MULTAN: Kamran Ghulam hit a superb century on his debut to guide Pakistan to 259-5 on the opening day of the second Test against England in Multan on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old replaced out-of-form Babar Azam at number four and foiled England’s aggressive bowling and fielding to score 118.
At close of an even day’s play, Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha were unbeaten with 37 and five respectively.
The day ended Ghulam’s frustrating long wait for a place in the Pakistan team after he smashed a national record 1,249 runs in the 2020 domestic season.
Ghulam led a fightback after the hosts, who won the toss, were struggling at 19-2 with England spinner Jack Leach striking twice in the first hour.
Ghulam added 149 for the defiant third wicket with Saim Ayub, who hit a career-best 77, and another 65 for the fifth wicket with Rizwan.
He reached three figures with a boundary off spinner Joe Root, taking 280 minutes and becoming Pakistan’s 12th batter to score a century in his first Test.
With just half an hour before stumps, Ghulam was bowled by spinner Shoaib Bashir, ending a resolute 323-minute knock spiced with 11 fours and a six.
Ghulam said his century was a reward for his wait.
“It is delightful to score a hundred and that too as a replacement for Babar Azam, who has been a great player for Pakistan,” said Ghulam, who had a big letoff on 79 when Ben Duckett failed to get a difficult chance off Leach.
“I saw that with a bated breath but Almighty was so kind on me,” said Ghulam.
“I just took it as a normal first-class match and never took the pressure of a bad start to the team’s innings.”
One of a dozen brothers, Ghulam said his century will be celebrated among his big family in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
One brother was there in person.
“It is a family occasion now with my younger brother watching in the stadium, so I am proud of the feat,” he said.
England too will be satisfied after an absorbing day’s play.
They employed a short mid-off and two mid-wicket fielders to get wickets after lunch but the Multan pitch — the same used for the first Test — gave very little help to the spinners after some early promise.
Skipper Ben Stokes, one of two changes from England’s thumping innings win in the first Test, bowled five overs and showed no signs of the hamstring injury that forced him to miss the first Test.
Matthew Potts ended Ayub’s knock when the batsman patted to Stokes at short mid-off while Brydon Carse removed Saud Shakeel for four, the dismissals coming either side of the tea interval.
Leach has figures of 2-92 while Bashir, Carse and Potts have a wicket each.
Abdullah Shafique was bowled by Leach for seven in the eighth over of the morning with the score on 15.
In his next over, the left-arm spinner had skipper Shan Masood caught low at short midwicket by Zak Crawley for three.
England lead the three-match series 1-0.
Pakistan’s heavy defeat last week — their sixth in as many Tests — prompted the selectors to make wholesale changes, with Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed dropped.
Other than Ghulam, Pakistan also brought in the spin trio of Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood and Noman Ali, leaving them with only one fast bowler in Aamer Jamal.
Pakistan debutant Kamran Ghulam hits century to defy England in second Test
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Pakistan debutant Kamran Ghulam hits century to defy England in second Test
- The 29-year-old replaced Babar Azam and foiled England’s aggressive bowling and fielding to score 118 runs
- At close of an even day’s play, Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha were unbeaten with 37 and five respectively
PSX sees largest single-day decline in its history on escalation in India-Pakistan conflict
- Record-breaking 6,482-point plunge on Thursday stunned Pakistan Stock Exchange, which closed at 103,527
- Market crash followed as army said it had neutralized 25 drones launched by India, with four troopers injured
KARACHI: A record-breaking 6,482-point plunge on Thursday stunned the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), marking the largest single-day decline in the index’s history as investors feared escalation amid an ongoing standoff between India and Pakistan.
The bloodbath comes as Pakistan and India indulged in the worst fighting between them in decades this week, with India striking multiple locations in Pakistan on Wednesday after a deadly April 22 attack targeting tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blames on its neighbor.
Pakistan, which denies any link to the Kashmir violence, said it had shot down five Indian fighter jets in retaliation. Thursday brought more violence as Pakistan said it had downed 25 drones from India overnight and New Delhi said it “neutralized” Pakistani attempts to strike military targets with drones and missiles.
“The market crash followed alarming geopolitical developments after ISPR Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry announced that Pakistani forces had neutralized 25 drones sent by India,” Topline Securities said in its daily market review.
“He also confirmed that four army personnel were injured after one drone managed to partially strike a military target, despite the majority being intercepted.”
The statement sent shockwaves through financial markets, triggering widespread panic selling as investors rushed to offload positions, leading to a broad-based decline across sectors.
Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 Index started the day with a 1.7 percent rally but turned bearish and slumped as much as eight percent after reports of India’s drone strikes triggered panic selling at the bourse.
The stock gauge, bullish otherwise, ended the day with a 5.89 percent decline to 103,526, according to PSX data.
The selling pressure came largely from leveraged investors, Shahid Ali Habib, the chief executive officer at Arif Habib Ltd., told Arab News.
“Pakistan’s stocks are under pressure as it now seems that Pakistan will also go on to respond [to India] and that response will also escalate further,” he said.
“It’s not going to end actually soon and the escalation is happening.”
However, Habib said he expected a “sharp rebound” for Pakistan’s stocks once a third party like the US or longtime ally China mediated and defused the conflict.
The renewed geopolitical tension has caused Pakistan’s market to fall about 12 percent from April 23 to May 8.
The latest conflict with India is a setback for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s effort to revive the country’s debt-ridden economy through increasing revenues and exports with the help of an International Monetary Fund’s $7 billion reforms-oriented loan program.
Pakistan postpones PSL match after Indian drone shot down near Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
- Pakistan military said on Thursday it had shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones launched by India at multiple locations
- One drone was shot down over garrison city of Rawalpindi where Peshawar Zalmi And Karachi Kings match was to take place
KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board has rescheduled the HBL PSL X match between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings after Pakistan shot down an Indian drone near the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium where the game was set to take place today, Thursday.
The Pakistan military said on Thursday it had shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones launched by India at multiple locations. One drone was shot down over the garrison city of Rawalpindi, military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in a televised statement. Rawalpindi is home to the Pakistan army’s heavily fortified headquarters.
The drone was shot down near the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
“The PCB will announce the revised date in due course,” the cricket board said, saying VIP Gallery and enclosures ticket holders could obtain refunds from TCS Express Centers while tickets bought online would be automatically reimbursed in the accounts used at the time of booking.
The PCB’s statement did not mention the drone attacks, but the postponement comes in the wake of violence between neighbors India and Pakistan, who this week have engaged in the worst direct military confrontation in decades.
Fighting has escalated between the nuclear-armed neighbors since Wednesday when India said it struck nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites in Pakistan, some of them linked to an attack by militants that killed 26 in Indian-administered Kashmir on Apr. 22. Pakistan said 31 people were killed in the Indian strikes and vowed to retaliate, subsequently saying it had shot down five Indian aircraft and a combat drone.
On Thursday, the Pakistan army said India was “attacking Pakistan with Israeli-made Harop drones in panic” while India’s defense ministry said Islamabad had launched an overnight air attack using “drones and missiles” before New Delhi retaliated to destroy an air defense system in the eastern city of Lahore. The Pakistani defense minister has rejected India’s claims.
Flight operations shut at several Indian airports, IPL match moved amid Pakistan standoff
- Several airports in northern India have been closed after New Delhi launched strikes on neighboring Pakistan on Wednesday
- Match between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings was due to take place in Dharamsala, where the airport has closed
NEW DELHI: India’s IPL cricket match on Sunday between Mumbai and Punjab has been moved to Gujarat, local media reported on Thursday, while airlines suspended flight operations from more than two dozen airports across northern and western regions of the country amid heightened tensions with Pakistan.
The match between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings was due to take place in Dharamsala, where the airport has closed in the wake of violence between India and neighboring Pakistan.
But Thursday evening’s match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals, which is also set to take place in Dharamsala, will proceed as planned, as will all other games in coming days.
Sunday’s match will now be played in the city of Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat, the state’s cricket association secretary Anil Patel told the Press Trust of India news agency on Thursday.
Several airports in northern India have been closed after New Delhi launched strikes on neighboring Pakistan on Wednesday.
In adviseries to passengers, key domestic airlines said their flights will remain suspended until Saturday from airports including Amritsar in northern Punjab and Srinagar in India-controlled Kashmir, bordering Pakistan.
India’s Civil Aviation Ministry hasn’t officially commented on the closure of airports after tensions flared up with Pakistan. A spokeswoman for the ministry, Beena Yadav, declined to comment on Thursday.
Indigo, the country’s biggest domestic carrier, on Wednesday canceled 165 flights, while Air India and Air India Express had a similar number of cancelations. Air India even diverted two of its international flights enroute from Amritsar, close to Lahore, to New Delhi, because of the sudden closure of the airport.
The strikes on Wednesday came two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on tourists in the Indian-administered side of disputed Kashmir, a charge Pakistan denies.
The arch-rivals have since exchanged fire across their contested border in Kashmir. The violence has raised fears of a wider conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
Pakistan says shot down 25 drones, India says destroyed air defense system in Lahore
- Pakistan army says Israeli-made drones neutralized in at least nine locations including Lahore and near Karachi
- Indian defense ministry says “targeted air defense radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan” overnight
KARACHI: The Pakistan military said on Thursday it had shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones launched by India at multiple locations, while India said it had “neutralized” Pakistan’s attempts to strike military targets with drones and missiles.
Fighting has escalated between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors since Wednesday when India said it struck nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites in Pakistan, some of them linked to an attack by militants that killed 26 in Indian-administered Kashmir on Apr. 22. Pakistan said 31 people were killed in the Indian strikes and vowed to retaliate, subsequently saying it had shot down five Indian aircraft and a combat drone.
The conflict between India and Pakistan has been confined in recent decades mostly to the disputed mountainous region of Kashmir. But the air strikes on Wednesday morning, which also hit the towns of Bahawalpur and Muridke in the heart of the country, were seen in Islamabad as a major escalation.
Early on Thursday morning, reports started emerging from multiple Pakistani cities of explosions and firing, including the two largest cities of the country, Karachi and Lahore.
The military’s media wing subsequently confirmed that India was “attacking Pakistan with Israeli-made Harop drones in panic.”
The Harop is a standoff loitering munition attack weapon system designed to locate and precisely attack targets, manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries.
“So far, 25 Israeli-made Harop drones have been shot down by the Pakistani army’s soft kill (technical) and hard kill (weapons),” the army said in a statement. “The debris of Israeli-made Harop drones is being collected from different areas of Pakistan.”
In the context of military defense, hard kill refers to destroying or neutralizing an incoming threat, such as a missile or drone, by physically destroying it or its components. Soft kill, on the other hand, aims to defeat the threat by disrupting its guidance or communication signals, often using electronic countermeasures or decoys.
One drone was shot down over the garrison city of Rawalpindi, military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in a separate televised statement. Rawalpindi is home to the Pakistan army’s heavily fortified headquarters.
One drone hit a military target near Lahore, the capital and largest city of the province of Punjab, and the second-largest city in Pakistan after Karachi. Four personnel of the Pakistan army were injured in this attack, Chaudhry added.
Other places where drones were neutralized were Gujranwala, Chakwal, Attock, Bahawalpur, Miano, Chor and near Karachi, which the country’s largest city and commercial capital.
“As we speak, the process of India sending across these Harop drones, this naked aggression, continues, and the armed forces are on a high degree of alert and neutralizing them,” the army spokesman said.
Earlier in the day, police reported a civilian casualty in the southern Sindh province, also confirmed by Chaudhry, when a drone crashed in the Sarfaraz Leghari village, located in Ghotki district.
“This morning, a drone fell over two villagers... killing one man and injuring another,” Senior Superintendent of Police Dr. Samiullah Soomro told Arab News over the phone, saying more details would be confirmed following a visit to the site.
“INDIAN RESPONSE”
India’s defense ministry said in a statement on Thursday Pakistan had launched an overnight air attack using “drones and missiles,” before New Delhi retaliated to destroy an air defense system in Lahore.
“Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets ... using drones and missiles,” according to the statement, adding that “these were neutralized” by air defense systems.
New Delhi said areas targeted included sites in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, and India’s Punjab state, including the key cities of Amritsar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, as well as Bhuj in Gujarat state.
“The debris of these attacks is now being recovered from a number of locations,” it added.
The defense ministry said on Thursday morning its military had “targeted air defense radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan,” saying the “response has been in the same domain, with the same intensity, as Pakistan.”
It added that it had been “reliably learnt that an air defense system at Lahore has been neutralized.”
Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has rejected the claims, saying there was no damage to air defenses in Lahore.
Pakistani authorities have not yet commented on this.
India also accused Pakistan of having “increased the intensity of its unprovoked firing across the Line of Control using mortars and heavy caliber artillery” across the de facto border in Jammu and Kashmir
India said the number of people who had been killed by Pakistani firing since the escalation of violence on Wednesday had risen to 16, including three women and five children.
Speaking in parliament, Pakistani Information Ministers said Pakistan had killed 40-50 Indian soldiers and destroyed a brigade headquarter along the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides Kashmir between the two nations. The claims could not be independently verified.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars in the past, two of them over Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.
Since April 22, they have intensified firing and shelling across the Line of Control.
For decades India has accused Pakistan of supporting militants in attacks on Indian interests, especially in Indian-administered Kashmir. Pakistan denies such support and in turn accuses India of backing separatist and other insurgents in Pakistan, which New Delhi denies.
With inputs from AFP and Reuters
Pakistan welcomes appointment of UN special envoy to combat Islamophobia
- Former Spanish foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos to serve in new role
- UN annually observes International Day to Combat Islamophobia on Mar. 15
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday welcomed the appointment of former Spanish foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos as the UN’s special envoy to combat Islamophobia.
The new envoy was announced on Wednesday, with Moratinos reaffirming his “commitment to stand in solidarity with Muslim communities and to stand up against all forms of discrimination and bigotry.”
In 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution sponsored by 60 Member-States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which designated Mar. 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.
The date was chosen as the anniversary of mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, in which 51 people were killed during Friday prayers in 2019.
“Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad described the appointment of a special envoy as a major milestone in the OIC’s efforts to combat Islamophobia and promote tolerance, respect and peaceful coexistence,” a statement from the office of Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN said on Thursday.
“Together, we stand against faith-based hatred and discrimination,” the statement said, quoting Ahmad.
Moratinos has previously served as Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations.
The mandate of the Office of the Special Envoy on Combating Islamophobia includes monitoring, reporting and advising on rising Islamophobic trends globally and supporting the UN’s broader efforts against religious intolerance.
