ISLAMABAD: Former Australian captain Steve Smith said in a video uploaded by Cricket Australia on Thursday that the Aussies would be wary of “dangerous” Pakistani batter Babar Azam and fiery pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, as the former world champions build the hype for Pakistan’s upcoming tour of the country in December 2023/January 2024. 

Pakistan will make a trip Down Under in December 2023 to take on Australia for the Benaud-Qadir Trophy between the two sides. The three Tests – part of the third World Test Championship cycle – will be played at Perth, Melbourne and Sydney in December and January.

The tour will kick off with the first Test at Peth on December 14 and will mark the first instance of Pakistan playing a Test at the venue. The two teams will face off in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from December 26-30 while the third and final match will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3, 2024. 

Pakistan will have high hopes from its all-format skipper Azam and fiery left-handed fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi. In recent years, the two cricketers have become a mainstay in Pakistan’s national squad for all formats of the game. 

Azam is currently the only batter in the world who is ranked among the top five batters in all three formats of the game. He is the number one ranked batter in ODIs and is placed at number three in the international men’s T20I rankings while in Tests, he is placed at number five. Afridi is ranked at number five in the Test bowlers’ rankings while in ODIs, he is placed at number 10. 

“Babar Azam is a wonderful player,” Smith said. “The last few years he’s got better and better. He’s someone we have to look out for, he’s dangerous.”

Smith said Azam is a better who makes “big scores” and does so at a decent pace. 

The Australian batter said Afridi had considerably improved as well over the years, adding that the lanky bowler’s lethal pace with swing is an added advantage.

“The ability to swing it back is obviously a big key for him,” Smith said, adding that the team would be on the lookout for Afridi’s dangerous bowling as well. 

“They’re a great team to play against and their supporters are always there, cheering them on, which is great.”

ISLAMABADA: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s aide and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party president Chaudhry Parvez Elahi was arrested on Thursday from Lahore by the anti-corruption establishment with the help of police in a corruption case, caretaker information minister of Punjab Amir Mir confirmed. 

Elahi’s arrest is part of a wider crackdown against Khan’s aides and supporters who have been rounded up across the country since the protests of May 9, when angry PTI protesters torched government buildings and ransacked the house of a senior military official. Several leaders including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Ejaz Chaudhry, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Maleeka Bokhari and Dr. Shireen Mazari were arrested after the countrywide protests. Several lawmakers and Khan aides who were released from prison have since then publicly parted ways with the former prime minister and quit the PTI. 

Last month, police conducted various raids to arrest the former Punjab chief minister from his residence after he was booked on terror charges. However, they were unable to do so as Elahi was not home. 

“Yes, [Elahi] he has been arrested from the Zahoor Elahi road,” Mir told Geo News over the phone. “He was trying to flee his house when he was arrested,” Mir added. 

Mir said Elahi was wanted by the law, adding that police arrested him after his vehicle was searched at a checkpoint. He said a window of Elahi’s bulletproof car was damaged when police asked to search the vehicle and Elahi refused to open the door. 

In video footage running on Pakistani TV channels, a team of police officials can be seen whisking Elahi away to a vehicle. 

Elahi’s son Moonis Elahi, who is reportedly in Spain, reacted to his father’s arrest by vowing that they would stand firm with Khan despite the crackdown. “It is being said that my father has been arrested in a fake case,” Moonis Elahi wrote. “God willing, we are in PTI and we will remain here.”

Khan’s PTI condemned Elahi’s arrest, describing it as an “absolutely ridiculous” move. “Shameful how the regime doesn’t stop their fascism. The inflation has skyrocketed to 38 percent, and their response is arresting former CM Punjab Parvez Elahi,” the PTI wrote on Twitter. 

Elahi dissolved the provincial legislature of Punjab on ex-PM Khan’s instructions earlier this year to force the government to hold snap polls across the country. He was rewarded for his loyalty when Khan appointed Elahi as president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in March. 

Khan, who has accused Pakistan’s powerful military and the government of illegally arresting his loyalists, has appealed to rights organizations to condemn the alleged violence against his supporters. Rights organizations, journalists and civil society members have urged the government to refrain from trying Khan’s supporters and aides under military laws, fearing the move would impede civilian supremacy in a country where historically, the military has held sway over important policy matters. 

Political tensions have been high in Pakistan as the government remains adamant on not accepting Khan’s demands to hold elections across the country before October. Historically, Pakistan has held voting on the same day throughout the country. However, Pakistan’s constitution stipulates that polls must be held within 90 days of the dissolution of an assembly before its tenure expires. 

Khan has been piling pressure on the government to hold elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, accusing the coalition government of being fearful of certain defeat due to his rising popularity within the masses. The government maintains it is not possible to hold elections on different dates due to security and economic reasons. 
The continuing political turmoil has exacerbated Pakistan’s economic crisis with inflation at record highs, growth is anemic amid fears of a sovereign default on external debts unless the International Monetary Fund (IMF) unlocks delayed disbursements.