Amir and Wasim among 29 Pakistan cricketers set for army training camp

The collage of images created on March 25, 2024 shows Pakistani cricketers Muhammad Amir (left) and Imad Wasim. (AFP/File)
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Updated 25 March 2024
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Amir and Wasim among 29 Pakistan cricketers set for army training camp

  • Cricketers will undergo two-week camp with the army to prepare for upcoming limited-overs tours, T20 World Cup
  • Amir and Wasim have come out of international retirement, made themselves available for selection until T20 World Cup

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s international cricketers will undergo a two-week fitness training camp with the army to prepare for upcoming limited-overs tours and the Twenty20 World Cup.

Fast bowler Mohammad Amir and allrounder Imad Wasim were among the 29 cricketers selected Monday by the Pakistan Cricket Board to attend the March 26-April 8 camp at Kakul, Abbottabad.

Amir and Wasim have come out of international retirement and made themselves available for selection until the T20 World Cup in the US and Caribbean in June.

Pakistan is scheduled to host New Zealand for five T20s next month and will also play T20 series in Ireland and England before the T20 World Cup starts on June 2.

The Pakistan Super League T20 tournament finished last week.

The PCB said the camp, organized in collaboration with Pakistan army, will focus on team building and is aimed to enhance the physical and mental strength of the players, “ensuring they are in the best condition to face the challenges ahead.”

“The players will undergo a comprehensive training regime tailored to elevate their fitness levels, agility, leadership, strategic thinking and overall performance on the field,” the PCB said in a statement.

It’s not the first time Pakistan’s leading cricketers will have to go through a training camp in Kakul. In 2016, the national team captained by Misbah-ul-Haq conducted a camp there before flying to England for a test series.
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Pakistan squad: Aamir Jamal, Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Haseebullah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Irfan Khan, Mehran Mumtaz, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usama Mir, Usman Khan and Zaman Khan.


Coco Gauff and Venus Williams could clash in Australian Open second round

Updated 54 min 32 sec ago
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Coco Gauff and Venus Williams could clash in Australian Open second round

  • Third-seeded Gauff first played Williams at Wimbledon in 2019 when she was just 15
  • Williams, 45, has a wild-card entry and will be the oldest woman to compete in the Australian Open main draw

MELBOURNE: Coco Gauff and Venus Williams could meet in the second round of the Australian Open, more than six years after they first played each other in a major.
Gauff was 15 when she beat seven-time major winner Venus Williams in the first round at Wimbledon in 2019 in her Grand Slam debut.
Now she’s the No. 3 seed and a two-time major winner. The 45-year-old Williams has a wild-card entry for the Australian Open, where she’s playing for the first time in five years.
Williams is set to become the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open main draw, surpassing the record previously held by Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she lost in the first round at Melbourne Park in 2015.
The draw for the year’s first major was held Thursday at Melbourne Park. The tournament starts Sunday.
Gauff will open against No. 91-ranked Kamilla Rakhimova. No. 576-ranked Williams, who made her Australian Open debut in 1998 and has twice reached the final, will open against No. 68-ranked Olga Danilovic.
They’re on the same half of the draw as top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, who won back-to-back Australian Open titles before losing last year’s final to Madison Keys.
Sabalenka has a potential third-round meeting against 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu.
Defending champion Keys was drawn into the same quarter as No. 6 Jessica Pegula, and No. 4 Amanda Anisimova. No. 2-ranked Iga Świątek is in the bottom quarter on that side of the draw and has a potential fourth-round match against Naomi Osaka.
Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic landed in the same half of the draw, setting up a potential semifinal between the defending champion and the 23-time major winner.
Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz is on the opposite side of the draw to Sinner and Djokovic.