Islamabad urges Afghanistan to assure its soil is not used against Pakistan

DUBAI: Cricketing powerhouses India and Pakistan renew their storied if rare rivalry in the most hotly-anticipated match of the 2025 Champions Trophy in Dubai on Sunday.
AFP Sport looks back at six memorable ODI matches between the bitter rivals ahead of their latest clash.
Javed Miandad’s last-ball six at the desert venue arguably remains the most dramatic ODI outcome between the two sides as Pakistan clinched a one-wicket victory.
Pakistan needed 246 to win in 50 overs and Miandad walked in at 61-3 to hit an unbeaten 116 off 114 balls.
With four needed off the final delivery, Indian fast bowler Chetan Sharma bowled a full toss and Miandad blasted the ball into the crowd to trigger wild celebrations among the Pakistan team and fans.
Miandad was later presented with a golden sword for his heroics.
Imran Khan’s best bowling figures of 6-14 were in a one-day international against India but for the flamboyant Pakistan fast bowler it was all in vain.
Imran ripped through the Indian batting line-up at Sharjah to send the opposition packing for 125.
But Pakistan’s own batting imploded, skittled for just 87 with Ramiz Raja, top-scorer with 29, one of only four batsmen in double figures.
India’s Ajay Jadeja blasted a 25-ball 45 in a late blitz that helped India knock out holders Pakistan in a highly-charged World Cup quarter-final.
Jadeja was severe on Pakistan’s Waqar Younis as he hit the pace bowler for four fours and two sixes in the final few overs to propel the total to 287-8.
In reply, Pakistan were sailing along when opener Aamir Sohail smashed India’s Venkatesh Prasad for a boundary before sledging his opponent.
But Venkatesh got the left-handed batsman bowled on the next ball to bring the house down and Pakistan lost their way to lose by 39 runs.
Sourav Ganguly hit a match-winning century to trump Saeed Anwar’s 140 in a deciding best-of-three final of Bangladesh’s Silver Jubilee Independence Cup in Dhaka.
Ganguly’s knock of 124 was laced with 11 fours and one six as India chased down their victory target of 315 with one ball to spare.
The left-handed Ganguly was named man of the match but lesser-known Hrishikesh Kanitkar stole the show in the end when India needed three on the final two balls and he hit a boundary on the penultimate delivery.
The chase was a world record at the time.
Sachin Tendulkar won many matches for India but his 98 against Pakistan at the 2003 World Cup remains special due his duel with fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.
Tendulkar stood tall in his 75-ball knock that guided India in their chase of 274 against a Pakistan bowling line-up boasting Wasim Akram, Waqar and Akhtar.
He uppercut one of Akhtar’s express deliveries to a delightful six over third man — a shot that became iconic in Tendulkar’s career.
Akhtar later got Tendulkar’s wicket but the damage had been done and India won by six wickets.
Pakistan came in as underdogs in the Champions Trophy final, but stunned India by 180 runs, riding on a sparkling century by Fakhar Zaman.
Zaman’s 114 off 106 balls and a 128-run opening stand with Azhar Ali guided Pakistan to a mammoth 338 for four and deflated Virat Kohli’s India at The Oval.
The left-hander clobbered the Indian attack, including fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, hitting 12 fours and three sixes.
Pakistan’s bowlers then came out firing and dismissed India for just 158 in 30.3 overs despite Hardik Pandya’s 76. Fast bowler Hasan Ali took 3-19.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formally approached the International Cricket Council (ICC) seeking an explanation for the omission of the country’s name from the Champions Trophy branding during the live broadcast of the match between India and Bangladesh in Dubai, as reported by ESPN Cricinfo on Friday.
The tournament, being staged after a hiatus of eight years, is the first major ICC championship in Pakistan since the country hosted the 1996 ODI World Cup. During the broadcast of the game in Dubai, the logo displayed in the top-left corner featured the event name, Champions Trophy 2025, but omitted the host nation’s name, Pakistan, prompting the PCB’s response.
“The ICC is believed to have informally told PCB it was an early technical error, [but] the explanation has left PCB dissatisfied,” ESPN Cricinfo reported. “Graphics are prepared and provided to the live ICC feed well in advance; that Pakistan’s name was on the logo for the opening game of the tournament has left PCB unconvinced over why the issue arose for the game between Bangladesh and India.”
The ICC has assured that future broadcasts will not have the same issue, regardless of whether matches are played in Pakistan or the United Arab Emirates.
The championship’s hybrid model was established after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed the PCB that the Indian government would not permit its team to play in Pakistan, leading to an agreement where India’s matches are held at neutral venues.
India will now face Pakistan in a highly anticipated match on Sunday in Dubai.
For Pakistan, the encounter is crucial to maintain their chances of advancing in the tournament, especially after a 60-run defeat to New Zealand in the opening match held at the National Stadium in Karachi.