Pak`istan’s former Test cricketer Imtiaz dead
ISLAMABAD:
Imtiaz Ahmed, Pakistan’s former Test wicketkeeper-batsman who became a chief selector after his playing career, has died. He was 88. The Pakistan Cricket Board said Ahmed, Pakistan’s oldest living test cricketer, died Saturday in Lahore following a chest infection. Ahmed played 41 tests from 1952-62, scoring 2,079 runs at an average of 29 and taking 77 catches. He hit three centuries, including a career-best 209 against New Zealand at Lahore in 1955, three years after touring India with Pakistan’s first official test side. “This is a sad day for Pakistan cricket,” PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said in a statement. “Losing another legend after Hanif Mohammad in the same year is a great loss to Pakistan’s cricket. The entire cricketing fraternity, in this country, is in sorrow over the sad demise of Imtiaz Ahmed. He was a great gentleman and will be missed.” Ahmed notably took seven catches off the pace bowling of Fazal Mehmood’s bowling to help Pakistan beat England at the Oval in 1954. He served as chief selector from 1976-78 and was a consultant for the PCB’s women’s cricket activities from 2005-08. — AP
LONDON:
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola heaped praise on Juergen Klopp, saying his Liverpool counterpart was the best when it comes to instilling an attacking style of play at a club. Since joining the club from Borussia Dortmund in 2015, Klopp has transformed Liverpool from Champions League qualification hopefuls to Premier League title contenders, with the Merseyside club second in the table, six points behind leaders Chelsea after 18 games. City are a point behind Liverpool and will hope to leapfrog them with a victory in Saturday’s clash at Anfield. “Maybe he is the best manager in the world creating teams who attack the back four, with this amount of players, this intensity, with the ball without the ball,” former Bayern Munich manager Guardiola told British media. “I like a lot the way they play because in three or four seconds they are attacking. It is not easy to do that. I think there is not another team in the world attacking this way with so many players. “When he speaks about his football being heavy metal, I understand completely, it is so aggressive. —Reuters
CHRISTCHURCH:
New Zealand opener Martin Guptill will miss the Twenty20 series against Bangladesh with a hamstring injury and will be replaced by inform batsman Neil Broom, the country’s cricket board said yesterday. Guptill will be sidelined for up to four weeks after he sustained the injury while running between the wickets in the third one-day international against Bangladesh at Saxton Oval in Nelson yesterday. Broom was in fine form during the ODI series against Bangladesh, scoring 109 (not out) and 97 runs in his last two innings as the hosts completed a 3-0 series sweep. “We needed to replace an attacking opening batsmen and with Neil’s experience opening in the T20 format and his current form — he was a ready-made replacement,” coach Mike Hesson said in a statement. “Martin also leads our fielding in white ball cricket and so we’re expecting Neil to be a big contributor in that area as well.” New Zealand will begin their three-match Twenty20 series against Bangladesh at McLean Park on Tuesday. —Reuters