RAWALPINDI: Captain Ben Stokes admitted that Noman Ali and Sajid Khan were too good for his England team after the spin duo propelled Pakistan to a series victory on Saturday.
The hosts sealed a nine-wicket win in the third Test in Rawalpindi with Noman taking 6-42 and Sajid 4-69 in the second innings as England were bowled out for just 112.
The irrepressible pair shared 39 wickets in the last two Tests to spur Pakistan’s revival from an innings defeat in the first match.
“You’ve got to hold your hands up to say that those two in particular were obviously too good for our batting line-up in those last two games,” Stokes said.
Noman and Sajid both came into the side following Pakistan’s heavy defeat in the first Test in Multan, their inclusion proving pivotal in the hosts’ 2-1 series triumph.
“Credit to Noman and Sajid, the way in which they bowled in the second Test match and in this game, you know it was very good and challenging,” said Stokes.
Stokes said the series defeat was all the more disappointing with England having whitewashed Pakistan 3-0 away two years ago.
“Losing games for England hurts so it’s disappointing,” said Stokes, who missed the first Test in Multan with injury and failed to find form with the bat on his return.
The talismanic Stokes has been central to England’s attacking philosophy, which saw records tumble in the victory in the first Multan Test.
But he said consistency had been an issue since.
“We need to do things for longer,” said Stokes, whose team next tours New Zealand for a three-Test series in late November.
“As I said, we did good things in very small amounts of times at certain points throughout the second game and this game.
“But when you don’t sustain that, you know you’re always going to start falling away.”
Stokes says Pakistan spin duo just too good after series defeat
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Stokes says Pakistan spin duo just too good after series defeat
- The hosts sealed a nine-wicket win in the third Test in Rawalpindi with Noman taking 6-42 and Sajid 4-69
- The pair shared 39 wickets in last two Tests to spur Pakistan’s revival from an innings defeat in the first Test
Pakistan moves to digitize payments for 10 million women under flagship poverty initiative
- BISP Official says accounts will be linked to phones to boost financial inclusion and curb payment deductions
- Over 1.9 million SIMs issued as the nationwide rollout continues across provinces ahead of the March deadline
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s flagship poverty alleviation initiative, the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), plans to equip 10 million women with digital bank accounts linked to their phone numbers within four months in one of the largest such exercises in the world, one of its top officials said on Wednesday.
Launched in 2008, the initiative is named after the late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and has a budget of Rs716 billion ($2.5 billion) during the current fiscal year. Through its Benazir Kafaalat — or financial assistance — program, BISP provides quarterly stipends of Rs13,500 ($48) to around 10 million women.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, BISP Secretary Amir Ali Ahmed said the opening of digital bank accounts for the beneficiaries was part of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s initiative related to a cashless economy and digital transformation of the country.
“I’m glad to share that 10 million bank accounts, wallet accounts were created,” he said. “This is a follow-up of the same exercise whereby now 10 million SIMs are being distributed.
“It is significant to share that the entire beneficiary network that we have is female-centric,” he continued. “So these are 10 million female accounts that have been created.”
Ahmed said the process of issuing mobile phone SIM cards to BISP beneficiaries had started on November 17 and would be completed by March next year.
“Let me share that this is one of the largest such exercises to be conducted in the world which is female-centric, linked with financial inclusion and financial empowerment.”
The BISP official added that out of the more than 10 million beneficiaries, only five to 10 percent had bank accounts, but nearly 90 to 95 percent were excluded from the system.
He said they were being linked to the banking system with cellphone SIMs that are being distributed with the help of the IT ministry, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, National Database and Registration Authority and telecom companies across the country.
“We feel that this initiative of the government of Pakistan will not only result in financial empowerment of our beneficiaries, it will also result in financial inclusion of a segment which was not part of the banking sector in Pakistan,” he said, adding that the move will also lead to transparency.
In the past, there have been complaints of women not getting their full payment from bank officials in the absence of their own accounts, but Ahmed said this was going to change.
“They will be free from any exploitation at the agent networks, the queues that one would witness, the complaints of corruption or deductions that would emerge,” he continued.
According to official data, more than 1.9 million SIMs have so far been issued for BISP beneficiaries across the country.
The province of Punjab leads the rollout with 810,597 SIMs, followed by Sindh with 523,629 and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 371,427 SIMs.
In other regions, Azad Jammu and Kashmir has received 59,617, Balochistan 82,826, Gilgit-Baltistan 45,184, and Islamabad 4,508 SIMs.
