Last year, when Pakistan won the Champions Trophy in England, it was the month of Ramazan. Before the much-needed win, the Pakistan team had lost its first match to arch-rival India. The fans of Pakistan were openly saying that with the blessing of the holy month, their team would make a comeback and win the trophy.

This year, in the month of fasting, Pakistan is in England for a two Test matches series. The first Test is in progress where Pakistan are expecting a certain victory. Beating England in England is not an easy job, as even the top teams like Australia, India and South Africa have faced tough time there. Pakistan have never won a Test series in England since 1996.

When the Pakistan team was announced for the one-off Test against debutant Ireland and two Test matches against England, the pundits of the game were calling it a biggest challenge as a young team was picked. Hardly any expert was predicting a victory in the tour. But Pakistan defeated Ireland, though after lots of struggle, and now hold a sway over England.

If Pakistan win the Test series with the young lot, it will happen after 22 years. The average of the Pakistan 16-member team is 15-match per player, which proves the team is quite young. British Prime Minister Theresa May also visited the Lord’s cricket ground and watched the first Test for three hours. The premier could have stayed for some more time, as she is passionate about the game of cricket, but after watching her country team in troubles, she left the venue after three hours. However, she praised the performance of the Pakistan team.

The touring squad should be praised as so far no big scandal has been reported by the vigilant press of England. A small incident was reported when the ICC warned Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam not to wear smart watches as per the rules of the game.

The bad news is that Babar has been declared unfit due to fracture in his arm and he is no more available for the tour. No alternate to Babar is being sent to England because just one Test is left and 15 players are already available there.

Overall, the youngsters have performed well, especially Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Imamul Haq and Muhammad Abbas, are playing like fighting tigers.

Senior players like Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Muhammad Aamir and Hasan Ali are also playing their positive roles.

Tauqir Dar Academy held a ceremony at the National Hockey Stadium last week to celebrate its 12th anniversary. Despite the hot weather, the academy is in action, giving no rest to the players.

Mentor of the academy, Olympian Tauqir Dar, said that in 2006 he started the academy in the month of Ramazan with just eight players. Now, the number of the players has reached 70. The academy provides food, accommodation, education and sports gadgets to the players. All services are being offered free of cost. Tauqir Dar said the students and coaches made him proud with their hard work performances. He said in these 12 years, the academy provided 12 players to national senior, junior and U-18 teams. He said any player who wants to play hockey would be welcomed at the academy with no charges. He said hockey is Pakistan’s national game and everyone, especially former Olympians, should come forward to giving something back to the game as it gave them lot of respect, money and status in society.

The Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC), after achieving success at the world level in Men’s category, has decided to form its women’s blind cricket team. A ceremony to launch the women’s blind cricket team was held this week at a local hotel. Two players of the Pakistan women team - Javeria Khan and Nahida Khan - also attended the ceremony. In the first phase, 100 players have showed their interest, says head of the PBCC Sultan Shah. He says after holding the trial of 40 to 50 players, they will pick 15 players for the team. The first series is being organised against Nepal at home later this year. He says the West Indies women team is also in the formation, so, there will be a good contest at the international level.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2018