Trophy-winning Pak cricketers warmly welcomed home

Pakistan captain gets hero’s welcome ICC could ‘scrap’ Champions Trophy

ISLAMABAD, June 20, (AP): Even after the special convoy escorting Sarfraz Ahmed from the airport got within sight of his Karachi home in the early hours of the morning, it took the Pakistan captain nearly a half-hour to get from the vehicle to his house as a throng of adoring cricket fans clamored for photographs.

Fans decorated the street and waited through the night to welcome their hero, with some carrying children on their shoulders to get a glimpse of the man who led Pakistan to an unlikely win in the Champions Trophy in London.

Supporters unfurled a 70-foot (21-meter) long national flag and carried it in the street as Ahmed drove in, as police tried to

Sarfraz

clear a path.

Ahmed waved the trophy from the balcony LONDON, June 20, (AFP): The Champions Trophy could be scrapped in favour of staging the World Twenty20 every two years, according to International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive David Richardson.

Pakistan thrashed India by 180 runs to win this year’s edition of the Champions Trophy at The Oval on Sunday, with a worldwide television audience of millions watching the stunning final.

But some officials believe the eightteam event is now too similar to the World Cup which the ICC, controversially, has decided should be contested by just 10 teams from the 2019 event in England.

India are due to stage the next Champions Trophy in 2021 but Richardson warned Monday it was by no means certain the event would go ahead, with the former South Africa wicketkeeper saying future World Twenty20s could feature up to 20 teams.