Shoaib Malik included in Pakistan team

The former captain will also join Pakistan cricket team’s training camp today which is currently underway at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore.

Earlier, Shoaib Malik was cleared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) integrity committee on Friday and was eligible for selection for the national team.

Malik has not played for the national side since the controversy-filled tour of England last summer, and has been involved in a long-drawn out battle with the PCB to be cleared.

The main issue blocking Malik s clearance was certain deposits in his overseas bank account, but the PCB has said in their release announcing Malik s clearance that he was able to provide evidence that the deposits did not emanate from any questionable source or activity.

Muhammad Ilyas appears before PCBs disciplinary committee

Muhammad Ilyas appeared before two-member disciplinary committee headed by Sultan Rana at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and presented his stance.

Talking to media after the meeting, Muhammad Ilyas said that he answered committee’s queries and the proceedings remained positive.

He said decision regarding appeal would be taken after receiving decision of the committee.

Sri Lankan team attacker held from Lahore

Staff Report

LAHORE: Police have apprehended a wanted terrorist involved in Sri Lankan team attack Monday.

Qari hails from Waziristan, police said. Police have also recovered explosives from him.

The Sri Lankan cricket team attack took place on March 3, 2009, when a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers, part of a larger convoy, was fired upon by about 12 gunmen, near the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

At least half a dozen security personnel were killed and some Sri Lankan players got injuries. Trend Pk

Wedding reception delays as Shoaib yet to receive passport

HYDERABAD: Sania and Shoaib Malik’s wedding reception, to be held in Sialkot, has been postponed from April 22 to April 25 because Shoaib still hasn’t got his passport back.

According to Indian media reports, the couple seems to be unperturbed and look like they’re chilling out and enjoying their marital bliss. The two are expected to be in Mumbai today, where they will be shooting for a magazine cover, according to sources from Sania’s family.

A close friend of Shoaib, said, “We are planning a grand reception at Sialkot. We have requested the high commissioner of Pakistan in India to clear Shoaib’s passport.”

Nadal targets Barcelona after Monte Carlo win

MONTE CARLO: Rafael Nadal will approach his home tournament on the Barcelona clay with fresh confidence after securing a historic sixth straight Monte Carlo Masters title on Sunday.

The king of clay retained his crown by outclassing Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-0, 6-1 to lift his first title in 50 weeks.

In doing so Nadal became the first man in modern tennis history to win one event six times in succession and he will now look to repeat the trick in Barcelona.

“For me this is very emotional, this is probably my favorite tournament. I love this tournament. To win here another time is a dream for me,” he said.

“To win six times for me is unbelievable. I never expect something like that.”

He improved to 16-6 his record at the Masters 1000 level as he claimed the 26th clay title of his career, having lost his only two clay finals against Roger Federer, in Hamburg in 2007 and Madrid in 2009.

“When you don”t win for a while, and you are playing really well, you really want to win,” said Nadal. “You are focused more than ever.

“Maybe for that reason I won easier than usual. But that”s not normal. I”m going to have lots of problems on clay in the future.”

Verdasco, now 0-10 against Nadal, again came away impressed.

“He had an unbelievable day and he played really good. He didn”t let me attack him at all, with balls really high and deep,” said Verdasco.

“I also maybe didn”t have a good day. I was trying to force things and made more mistakes than usual.

“Today was my first Masters final. I had normal nerves before an important match. But they were nothing special.”

With volcano ash from Iceland creating travel havoc and grounding air traffic across Europe, Nadal and his team will have to make the 500-kilometre journey to Barcelona by road.

He will receive a first-round bye and is likely to face his first match on Wednesday after bringing his unwelcome trophy drought to an end.

The four-time Roland Garros champion returned to form with one of the most brilliant efforts of his storied career, losing a total of just 14 games and winning three matches with the loss of just one game in each.

Victory in the final was Nadal”s 32nd straight win at Monte Carlo and he remains undefeated at the venue since 2003.

He dominated against Verdasco with seven breaks of serve while his opponent committed 32 unforced errors.

The sixth-seeded challenger looked threatening only once, in the marathon sixth game of the second set, as he forced the fighting Nadal to save five break points to move ahead 5-1.

A game later it was all over on the first match point as Nadal broke back for victory.

Pentangular Cup begins today

KARACHI: Injury-prone fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar will be the centre of attraction when Federal Areas Leopards face Punjab Stallions in the opening match of the RBS Pentangular Cup One-day 2009-10 at the National Stadium here on Monday (today). The matches will be telecast live at Geo Super.

The tournament featuring five regional units with leading players in their ranks, was earlier scheduled to be held at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore but were later shifted here.

The blustering right-hander Imran Nazir, who belongs to Sialkot, has been inducted into the Yasir Hameed led NWFP Panthers along with pacer Sohail Khan, who normally plays for Sindh.

Multan Tigers’ pacer, Abdur Rauf, has been made skipper of Balochistan Bears. Left-handed opener Imran Farhat will lead Punjab Stallions while Faisal Iqbal has been assigned the task to lead Sindh Dolphins in the competitions in which total 11 matches will be played. Punjab Stallions will defend the title. Like the Twenty 20 Championship, thick security arrangements have been made once again for the smooth conduction of the event. All the matches will start at 1:00pm.

Button wins Chinese GP in Formula One 4th race

SHANGHAI: Defending champion Jenson Button Sunday delivered a perfectly judged drive in treacherous wet conditions to win a dramatic Chinese Grand Prix ahead of his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

The two Britons, champions in successive years, delivered their first one-two of the season in style to prove that if Red Bull have the fastest car in qualifying, McLaren have great race performance, strategy and tactics.

The two Red Bulls of German Sebastian Vettel and Australian Mark Webber, who had scored a one-two in Malaysia two weeks ago, came home sixth and eighth.

Button”s triumph in a winning time of one hour, 46 minutes and 42.163 seconds was his second in four races since joining McLaren this season and the ninth of his career.

It lifted him 10 points clear at the top of this year”s embryonic drivers” championship ahead of German Nico Rosberg, who finished third for the new Mercedes team.

Rosberg”s veteran team-mate and compatriot, 41-year-old seven-times champion Michael Schumacher, struggled home 10th to claim a single point.

Rosberg, who also made the right strategic calls and led for 19 laps, came home third, ahead of two-times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari. Pole Robert Kubica was fifth for Renault and Vettel, who started from pole, was sixth for Red Bull.

Russian Vitaly Petrov proved his flair in the wet conditions to finish seventh for Renault ahead of Webber in the second Red Bull.

Schumacher looked set to finish eighth until the closing laps when he was passed by Webber and then Brazilian Felipe Massa, who took ninth for Ferrari. Schumacher was 10th.

Button, having chosen not to rush for an early change of tyres, rose to second and then took the lead from Rosberg after 19 of the 56 laps and stayed there.

The result gave McLaren their first one-two finish since the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 2007, when Hamilton was second to then-team-mate Alonso.

It is the first British one-two in Formula One since 1995 when Damon Hill and David Coulthard dominated the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Button now leads the title race on 60 points ahead of Rosberg on 50 with Alonso and Hamilton equal third on 49.

No compromise on discipline, fitness, performance: Mohsin

LAHORE: Chairman national selection committee Mohsin Khan said that no compromise would be made on discipline, fitness and performance and this is why it has been decided to include Moahammad Sami and Mohammad Irfan into the team as Umar Gul and Yasir Arafat were not one hundred per cent fit.

While talking with media here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday, Mohsin Khan said that Umar Gul would be missed in the T20 World Cup and this is disappointing that he is not the part of the team.

The chief selector said that Mohammad Irfan has been included in the team after the captain and the coach recommended him.

He said both changes in the team have been made unanimously.

Mohsisn Khan said that Mohammad Asif is an experienced player and this is hoped that he would be disciplined. The selection committee did not get any objection from the board.

Gul, Arafat replaced by Sami, Irfan for T20 World Cup

LAHORE: Two changes have been made in Pakistan team for the Twenty20 World Cup as fast bowlers Umar Gul and Yasir Arafat are unfit. They have been replaced by fst bowlers Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Irfan.

Captain Shahid Afridi and coach Waqar Younis said it is disappointing that Umar Gul and Yasir Arafat could not recover from their injuries.

The coach and the captain of the national team told at a news conference that Umar Gul and Yasir Arafat failed to recover from their injuries and have therefore been dropped from the squad.

Both players, reeling from injuries for the last two weeks, have been replaced by fast bowlers Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Irfan.

Waqar said Sami and Irfan would be included in the 15-man squad before their departure for the West Indies next week.

Gul suffered a shoulder injury and Arafat a knee injury during the training camp for the tournament.

The coach said that no prediction can be made regarding T20 cricket but he is hopes that his team would display good performance in the tournament.

Captain Shahid Afridi said that Umar Gul would greatly be missed in the championship. However, he said that Mohammad Irfan’s talent has impressed him very much.

The captain said that he has a big responsibility as captain and of course there is immense pressure on him but he is very hopeful for the team’s good performance.

The training camp continued for three weeks at the Gaddafi Stadium during which areas of fielding, physical fitness, running between the wicket and avoiding extras were focused.

The selectors deeply reviewed the bowling of Umar Gul and Yasir Arafat on the last day of the camp but both bowlers could not pass the fitness test.

The Pakistan team will leave for the West Indies via London on April 24 to participate in the World T20 Cup, commencing on April 30.

Australia and Bangladesh are also included in the pool of Pakistan, who are defending champions.

Waqar a good choice for coaching: Abdul Qadir

LAHORE: Former chairman national selection committee Abdul Qadir said that Pakistan are a strong Twenty20 cricket team and if Abdul Rehman, Imran Nazir and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan are included then they would have to be a more strong combination.

Talking with media here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday, abddul Qadir said that Waqar Younis is a good choice for coaching.

He said if foreign coach can make any team a winner then Bangladesh and Kenya would have become world champions.

Abdul Qadir said that not the aged bowlers but only spinners would be successful in the World Cup to be held in the West Indies.

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