SATURDAY-JUNE 12, 2021 Sport 05 Rashid Khan helps Lahore Qalandars to Goal analysis: Afghanistan will late victory over Peshawar Zalmi in PSL not be an easy test for India KABUL: India takes on Af- ghanistan in their final Group E clash in the second round 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup joint qualifiers at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday. In June qualification, India re- sumed their campaign with a 1-0 loss against Qatar before bouncing back with a 2-0 win over Bang- ladesh courtesy of a brace by skip- per Sunil Chhetri. Afghanistan started playing full-fledged international football only from 2002. Before that, they had merely participated in the 1948 Olympics and played a 1984 AFC Asian Cup qualifying game which they lost to Jordan. 2018 as well as they defeated Cam- played a 1-1 draw in the group stag- There was an 18-year gap af- bodia 2-1 and had drawn against es and in 2013 SAFF final, the ter which football returned to a Palestine. Afghans had outplayed the Indi- war-torn Afghanistan. Their first 2019 was not the best of years ans to pick up a memorable 2-0 major competition since returning for Afghan football. They started win in Kathmandu. to the mainstream was in the 2003 the year by taking part in the Air- Afghanistan squad SAFF Gold Cup where they lost marine Cup hosted by Malaysia. Ovays Azizi, Faizal Hamidi, all three-group stage matches to They lost the semifinal tie 5-0 to Hamidullah Wakili, Milad Intezar, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Oman and then lost to hosts Ma- David Najem, Zohib Islam Amiri, KABUL: The competition- strict Peshawar to 160-8, despite Azam took his time to settle But Karachi hit back through Their first major win came laysia in the third-place play-offs. Abdul Najim Haidary, Hassan leading Lahore Qalandars had a 10- Shoaib Malik's 48-ball 73. down and got little support from Thisara Perera, who bagged 2-12 against Kyrgyzstan during the In the World Cup qualifiers, Amin, Zelfagar Nazary, Hussain run win over Peshawar Zalmi as In the earlier game, Babar the other end to challenge the tar- off his three overs as Rossouw 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualifying they started their campaign with a Alizada, Sharif Mukhammad, the second game in the first dou- Azam’s unbeaten half century get. Azam raised his 18th half cen- sliced a catch to long on and round. Unfortunately, they lost to 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Qatar Abassin Alikhil, Omid Popalzay, ble-header since the resumption of went in vain as Multan Sultans tury in the PSL off 45 balls but his Rizwan was run out in the same Nepal in the next round. Afghani- in Doha but they came back strong Mohammad Naeem Rahimi, Samir the Pakistan Super League finished defeated defending champion Kara- five fours and four sixes in the end over while attempting a needless stan’s next adventure was against by registering slender 1-0 win over Samandari, Farshid Haydari, in the early hours of Friday morn- chi Kings by 12 runs. were not enough to carry his team second run. Turkmenistan in the first round of Bangladesh. They lost 3-0 to Amiruddin Sharifi, Mustafa Zazai, ing. Azam hit 85 off 63 balls, but home. Khan claimed all his three The left-handed Shah pro- the 2006 World Cup qualification. Oman in their third match. Then Fardin Hakimi, Fareed Sadat Ah- The Qalandars slipped to 25- Multan held Karachi to 164-7 wickets in the last over and was pelled Multan's total with an un- The Afghans suffered a humiliat- they drew 1-1 with India before mad Oman Haydary, Noor Husin, 4 after 7 1/2 overs before Ben Dunk through some disciplined seam and on a hat trick when he dismissed beaten 44 off 32 balls when he ing 13-0 defeat in the two legs and losing 1-0 to Qatar. Maziyar Kouhyar, Farshad Noor, (48) and Tim David combined in spin bowling. Thisara Perera and captain Imad hammered Mohammad Amir for crashed out of the competition. Afghanistan prepared for the Fayzal Shayesteh, Adam Najem, an 81-run partnership to re-set the After being put into bat, Mul- Wasim off successive deliveries. three fours and a six in the last over The biggest moment in Af- June qualifiers with a short camp Noraollah Amiri, Hossein Zamani, innings. David, who finished un- tan did well in the end to push its Qasim Akram denied Khan the as the left-arm fast bowler, now ghanistan came in 2013 where they in UAE where they played against Zubayr Amiri, Jabar Sharza. beaten on 64 from 36 balls, then total to 176-5 with left-handed hat trick before offering a tame retired from international cricket, won their first ever international Indonesia (3-2 win) and Singapore Afghanistan team news shared a late 47-run stand with Khushdil Shah remaining unbeat- catch off the last ball at extra cov- finished with expensive figures of trophy at the SAFF Champion- (1-1 draw). Afghanistan come into the tie James Faulkner (22) to lift the en on 44 off 32 balls. er. South African Rilee Rossouw 0-42 off his four overs. ship held in Nepal. It is also their After the qualifiers resumed in on the back of a heartbreaking 1-1 Qalandars to 170-8. Fast bowler Imran Khan smashed seven fours in his quick- Pakistan's premier Twenty20 only international trophy till date. June 2021, they were held to a 1-1 draw against Bangladesh where Faulkner took two wickets in claimed 3-28 and leg-spinner Im- fire 44 off 24 balls and it looked league was moved to Abu Dhabi The Afghans won the competition draw by Bangladesh. they lost their 48th minute lead his first over, the second of the ran Tahir picked up the key wick- like Multan could cross the 200- for the remaining 20 games after it unbeaten, defeating India 1-0 in the It has been difficult for Afghan- courtesy of Amruddin Mohammed innings, to have Peshawar in early ets of Martin Guptill and Afghan- run mark. Rossouw and captain was suspended in March when final. istan both on and off the field as Anwar Sharifi's (48'), as Topu Bar- trouble before Rashid Khan took a istan’s Najibullah Zadran, who Mohammad Rizwan (29) shared a several players and support staff The very same year, Afghani- the team has been forced to relo- man (84') equalized for the Bangla pair in the 10th to keep the Qalan- both scored 11 runs each as Azam 68-run third wicket stand off 39 tested positive for COVID-19 in a stan saw a massive rise in the FIFA cate to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, ow- Tigers at the death. Anoush Dast- dars in control. was kept in check by the Multan balls as Multan reached 107-2 by bio-secure bubble at Karachi. rankings. They rose 46 places ing to security concerns in their gir's side then conceded the third Rashid returned 5-20 to re- bowlers. the halfway stage. The Kabul Times from 186 in 2012 to 140 in 2013, own country. spot in the group to India as the their highest ever FIFA rank. Lessons from the past latter defeated Bangladesh on June Afghanistan enjoyed good India enjoy a healthy track 7. NZ govt backs form in 2017. They had two friend- record against Afghanistan. The In the last meeting against In- ly matches against heavyweight two teams have faced each other dia as well, The Lions of Khorasan The Five Most Decorated transgender nations like Jordan and Vietnam eight times out of which India have had suffered a late setback in their and managed to draw both. While emerged victorious on six occa- home tie after Zelfy Nazary scored inclusion after ex- they played out an exciting 3-3 sions. They have drawn once and at the stroke of half-time (45+1') Cricket Legends in India athlete protest draw against Jordan, they had held lost on one occasion. but for Seiminlen Doungel equal- Vietnam to a goalless draw. In the 2011 SAFF Champion- ize at the death (90+3') for the Blue New Zealand's Sports Minis- Their good form continued in ship, India and Afghanistan had Tigers. The Kabul Times Cricket is undoubtedly India’s ter Grant Robertson said on most popular sport. Over the Thursday that inclusion should be years, the country has birthed the starting point for any discus- cricket legends who ruled the turf sion about the participation of in different capacities. And given Novak Djokovic's French Open transgender people in the sex class just how much Indians love crick- of their choice. et, fans of the sports idolize dif- Robertson was responding to quarter-final against Matteo ferent players who have made an open letter from 43 former immense contributions to the Olympic champions and athletes Berrettini briefly suspended after fans sport. For most Indians, a strong calling on the government to wid- relationship between religion and en consultation on Sport New cricket is what keeps the sport Zealand's guidance on the partici- protest 11pm coronavirus curfew going. Moreover, millions of In- pation of transgender players in dians are always looking for the sport. Play was suspended during and one shouted "Rip-off!". loosened in Paris on Wednesday best online platform where they The letter, sent to Robertson the fourth set and fans were ex- However, within a few min- to allow 5,000 spectators inside can place bets on cricket matches.