LAHORE: Most of the foreign cricket players participating in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and linked with three teams – Quetta Gladiators, Peshawar Zalmi, and Karachi Kings — arrived in Lahore on Tuesday.
As the PSL enters its final stage, cricket fever is running high across Pakistan.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is satisfied with the number of foreign players in Lahore and said it was a “good instrumental move” for the revival of international cricket in the country.
“The arrival of this big number of foreign cricketers will encourage the international teams to visit Pakistan. We will try to hold all PSL matches in our country next year,” PCB Media Director Amjad Bhatti told Arab News.
Peshawar Zalmi is missing its foreign player Dwayne Smith, while other international stars Darren Sammy, Liam Dawson, Evin Lewis, Andre Fletcher, Tamim Iqbal and Chris Jordan reached Lahore in the small hours of Tuesday.
Karachi Kings teammates Ravi Bopara, Tymal Mills, Joe Denly, David Wiese, Lendl Simmons and Colin Ingram were also on the same flight.
Quetta Gladiators, however, are missing one of their big players, Kevin Pietersen.
“It is with a heavy heart that I have to leave Dubai and go back to London,” Pietersen in a video message. “It is a family decision and I hope you will respect it.”
Other Quetta Gladiators players Rilee Rossouw, Chris Green, Mahmudullah and Thisara Perera, however, reached Pakistan to represent the team in a semifinal.
The people of Lahore are disappointed about the absence of a few star players from the tournament.
“As a passionate cricket fan, I feel bad that we won’t see Kevin Pietersen and Shane Watson in action on Pakistani soil, ” said Hamayion Zafar. “Most of my friends are KP’s fans. We had just bought tickets to watch him play in Lahore.”
Since Tuesday morning the weather in Lahore has been cloudy and the Met Office has said intermittent light showers will continue throughout the day, even at the time scheduled for play, but the traditional “braveheart” Lahorites are not deterred by that.
“The rain cannot stop us,” an excited Raghoo Bajwa told Arab News
The City District has hung banners to welcome international cricketers on roads around the city, especially Mall Road, Canal Bank, Gulberg and Ferozepur Roads.
Lahore will host the two PSL playoffs and the final will be in Karachi on March 25.
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PSL enters final stage as international cricketers arrive in Lahore
PSL enters final stage as international cricketers arrive in Lahore
Real Madrid to play Benfica, PSG face Monaco in Champions League play-offs
- Real Madrid were handed a quick rematch with Jose Mourinho’s Benfica in the draw for the Champions League play-off round on Friday, while reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain will face dome
PARIS: Real Madrid were handed a quick rematch with Jose Mourinho’s Benfica in the draw for the Champions League play-off round on Friday, while reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain will face domestic rivals Monaco.
Benfica beat Real 4-2 in their final game of the league phase on Wednesday, with a 98th-minute goal by goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin proving decisive in allowing the Portuguese side to snatch the last play-off spot ahead of Marseille, who were eliminated altogether.
The defeat also nudged Madrid out of the top eight places in the league standings, which give direct access to the last 16, forcing them into this extra round.
Benfica staged a remarkable recovery to take a play-off place — they finished 24th in the 36-team league phase, the last qualifying spot — by winning three of their last four matches after losing their opening four games.
Mourinho, 63, returned to the Lisbon giants for a second spell as coach in September. He was in charge of Real from 2010 to 2013 and won one La Liga title and one Copa del Rey while also taking them to the Champions League semifinals in each of his three campaigns.
The clubs played each other in the 1962 European Cup final, with Benfica winning 5-3 to claim the last of their two titles to date.
PSG slipped out of the top eight after winning only one of their last five outings in the league phase and finishing in 11th place.
They will go to Monaco for the first leg and will be wary of the principality side who beat them there in Ligue 1 in November.
However, 2004 Champions League finalists Monaco have been in poor form, with just one win in six games since the turn of the year.
They are 10th in Ligue 1, 21 points behind leaders PSG. However, a 0-0 draw with Juventus on Wednesday allowed them to secure a play-off place in Europe.
Newcastle go to Azerbaijan
PSG also beat French opposition in the play-off round last season, hammering Brest 10-0 on aggregate before going on to lift the trophy for the first time in their history.
Elsewhere, Newcastle United will be strong favorites against surprise packages Qarabag of Azerbaijan, with the first leg to come in Baku.
PSG and Newcastle know that if they win, they will play either Barcelona or Chelsea in the last 16. Real’s possible last-16 opponents are Manchester City or Sporting, which would mean yet another trip to Lisbon in the latter case.
Bodo/Glimt, Norwegian champions in four of the last six years, were also surprise qualifiers for this stage and have been rewarded with a tie against last season’s runners-up Inter Milan.
Juventus will take on Galatasaray, while Atletico Madrid face Club Brugge. Borussia Dortmund play Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen were drawn against Olympiacos.
The two-legged play-off ties will take place in February, with the winners advancing to the last 16 in March.
Already through to that stage are the top eight teams from the league phase, including five English Premier League sides in Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and City, as well as Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Sporting.
This season’s Champions League final will be played in Budapest on May 30.
Benfica beat Real 4-2 in their final game of the league phase on Wednesday, with a 98th-minute goal by goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin proving decisive in allowing the Portuguese side to snatch the last play-off spot ahead of Marseille, who were eliminated altogether.
The defeat also nudged Madrid out of the top eight places in the league standings, which give direct access to the last 16, forcing them into this extra round.
Benfica staged a remarkable recovery to take a play-off place — they finished 24th in the 36-team league phase, the last qualifying spot — by winning three of their last four matches after losing their opening four games.
Mourinho, 63, returned to the Lisbon giants for a second spell as coach in September. He was in charge of Real from 2010 to 2013 and won one La Liga title and one Copa del Rey while also taking them to the Champions League semifinals in each of his three campaigns.
The clubs played each other in the 1962 European Cup final, with Benfica winning 5-3 to claim the last of their two titles to date.
PSG slipped out of the top eight after winning only one of their last five outings in the league phase and finishing in 11th place.
They will go to Monaco for the first leg and will be wary of the principality side who beat them there in Ligue 1 in November.
However, 2004 Champions League finalists Monaco have been in poor form, with just one win in six games since the turn of the year.
They are 10th in Ligue 1, 21 points behind leaders PSG. However, a 0-0 draw with Juventus on Wednesday allowed them to secure a play-off place in Europe.
Newcastle go to Azerbaijan
PSG also beat French opposition in the play-off round last season, hammering Brest 10-0 on aggregate before going on to lift the trophy for the first time in their history.
Elsewhere, Newcastle United will be strong favorites against surprise packages Qarabag of Azerbaijan, with the first leg to come in Baku.
PSG and Newcastle know that if they win, they will play either Barcelona or Chelsea in the last 16. Real’s possible last-16 opponents are Manchester City or Sporting, which would mean yet another trip to Lisbon in the latter case.
Bodo/Glimt, Norwegian champions in four of the last six years, were also surprise qualifiers for this stage and have been rewarded with a tie against last season’s runners-up Inter Milan.
Juventus will take on Galatasaray, while Atletico Madrid face Club Brugge. Borussia Dortmund play Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen were drawn against Olympiacos.
The two-legged play-off ties will take place in February, with the winners advancing to the last 16 in March.
Already through to that stage are the top eight teams from the league phase, including five English Premier League sides in Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and City, as well as Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Sporting.
This season’s Champions League final will be played in Budapest on May 30.
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