Miandad urges ICC to encourage international teams to tour Pak
Karachi: Legendary Pakistan batsman Javed Miandad has called on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to encourage more teams to visit his nation in order to revive international cricket at home. Miandad said that the ICC should be involved in guaranteeing the safety of players and encourage teams to tour Pakistan instead of just standing back and doing nothing as teams renege on their commitments, PakPassion reported. Miandad further said that the Pakistan Cricket Board should have been run by former cricketers and not journalists or diplomats, adding that the ICC should have insisted on this point rather than empty slogans about democracy which have done nothing to improve the game in Pakistan. Zimbabwe will become the first ICC team to visit Pakistan since March 2009, when the Sri Lankan team was attacked in Lahore. The African nation is expected to arrive on Tuesday to play three One-Day Internationals and two T20 games. (ANI)
Man City boss insists striker Aguero will not leave club
London: Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has insisted that star striker Sergio Aguero has no plans to leave the Premier League club. The Chilean manager said that they were not a selling team and Aguero was very happy at the club and therefore didn’t have any intention to go in the summer, the BBC reported. The Argentine forward, who has netted 31 goals in 40 appearances for City this season, completed his move from Atletico Madrid for 38 million pounds in 2011. City are second in the Premier League table and will next square off against Swansea on Sunday. (ANI)
Mane fires fastest hat-trick in Premier League history
Southampton: Southampton’s Sadio Mane blasted the quickest hat-trick in Premier League history as the Senegal winger netted three times in less than three minutes against Aston Villa here on Saturday. Mane took just two minutes and 56 seconds to demolish Villa at St Mary’s and surpass the previous record of four minutes and 33 seconds set by Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler against Arsenal in 1994. The 23-year-old started his record-breaking spree in the 13th minute when he tapped into an empty net after getting a fortunate deflection as he tried to round Villa goalkeeper Shay Given. Just 84 seconds later Mane struck again when he latched onto a sloppy backpass from Villa defender Ron Vlaar and slotted past Given. And he completed his remarkable feat with a fine first-time finish into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area. Although Mane made Premier League history, he couldn’t break the record for the fastest ever treble in English football, which was set by James Hayter when he scored three times in two minutes and 20 seconds after coming on as an 84th-minute substitute for Bournemouth in their third tier match against Wrexham in 2004. (AFP)
Rooney ruled out of United’s clash with Arsenal
London: Striker Wayne Rooney has been ruled out of Manchester United’s English Premier League (EPL) match against Arsenal on Sunday after failing to recover from a dead leg. The United captain was forced off at half-time during last Saturday’s win against Crystal Palace. Also out is left back Luke Shaw — he too was forced off at the Selhurst Park. Manager Louis van Gaal on Friday confirmed both may be absent for the last two games of the season, reports dailymail.co.uk. “The situation is not positive for us, they cannot play, neither of them,” he told MUTV. “Yes, it’s a short-term thing, we have only one match to play. So I think it will be difficult for them to play again this season.” Rooney was replaced by Radamel Falcao after the interval last week but Robin van Persie could take his place up front against his former club Arsenal after being declared fit. The Dutchman had missed the trip to Palace with a virus but could feature alongside Angel di Maria who is also available again after recovering from injury. Van Gaal also revealed that they will be without Michael Carrick and Rafael, while Jonny Evans remains a doubt. United are all but assured of their place in the top four, thus securing Champions League qualification as they currently sit six points ahead of Liverpool in fifth with two games remaining. (IANS)
