ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan cricket team will hold their first training session today, Thursday, in Dublin for an upcoming three-match T20I series against Ireland, with star pacer Mohammad Amir’s participation in the series doubtful due to visa delays.
Left-arm fast bowler Amir, a permanent resident of the United Kingdom, applied for an Ireland visa along with the rest of the Pakistan side, according to a PCB official. However, while the rest of the squad received visas before their travel to Dublin on Tuesday, Amir did not and remained in Pakistan, cricket website ESPNcricinfo said.
The website reported that the PCB is in contact with Cricket Ireland over the issue. Pakistan play three T20Is against Ireland from May 10-14. Given the short duration of the tour, it seems unlikely Amir would be able to feature in the series.
“Pakistan cricket team will hold their first training session in Dublin tomorrow [Thursday],” the PCB said in a statement on Wednesday. “The first T20 match between Ireland and Pakistan will be played on May 10.”
Amir, 32, came out of retirement last month and was selected to play against New Zealand in a five-match T20I series. Together with pacers Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf, he would add strength to Pakistan’s bowling lineup as it gears up for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
The mega event will be held for the first time in the US and the West Indies in June. Pakistan will travel to the UK from May 22-30 to play against England.
The South Asian country are one of the favorites to lift the cup, though their performance has dipped somewhat in the shortest format of the game recently.
Pakistan lost 4-1 to New Zealand in an away series in January under then-captain Shaheen Shah Afridi. After Babar Azam was reappointed Pakistan’s captain, the green shirts managed to draw a home series 2-2 against a second-string New Zealand side last month.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Wednesday authorized distribution companies to levy a Rs2.83 per unit additional charge on consumers’ bills for May, with the move likely to fuel inflation in a country already suffering an economic crisis. 

A notification by NEPRA seen by Arab News stated that the fuel cost adjustment pertains to March, adding that the additional charges would apply to all consumer categories except “Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) and lifeline consumers.”

“The said adjustment shall be shown separately in consumers’ bills on the basis of units billed to the consumer in the month of March 2024,” the notification said. 

Pakistan has been caught in a high inflationary spiral since April 2022, with the highest-ever inflation rate recorded at 38 percent in May 2023. The government credits soaring inflation to painful decisions it had to take to meet conditions for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout program, including hiking energy tariffs and fuel prices.

Gas and electricity rates were hiked by 318.7 percent and 73 percent respectively in a year, according to official data.

The price hikes come as Pakistan is set to begin discussions with the IMF this month over a new multi-billion-dollar loan agreement after completing its nine-month, $3 billion loan arrangement with the lender. 

Under the last IMF bailout, Pakistan was told to prevent further accumulation of circular debt in its power sector, arising from subsidies and unpaid bills. For a new program, the South Asian nation will need to implement reforms to reduce costs by improving electricity transmission and distribution, moving captive power into the grid, improving governance, and combating theft. 

It will also have to maintain power and gas tariffs at levels that ensure cost recovery, with adjustments made to safeguard the financially vulnerable, through existing progressive tariff structures.