ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam and opening batsman Imam-ul-Haq have been ruled out of the first test against New Zealand with thumb injuries.
Both batsmen fractured their thumbs during training session last week and have yet to return. The Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement on Monday that the team’s medical staff is closely monitoring the progress of both players.
“A decision on their participation in the second test, which commences in Christchurch on Jan. 3, will be made closer to the time,” the PCB said.
Wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan will lead the side in the first test, starting at Mount Maunganui from Dec. 26.
Pakistan named uncapped 24-year-old batsman Imran Butt in its 15-member squad for the first test. Butt scored 934 runs in the 2019-20 first class tournament at an average of 62 with four centuries and three half centuries.
In the absence of Azam, Pakistan trails 2-0 in the three-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand with the last game due to be played at Napier on Tuesday.
“It will be nearly two weeks to Babar’s injury when the first test starts, (but) it will be hard on him and the team to play him without any net sessions,” Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said.
“I remain confident and optimistic that other players will rise to the occasion in Mount Maunganui and … put the disappointment of the T20I series behind them.”
Azam and Imam ruled out of 1st test against New Zealand
https://arab.news/pgnk3
Azam and Imam ruled out of 1st test against New Zealand
- Both batsmen fractured their thumbs during training session last week
- Team’s medical staff is closely monitoring the progress of both players
Sindh assembly passes resolution rejecting move to separate Karachi
- Chief Minister Shah cites constitutional safeguards against altering provincial boundaries
- Calls to separate Karachi intensified amid governance concerns after a mall fire last month
ISLAMABAD: The provincial assembly of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday passed a resolution rejecting any move to separate Karachi, declaring its territorial integrity “non-negotiable” amid political calls to carve the city out as a separate administrative unit.
The resolution comes after fresh demands by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other voices to grant Karachi provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by the deadly Gul Plaza fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah tabled the resolution in the assembly, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, adding that any attempt to divide Sindh or separate Karachi was contrary to the constitution and democratic norms.
Citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries, Shah said any such move could not proceed without the assembly’s approval.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Shah said the resolution was not aimed at anyone but referred to the shifting stance of MQM in the debate while warning that opposing the resolution would amount to supporting the division of Sindh.
The party has been a major political force in Karachi with a significant vote bank in the city and has frequently criticized Shah’s provincial administration over its governance of Pakistan’s largest metropolis.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM leader, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News by phone. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
