aaqib insisted, selection of the playing XI on foreign tours was the right of captain and head coach.

Aaqib said that modern-day cricket had changed and no one should expect superstars like Wasim Akram to come again, mainly due to the new ways of the evolving game.

He said except for Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah, no bowler was noticed as “different” in the World Cup “but to some extent Pakistan spinner Usman Tariq due to his bowling action was noticed”.

‘SALMAN NEEDS TIME TO IMPROVE AS CAPTAIN’

Meanwhile speaking at the presser, Misbah said that Salman needed time to improve as T20 captain.

“As captain, sometimes your decisions are proven right and sometimes not but you should learn from mistakes and that is important. So Salman should have two to three years before anyone can analyse his performance as captain,” Misbah said.

Sarfaraz Ahmad, under whose captaincy Pakistan won the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, defended the inclusion of youngsters Shamyl Hussain and Ghazi Ghori for the Bangladesh series.

About Shamyl, who failed to excel with the bat in both the matches of the series in Bangladesh, Sarfaraz said that sometimes a player could not perform in the beginning even after showing good performances at the domestic level.

“Shamyl fared well in the last two domestic seasons to get a place in the team,” the former skipper noted.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2026

The first two matches of the series — played at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium — proved lop-sided with Bangladesh winning the first by eight wickets and the tourists bagging a huge 128-run win in the second game which was affected by rain.

The series for both the teams is being labelled as the launch of the 2027 ODI World Cup that will be staged jointly by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in October-November.

Bangladesh finished a poor eighth — with just two wins nine matches — of the 10-team 2023 World Cup staged in India, Pakistan failed to reach the semi-finals after bagging four wins in their nine outings to earn the fifth spot. Both the nations, therefore, must be looking to lift their game for next year’s showpiece.

Though Pakistan comfortably won the second match of the Bangladesh series on Friday, the Green-shirts are expected to produce a better show with the bat.

After being put in to bat first on Friday, Pakistan got off to a strong start with openers Maaz Sadaqat (75) and Sahibzada Farhan (31) giving their team a solid 103-run start in 13 overs.

However, Pakistan then experienced a brief batting collapse descending to 121-3 in the 20th over. Though Salman Ali Agha (64) and Mohammad Rizwan (44) stabilised the innings with a crucial 109-run partnership for the fourth wicket to steer Pakistan to a solid 231-3 in the 39th over, another late collapse led to the dismissal of the touring team for 274 in 47.3 overs — the last seven wickets lost for the addition of just 43 runs.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, speaking after Friday’s match, stressed the team must address the issue of losing wickets in clusters.

“Losing back-to-back wickets after a good opening stand is something we need to improve as a team,” the skipper said.

INJURED HUSSAIN OUT FOR THREE MONTHS

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday confirmed that national team all-rounder Hussain Talat has suffered a left shoulder joint dislocation, which will keep him out of action for around 12 to 14 weeks.

The incident occurred during the second ODI of the ongoing series in Dhaka, when Hussain ran to stop a backfoot punch by Bangladesh batter Litton Das off fast bowler Mohammad Wasim Jr from reaching the deep cover boundary and crashed into the advertising hoarding during the effort.

“Hussain Talat sustained a left shoulder joint dislocation while fielding during the second ODI against Bangladesh,” the PCB said in a statement.

“He received immediate medical attention on the field and was later transferred to a hospital for specialised treatment, where he underwent a successful closed reduction procedure. He remained stable and has since been discharged.

“After an initial period of rest, Hussain will report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) to begin his phased rehabilitation, with an estimated return to play of 12-14 weeks,” the statement added.

For Bangladesh, the series is equally important and Mehidy Hasan Miraz-led side will definitely try their best to emulate the show they produced in the opening match of the series when they dismissed the tourists for a paltry 114 courtesy rookie pacer Nahid Rana’s career-best show 5-24.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2026

Meanwhile, second-placed Borussia Dortmund’s comfortable home win at Augsburg drew them nine points behind reigning champions Bayern with eight games to play.

Aleix Garcia’s goal gave Leverkusen the lead and Bayern striker Nicolas Jackson saw red before half-time.

Luis Diaz levelled things up but picked up a second yellow card for diving in the box. Bayern held firm to grab a point, even as Leverkusen had two efforts chalked off in stoppage time.

Bayern also had strikes from Jonathan Tah and substitute Harry Kane ruled out by VAR for handball in a sometimes manic match at the BayArena.

Garcia finished off a fluid team move to put Leverkusen ahead six minutes in, the Spain midfielder collecting a Patrik Schick pass and chipping the ball over Bayern goalkeeper Sven Ulreich.

Former Leverkusen centre-back Tah looked to have levelled things up midway through the first half when he found the net from a corner, but VAR intervened.

Bayern’s hopes took a further hit when Jackson saw red for sinking his studs into Martin Terrier’s ankle just before the break.

With 30 minutes left, Bayern brought Kane on as a substitute after his recent absence with a calf knock and the England captain thought he had scored just 47 seconds later, but again VAR spotted a handball.

Diaz finally grabbed Bayern a leveller when he guided a pin-point Michael Olise pass in with 69 minutes gone.

With six minutes to play, the Colombian went down in the box under light contact from Leverkusen ‘keeper Janis Blaswich and was shown a second yellow for diving.

Bayern dug deep despite their numerical disadvantage in the dying stages to cling on for a point.

Dortmund inched closer to Bayern with Karim Adeyemi and Luca Reggiani both getting on the scoresheet in a 2-0 home win over Augsburg.

Adeyemi gave Dortmund the lead in the 13th minute, turning in a Maximilian Beier pass from close range.

Stodgy and uninspired in beating a 10-man Cologne last week, Dortmund showed fluency in attack, but Adeyemi and Beier took turns in hitting the crossbar before the break.

Just before the hour mark, 18-year-old centre-back Reggiani headed in a Julian Ryerson corner for his first Bundesliga goal.

Elsewhere, Arnaud Kalimuendo scored as Eintracht Frankfurt beat lowly Heidenheim 1-0.

VfL Wolfsburg’s bid to beat the drop took a hit in a 1-1 draw at Hoffenheim which left them stranded in the relegation zone.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2026

“Agha was found to have breached Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to ‘abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match’,” the ICC said in a statement.

It stated that one demerit point has been added to Agha’s disciplinary record, for “whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period”.

“The incident occurred in the 39th over of Pakistan’s innings when, after being run out, Agha threw his batting gloves and helmet to the ground in an inappropriate manner,” the ICC noted.

It added that Agha “admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Neeyamur Rashid Rahul of the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees, so there was no need for a formal hearing”.

On-field umpires Adrian Holdstock and Tanvir Ahmed, third umpire Kumar Dharmasena and fourth umpire Masudur Rahman Mukul levelled the charge.

In their second ODI in Dhaka, which was hampered by rain, Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 128 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method.

Pakistan and Bangladesh will play the third ODI on Sunday, with the three-match series level at 1-1.

The run-out and ‘sportsman spirit’ row

Agha top-scored with 64 from 62 balls and shared a 109-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan (44).

However, Agha’s innings ended in a dramatic run-out by Bangladesh skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz at the non-striker’s end that sparked animated reactions on the field.

Short of his crease at the non-striker’s end, Agha bent down to pick up the ball to return it to the bowler after Rizwan had driven it towards him.

However, Mehidy circled around behind Agha to collect the ball and threw down the stumps.

The dismissal immediately revived discussions about the spirit of cricket and had echoes of the 2023 Ashes controversy when Australia’s Alex Carey stumped England’s Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s.

Following the match, Agha said Miraz should have shown the sportsman spirit.

“I think sportsman spirit has to be there,” Agha told reporters after Pakistan’s 128-run win.

“What he has done is in the law. I think if he thinks it’s right, it’s right, but if you ask me my perspective, I would have done it differently.”

“I would have gone for sportsman spirit.”

Agha reacted angrily in the moment, throwing down his gloves and helmet, but later downplayed his outburst.

“I was just trying to give him the ball back. I was not looking for the run or anything like that, but he had already decided.”

“If you ask me what would I have done, I would have done things differently. But … whatever happened after that, it was in the moment.”

Bahrain and Saudi F1 races set to be cancelled

Next month’s Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Formula One Grands Prix are set to be cancelled due to the Middle East conflict.

Multiple sources told Reuters an announcement, seen within the sport as just a matter of time, was expected with a March 20 deadline looming for freight that has to be transported to Bahrain for logistical reasons.

Trump says inappropriate for Iran to be at World Cup

US President Donald Trump said on March 12 that Iran’s soccer team were welcome to take part in this year’s World Cup but that he believed it was not appropriate they be there “for their own life and safety”.

Iran have qualified for the 48-team tournament to be held in the US, Canada and Mexico from June 11 and are scheduled to play two group matches in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.

Athletes’ arrivals at Paralympic games disrupted

Several athletes were unable to travel to the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympic Games due to travel disruption at several Middle Eastern airports.

Moreover, Iran are not competing at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, the International Paralympic Committee announced on March 6.

Tennis in UAE halted due to security alert

The ATP Challenger event in Fujairah was cancelled on March 3 due to safety concerns after a security alert halted play. The ATP Tour said a charter flight had been arranged “at no cost to players”.

Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, who participated in the Dubai Tennis Championships, were among the players who faced difficulties before travelling to California for the Indian Wells Open.

Sindhu withdraws from Badminton’s all England Open

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu withdrew from the All England Open after being stranded for days at the Dubai airport. She returned to India on March 3.

US withdraws from hockey world cup qualifier

The US men’s hockey team withdrew from a hockey World Cup 2026 qualifier in Ismailia, Egypt after an official advisory from the State Department urging all US citizens to leave nations within or close to conflict zones.

Asian Champions League matches postponed

Round of 16 clashes featuring Middle Eastern clubs in the Asian Champions League Elite in the first two weeks of March have been postponed.

Quarter-final clashes in the Asian Champions League Two and the Asian Challenge League, featuring clubs from the region, are also postponed, AFC, the continental soccer body, said on Wednesday.

Iranian female footballers given asylum

Australia granted humanitarian visas to five Iranian women soccer players on March 10 after they sought asylum, fearing persecution on their return home for their refusal to sing the national anthem at an Asian Cup match.

Australian police helped two more members of the Iranian women’s soccer delegation claim asylum on March 11, but one changed her mind and decided to go back to Iran.

Concerns about the players’ safety upon their return home grew after Iranian state television labelled the team “wartime traitors”.

Iraq coach calls for World Cup playoff game to be postponed

Iraq soccer coach Graham Arnold called for the team’s inter-confederation World Cup playoff in Mexico in March to be postponed amidst the travel chaos triggered by the conflict in neighbouring Iran.

The Iraqis are concerned they might not be able to get their players and staff over to Mexico for their scheduled clash with either Bolivia or Suriname in Monterrey on March 31.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka series postponed

The limited-overs series between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka scheduled for March in the United Arab Emirates has been postponed due to the crisis in the Middle East, the Afghanistan Cricket Board announced on March 11.

WEC postpones season opener in Qatar

The World Endurance Championship postponed its season-opening race, originally scheduled for March 28 at the Lusail circuit in Qatar.

Organisers announced new dates, with the race now set to take place between October 22 and 24.

Sports events cancelled in Iran, Soccer resumes in Qatar

All sporting events in Iran have been cancelled until further notice, including the country’s top-flight Persian Gulf Pro League. The Bahraini FA has also halted all domestic competitions.

Qatar’s top-flight football league resumed on March 12 after a nationwide suspension of sporting activity imposed amid regional security concerns, the Qatar Stars League Foundation said.

An update is awaited on the clash between Spain and Argentina set for Doha on March 27.

Mancini unable to return to Qatar

Al Sadd coach Roberto Mancini was not present for Friday’s Qatar Stars League match against Umm Salal as he was unable to return to Doha.

Vitor Pereira’s side were rocked by Cho Gue-sung’s late strike at the City Ground as Forest succumbed to the Danish underdogs for the second time this season.

Beaten 3-2 at home by Midtjylland in the group stage in October when Ange Postecoglou was the second of Forest’s four managers this term, the Premier League strugglers must sec­ure the first away win against the Da­nes this season in the second leg on March 19 to have a chance of advancing. Midtjylland have won 12 of their last 14 matches in European competitions.

Forest, above the Premier League relegation zone on goal difference, went close when Omari Hutchinson’s 30-yard rocket was tipped over by Elias Rafn Olafsson.

Elliot Anderson’s curler forced another fine save from Olafsson before Midtjylland’s Philip Billing headed off the line to stop Pedro Bravo scoring an own goal.

In torrential rain, Forest lost their footing in the 80th minute, triggering jeers from their frustrated fans.

Ousmane Diao’s cross reached Cho and the South Korea striker planted a composed header past Matz Sels from close range.

“It is difficult to explain. We created so many chances to score. Even if we were to draw, it would not have been fair,” Pereira said.

“They had two chances, and they scored. But we had enough time and the game was there. Even the rain played against us!”

At the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Watkins netted for the first time in eight games in all competitions to put Villa on track for a place in the quarter-finals.

The England international’s second-half goal was only his ninth in a disappointing personal campaign, with just two in his last 13 matches.

He made the breakthrough in the 61st minute, meeting Emiliano Buendia’s flick on with a looping header over Lille keeper Berke Ozer.

Thanks to Watkins, Unai Emery’s side, who beat Lille in the 2024 UEFA Conference League quarter-finals, will head into the second leg at Villa Park as favourites to advance.

Villa have won eight of their nine Europa games this season as they step up their bid to end a 30-year trophy drought.

‘A Serious match’

Emery’s men had stumbled in recent weeks, suffering a chastening defeat at bottom of the table Wolves and a 4-1 thrashing by Chelsea.

But beating Lille was a major boost before a crucial clash at Manchester United on Sunday in the race to qualify for the Champions League.

It was also a landmark 100th victory for Emery as Villa boss.

“Ollie is working and being consistent with his task,” Emery said. “The most important thing is how we played a serious match.

“We know how difficult it is with the atmosphere they have here.”

Brazil striker Endrick salvaged a 1-1 draw for Lyon at 10-man Celta Vigo. Celta’s Javier Rueda swept in Williot Swedberg’s cross in the 25th minute.

But the Spanish side had Borja Iglesias sent off for a second booking in the 54th minute. And Lyon esca­ped thanks to on-loan Real Madrid teenager Endrick, whose shot from the edge of the area in the 87th minute was fumbled over the line by Celta keeper Ionut Radu.

Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini rescued a 1-1 draw in the all-Italian showdown at Bologna.

Fifth-placed Roma, 12 points above eighth-placed Bologna in Serie A, fell behind when Federico Bernardeschi struck in the 50th minute with a clinical finish from Jonathan Rowe’s assist.

Pellegrini came off the bench to haul Roma level in the 71st minute, tapping in from Donyell Malen’s pass.

Portuguese league leaders Porto won 2-1 at Stuttgart and Genk beat Freiburg 1-0 in Belgium.

Ferencvaros defeated Sporting Braga 2-0 in Budapest, while Panathinaikos earned a shock 1-0 home win against Real Betis.

Palace held in conference league

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace labou­red to a 0-0 draw at home to AEK Larnaca in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League last-16 tie on Thursday.

Palace created a glut of chances on a wet and windy night at Selhurst Park but failed to score against their Cypriot opponents for the second time this season, having lost 1-0 to Larnaca in the league phase.

French forward Jean-Philippe Ma­t­eta came on as a late substitute for his first Palace appearance since January 25 after a move to AC Milan collapsed due to concerns over a knee injury.

Oliver Glasner’s side will go to Cyprus next week seeking to keep alive their first full venture into European football.

Should they get through they could meet two-time runners-up Fiorentina in the quarter-finals. The Italians edged past Rakow Czestochowa of Poland 2-1 in Florence thanks to a stoppage-time penalty.

Strasbourg, who finished top in the league phase, maintained their unbeaten record in Europe this season with a 2-1 win away to Croatian side Rijeka.

Former Tottenham striker Troy Parrott scored both goals for AZ Alkmaar in a 2-1 victory over Sparta Prague, while Spain’s Rayo Vallecano won 3-1 away to Turkish team Samsunspor.

AEK Athens are on course for the quarter-finals after a 4-0 win at Slovenians Celje, while Shakhtar Donetsk won 3-1 at Lech Poznan. Bundesliga club Mainz drew 0-0 at Czech side Signa Olomouc.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2026

INDIAN WELLS: World number one Carlos Alcaraz charged past Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday to set up an Indian Wells semi-final with Daniil Medvedev after the Russian ended Jack Draper’s title defence with a 6-1, 7-5 win following a controversial umpiring call.

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka also reached the last four in the women’s draw with a 7-6(0), 6-4 victory over 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko but Iga Swiatek was unable to find her way past Elina Svitolina and fell 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

Australian Open champion Alcaraz improved his record to 16-0 to start the year with a solid display against a tricky opponent in the final contest of the evening to remain on course for a third Indian Wells crown.

The Spaniard eased through the opening set and though he was briefly in trouble at 0-2 down in the second he quickly regained the momentum to see off Briton Norrie and set up a meeting with twice runner-up Medvedev.

“It was really difficult, I struggled with Cameron’s style,” Alcaraz said. “His forehand has super top-spin and his backhands are flat so it’s tricky to play against him and find the correct shots. I played solid and aggressive when I could and I’m happy to be at this level.”

Russian 11th seed Medvedev was also in impressive form against Briton Draper, who had little time to recover after his stunning three-set win over Novak Djokovic on Wednesday.

Draper raised his level in the second set and stayed with his opponent up to 5-5 but Medvedev secured a late break after a controversial hindrance call from chair umpire Aurelie Tourte.

Medvedev was awarded a point to go 30-0 up following a late video review request after the Russian said he was distracted by Draper’s raised arm during the rally when the Briton thought the ball went out.

Draper insisted he had not caused a major distraction but the umpire stuck with her decision to award Medvedev the point, prompting jeers from the crowd when the call was made.

“If you look at the first forehand I did after it happened, I think I could have done a better shot if there was no gesture from Jack,” Medvedev told reporters.

“Was I distracted big time? No. Do I feel good about it? Not really. But I also don’t feel like I cheated or something. I got a bit distracted. I let it go and I let the umpire decide.”

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev beat Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-3 to make the semi-finals for the first time and become only the fifth man to complete the set of last-four appearances at all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.

The German faces a big challenge in the next round, however, as he takes on world number two Jannik Sinner after the Italian made light work of American Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2.

SVITOLINA UPSETS SWIATEK

World number two Swiatek struggled early against Svitolina, with the Ukrainian capitalising on five double faults to secure three breaks and take the opening set in 38 minutes.

She found her rhythm in the second to force a decider, but Svitolina regained the upper hand by securing the only break in a tight third set before confidently closing out the match to return to the semis for the first time in seven years.

Belarusian Sabalenka had a battle on her hands against Mboko and the top seed was taken to a first-set tiebreak which she won to love — a career first.

The second set followed a similar script with Mboko clawing her back to 5-4 and threatening another tiebreak but four-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka held firm.

“She’s a future Grand Slam champion,” Sabalenka said. “It’s incredible to see how brave these young girls are these days.”

Sabalenka next plays Linda Noskova, who ended Australian qualifier Talia Gibson’s fairytale run 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, the Czech reaching her second WTA 1000 semi-final.

Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina advanced with a 6-1, 7-6(4) victory over Jessica Pegula to reach another Indian Wells semi-final where she will play Svitolina.

Victory ensured Rybakina will leapfrog Swiatek and reach a career-high world number two when the WTA rankings are updated on Monday.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2026

Russell led every phase of the session at the Shanghai circuit to take his first career sprint pole in a time of one minute 31.520 seconds. Antonelli was 0.289 slower.

McLaren’s Lando Norris will start third after the reigning champion told stewards he had not been on a proper “push” lap when Antonelli, who had risked a grid drop, impeded him during the second phase.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who started the 100km race on pole in China last year, was fourth fastest ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Saturday’s race brings eight points to the winner with the top eight scoring. The main grand prix is on Sunday.

“The car has been feeling amazing,” said Russell, winner of the Australian season-opener last weekend. “We knew after Melbourne we had a really good car, the engine is performing really well, and today it was a real joy to drive.

“It felt really quick and that was pretty cool, very different to Melbourne.”

Russell was the third successive British sprint pole-sitter in Shanghai after Norris in 2024 and Hamilton in 2025. He had also been fastest in the day’s sole practice session, ahead of Antonelli, with Mercedes comfortably ahead of the rest.

The stewards said in a statement that Antonelli would have been guilty of unnecessarily impeding had Norris been on a quick lap but they took no action in light of the champion’s words.

Pierre Gasly was seventh fastest for Renault-owned Alpine, after also being cleared of impeding, with Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen eighth.

Haas’s Oliver Bearman took the ninth slot on the grid and Verstappen’s new teammate Isack Hadjar completed the top 10 but a massive 2.2 seconds off Russell’s pace.

Norris was happy with his lap.

“P3 is as good as we can do for the time being,” he said. “I’m actually pretty happy to beat both the Ferraris today because they seemed pretty good the whole day. So I’m satisfied. Good position for tomorrow.”

Leclerc said Mercedes were still a step ahead but Ferrari, who removed their so-called “Macarena” rear wing for the session due to reliability concerns, should have been stronger.

“In qualifying for some reason the Mercedes power unit finds a lot of lap time,” said the Monegasque. “We don’t quite find that amount of lap time just yet in qualifying but in the race we are closer so I’m hopeful we can come back tomorrow.”

Hamilton said the engineers had done a fantastic job to get the car ready after he spun off in a tricky practice session.

“The car generally felt great. I think it is on the straights, it’s a lot of time to be losing so we have a lot of work to do, we really have to push so hard to improve on power.”

Further back, Audi continued to perform well with Nico Hulkenberg qualifying 11th and Gabriel Bortoleto 14th. Newcomers Cadillac filled the bottom two positions, with Mexican Sergio Perez unable to take part in the session due to a fuel system issue.

Troubled Aston Martin, struggling with their new Honda power unit, had Fernando Alonso 19th and Lance Stroll 20th. Williams, whose car has been slowed by excess weight, had Carlos Sainz 17th and Alex Albon 18th.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2026

Maaz Sadaqat was the stand-out performer of the game, blasting a rapid 75 for Pakistan before picking up three wickets.

Chasing a revised target of 243 in 32 overs after a two-hour rain and hailstorm delay, Bangladesh collapsed for 114 in 23.3 overs despite a brief counterattack from Litton Das.

Bangladesh had already been in trouble before the weather halted play.

Tanzid Hasan fell early for one, caught at backward square leg off Shaheen Shah Afridi, while Saif Hassan departed for 12 after offering a catch to short mid-off off Mohammad Wasim Jr.

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was bowled by Shaheen for a duck, leaving the hosts reeling at 27 for 3 in 6.3 overs when a sudden thunderstorm accompanied by hail forced the players off the field.

When play resumed, Litton attempted to revive the chase with a series of boundaries, including two sixes. He was eventually trapped lbw for 41 by part-time spinner Maaz Sadaqat.

Tawhid Hridoy made 28 off 38 balls before falling lbw to Haris Rauf, while Afif Hossain added 14 before becoming Sadaqat’s second victim.

Captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz managed just one run as Bangladesh’s innings folded quickly.

Rauf and Sadaqat claimed three wickets each to complete a dominant bowling performance for Pakistan.

Earlier, Bangladesh had fought back with the ball to bowl Pakistan out for 274 in 47.3 overs after a blistering start by the visitors.

Pakistan raced to 103 for the opening wicket inside 13 overs through an aggressive partnership between Sahibzada Farhan and Sadaqat.

Sadaqat struck 75 off 46 balls with six fours and five sixes, while Farhan scored 31 before falling to Taskin Ahmed.

Salman Agha later top-scored with 64 from 62 balls and shared a 109-run stand with Mohammad Rizwan (44), though Agha’s innings ended in a dramatic run-out by Mehidy Hasan Miraz at the non-striker’s end that sparked animated reactions on the field.

Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain finished as the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 56 as Pakistan were eventually bowled out for 274, a total that proved more than enough on a rain-shortened night in Mirpur.

With this win, Pakistan have levelled up the three-match series 1-1, with the series decider to be played on Sunday.

A longstanding political stand-off between India and Pakistan means the two nations only play each other in major global cricket tournaments.

Cricketers from Pakistan have not featured in the Indian Premier League (IPL) since 2009 because of diplomatic tensions between the two nations.

There was speculation that the players from Pakistan involved in this week’s inaugural Hundred auction in London would be subject to a “shadow ban”, with the IPL-affiliated teams refusing to bid for them.

Four of the franchises — MI London, Manchester Super Giants, Sunrisers Leeds and Southern Brave — are at least part-owned by companies that control IPL teams.

But the Leeds-based Sunrisers clinched a deal for leg-spinner Abrar, paying 190,000 ($252,000) for his services.

Usman Tariq, the only other Pakistani player bought in the auction, was picked up by American-backed Birmingham Phoenix.

The only two Pakistan players in Wednesday’s women’s auction, Fatima Sana and Sadia Iqbal, went unsold.

The England and Wales Cricket Board last month issued a statement saying all eight of the city-based franchises in the 100-ball-a-side competition were committed to selection based solely on performances.

But Sunrisers have been subjected to fierce criticism from some Indian cricket fans after signing Ahmed.

The @SunrisersLeeds account on X was suspended overnight. It was up and running again on Friday with a fresh follower base, but comments focused heavily on Abrar’s signing.

The same was true of the club’s Instagram feed, while the issue also spilled over onto the accounts of Sunrisers Hyderabad, also owned by the Sun Group media conglomerate.

Fast bowler Nahid Rana, 23, starred with a career-best show of 5-24 as Bangladesh demolished the Shaheen Shah Afridi-led Pakistan in the opening ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday.

Shaheen has backed his young team to make a comeback despite the eight-wicket drubbing in the series opener, and will definitely be eyeing to level the series at the same venue today.

Pakistan are featuring in an ODI series in Bangladesh after a long gap of 11 years. The last time when Pakistan played a 50-over rubber in Bangladesh under the captaincy of Azhar Ali, they suffered a 3-0 sweep.

With ample time left before the ICC 2027 World Cup is staged in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia during October-November, Pakistan, which have struggled in ICC events since their 2017 Champions Trophy triumph, will certainly look to develop a side that can face top-tier opponents in the ODI showpiece. The current Bangladesh series is only the starting point of that build-up campaign.

Four Pakistan players — Abdul Samad, Maaz Sadaqat, Sahibzada Farhan and Shamyl Hussain — made their ODI debut on Wednesday after the tourists dropped experienced pros like Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan and aggressive opener Saim Ayub for the series. Other than Fakhar, the remaining three players flopped in the T20 World Cup held in India and Sri Lanka during February-March.

But the move to include the youngsters did not work at all for Pakistan, at least in the opening game, as they were shot out for a paltry 114 – their lowest-ever ODI total against Bangladesh — with 19.2 overs to spare.

The hosts completed the modest chase without any fuss in just 15.1 overs as opener Tanzid Hasan smashed a 42-ball 67 not out.

The worrying factor for Pakistan is that their batting crumbled against Rana who, before Wednesday’s game, had claimed just five wickets in his very short career comprising five ODIs.

Moreover, in the bowling department, Pakistan’s pace trio comprising Shaheen, Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Wasim failed to make any impact as they looked to defend a scanty total.

On the other hand, Bangladesh will be looking to seal the series on Friday before the last game.

While the hosts’ bowling showcased their promise in the opener, their batters may well be tested fully today after chasing a modest 115.

Though Pakistan hold a clear edge in the head-to-head ODI record against Bangladesh – with 34 wins and six losses – the pumped-up hosts under Mehidy Hasan Miraz will certainly be looking to improve that record when they take the field at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2026

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Premier League leaders Arsenal snatched a 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen to preserve their unbeaten record in Europe this season, while Bodo/Glimt continued their fairytale run with a 3-0 win over Sporting Lisbon.

Alvaro Arbeloa’s record 15-time European champions avenged their loss to City in the league phase as Valverde struck three times in the first half to hand Real full control of the tie despite the absence of the injured Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and several others.

“(It was) incredible, you dream of nights like this,” Valverde told Movistar. “It’s been a long time since I enjoyed a game like this.

“We’ve shown that when the team works together we can achieve big things.”

Valverde ran onto a long kick from Thibaut Courtois and dribbled past Gianluigi Donnarumma to slot home and give Los Blancos the lead at the Santiago Bernabeu against City as the teams met in a knockout tie for the fifth season running.

The Uruguayan midfielder arrowed a low drive into the far corner to double Real’s advantage and then completed his hat-trick with a sublime touch and finish after linking up with Brahim Diaz.

“Valverde becomes a legend,” wrote Madrid newspaper AS. “Following Valverde’s lead, (the team) opted for a heroic defence of the club badge and anthem, of the traditional, generous team, all nerve and heart, to accomplish a feat that might well be historic without even needing a comeback.”

Real defender Trent Alexander-Arnold called Valverde the “most underrated footballer on the planet”.

City could have suffered an ever heavier defeat but Donnarumma saved a second-half penalty from Vinicius after the City goalkeeper brought down the Brazilian.

“I had a feeling that we were better than the result said… but the result is here,” City boss Pep Guardiola told TNT Sports, refusing to write off his team’s chances next week. “In football you never know. We will try.”

Meanwhile, PSG put one foot in the quarter-finals after two late goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia at the Parc des Princes.

Bradley Barcola fired PSG in front but Malo Gusto’s scruffy effort skipped past Matfei Safonov to bring Chelsea level.

Ousmane Dembele finished off a clinical counter to restore the lead for the hosts before half-time, only for Enzo Fernandez to reply once more for Chelsea after excellent work from Pedro Neto.

A mistake from Filip Jorgensen saw Vitinha lob the Chelsea goalkeeper to put PSG on top for the third time, with Kvaratskhelia hammering in a superb fourth and then potentially applying the fatal blow for Luis Enrique’s side in stoppage time.

“It is a special moment because we are maybe not quite as precise as usual…” said Luis Enrique, whose team have struggled to consistently replicate last season’s form.

“There are all the comparisons with last year but it is impossible to be at that level… we are very resilient, I think that is a word which defines our team.”

Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior admitted his team paid the price for losing their composure late on.

“A very disappointing result in an evening where for so much of the game I was really happy. The last 15-20 minutes were crazy,” he said.

“We need to be better with setbacks and we need to stay calm and we didn’t.”

Arsenal leave it late

Despite an unprecedented six English teams featuring in the last 16, not a single one won and only two avoided defeat in Europe this week.

Arsenal needed an 89th-minute penalty from Kai Havertz against his former club to snatch a draw away to Bayer Leverkusen.

Robert Andrich headed in a corner for Leverkusen moments into the second half to leave Arsenal, who won all eight of their league phase matches, staring at defeat in Germany.

But Havertz came off the bench to warm applause in the 74th minute and tucked the penalty past Leverkusen goalkeeper Janis Blaswich after a foul on Noni Madueke to ensure Arsenal remain favourites to reach the quarter-finals.

“Penalties in the last minutes are not always easy. The time between the whistle and taking the penalty felt like eternity. But in these moments you need to be present,” Havertz told reporters. “These are the moments I’ve worked for for years, to be there in moments like that.

“I know the stadium and I’ve already converted many penalties from this spot. Of course I’m sorry for Leverkusen, but that’s football.”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta called Havertz’s last-minute penalty an “extraordinary” tale.

“Football writes crazy stories,” Arteta told reporters. “It’s of course extraordinary that Kai returns here after so many years and converted the penalty. It’s a great story.”

Bodo/Glimt enjoyed another remarkable Champions League night as they swept Portugal’s Sporting aside 3-0 to register their fifth win in a row in the competition.

Sondre Brunstad Fet put Bodo ahead from the penalty spot just after the half-hour mark and Ole Didrik Blomberg made it two in first-half injury time.

Kasper Hogh scored his fifth goal in as many European games with 19 minutes remaining to spark wild celebrations for the Norwegian underdogs.

For Bodo/Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen, their triumph was just another step in their amazing Champions League journey.

Asked if the result would send shockwaves through European football, Knutsen was his usual sanguine self, never letting an individual result affect how he sees the progress his club is making.

“I think we’re on a great journey now, and I don’t think we should reflect too much on that right now — I think we should evaluate the game, what was good, what was less good, and then we should work on it,” he told reporters.

“It’s easy to be satisfied when you get to where we are now, and that’s not a trap we should go into. We’ll evaluate what was good and what was less good, and that’s really what we’ve done in good and bad periods,” he added.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2026