ISLAMABAD: Bored during Pakistan’s coronavirus lockdown, Test batsman Shan Masood put on his helmet, picked up his bat — and Zoom cricket was born.
Masood, 30, was video-chatting with teammates when they grabbed their cricket gear and pretended to play a match.
“A couple of us guys were talking on Zoom and it was pretty late at night and somebody just picked up a ball,” Masood told AFP.
“He had a ball (in) his hand and eventually all of us got kitted up and we played ... a made-up cricket match.”
“So that was quite a funny moment where I kind of had my helmet on. Hassan Ali was seaming into the ball, Imam ul Haq was fielding, Wahab Riaz was the captain,” he added.
“(We) just made it into a funny little incident.”
Cricket, like most other sport, is on hold during the pandemic, much to the frustration of players and fans.
Masood said Pakistan’s squad had been training at home — sometimes using staircases and armchairs as gym equipment — to prepare for cricket’s return.
“Everyone’s been training, everyone’s been being good, and also that we have to take into account that this is the month of Ramadan and it’s harder to train,” said Masood.
“Hopefully that whenever this thing ends ... all this hard work that we’re putting in right now, even with uncertainty around, it (will) be translated into cricketing performances.”
Pakistan players push back boundaries with Zoom cricket
https://arab.news/84e9d
Pakistan players push back boundaries with Zoom cricket
- Like most sports, cricket is on hold during the pandemic
- Pakistan’s squad has been training at home to prepare for future tournaments
Undav scores again as Stuttgart sink Frankfurt to go third
- A dipping header from Rasmus Kristensen gave Frankfurt an early lead
- The victory took the German Cup holders to third, a point behind second-placed Borussia Dortmund
BERLIN: Nikolas Nartey nabbed a late winner and Deniz Undav continued his hot form as Stuttgart beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 at home on Tuesday to climb to third in the Bundesliga.
A dipping header from Rasmus Kristensen gave Frankfurt an early lead but Ermedin Demirovic pounced on a goalkeeping error and Undav’s deflected effort helped Stuttgart wrestle back control of the match before half-time.
Bundesliga debutant Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab brought Frankfurt level but Nartey’s 87th-minute strike, his first Bundesliga goal, put the hosts back in front.
The victory took the German Cup holders to third, a point behind second-placed Borussia Dortmund, who cruised to a 3-0 victory over Werder Bremen stretching their unbeaten run to 10 league games.
Frankfurt have struggled this season after last campaign’s third-placed finish, their best result in three decades.
Kristensen connected with a corner to put his side in front after five minutes, but Frankfurt ushered Stuttgart back into the game when goalkeeper Kaua Santos spilled a routine catch, allowing Demirovic to slice home.
Undav put his side in front 10 minutes before the break, wrong-footing the Frankfurt defense and blasting a low shot which took a thick deflection into the bottom corner.
Undav, who has nine goals and two assists in his past eight league games, forced two desperation saves from Santos and flashed just wide of the post in the second half.
Amaimouni-Echghouyab levelled things up just three minutes after coming on but his effort was bested by another debut goal minutes later, when Nartey tapped in from close range.
Elsewhere, the match between Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen was postponed just two hours before kick-off, the third Bundesliga game canceled in the space of a week due to wild winter weather across northern Germany.
