From PoK to Asia Cup, Zaman Makes ODI Debut With Malinga-like Action

The endless chain of fast bowlers that Pakistan has produced over the years has been the envy point of other cricketing nations. Zaman Khan is the latest to join that illustrious line. But there is a slight difference to Zaman. Perhaps, he is the first slinger fast bowler a la Lasith Malinga to play for Pakistan in international cricket. Zaman was drafted into Pakistan's Asia Cup squad on Wednesday after Naseem Shah was ruled out due to a shoulder injury.

Now, the cricketing world might be engaged in a frantic Google search to know more about Zaman, but the 21-year-old had to waddle through layers of difficulties to even start playing cricket.

The ever-endearing rags to riches story, if you may.

As it happens with many other Pakistan pacers, Zaman too cut his teeth in tape ball cricket in Mirpur, a small village in PoK.

Coming from a family of daily wage workers, Zaman was drawn to cricket from a very young age and found backing from his household to pursue his dream.

"My father and brothers are labourers. I started playing cricket after watching other boys in my street playing that sport. I used to skip classes at Madrasa to play cricket. One of my relatives told me to take part in an under-16 trial in my village after seeing how fast I was bowling. Fortunately, I got selected and my journey started," Zaman said in a video posted by PCB.

Zaman took the next step when he was picked in the Pakistan under-19 team to tour Australia, an experience he termed as an eye-opener.

The pacer's first big stage experience came when he was picked by Lahore Qalandars for Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022.

It was cathartic for him to rub shoulders with top stars of his country such as Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf.

Zaman made a mighty impression in his first PSL season, taking 18 wickets from 13 matches to finish third on the wicket-takers' chart behind Afridi (20) and leg-spinner Shadab Khan (19).

His effort had played a big role in Lahore winning their maiden PSL title that year.

"When we saw him in the Kashmir T20 league, we wanted to draft him into the side. He was quick and had wonderful yorker, and we thought that he could be a good fit into our team," said Waqas Ahmed, the bowling coach of Qalandars.

His observation was not far from truth as Zaman made his presence felt in PSL 2023 as well, grabbing 15 wickets from 13 matches.

It helped the Qalandars to retain their title, the first team in the PSL to do so.

"He was a bit raw when he came to us. He has that roundarm action. He was quick alright but he tended to stray the ball down the leg side or way outside the off-stump.

"We worked on the accuracy factor at nets and he is a hardworking boy and a quick learner," said Ahmed.

"Since he has this ability to bowl fast full-length deliveries, we always wanted to use him at the death," Ahmed added.

Zaman's skill was visible when he defended 12 runs in the last over of the PSL 2023 final against Multan Sultans on March 18.

Six days later Zaman made his Pakistan debut in a T20I against Afghanistan at Sharjah.

When Pakistan needed a replacement for Naseem, team director Mickey Arthur, a man who has a keen eye for talent, immediately wanted Zaman in the squad.

Zaman was handed his ODI debut too against Sri Lanka here.

But more than that, it will be a golden opportunity for him to learn the nuances of his craft from an accomplished performer like Morne Morkel, Pakistan's bowling coach.

"I am super excited to work with a talent like Zaman. I followed him a little bit on TV during the PSL, but it is important for him to find his feet in a big game (against Sri Lanka), a must win for us.

"He is a fine talent. I want to connect with himl, build that relationship, and develop him because he is a match winner," said Morkel.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Remember Surinder Khanna, The Hero Of First Asia Cup? Read His Story

The enthusiasm surrounding the Asia Cup cricket tournament is currently reaching its zenith in the subcontinent. As the favourite to clinch the trophy, the Indian Cricket Team has successfully advanced to the final of the 2023 Asia Cup. In the past, India has won the title seven times, making them the most successful team in the tournament.

The first-ever edition of the tournament took place in Sharjah in 1984, and it saw India secure victory as champions, with the standout performance coming from Surinder Khanna, the wicketkeeper-opener. India outperformed both Sri Lanka and Pakistan in their journey to the title.

Surinder Khanna played a pivotal role in India's performance during the tournament. In India's inaugural match of the competition, he partnered with Ghulam Parkar as an opener and delivered an impressive unbeaten 51 runs, contributing to India's commanding 10-wicket victory over Sri Lanka. In the subsequent match against Pakistan, he continued his excellent form, scoring a fine 56 runs with the bat and showcasing his wicketkeeping skills by executing two stumpings from behind the wicket.

Throughout the tournament, the Delhi-based player displayed exceptional performance with the bat and excelled as a wicketkeeper. He earned the "Man of the Match" award in both games and was also honoured as the "Man of the Series" for his outstanding performances.

However, Khanna's ODI career, which commenced with his debut against the West Indies at Edgbaston on June 9, 1979, was unfortunately short-lived. His ODI journey consisted of just 10 matches, with his final match in this format taking place against Pakistan at Ayub National Stadium in Quetta, Pakistan, on October 12, 1984.

In domestic cricket, Surinder Khanna was an important player for Delhi. Over the course of his career, he played 106 first-class matches.

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Google Parent Alphabet Lays Off Hundreds From Global Recruitment Team

Google parent Alphabet is laying off employees from its global recruiting team as the tech giant continues to slow hiring, it said on Wednesday.

The company's decision to let go of a few hundred employees is not part of a wide-scale layoff and will retain a significant majority of the team for hiring critical roles. It will also help the workers search for roles within the company and elsewhere.

Alphabet is the first "Big Tech" company to lay off employees this quarter, after peers like Meta, Microsoft and Amazon downsized aggressively earlier in 2023 as a weak economy put an end to their pandemic-led hiring sprees.

Alphabet cut 12,000 jobs in January

California-based Alphabet cut about 12,000 jobs in January, reducing its workforce by 6%.

Layoffs in the U.S. rose more than threefold in August from July and nearly fourfold compared with a year ago, according to a report by employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that new claims for state unemployment benefits would rise by about 8% in the week ended Sept. 9, after having fallen 13,000 to 216,000 in the prior seven-day period.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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"Extremely Dangerous" Murderer, On The Run For Two Weeks, Caught In US

For two weeks America held its breath as fugitive Brazilian murderer Danelo Cavalcante dodged drones, helicopters and law enforcement from the FBI to Border Patrol, only to be cornered Wednesday by a police dog which subdued him with just a "minor bite wound."

Blood streaming down his face and clad in a Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt that he had apparently stolen during his days on the run, the diminutive Cavalcante was surrounded by dozens of officers clad in military-style gear in images shown on US television. 

Pennsylvania state police revealed the details of his arrest at a press conference after he was dramatically caught in thick underbrush by the K9 unit in rural Pennsylvania, where he had spent days dodging law enforcement.

"Last night, shortly after midnight, a series of events started to unfold," Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens of the Pennsylvania state police told reporters in Chester County.

Thank you to our law enforcement partners and the community whose support brought this operation to a successful conclusion. pic.twitter.com/ogmZKg1fGr

— PA State Police (@PAStatePolice) September 13, 2023

A burglar alarm went off within a police perimeter, drawing law enforcement's attention, and an aircraft picked up a heat signal in the woods, Bivens said. 

With a storm breaking overhead the aircraft had to retreat, but in the morning police moved in on their target.

"They had the element of surprise. Cavalcante did not realize he was surrounded," Bivens said.

The 34-year-old still refused to surrender and instead tried to crawl away through thick underbrush while still clutching a stolen rifle, Bivens said.

At that point law enforcement released their K9 unit which "subdued him and team members... moved in. He continued to resist but was forcibly taken into custody," Bivens said.

An eyewitness described the surge of energy as police closed in. 

"We basically just saw them storming, checking the tree lines, checking the stream and out of nowhere everybody started to congregate back by the shed and here they were already bringing him out," store manager Jim Martin told NBC Philadelphia.

Footage on CNN showed heavily armed officers in camouflage handcuffing the Brazilian national and removing his shirt, revealing a large tattoo on his back, before placing him in the back of a police vehicle. 

Cavalcante, who had been convicted of murdering his girlfriend -- stabbing her dozens of times in front of her children -- had just begun his sentence on August 31 when he climbed over the prison wall and cleared two razor-wire fences.

Measuring just five feet (1.52 meters) tall, Cavalcante had raised the stakes on Tuesday by entering a private garage to steal a .22 caliber rifle with a scope -- then dodging pistol gunfire from the pursuing homeowner to get away.

Police declared him "armed and extremely dangerous."

Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan told reporters one of the first calls made after Cavalcante's capture was to his victim's family, "who as you can imagine have been living in a complete nightmare."

"They can now finally sleep again," she added. 

Police long struggled to narrow down the fugitive's location in the heavily wooded area. However, Cavalcante repeatedly popped up on private security cameras and even trail cams meant to monitor wildlife, turning his escapade into a kind of grim reality TV show.

Stealing from houses, he succeeded in finding clothes, food, the rifle, a van and somehow even managed to get shaved. At Wednesday's press conference, police said that they would replace the Eagles hoodie for whoever Cavalcante had allegedly stolen it from.

On Tuesday, after the rifle theft, authorities set up roadblocks in the rural roads around Bucktown, Pennsylvania, where elite SWAT police and armored vehicles were also deployed.

In addition to flooding the search zone with messages warning residents, a decision was taken early Tuesday to close area schools.

Defending against criticism that the police were inept in the manhunt, Bivens had called Cavalcante the "proverbial needle in the haystack."

The director of Lundale Farm, some 40 miles (64 kilometers) outside of Philadelphia, said police were "walking through our property, walking through the woods."

She said the area has "trees, creeks and bridges and all kinds of corners (where) you could sneak around."

Police had upped the reward for information on Cavalcante's whereabouts, from $20,000 to $25,000. Cavalcante is also wanted for murder in Brazil, where his name is officially listed with a different spelling: Danilo Souza Cavalcante.

It was not immediately clear if the newly recaptured convict would face new charges in the United States.

But Pennsylvania authorities were in celebratory mode, a large group of officers in camouflage even bunching up for a victory photo around the handcuffed Cavalcante.

"Our nightmare is finally over and the good guys won," Ryan told the press conference.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Asia Cup: Who Will India Face If PAK vs SL Super 4 Match Gets Washed Out?

The stage is set, with the Asia Cup 2023 set to find out which team will join India in the final of the tournament. Rohit Sharma's men secured two impressive victories -- against Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- in the Super 4s to book their ticket to the final. Pakistan and Sri Lanka remain the other two contenders while Bangladesh have already been knocked out. It's been an intriguing journey for teams in the Asia Cup, with rain hampering their preliminary plans. But, what happens if the Super 4 match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan also gets washed out?

Is there a reserve day in place?

The Asian Cricket Council had put a reserve day in place for the India vs Pakistan Super 4 match but no such arrangement is in place for the Sri Lanka vs Pakistan match. A 20-over-per-side contest would need to be held on Thursday for the match to find a winner between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

What happens if rain washes out play?

Rain has already impacted many matches in the Asia Cup 2023 and it could be the case with the Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Super 4 match too as there's rain forecast in Colombo on Thursday.

What has to be noted is that in the case of a complete washout, it would be the Sri Lankan team that goes through to the final because of a better Net Run Rate in comparison to Pakistan.

At present, Sri Lanka are placed second in the Super 4 points tally despite being on the same points (2) as Pakistan. Both the teams have won one game and lost one game apiece. But, the magnitude of Pakistan's results see them sit third with an inferior Net Run Rate in comparison to their Super 4 opponents.

Sri Lanka's NRR stands at -0.200 while Pakistan's is at -1.892. Hence Pakistan need the match to be held today as the only way for them to qualify for the final is by beating the Lankans.

It also has to be noted that never in the history of the Asia Cup has there been a final between India and Pakistan, arguably the two most fierce rivals in the game. 

Thanks to their 100% result in the Super 4 stage, India are through to the title decider and would look to extend their Asia Cup title tally (in the ODI format) to 7. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, sit on 5 titles in the 50-over format while Pakistan have won the tournament twice. 

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Mexican Drug Lord El Chapo's Wife Released From US Jail

 Emma Coronel, the wife of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, is not facing charges in Mexico, the country's prosecutors' office said, after she was released from a U.S. federal institution on Wednesday.

An official from Mexico's state prosecutor's office said Coronel was not facing charges "for now."

The U.S.-born 34-year-old was sentenced to three years in prison in 2021 after pleading guilty to helping Guzman's Sinaloa drug cartel, including conspiracy to launder money and distribute illegal drugs and engaging in financial dealings.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed she had been released on Wednesday from a low-security confinement institution in Los Angeles, but did not give further information, citing privacy, safety and security reasons.

Coronel has two daughters with Guzman, whom she met when she was a young beauty queen and married in 2007 at age 18.

Guzman is meanwhile serving a life sentence in the U.S. after being extradited there in 2017 following two escapes from Mexican maximum-security prisons.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus and iPhone 13 Now Cheaper in India: See New Price

iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, and iPhone 13 price in India has been cut, following the launch of Apple's latest iPhone 15 series of smartphones at its 'Wonderlust' event. Every year, Apple reduces the price of older smartphone models to accommodate the latest models. The company has also discontinued the sale of its iPhone 14 Pro modes, as well as the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 mini — the latter was the last "compact" iPhone model released by Apple with a display notch.

The updated iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, and iPhone 13 prices in India are currently displayed on Apple's online store. However, customers should also check the latest prices of these handsets on e-commerce websites like Amazon and Flipkart for discounts and offers that could further lower their retail price.

iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus and iPhone 13 price in India, availability

iPhone 14 price in India now starts at Rs. 69,900 for the base 128GB storage model, down from its launch price of Rs. 79,900. The iPhone 14 Plus, which was launched in India at Rs. 89,900 is now available for Rs. 79,900 via Apple's website. The handsets are available in Blue, Midnight, Purple, Starlight, and (Product) Red colour options. Apple will also offer up to Rs. 67,800 off on trading in an old smartphone for the iPhone 14 series.

Meanwhile, Apple has updated the iPhone 13 price in India to Rs. 59,900 — which is lower than its original price of Rs. 79,900 — the company cut the price of the handset to Rs. 69,900 last year. It is sold in Pink, Blue, Midnight, Starlight, and (Product) Red colourways. Customers can avail of the same trade-in discounts on the two-year-old iPhone model as its successor, according to the company.

iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus and iPhone 13 specifications

Both the iPhone 14 and iPhone are equipped with a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with Dolby Vision and support for Apple's Ceramic Shield material for improved protection. Both phones have an IP68 dust and water resistance rating. Meanwhile, the iPhone 14 Plus is equipped with a larger 6.7-inch OLED display.

Apple equipped the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 models with a 12-megapixel dual rear camera setup comprising a wide-angle camera and an ultra-wide-angle camera. All three handsets sport a 12-megapixel TrueDepth camera that is part of the display notch, for selfies and video chats.

All three smartphones are powered by Apple's A15 Bionic chipset, but the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus feature a five-core GPU unlike their predecessor which has a four-core GPU. All three models offer Face ID support for biometric authentication using the array of sensors located in the display notch.

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Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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