Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Pakistan players push back boundaries with Zoom cricket

Bored during Pakistan's coronavirus lockdown, Test batsman Shan Masood put on his helmet, picked up his bat -- and Zoom cricket was born.

Masood, 30, was video-chatting with teammates when they grabbed their cricket gear and pretended to play a match.


"A couple of us guys were talking on Zoom and it was pretty late at night and somebody just picked up a ball," Masood told AFP.

"He had a ball (in) his hand and eventually all of us got kitted up and we played... a made-up cricket match."

"So that was quite a funny moment where I kind of had my helmet on. Hassan Ali was seaming into the ball, Imam ul Haq was fielding, Wahab Riaz was the captain," he added.

"(We) just made it into a funny little incident."

Cricket, like most other sport, is on hold during the pandemic, much to the frustration of players and fans.

Masood said Pakistan's squad had been training at home -- sometimes using staircases and armchairs as gym equipment -- to prepare for cricket's return.

"Everyone's been training, everyone's been being good, and also that we have to take into account that this is the month of Ramadan and it's harder to train," said Masood.

"Hopefully that whenever this thing ends... all this hard work that we're putting in right now, even with uncertainty around, it (will) be translated into cricketing performances."

More For You

Bangladesh Hindus
Security personnel try to stop Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists along with others during a protest march near the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi on December 23, 2025, to condemn the killing of Hindu garment worker Dipu Chandra Das. (Photo: Getty Images)

Bangladesh minorities raise concerns over violence ahead of February elections

BANGLADESH’s main body representing Buddhist, Hindu and Christian communities on Tuesday raised concerns over a rise in violence against religious minorities ahead of next month’s elections.

The country of about 170 million people, most of them Sunni Muslim, is preparing for its first parliamentary polls since the 2024 uprising that removed the government of Sheikh Hasina. Voting is scheduled for February 12.

Keep ReadingShow less