ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) this week launched the national team’s kit for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, scheduled to kick off next month in the United States and West Indies.

Cricket boards launch their national team’s kit before mega tournaments such as the World Cup. At a ceremony held in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore on Monday night, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi launched the Pakistan team’s “Matrix Jersey” at the Qaddafi Stadium. 

“Unveiled the new kit of Pakistan Cricket team!” Naqvi wrote on social media platform X. “Team Pakistan’s Green Matrix jersey is more than just a uniform; it’s a symbol of unity, representing every culture, and individual that makes up the rich fabric of our nation.”

The PCB chairman uploaded a video with his post in which star cricketers Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah can be seen with the PCB chairman checking out the new jerseys. 

Skipper Azam and his squad have left for Dubai from where they will travel to Ireland and England to play two separate T20I series. Pakistan will play three T20Is against Ireland in Dublin from May 12-14 before they take on 2022 World Champions England from May 22-30 in a four-match series. 

The series will be an important one for Pakistan as the team prepares for the T20 World Cup scheduled to kick off from June 2 in the US and West Indies.

Pakistan have a strong bowling line-up in the form of fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who played in two T20s against New Zealand after ending his retirement, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Abbas Afridi.

Under Babar, Pakistan has done well in the last two T20 World Cups, reaching the semifinals in 2021 at the United Arab Emirates and losing to England in the final at the 2022 tournament in Australia.

Naqvi has promised a cash award of $100,000 to every player if the team wins the tournament.
 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s State Minister for Information Technology (IT) Shaza Fatima Khawaja on Monday met with representatives of Saudi Arabian IT firms, who are currently visiting Pakistan, and urged them to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan’s IT and telecom sector, the Pakistani IT ministry said.

These IT professionals are part of a high-level Saudi delegation, led by the Kingdom’s Assistant Minister of Investment Ibrahim Al-Mubarak, which arrived in Pakistan on Sunday.

“We are dedicated to offering a stable and supportive framework,” Khawaja told the Saudi delegates. “We encourage all Saudi companies to explore opportunities for partnerships and joint ventures.”

She urged the Saudi delegates to capitalize on the synergies between Pakistan’s technical proficiency and the access to the Saudi market, accompanied by the potential for valuable investments.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been closely working in recent weeks to increase bilateral trade and investment deals, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month reaffirming the Kingdom’s commitment to expedite an investment package of $5 billion.

Also on Monday, the Saudi assistant minister of investment said Pakistan was a “high-priority economic investment and business opportunity” for Saudi Arabia. He was addressing a two-day Pakistan-Saudi Arabia investment conference in Islamabad, with a focus on business-to-business engagements.

“To the Saudi government and Saudi companies, Pakistan is considered a high-priority economic investment and business opportunity,” he said. “We believe in the great potential of Pakistan’s economy, demographics and talent as well as location and natural resources.”

The Saudi business delegation’s visit comes more than a week after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Riyadh to attend a special two-day meeting of the World Economic Forum, where he met top Saudi officials on the sidelines.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense, and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as a top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.