Bangladesh pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib was ruled out of the third and final ODI against Sri Lanka in Chattogram tomorrow (March 18) after picking up an injury. The young pacer was seen struggling with hamstring injury in the first ODI in which he claimed 3-44 to help Bangladesh win the game by six wickets. In the second game too, he was not looking comfortable. Finally this hamstring issue ruled him out of the third match, what turned out to be deciding game after Sri Lanka leveled the series with three-wicket win in the second game. "Tanzim is experiencing pain and discomfort of his right hamstring. He did not feel any better at training today and is not fit to play tomorrow," national team physio Bayjedul Islam Khan said today. Fellow pacer Hasan Mahmud has been called up in the Bangladesh squad to replace Tanzim for the third ODI. Source: BSS  

Bangladesh beat strong India by 3-1 goals in their second match to confirm their spot of final at the SAFF U-16 Women's Championship held today (Tuesday) at ANFA Complex in Kathmandu, Nepal. With the day's win, Bangladesh reached top of the table with six points and they will play their ultimate league match against Bhutan on Friday (March 8). Four teams are participating in round-robin league system tournament. The top two teams will play the final. With the day's successive victory in the tournament, Bangladesh reached top of the table with six points. Nepal and India have three points each. Bhutan crashed out of the tournament after losing their two matches. The winners' between Nepal and India match will be the partner of Bangladesh in the final which will be held on March 10. If the match produces draw result, then there will be another calculation. Bangladesh-Bhutan match will be held just to maintain a formality on March 8 at the same venue. In the first half of the match, Bangladesh took the lead through a goal by Alpi Akter in the 9th minute. India however staged a brilliant fight back in the match when Anushka Kumari restored the parity with a shot from the right corner of the box in the 55th minute. Bangladesh were desperately looking for a lead again and their best moment came in the 78th minute when Sauravi Akanda Prity scored the second goal with a perfect placing shot from the D-box and Arpita Biswas sealed the victory scoring the third goal for Bangladesh from a goal-mouth melee. Earlier, Bangladesh made winning start in the tournament beating Nepal by 2-0 goals while India thrashed Bhutan by 7-0 goals in their opening match. Source: BSS  

Swift revealed the new version will have a bonus track titled "The Black Dog" during the second of six shows at the Singapore National Stadium on Sunday night. Taylor Swift won't be shaking off Singapore any time soon! On Sunday night, the "All Too Well" singer, 34, took the stage in Singpore to perform for about 55,000 fans and made a surprise announcement. During her second show at the Singapore National Stadium, Swift, while sitting at her piano, revealed the fourth and final version of her upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department. A fan post on X (formerly known as Twitter) showed that an image of the new version of the album appeared behind her on stage, revealing the bonus track for this edition is titled "The Black Dog." Previously unseen artwork of Swift running her hands through her hair was also included. The pop superstar also shared the news on Instagram, alongside an image of the same artwork that appeared during her show. “'Old habits die screaming…' File Name: The Black Dog

The delayed final results from Pakistan's national elections on Thursday show that independent candidates backed by ex-PM Imran Khan won the most seats. Independent candidates linked to former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan won the most seats in the country's national election, a final tally by the election commission showed Sunday. Khan-backing independents won 101 of the 264 seats, while the party of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, won 75 seats. The Pakistan's People's Party (PPP) which backed ex-Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari came third with 54 seats. Eleven other parties received a total of 34 seats in the National Assembly. Khan — who is currently in prison — and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were blocked from running in the election, so the supporters of Khan had to run as independents. Both Khan's PTI and Sharif's party, the Muslim League (PML-N) have claimed victory. But as the PML-N becomes the single largest party in parliament, it is likely to have the best chance at forming a coalition. It has already started to seek partners. Internet shut down over post-election clashes The final tally was released over 60 hours after voting concluded in Thursday's national elections, a delay that has raised questions about the process. The vote was overshadowed by a shutdown of internet services due to several bouts of organized violence in the country as well as allegations of manipulation. There were initially no results from two constituencies; in one of the cases, there was no vote because of the murder of a candidate. Khan set for decades in jail The former cricket star was ousted as prime minister in a no-confidence vote in 2022. He has since faced over 150 court cases he claims to be politically motivated and endorsed by his rivals in the current government. Khan has so far been sentenced to three years in jail for corruption, followed by another sentence of 10 years for charges relating to leaking state secrets, then another 14 years for corruption, and, most recently both Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to seven years in prison each after a court decided their marriage violated the Pakistani law that states that a woman must wait three months after divorcing to marry again. In another heavy blow to Khan's supporters, a Pakistani court ruled that his party was not allowed to use a cricket bat as their symbol. PTI officials have pointed out that many voters in Pakistan are illiterate, and that not using the bat symbol would negatively affect their numbers. The party has accused the government of conducting a targeted clampdown against Khan and the PTI. Military urges 'unity' Ahead of the final results, Pakistan's powerful military called on politicians to show "political maturity and unity" amid questions regarding the election. "Elections are not a zero-sum competition of winning and losing but an exercise to determine the mandate of the people," army chief General Syed Asim Munir said in a statement. "The nation needs stable hands and a healing touch to move on from the politics of anarchy and polarization," the statement added. Khan has accused the military of acting against him, but the military leaders deny those claims.

Aryna Sabalenka took a big step towards retaining her Australian Open crown by beating American fourth seed Coco Gauff 7-6(2) 6-4 in a thriller on Thursday to reach the final where she will meet Zheng Qinwen or qualifier Dayana Yastremska. In a rematch of their US Open final in September, the two reigning hardcourt Grand Slam champions made contrasting starts as Belarusian Sabalenka fired an ace and revved up her forehand to hold before pouncing on two double faults by Gauff to break. But what followed was an intense contest between two players hoping to forge ahead and win their second Grand Slam title, and it was Sabalenka who held firm to become the first player since Serena Williams in 2016 and 2017 to make back-to-back Melbourne finals. "I think I was able to focus on myself," Sabalenka said. "I was thinking she's going to move really well, put all balls back to me and I had to be ready to play an extra shot. "I was just ready for anything tonight and I think that was the key. And the support, last time I played here I didn't have almost any support." Gauff hit back right away and the pair swapped breaks again but the 19-year-old New York champion continued to teeter on her serve, allowing Sabalenka to settle her nerves after going 6-5 down in a frantic spell to clinch the first set in a tiebreak. The pair were locked together until 4-4 in the second set as Sabalenka countered Gauff's speed with power and the 25-year-old second seed edged ahead with a decisive break when the teenager hit a shot long before sealing victory with two massive serves. "I really enjoy playing (Coco) she's an incredible player, win or lose it's great matches," said Sabalenka, who fell in three sets to Gauff in the Flushing Meadows final. "I really hope in the future we're going to play many more finals. Of course, I hope I win them all," she added with a laugh. Sabalenka will set her sights on becoming the first woman to win consecutive Australian Open titles since compatriot Victoria Azarenka in 2012 and 2013.   Source: Reuters

New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner took four wickets before a rearguard batting effort helped the hosts beat Bangladesh by 17 runs via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method in the rain-hit third and final Twenty20 international Sunday to level the series. Santner elected to bowl after winning the toss and took 4/16 to help dismiss Bangladesh for a modest 110 at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, leaving the tourists with a daunting task to seal their maiden series victory of any kind in New Zealand. New Zealand collapsed to 49/5 in response after Mahedi Hasan and Shoriful Islam struck timely blows, but Santner (18 not out) and Jimmy Neesham (28 not out) held their nerve to take them to within 16 runs of victory when heavy rain halted play. New Zealand were ahead of the DLS par score of 78 at that stage before the game was eventually called off. Bangladesh sealed a five-wicket win in the series opener in Napier Wednesday for their first T20 win on New Zealand soil, four days after beating the hosts in the last game of the three-match one-day international series which they lost 2-1. The second T20 was washed out with no result. The series was part of both teams' preparations for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States in June next year.

Ariful Islam hammered a brilliant 90 ball-94 as Bangladesh sealed a spot in the final of Under-19 Asia Cup, securing a four- wicket win over mighty India at ICC Cricket Academy in Dubai today (Dec15). Bangladesh bowled India out for just 188 in 42.4 overs but India had Bangladesh wobbled at 34-3 before Ariful's sensible knock became instrumental in helping the side overhaul the target in 42.5 overs. Bangladesh will take on United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the final of youth Asia Cup on Sunday. UAE stunned Pakistan Under-19 team in the other semifinal by 11 runs today to confirm the final. Ariful got ably support from Ahrar Amin as they shared a 138-run partnership for the fourth wicket to edge the side closer to victory. As he closed in on century, medium pacer Raj Limbani had Ariful caught by Shahran to deny him the century by six runs. But Ariful who smashed nine fours and four sixes, including three sixes in an over of Saumy Pandey by then kept the side's nose ahead. Ahrar Amin played a laborious 44 off 101 with three fours and was out when Bangladesh was just two runs away from the victory. Earlier being sent to bat first, India were strangled by Maruf and were reduced to 61-6. Murugan Abhishek and Musheer Khan added 84-run for the seventh wicket to help the side recover from the ultimate shamble. Abhishek hit 74 ball-62 with six fours and two sixes while Musheer made 50 off 61, sending the ball across the ropes for three times. Source: BSS

August 3 marked the beginning of a new wave of unrest in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) as thousands of people took to the streets in Muzafarabad, Kotli, Mirpur, Dadyal, Tatapani, Chaksawari, Khuirata and Nakyal to vent their anger against added taxes to their electricity bills, wheat shortages, cuts in subsidies, load shedding and the ever-rising cost of living. The protests were taken out in all three divisions of Mirpur, Poonch and Muzafarabad. An ultimatum was issued to the PoJK government to withdraw extra-added taxes in two weeks or face a state-wide shutter-down strike accompanied by the siege of the legislative assembly building in Muzafarabad, the capital city of PoJK. Among the protestors were people from all walks of life. Students, lawyers, transporters, pensioners, traders and different sections of civil society blocked roads, observed sit-ins and held rallies at each and every road crossing and town/city square in the above-mentioned urban and semi-rural centres. This is not the first time that PoJK has been engulfed in state-wide demonstrations against the same. Only this time round the anger of the masses seems more coherent in terms of cross-state networking and coherent demands. However, it still lacks a political programme that would lead the anger of the masses towards change in the legal status quo of PoJK. Therefore, each time previous protest movements have lost their momentum and have proven to serve as a mechanism to exhaust their frustration. Seventy five years of Islamic/two-nation theory-based brainwashing engineered by the Pakistan military establishment and replacing facts with false narratives regarding the reality of the political crisis of Jammu and Kashmir is proving to be the biggest obstacle in unifying the population of PoJK on a consensus about the actuality of the so-called Kashmir issue. The only way to overcome this obstruction is to consistently, persistently and patiently explain the true nature of the issue that on October 22, 1947, Pakistan attacked and forcibly annexed western parts of Jammu province and Gilgit-Baltistan thereby creating a hostile regional environment. The purpose of the annexation was simple. Firstly, the purpose of annexation was to block India’s access to central Asia via land route. But more importantly, the occupation was to plunder the natural resources of the region. According to estimates derived from geological surveys, it is revealed that PoJK is rich in precious stones and both metal and non-metal natural resources as well as in forest wood and river water. It is estimated that PoJK has roughly Rs 78 trillion worth of minerals and precious stone deposits. These include Ruby, granite, limestone, coal, marble and others. The total value of Granite deposits alone is estimated at Rs 40 billion. The total population of PoJK is around 4.5 million out of which 700,000 of our youth are unemployed and two million are working in foreign countries. Hundreds of our youth are fleeing PoJK in desperation for a better future. Millions of rupees are handed over to dodgy human traffickers who promise to take them to Europe. Recently, on June 14, at least 166 young men drowned in the Mediterranean Sea after a boat carrying illegal immigrants capsized due to overloading. 385 Pakistani illegal immigrants were rescued on July 31 from a warehouse near Tabrouk in Libya where human traffickers had kept them before embarking on a similar journey. It is understood that among these 385 many would be from PoJK. Under such desperate circumstances, it is high time that the Indian government takes the lead in addressing the crisis we face in PoJK. After all, they are Indian citizens. And what makes them all Indian citizens is the instrument of accession signed between King Maharaja Hari Singh, and the last governor-general of India, Lord Mountbatten. Therefore, 4.5 million PoJK and 2 million Gilgit-Baltistan residents are all Indian citizens by default. The humanitarian crisis that the people of PoJK face today is caused by the 75 years of looting of natural and human resources. Unless a coherent policy of mass education is introduced in PoJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, any adventurous attempt to regain PoJK could easily backfire. And unless the false narrative of 75 years is countered by a historical and factual-based counter-propaganda campaign, it will not be possible to link today’s plight of the people of PoJK with a political program that advocates reunification of these occupied territories with mother India. Whether the recent wave of unrest in PoJK is the final countdown toward the final goal only time will tell. But without a mass education campaign, the chances of achieving the desired result could be a far-fetched thought. Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza is an author and a human rights activist from Mirpur, PoJK. He currently lives in exile in the UK.

A breathtaking final indeed! Neither of the two teams scored a goal in the 90 minutes of the match. This took the match to an extra 30 minutes. Neither Spain-Croatia scored a goal there either. In the end, the match was made in a tiebreaker. Drama continues there too. 4-4 after the first five shots!  Then the eleventh shot of the tiebreaker was returned by goalkeeper Unai Simón to put Spain ahead again. He also blocked the fourth shot earlier. However, in the fifth shot of Aymeric Laporte shot bounced off the crossbar. This time, Dani Carvajal did not make that mistake again, scoring the perfect shot to give Spain the UEFA Nations League title. Spain beat Croatia 5-4 in a tiebreaker to win the UEFA Nations League final. Last year, they lost to France in the final and had to return home empty-handed. Spain did not make the same mistake this time. Throughout the match, starting from the battle for ball possession, Spain was also ahead in attacking the goal. However, Spain had only two shots on target off 21 shots, while Croatia had five on target shots off 12 shots.  Spain dominated throughout the match. Their  possession was 55 percent. Spain became the second team after France to win the World Cup, Euro and Nations League. Portugal won the first Nations League tournament. France took home the title in the next tournament. This time Spain. 

The world No. 1 got off to a strong start but was put to the test by unseeded Karolina Muchova before regaining her composure to ultimately defend her title at Roland Garros. Iga Swiatek, the world's top-ranked women's tennis player, successfully defended her French Open title on Saturday in a stunning final against unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, winning 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 at Roland Garros in Paris. It was Swiatek's third French Open championship and her fourth Grand Slam title. "It was pretty surreal," said the 22-year-old Pole: "The match was really intense, a lot of ups and downs. Stressful moments and coming back. So I'm pretty happy that at the end I could be solid in those few last games and finish it." Swiatek, who has been the top-ranked woman in tennis for the past year, got off to a swift start and looked as if she would make quick work of Muchova, who is ranked No. 43. She led 3-0 after just 10 minutes and was leading the second set 3-0 when Muchova made her move. Muchova, who had a hot week in Paris, dispatching No. 2 ranked Aryna Sabalenka in spectacular fashion Thursday, said, "I could see that she was a little bit struggling, a little bit more tense." Muchova would go on to win five of six games to even the match at one set each, then surged ahead in the third set before Swiatek staged a comeback. How did Iga Swiatek come back? It was then that the reigning champion said, "I just felt like I needed to be more courageous and make good decisions." She did, pulling back with great defense and closing the door when it counted. The final ultimately ended on a double-fault by Muchova. When it was over, Swiatek, who became the youngest woman to win four Grand Slam titles since Serena Williams accomplished the feat at 20, dropped her racket and wept. After the match, Swiatek addressed her opponent, who was playing in her first Grand Slam tournament and had a 5-0 record against top 3 players heading into the day: "First of all congratulations to Karolina. I knew it would be a tough match. I hope you're going to have many more finals." The young Pole then thanked her teammates and her family before hoisting the trophy aloft, having a social media moment when she shook the lid off of it. The third Paris victory — her first came in 2020 — puts Swiatek in elite company, equaling Monica Seles, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Serena Williams, all three-time modern-day champions. Tournament Director Amelie Mauresmo spoke of Swiatek's "special relationship" with Roland Garros, saying, "She's still young... and we can imagine she will lift the trophy many more times here."