Latest news with #ChampionTrophy
The Citizen
7 days ago
- General
- The Citizen
Gr 3 learner shines at Abacus nationals
A Grade Three Crawford International Ruimsig learner, Alicia van der Merwe, has made her school proud by winning a prestigious Champion Trophy in the 10th Kyu category at the Abacus Maths Soroban Association of South Africa Competition. The competition was held in Rustenburg, and it brought together 159 top achievers from across the country, with each having qualified through regional events. Alicia began her journey with Soroban (Japanese abacus) in Grade R under her Sensei from Abacus Maths' guidance. Alicia has also successfully passed her international grading exams, ensuring her skills meet global standards set by the AbacusKing International Abacus Mental Arithmetic Alliance. Some of her notable achievements include: • 2022: Top Achiever – 12th Kyu (Regional) • 2023: Silver – 11th Kyu (National) • 2024: Champion – 11th Kyu (National) | Gold – 10th Kyu (Regional) • 2025: Champion – 10th Kyu (National) At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Times of Oman
12-04-2025
- Sport
- Times of Oman
Not ashamed that as Pakistan's captain, I cannot speak English: Mohammad Rizwan
Karachi : Pakistan's white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan, who has often been subjected to criticism and trolling for his spoken English, gave a fitting reply to his trolls with an honest admission. Rizwan admitted he is not ashamed of his incapacity to speak the language; the only factor he is focused on is the demand from him to play cricket and not speak English. Rizwan has been trolled on social media for his English speaking. Various clips and videos of his post- and pre-match interactions have gone viral, leading to trolls mocking him. The Multan Sultans' captain addressed the criticism and trolls targeting him for his spoken English. During a press conference, he told reporters, as quoted from Geo News, "I regret not completing my education, which is why I don't know English, but I am not ashamed that as Pakistan's captain, I cannot speak English." "The demand from me is to play cricket, not to speak English. If Pakistan wanted English, I would become a professor, learn it, and return. But Pakistan asks me for cricket, not English," he added. Rizwan shifted his focus to Pakistan's ongoing woes in the field, which have sparked criticism across the globe. Once considered to be an Asian powerhouse, the current Pakistan lot is chasing shadows of their former glory. Barring their chaotic campaigns in the past ICC tournaments, Pakistan were truly exposed in the Champion Trophy organised on their home turf. The party organisers were the first to crash out of the tournament following back-to-back defeats against New Zealand and India, ending their title defence in the group stage. After the Champions Trophy debacle, Pakistan toured New Zealand for five T20Is and three ODIs while keeping the 2026 and 2027 World Cups in the back of their minds. With a couple of new faces, Pakistan succumbed to a 4-1 series defeat but remained optimistic, hoping to bounce back in the three ODIs. Rizwan and Babar Azam, among the notable absentees in the T20Is, returned to the squad, but Pakistan's fate remained intact. An inexperienced New Zealand side whitewashed Pakistan by orchestrating a 3-0 series triumph. Pakistan suffered a lot of backlash after their unimpressive run. Amid the heavy criticism from fans and former cricketers, Rizwan urged the critics to offer solutions and guide them through the turbulent phase, leading to their improvement. "It's fine to criticise the team, but also guide us on how to improve. Recently, during the Champions Trophy, Wasim Akram gave us advice. I wanted to talk more with him, but there wasn't enough time," he said. Rizwan acknowledged that fans have the right to be upset when the team fails to deliver and added, "Fans are justified in their anger, and they've all the right to be upset at us because they also love us. But the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has given so much to Pakistan. Now it's time to enjoy the league."
Gulf Today
05-03-2025
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Gambhir lambasts one-venue critics, Shami admits it as an advantage
Indian coach Gautam Gambhir lambasted the critics over the unfair advantage remark of playing their matches at the same venue in the ongoing Champion Trophy. India defeated Australia by four wickets in the semi-final to notch up their fourth straight win in the tournament in Dubai. India are playing all their matches in Dubai as they refused to travel to Pakistan because of political tension between the two countries. Whereas the other teams are juggling between Pakistan and India to play their matches. Even the host nation Pakistan had to come to Dubai to play with India, which they lost and were sent packing from the tourney. South Africa came to the UAE in anticipation of playing their semi-final with India. As it was not confirmed where India would finish in the group stage. India defeated New Zealand in the last league game and set up a semi clash with Australia. South had to fly back to Pakistan without playing a single ball and Australia were flown in. The other teams and former cricketers have accused Indian of having an unfair advantage of playing all their matches in one venue. They know the pitches well and have got acclimatized to the conditions. Moreover, they are also avoiding the travelling hassles. 'It is as much a neutral venue for us as for anyone else. This is not our home ground. I don't remember which tournament we played here last time,' said an angry Gambhir after the match. 'Our plan was to field two frontline spinners. Even if we would have been playing in Pakistan we would have fielded at least two genuine spinners because the tournament is being played in the sub-continent,' he added. India played with four spinners in the last two games against New Zealand and Australia, which they won comfortably. Hardik Pandya, an all-rounder, was given the role of shouldering the burden with pace spearhead Mohammad Shami to open the bowling as Harshit Rana was dropped. The controversy was stoked by the fact that India named a spin-heavy squad with Dubai in mind. Gambhir denied it vehemently. 'It is nothing like that, we wanted to set up a spin trap,' said an agitated Gambhir. 'Picking up two frontline spinners in a 15-member squad is not too much. Why do people forget out of the four spinners, two are genuine all-rounders and they are great assets to the team. 'If you see, in the first two matches, we played with just one frontline spinner. We fielded two frontline spinners in the last two matches only. So there were no such plans,' added an agitated Gambhir. "And there's a lot of controversy about the undue advantage. What undue advantage? We are not practising here. We're doing our practice at the ICC Academy. "If you look at the pitches there and here, there is 180 degree difference between the two. Some people are just perpetual cribbers, man. "They've got to grow up. So, I feel that there was nothing like we had any undue advantage or we had planned something like that." Meanwhile, contrary to the views of his coach, Shami admitted to having a fair bit of advantage playing at the same venue. Shami took three wickets, conceding 48 runs to help India thwart Australia to 264. 'It definitely helped us because we know the conditions and the behaviour of the pitch. It is a plus point that you are playing all the matches at one venue,' said Shami after the match in Dubai. Shami has been instrumental in India's run-up to the final. He took a five-wicket haul against Bangladesh in the opening match to set the tempo for the tournament. Shami returned to the team after a long lay-off of two-and-a-half years. But, there was no trace of his absence from the game for such a long time in his performance. When asked about getting the reverse swing with the old ball, Shami used the media to request the custodians of the game to allow the use of saliva. 'We are trying to reverse, we don't get to use saliva during the game. The bowlers are constantly appealing to allow the use of saliva and it will make the game more competitive and interesting,' added Shami. Bowlers from ages used saliva to shine one side of the ball so that the rough side soaks the dew and becomes slightly heavier, helping the ball to swing. In reverse swing, the ball swings toward the shiny side which makes the life of batsmen difficult. Since the outbreak of coronavirus in 2019, the use of saliva was banned to stop the spread of the disease, which in its early stages was considered as highly contagious. Apart from the ban on using saliva, most of the rules in cricket have been bent in the favour of batsmen, who are the pampered babies of the game.
Emirates 24/7
24-02-2025
- Sport
- Emirates 24/7
India secures semi-final spot with 6-wicket victory over Pakistan
India secured a spot in the semi-finals of the Champion Trophy after a straightforward six-wicket victory against Pakistan. Giving India a target of 242 runs, Pakistan was eventually bowled out for 241 runs in 42.3 overs, with India losing four wickets in the process. Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill were phenomenal in the chase, which made it very straightforward for India. Virat Kohli' now has 51 ODI centuries to his name and scored 100 runs off 111 balls while remaining unbeaten, including seven well-struck boundaries to help India score the match-winning runs. Kohli's batting performance was key to help India qualify for the Champions Trophy semi-finals. In his ODI's, Kohli has also shifted to a new landmark, scoring over 14,000 runs, with his 15th being Sachin Tendulkar and Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, with only one man left behind him now. Pakistan's chances of advancing to the semi-finals have significantly reduced with this loss, which is their second in this tournament. Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Key to all-rounder's Champions Trophy bid
Australia all-rounder Aaron Hardie is aiming to keep his game 'as flexible as possible' as he closes in on Champions Trophy selection following the injury to Mitchell Marsh. Hardie, 26, is in the 15-man squad set for Pakistan in late February after recovering from his quad setback sustained during the Big Bash League season. Australia is yet to announce a replacement for the injured Marsh, who was ruled out of the tournament last week with a back complaint. Coach Andrew McDonald said after the Galle Test that Australia would look to play an 'eight-batter team' and named Hardie as one of the options to fill Marsh's void alongside Marcus Stoinis and Beau Webster. Hardie, from Western Australia, said his quad was 'the best it has ever been' and has been working with coaches to ensure he can fill any role he is asked to play at national level. 'I have been training and speaking to the coaches and putting things in place to be as flexible as possible,' Hardie said. 'Whether one game you bat (No.) 3 and one game you bat 7, there's not many people who can go out there and do that. 'So rather pigeonholing into a certain position, (I am) just trying to stay as flexible as possible. 'It helps in team balance if someone goes down or someone's not available for a certain tour to be able to jump into any position and be able to help win games.' Hardie suspects his role, if selected, will be batting at fifth or sixth drop and assisting with overs alongside one of the Aussies' spinning all-rounders. 'I think if I get a role in those games, it's going to be being able to contribute with the ball in terms of being that fifth bowling option,' he said. 'Whether it's a spinner and myself being able to fill a 10-over role to be able to make up that fifth bowler. 'I bat up the order at home but I think to have that ability to come in at seven and eight and contribute with the bat is really important.' Hardie started playing state cricket for Western Australia in 2019 and rose to his international debut in 2023. Hardie, who bats at No.5 and bowls first change in Sheffield Shield, said the Test arena was 'certainly' still a focus. 'Yeah absolutely, it's certainly a conversation I have with the coaches in WA around the red-ball side of it,' he said. 'I have loved playing red-ball cricket for WA, we've had so much success in that space, so there's a number of players in that team who are very close to cracking through at that next level. 'As a kid you always want to play in the baggy green and I certainly still have that on the list.' Australia has until Wednesday, February 12 to confirm Marsh's replacement into the side. Australia's Champion Trophy squad: Pat Cummins (c), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.
