After all the anger and bloodletting of Pakistan’s premature exit from the T20 World Cup, there was a hint of perspective. Maybe even a little sympathy.
“Team Pakistan, we love you but … get it together,” read one banner in the crowd at Broward County Stadium in Florida during their final pool match.
“It’s OK boys. We still love you,” read another, screened as they had just about muddled through to beat similarly hapless Ireland.
Whether they felt entirely loved is a different matter. The past couple of weeks have been miserable, and the recriminations are likely to be felt for some while yet, and will be in even sharper focus when they get back home.
Their three-wicket win over the Irish on the last day of pool play was their tournament in microcosm. There was the odd moment of individual excellence, particularly from bowlers who were trying to make up for the failings of their batters in advance.
There were further reminders from Mohammed Amir, who took two for 11 from four overs, and Imad Wasim, who took three for eight from his quota, about exactly what Pakistan had missed while they were retired. And enough noise around them, too, to make it understandable why they were happy to stay away.
There was a batting cameo from Shaheen Afridi. Enough for a highlights reel that would have attracted many admiring glances. Not least from himself.
Then there was the customary slapstick. Shaheen and Usman Khan collided in the outfield going for a catch, leaving both floored. Usman had to be treated for whiplash and a head injury, and missed much of the fielding innings.
And there was the standard hapless batting. Three batters were out heaving across the line on a pitch of variable bounce, while two others drilled poor deliveries straight to fielders.
It all felt like such a fitting end. What is it with Pakistan and tours to North America? It feels like they have never ended well, dating back to that time in 1997 when Inzamam-ul-Haq waded into the stands in Toronto to confront an India supporter who was baiting him with talk about potatoes.
In 2007 they lurched to perhaps the nadir of their own impressive list of calamitous tours when they crashed out of the 50-over World Cup in the West Indies.
It started out with the death, in harness, of coach Bob Woolmer in Jamaica. On the field, there was the loss to Ireland which was so damaging it had ramifications for the world game for the next two decades, not just Pakistan.
Because of that, and India’s simultaneous exit at the hands of Bangladesh, the structure of global events was overhauled. It has meant at least one fixture per tournament between India and Pakistan has become set in stone, rather than left to fate or meritocracy. And the emerging cricket world were excluded for years.
Now there is this tournament, where Pakistan have not even made it as far as playing matches in the Caribbean in a Caribbean World Cup.
Who is to blame? The targets have already been many and varied. Shoaib Malik, a former occasional Pakistan captain of middling success, reckons he would have resigned already had he overseen the campaign Babar Azam did. Of course he would. He might have thrown in a few retirements as well for good measure.
Babar himself reckons it's everyone’s fault. “This is not because of an individual as we lost as a team,” he said after the Ireland win. “It’s not just the captain. I cannot play for every player as there are 11 players.”
Fair. But then the captain is ultimately accountable for the performance of the whole.
Old hang-ups continue to linger. It is a tournament in which strike rates have been of minimal importance, seeing as it has mainly been played on wickets that could not resemble the roads of the Pakistan Super League any less. Undulating pitches require thinking cricket, which is where Pakistan fell down.
The “RizBar” axis of Babar and Mohammed Rizwan is still being spoken about as being too sedentary. In this tournament, Rizwan was scoring at 90.90 and Babar Azam at 101.66. Clearly, nowhere near their PSL peaks.
But they did not need to be. Take South Africa as an example. They made it through to the Super Eights by topping their group with four wins out of four. And yet not one of their players was striking at as much as a run a ball.
Quinton de Kock was hitting at 97.95, David Miller at 96.19, and Tristan Stubbs 82.95. They just found the right way to win, not by sticking to the macho brand of batting that they are more readily associated with. Pakistan, by contrast, found ways to lose.
Admittedly, they are being judged on just two defeats – the shock on opening day against the United States in Dallas, and the capitulation from a winning position in New York against India.
But even in the wins over Canada and Ireland they were unconvincing. As Shaheen said after picking up the player of the match award against Ireland, they are not playing the cricket their country demands.
There is always a lot of noise from outside the Pakistan team when they are struggling. But there are plenty of talking heads within the setup itself now, with Gary Kirsten newly in charge as coach, Babar as captain, Shaheen having had a taste of the same office, plus plenty of others besides.
Someone needs to be held accountable. With all that collective IQ, Pakistan should not be playing such mindless cricket as they showed at this World Cup.
Other key dates
-
Finals draw: December 2
-
Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
-
Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
-
Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
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Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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Rating: 4.5/5
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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PFA Premier League team of 2018-19
Allison (Liverpool)
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Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
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Trippier bio
Date of birth September 19, 1990
Place of birth Bury, United Kingdom
Age 26
Height 1.74 metres
Nationality England
Position Right-back
Foot Right
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
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- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
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THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Profile Box
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif
Based: Manama, Bahrain
Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation
Size: (employees/revenue) 4/ 5,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($100,000)
Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Veil (Object Lessons)
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Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10
ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons
Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page
Hawks
Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar
Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish
Falcons
Coach: Najeeb Amar
Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 2
Vinicius Junior (71') Mariano (90 2')
Barcelona 0
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
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Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Cagliari v AC Milan (6pm)
Lazio v Napoli (9pm)
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Sunday
Udinese v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Sampdoria v Brescia (6pm)
Fiorentina v SPAL (6pm)
Torino v Bologna (6pm)
Verona v Genoa (9pm)
Roma V Juventus (11.45pm)
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
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- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
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- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
FA Cup quarter-final draw
The matches will be played across the weekend of 21 and 22 March
Sheffield United v Arsenal
Newcastle v Manchester City
Norwich v Derby/Manchester United
Leicester City v Chelsea
The five pillars of Islam
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
