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Pakistan’s hurting players will be motivated by pride in their dead rubber against Bangladesh on Thursday, head coach Aaqib Javed said, after the hosts were dumped out of the Champions Trophy in the group stage.The defending champions’ hopes of reaching the semi-finals were ended after defeats to New Zealand and India, leaving their final Group A game in Rawalpindi inconsequential.Rain washed out the Australia-South Africa Group B match on Tuesday and more is predicted on Thursday, leaving Pakistan in danger of finishing fourth and last on net run-rate.Whatever happens it will be a disappointing conclusion to Pakistan’s first hosting of a major international cricket competition in three decades.”There are no excuses, there shouldn’t be any in life, but I can assure you that the players are more hurt than the fans and want to leave a mark in the last game,” said Aaqib on Wednesday.”The players are not satisfied, no one is satisfied after losing, but everyone tries hard to win and by doing so we have recently won a series in Australia and South Africa.”Pakistan beat Australia 2-1 in November — their first ODI series win there for 22 years — before whitewashing South Africa 3-0 in the build-up to the Champions Trophy.”This is the Champions Trophy, where the eight best teams are playing, so after two defeats we have to start from zero,” said Aaqib.”Every game is played for pride so we want to leave a mark on Thursday,” said Aaqib.Their Champions Trophy flop left former Pakistan players and fans angry over the continuous failure of the team, having also crashed out of the 2023 World Cup and Twenty20 World Cup last year both in the first round.Aaqib admitted losing to arch-rivals India left fans emotional.”People are more involved in an India-Pakistan match and they do not accept a defeat against India and that defeat in Dubai has left them more dejected,” said Aaqib.Pakistan were below par against a formidable India in Dubai on Sunday, losing by six wickets.”We managed just 241 in batting and when facing a strong batting line-up you attack in order to get wickets and in the process you bowl on both sides,” said Aaqib.A fast bowler himself, who played 22 Tests and 163 ODIs for Pakistan, Aaqib backed his struggling pace trio.”People blamed two, three players, which is not correct,” said Aaqib. “If you assess Shaheen (Afridi), Naseem (Shah) and Haris (Rauf), they are still the best bowlers in the world.”

Former cricketers and pundits have slammed India’s “undeniable” advantage of playing all their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai while other teams have to shuttle between three venues in Pakistan and fly to the UAE.India refused to travel to hosts Pakistan for the 50-over tournament because of security concerns and political tensions and are playing all their matches at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.A stand-off between the rivals lasted for more than a month, leaving the tournament in jeopardy until the Pakistan board agreed a compromise with the International Cricket Council.The deal means Pakistan will play at a neutral venue in any ICC tournament hosted by India until 2027.But in the immediate future it also means that should India reach the Champions Trophy final — they are already in the semis — the decider on March 9 will be in Dubai instead of Lahore.Jay Shah, secretary of the powerful Indian cricket board (BCCI), took over as ICC chairman in December and the country holds immense sway in the running of the sport. The ICC is based in Dubai.”I feel very uncomfortable about the way that India is being treated at the moment,” former England cricketer and popular broadcaster Jonathan Agnew told ABC Sport.”This is wrong. If you’re going to play an international tournament you can’t pick and choose where you play and where you’re not going to play. “I don’t see how long this can carry on for. It makes a farce of these tournaments.”The playing and pitch conditions in Dubai and the venues in Pakistan — Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi — are drastically different.There has been no dew in Dubai in India’s first two wins with the highest total being 244 when Rohit Sharma’s team chased down 242 against great rivals Pakistan on a sluggish pitch.Totals in Pakistan have been much higher with dew playing a part, notably when Australia’s Josh Inglis hit an unbeaten 120 to chase down a tournament-record 352 against England at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.- ‘Huge advantage’ -“What about the advantage India have in playing only in Dubai — which seems to me to be a hard-to-quantify advantage, but an undeniable advantage?” former England captain Michael Atherton asked Nasser Hussain on a Sky Sports podcast.”They’re playing at just one venue. Therefore, the selection, you know, can focus in on the conditions in Dubai.”India and New Zealand have moved into the semi-finals from Group A and will play each other in Dubai in the last group match on Sunday.Irrespective of the placing, India will play their semi-final in Dubai on March 4.Australia’s injured Pat Cummins missed out on leading his team in the eight-nation tournament — once called the mini World Cup — but weighed in on the debate, saying it gives India “a huge advantage playing on the same ground”.Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal agreed, telling AFP: “If they were not coming to Pakistan at least they should have played their matches at three venues in the UAE.”However, England skipper Jos Buttler played down the controversy.”Not really,” Buttler said after being asked if the schedule gave India an advantage.”I think it’s a unique tournament already, isn’t it, with being hosted here with one team playing in a different place but that’s not something I’m sort of worried too much about at the moment.”

Freedom declined around the world last year with authoritarians solidifying their grip, but South Asia led a series of bright spots, Freedom House said Wednesday in its annual report.The Washington-based pro-democracy research group elevated two countries to the status of “free” — Senegal, where the opposition triumphed after the outgoing president’s attempt to delay elections was defeated, and Bhutan, the Himalayan kingdom which consolidated a transition to democracy with competitive polls.Tiny Bhutan gained the distinction of being the only South Asian country classified as free. But others in the region made strong gains in the index without changing categories — Bangladesh, where iron-fisted leader Sheikh Hasina fled in the face of a revolt, and Sri Lanka, where Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected president on an anti-corruption platform after breaking the stranglehold of the two long-dominant parties.The largest score improvement in the index, which tracks both countries and territories, was in Indian-administered Kashmir, which held elections for the first time since the Hindu nationalist government in New Delhi revoked the Muslim-majority region’s special status in 2019.But Freedom House said India as a whole saw further deterioration as it pointed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to gain influence over judicial appointments. The group downgraded the world’s largest democracy from “free” to “partly free” in 2021.Yana Gorokhovskaia, the co-author of the report, said it was the 19th consecutive year that freedom fell on a global level, but that 2024 was especially volatile due to the high number of elections.”The big picture is that this was another year of the same trajectory of a global decline in freedom but because of all the elections, it was more dynamic than previous years,” she said.She said that both Bangladesh and Syria, where Islamist-led fighters toppled longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad in December, saw immediate improvements in civil liberties — but that it would be a longer road to see gains in political representation.Political rights largely “depend on institutions. And those are easy to destroy but very hard to build up,” she said.- Four countries become ‘not free’ -A rare bright spot in the Middle East was Jordan, which was upgraded from “not free” to “partly free.” Freedom House pointed to reforms that allowed more competitive elections in the kingdom.On the other hand, four countries were downgraded from “partly free” to “not free” — Kuwait, Niger, Tanzania and Thailand.Thailand — which has repeatedly shifted in the Freedom House categories — saw a court disband the party which won the most votes in elections and then dismiss the prime minister from the second-ranking party after an ethics complaint by senators backed by the powerful military.Kuwait’s emir disbanded parliament after elections, while in Tanzania, Freedom House pointed to a crackdown on protesters under President Samia Suluhu Hassan.Niger came under full grip of the military after a 2023 coup ousted elected president Mohamed Bazoum.Tunisia, El Salvador and Haiti also saw steep declines. The only country given a perfect 100 score on freedom was Finland, with New Zealand, Norway and Sweden all right behind at 99.Freedom House, founded in 1941 with bipartisan US support, receives US government funding but is independently administered. The non-profit group has planned layoffs after President Donald Trump froze money aimed at democracy promotion.

India’s Kumbh Mela festival wraps up Wednesday, with final ritual river bathing ceremonies ending six weeks of celebration that organisers say have been attended by hundreds of millions of devotees.Despite two deadly stampedes that killed dozens, the festival in the northern city of Prayagraj has been hailed as a triumph by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party, bolstering its carefully cultivated image as a steward of Hindu resurgence and prosperity.Both Modi and his ally, firebrand Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath — chief minister of India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh where the festival is being held — say the millennia-old Mela has been the “grandest” yet.Both men themselves took part in the festival, with Modi bathing in the spot where the waters of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet.The Kumbh Mela is rooted in Hindu mythology, a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality.The festival, which opened on January 13, ends Wednesday, coinciding with the Hindu festival of Maha Shivaratri, in honour of the deity Shiva.”Our purpose to visit on Maha Shivaratri was to worship Lord Shiva,” said devotee Shivam Kumar, 21.Helicopters scattered flower petals on the vast crowds taking part in sacred bathing rituals at dawn.- ‘Salvation’ -According to eyebrow-raising figures from the Uttar Pradesh state government, more than 640 million worshippers took part in the festival, a staggering statistic even for the world’s most populous nation of 1.4 billion people.Just on Wednesday, more than eight million devotees were reported to have shrugged off stomach-churning faecal matter measurements to immerse themselves in sacred river waters.Authorities say the attendee estimates have been calculated using artificial intelligence and surveillance cameras, but the figures are impossible to independently verify.The festival was marred by a deadly stampede on January 29 that killed at least 30 people and injured 90 others.Officials insisted for hours that no one was seriously injured, despite graphic television footage from the scene.Another 18 people died this month during a stampede at the main railway station in New Delhi when surging crowds scrambled to catch trains to Prayagraj.The deaths have taken the sheen off the government’s claims of stellar management of the event.But the twin tragedies failed to deter millions who continued to pour into the sprawling temporary township along the banks of the river.Organisers now face the massive task of cleaning the site up after the festival ends and pilgrims go home.Deepak Prajapati, 43, said his family decided to come on the last day of the festival because it was auspicious.”We hope that our family has found salvation from the cycle of life and death,” he told AFP.    

The EU’s top team is to embark on an “unprecedented” visit to India this week, as the bloc seeks to broaden its commercial and diplomatic ties to hedge against souring relations with the United States.EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and her college of commissioners are to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government in New Delhi during a two-day trip, starting Thursday.The trip is the latest sign of a Brussels push to diversify ties away from the United States and position itself as a reliable partner for others looking to do business.”In this era of intense geostrategic competition, Europe stands for openness, partnership, and outreach,” von der Leyen said ahead of the trip, hailing India as one of the EU’s “most trusted friends and allies”.Almost all the EU’s 26 commissioners are to join the 66-year-old German politician in what the bloc’s executive is billing as the first visit of its kind to the South Asian giant — and the first outside Europe for the new college that took office in December.It comes as US President Donald Trump has upended Brussels’s traditionally close partnership with Washington, berating EU tech laws, threatening tariffs, and undercutting European allies by launching Ukraine talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. The European Union has been left “looking for friends” and India, the world’s most populous country, is a “natural candidate”, said Andre Sapir, of Brussels-based think tank Bruegel.- Trade call -Brussels has been working to broaden its horizons since Trump won back the White House in November.In recent months it has announced a strengthened trade deal with Mexico, the resumption of talks with Malaysia, a new agreement with the South American bloc Mercosur and the “first-ever” EU-Central Asia summit. It has also struck a more conciliatory note towards China, which however “remains a significant strategic challenge for Europe”, said James Crabtree, of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) think tank.”Building stronger ties with India — a democracy with increasing global influence — offers both greater economic opportunity and political appeal,” he said.Trade will be high on the agenda.The EU is India’s largest trading partner, accounting for 124 billion euros ($130 billion) worth of trade in goods in 2023 — more than 12 percent of total Indian trade, according to the EU.India’s expanding market offers key opportunities for sectors ranging from defence to agriculture, automobiles and clean energy. Yet, protected by high tariffs, it currently accounts for only 2.2 percent of EU trade in goods.Negotiations for a trade deal were relaunched in 2022 and could get a boost from a White House bent on slapping tariffs on friends and foes alike, said a European diplomat.”The case for a free trade agreement has never been stronger,” the diplomat said.- AI and defence -Trump feted Modi in Washington vowing to ramp up trade this month, but India is also seeking renewed relationships elsewhere as a “hedge against a newly capricious America”, said Crabtree.The European Commission’s trip comes hard on the heels of a visit by British trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds aimed at restarting stalled trade negotiations.  “In the shadow of US tariff, India back to table for trade talks with UK, EU”, a headline in The Indian Express daily read on Tuesday.One of the biggest challenges for New Delhi in recent years has been creating millions of new jobs for its young and rapidly expanding skilled workforce. India’s government has for years also pushed for Europe to grant quicker visas for its businesses and students.Cooperation on technology and artificial intelligence, where Europe and India are eager to play a larger role, will also be on the table. So will security and defence, the EU diplomat said, adding Brussels was eager to “join forces” with New Delhi. The supply of defence equipment, enforcement of EU sanctions against Russia and peace talks over Ukraine were likely to be discussed.India has long pursued a policy of strategic autonomy in foreign affairs.Historically close to Russia, its traditional supplier of military hardware, it has resisted Western pressure to distance itself from Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.The commission’s visit is not expected to result in the signing of any deal, but should pave the way for an EU-India summit to be held in India later this year. 

India’s Kumbh Mela festival wraps up Wednesday, with final ritual river bathing ceremonies ending six weeks of celebration that organisers say have been attended by hundreds of millions of devotees.Despite two deadly stampedes that killed dozens, the festival in the northern city of Prayagraj has been hailed as a triumph by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party, bolstering its carefully cultivated image as a steward of Hindu resurgence and national prosperity.Both Modi and his ally, firebrand Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath — chief minister of India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh where the festival is held — say the millennia-old festival has been the “grandest” yet.The Kumbh Mela is rooted in Hindu mythology, a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality.The festival, which opened on January 13, ends Wednesday, coinciding with the Hindu festival of Maha Shivratri, in honour of the deity Shiva.According to eyebrow-raising figures from Adityanath’s state government, more than 620 million devotees took part in the festival, a staggering statistic even for the world’s most populous nation of 1.4 billion people.Millions more people seeking salvation are expected to shrug off stomach-churning faecal matter measurements to immerse themselves in sacred river waters on Wednesday.Authorities say the estimates have been calculated using artificial intelligence and surveillance cameras, but the figures are impossible to independently verify.The festival was marred by a deadly stampede on January 29 that killed at least 30 people and injured 90 others.Officials insisted for hours that no one was seriously injured, despite graphic television footage from the scene.Earlier this month, another 18 people died during a stampede at the main railway station in New Delhi when surging crowds scrambled to catch trains to Prayagraj.The deaths have taken the sheen off the government’s claims of stellar management of the event.But the twin tragedies failed to deter millions who continued to pour into the temporary township along the banks of the river.

Pacific microstate Nauru is selling citizenship to fund its retreat from rising seas, President David Adeang told AFP, opening a contentious “golden passport” scheme as other climate financing runs dry.The low-lying island nation of around 13,000 residents is planning a mass inland relocation as creeping seas start to eat away at its fertile coastal fringe.It will drum up funding by selling passports to foreigners for US$105,000 each, despite fears such schemes are ripe for criminal exploitation.”For Nauru it is not just about adapting to climate change, but about securing a sustainable and prosperous future for generations to come,” Adeang said.”This is about more than survival. It is about ensuring future generations have a safe, resilient and sustainable home. We are ready for the journey ahead.” The island republic sits on a small plateau of phosphate rock in the sparsely populated South Pacific.With a total landmass of just 21 square kilometres (eight square miles), it is one of the world’s smallest nations.Unusually pure phosphate deposits — a key ingredient in fertiliser — once made Nauru one of the wealthiest places, per capita, on the planet.But these supplies have long dried up, and researchers today estimate 80 percent of Nauru has been rendered uninhabitable by mining.What little land Nauru has left is threatened by encroaching tides — scientists have measured sea levels rising 1.5 times faster than global averages.- Golden passports -Existing climate funding efforts are “not sufficient” to address the challenge, said Edward Clark, who runs Nauru’s new Economic and Climate Resilience Citizenship Program.”Debt financing places an undue burden on future generations and there is not enough aid,” he told AFP.Nauru’s government expects to reap US$5.7 million in the programme’s first year, equating to around 66 successful applications, Clark said.It hopes this will gradually increase to US$43 million -– or about 500 successful applications — which would account for almost 20 percent of total government revenue.Nauru officials believe 90 percent of the population will eventually need to move to higher ground.The first phase of this mass relocation is estimated to cost more than US$60 million.To pay the bill, Nauru has pinned its hopes on the new citizenship-by-investment programme.Clark said it was a kind of “innovation”.”It is well known that developing climate-vulnerable countries are disproportionately impacted by climate change, and there is therefore an urgent need to ensure they disproportionately benefit from climate innovation,” he said.Nations such as Nauru “have both a need and a right to be prosperous”, Clark added.Nauru claims its passport will provide visa-free entry into 89 countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong.- A ‘pioneering’ fix? -More than 60 different nations offer some form of migration for investment schemes, Australia’s Lowy Institute has found.Pacific nations such as Vanuatu, Samoa and Tonga have all dabbled in selling passports, according to the think tank.Australian National University expert Henrietta McNeill said while these schemes helped bolster government revenue, they were also prone to exploitation.She said criminals could use these documents to evade law enforcement, launder money or exploit visa-free entry rules.A previous Nauru attempt to sell passports ended in disaster.In 2003, Nauru officials sold citizenship to Al-Qaeda members who were later arrested in Asia, according to Australian broadcaster ABC.Clark said this time Nauru would only offer passports to like-minded investors that passed “the strictest and most thorough due diligence procedures”.”This programme isn’t just about acquiring another passport,” he said.”It’s about joining a community dedicated to pioneering solutions for global challenges.”Nauru has accepted millions of dollars from the Australian government since 2012 for housing migrants who had sought asylum in Australia.But the scheme was gradually scaled back following 14 detainee deaths, multiple suicide attempts and at least six referrals to the International Criminal Court.Nauru still held 87 people as of August 31, 2024, according to latest Australian government figures.

Bangladesh’s army chief on Tuesday blamed infighting for deteriorating law and order, warning that the gains of the student-led revolution that toppled the government last August were at risk.The South Asian nation has been struggling to stem a surge in violent crime, with the security forces arresting thousands this month targeting gangs allegedly connected to the party of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.”If you can’t move beyond your differences and continue meddling and fighting among yourselves, the independence and integrity of the country will be at risk — I warn you,” said General Waker-Uz-Zaman, without singling out any group by name.”Since stakeholders are busy accusing each other, miscreants find the situation favourable. They believe they can get away with anything,” he said at an army memorial event.Bangladesh has been riven by a surge of crime, as well as protests this month where crowds smashed buildings connected to Hasina’s family.Last week rival student factions clashed at a university campus, a sign of serious discord between groups instrumental in driving the uprising against Hasina.Security forces have arrested more than 8,600 people since it launched “Operation Devil Hunt” on February 8, which the government has accused of being Hasina loyalists and of wanting to “destabilise” the country.”The anarchy we have witnessed is manufactured by us,” Waker said.- ‘Trapped in the same cycle’ -Bangladesh has a long history of military coups.While it was Waker who took charge after Hasina fled by helicopter to India on August 5, he had also urged the people to back Nobel Prize-winning microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus.Yunus, 84, vows to institute far-reaching democratic reforms and hold general elections in late 2025 or in early 2026, and Waker had sworn in the interim government.  “At the beginning, I said it would take 18 months to hold an election,” Waker said. “We are on that path. Professor Yunus is doing his best to keep us united. Let’s help him.”Key student protest leader Nahid Islam resigned on Tuesday from the government cabinet — where he headed the telecoms ministry — ahead of the expected launch of a new political party on Friday.Yunus has said he inherited a “completely broken down” system of public administration and justice that needs a comprehensive overhaul to prevent a future return to autocracy. Waker said security forces accused of a raft of allegations “of enforced disappearances, murder, and torture must be investigated”.”Punishment must be ensured,” he said. “Otherwise, we will be trapped in the same cycle.”The armed forces were granted judicial powers like the police — including making arrests — after the revolution.But Waker, a career infantry officer who has spent nearly four decades in the military, serving two tours as a UN peacekeeper, said he just wanted a break.”I just want to bring the country and the nation to a stable point and then take a vacation”, he said. “After that, we will return to our barracks.”

Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi warned England on Tuesday that memories of their famous 2023 World Cup win over the then holders gives them the confidence to pull off a Champions Trophy surprise.Both teams need a win on Wednesday in Lahore to keep alive their hopes of reaching the semi-finals in the 50-over tournament after losing their respective openers.Afghanistan shocked England in 2023 when they humbled the defending world champions by 69 runs in New Delhi.Afghanistan’s rise in white-ball cricket has been rapid.”We worked hard to achieve at this level and are ready to play every game in a positive way,” Shahidi said on the eve of the pivotal Group B clash.”We will take that confidence with us what happened in the 2023 World Cup. But at the same time, tomorrow is a new day and we will try our best to beat them again.”Afghanistan started the eight-nation Champions Trophy with a 107-run hammering by South Africa in Karachi.Their bowlers took a beating in South Africa’s impressive total of 315-6. Ace spinner Rashid Khan went wicketless and leaked 59 runs from his 10 overs of leg-spin.In turn Afghanistan were bowled out for a meagre 208. Shahidi, however, expects a much better show from his side at the Gaddafi Stadium and believes the Afghan spinners could be the difference on what he expects to be a turning pitch.”When we bat first that gives us more chance. At the same time in the last World Cup we beat teams batting second,” Shahidi told reporters.”But in the South Africa game the wicket was supportive for fast bowling and there was no support for spinners. I didn’t see even one ball turn. “The world knows we have quality spinners. Hopefully we have some support for our spinners in tomorrow’s game.”England came under pressure from British politicians to boycott Wednesday’s game over the treatment of Afghan women by the ruling Taliban.The England and Wales Cricket Board resisted the demand but said they would not schedule a bilateral series against Afghanistan.Shahidi batted away questions about it on the eve of the match.”We are cricket players, we are sportsmen,” said Shahidi.”What we control is what we do on the ground, we don’t worry what is happening off the ground. So our confidence is good.”

Gloom and demands for wholesale change engulfed cricket-crazy Pakistan on Tuesday after the hosts crashed out of the Champions Trophy in the group stage, barely a week into celebrating the return of a major tournament.The title-holders lost their opening game to New Zealand by 60 runs in Karachi last week before Sunday’s six-wicket defeat to arch-rivals India pushed them to the brink of an early exit.Pakistan needed Bangladesh to beat New Zealand on Monday to keep their slim hopes of a place in the semi-finals alive, but the result went the other way.Thursday’s match with Bangladesh in Rawalpindi has been reduced to a dead-rubber.”We have been backing these players for the last few years but they are not learning nor improving,” former captain Wasim Akram told AFP.”It is time for a major shake-up. We need to improve our system of domestic cricket so that we can produce quality cricketers, not ordinary ones.”A lack of competitiveness in domestic cricket and low-quality pitches have been blamed for not preparing players for the international stage.The sport in Pakistan is also held back by frequent changes to the cricket board, coaching teams and selection panels, critics say.Such changes are driven by politics and not merit, according to observers.”I feel very despondent with the state of Pakistan cricket,” former captain Rashid Latif told AFP. “We have to follow merit and bring in professionals in the administration of the game and not people on a political basis.”Frequent changes in the Pakistan Cricket Board, selection committee and captains have failed us in forming a proper set-up and team.”- ‘No fight’ -The early elimination stings for a country that had relished hosting its first major cricket tournament in 29 years, after significant improvements in security. “We were thrilled that an international event had finally returned to our country, but the joy was short-lived,” said 26-year-old Umar Siraj, a pharmacist in Rawalpindi.”The hardest part of being a Pakistan fan is that you end up praying for other teams to lose,” he chuckled. “It’s painful. I’m gutted.”Pakistan’s Champions Trophy flop is nothing new. They also crashed out of the 2023 ODI World Cup in the first round in India.It was followed by their exit at the same stage in the Twenty20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies last year — a tournament won by neighbours India.Pakistan last month finished ninth and last in the World Test Championship after drawing a home series with the West Indies.The latest debacle, and on home soil, represents a new low.”It is disappointing that they didn’t even put up a fight,” said Naseem Satti, a 46-year-old government servant.”We have no quality bowlers, no reliable batters and it seems cricket is dead in Pakistan.”Asma Batool, a 52-year-old housewife, underlined just what cricket means to people in Pakistan.”Cricket is the only source of entertainment for our youth,” she said.”Our nation finds solace in this game.”