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Champions Trophy: Ponting backs Fraser-McGurk as Australia’s opener in SF against India

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Dubai, March 4: Former skipper Ricky Ponting backed youngster Jake Fraser-McGurk to replace injured Matt Short at the top of Australia’s batting order for their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final clash against India on Tuesday.

Short was ruled out due to an injury to his left quadriceps which he sustained during Australia’s washed out Group B game against Afghanistan. His absence promotes travelling reserve Cooper Connolly into the squad.

Connolly is a powerful hitter and also a capable off-spin bowler, proving to be a like-for-like replacement but Ponting is putting his faith in Fraser-McGurk, who has so far made seven appearances for Australia in ODIs, hitting at a strike-rate of 132l, averaging just 14 runs with a top score of 41.

“He can slot straight into that position. To be honest, that’s the way I would probably go and just hope that he has one of his days because in games like these, the semi-finals, must-win, big games, you need to throw caution to the wind,” Ponting said in the latest edition of The ICC Review.

“I think he’s the sort of player that if you back him, and give him an opportunity, he might just be good enough to win a big game for you like that,” he said.

Ponting give Fraser-McGurk the nod partially due to his excellent performance in the IPL in 2024, where he finished with a strike-rate of 234 from nine innings.

“He probably has been a little bit disappointed with his output in the opportunities that he’s had in the last six months. So this might just be the game where he can do something…like he did in the IPL with the Delhi Capitals last season,” Ponting added.

Ponting also suggested some potential alternatives, including the batters that already feature in Australia’s playing XI at the Champions Trophy.

“They could even move Steve Smith up there and open the batting. He’s done a terrific job when he’s opened in T20 cricket the last couple of years. He’s a good player of fast bowling, which was one of the points I made before trying to negate that new ball and get through to those middle-overs.

“They could put Josh Inglis up there if they wanted to, and then leave someone like Cooper Connolly as another left-hander in the middle order that could give them some spin options,” he concluded.

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PCB postpones men’s domestic tournaments with immediate effect amid India-Pak tensions

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Lahore, May 10: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday announced the immediate postponement of all men’s domestic tournaments in the country owing to escalating cross-border tensions with India.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board confirms that the ongoing President’s Trophy Grade-II, Regional Intra-District Challenge Cup, Inter-District U19 One-Day tournament have been postponed with immediate effect due to prevailing security condition in the country.”

“The tournaments will resume from the same stage later and a revised schedule will be shared closer to the resumption,” said the PCB in its official statement on Saturday.

Previously on Friday, after the BCCI paused IPL 2025 for a week due to growing tensions between the two nations on the border areas, the PCB had announced it has postponed the ongoing edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) for an indefinite period, citing the advice given by Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

The tournament’s postponement news came hours after PCB claimed it was going to host the remaining eight matches of the tournament in the UAE, though the organisation didn’t specify the dates or venues of those rescheduled matches.

PSL’s future had come under great uncertainty after a drone had crashed at a food street near the Rawalpindi International Cricket Stadium, which resulted in Thursday’s match between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings being postponed indefinitely.

Two weeks after 26 people were gunned down by terrorists in Pahalgam – a popular tourist destination in Jammu & Kashmir, India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ to target terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.

Pakistan continued its aerial attacks, comprising drones and missiles, on Indian border cities as well as across other military stations in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat on Friday. But all of them were successfully foiled by India’s defence systems.

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IPL 2025 suspended indefinitely, BCCI cites national interest

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New Delhi, May 9: Amid the escalating military conflict between India and Pakistan, the BCCI has decided to suspend the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season indefinitely in an emergency meeting on Friday, sources told Media.

After Thursday’s IPL 2025 match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals was called off after 10.1 overs of play at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala following the air and drone strikes from Pakistan which resulted in blackouts in Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur, all of which are in close proximity to Dharamshala, the future of the tournament looked uncertain and BCCI convened emergency meeting to decide the way forward.

“IPL to be suspended, BCCI will issue detailed information anytime soon, the BCCI sources told Media on Friday. “Yes, the meeting just got over. After discussing with all the concerned authorities, this decision was made. Further details will be shared by the BCCI, ” it added.

“BCCI wants to stand with the nation at this time and thus suspends IPL 2025 with immediate effect. It’s indefinite at the moment (on a window to resume IPL 2025 in future). It will only happen if there will be time later in the year. But for now nothing,” said IPL sources to Media.

Following the abandonment of the Dharamshala match, several Australian players involved in the league reportedly expressed anxiety over their safety.

A special train has been arranged to evacuate both Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals players and support staff members, match officials, commentators, broadcast crew members and other key personnel associated with IPL 2025 to get them to a safe place.

After India launched precision strikes targeting nine high-value terror camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok), in response to the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives, Pakistan attempted to engage in number of military targets in Northern and Western India on May 7-8.

India on Thursday morning targeted the Air Defence Radars and systems at several locations in Pakistan, during which the one at Lahore has been neutralised.

Later, Pakistan launched aerial attacks on Jammu as well as several military stations near the western border, but those were successfully foiled by India’s air defence systems.

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High alert sounded in Rajasthan border districts, leaves of govt employees cancelled

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Jaipur, May 8: A high alert has been issued in districts near the Rajasthan border following India’s airstrikes on nine terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. As a precautionary measure, all flight operations at Kishangarh and Jodhpur airports have been suspended until May 10.

Rajasthan shares a 1,037-km border with Pakistan, which has been sealed with the Border Security Force personnel maintaining high vigilance. The Indian Air Force is also on high alert.

All government and private schools, along with anganwadi centres in the border districts of Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, and Sri Ganganagar have been declared closed until further notice.

The government employees in these areas have had their leaves cancelled and were instructed to remain at their headquarters.

The state authorities have called for heightened surveillance on social media platforms and reinforced security at sensitive locations.

Hospitals have been directed to maintain an adequate blood supply and life-saving medicines, while fire services remain on high alert to handle any emergencies.

The Home Department has instructed all District Collectors, especially those in border districts — Ganganagar, Bikaner, Phalodi, Jaisalmer, and Barmer — to maintain close coordination with the army and central agencies.

Key instructions issued include ensuring hospitals are equipped with life-saving medicines and sufficient blood supplies, identifying and preparing safe zones with backup power (generators) for emergencies, acting swiftly against any provocative content or misinformation on social media, monitoring food supplies, discouraging hoarding, and ensuring availability of essentials.

Fuel pumps have been asked to stock adequate quantities of petrol and diesel.

Directions to prepare evacuation plans for border villages in case of escalations and compiling a list of vulnerable locations, and strengthening security at these sites have also been issued.

In Jodhpur, District Collector Gaurav Agrawal announced late at night holidays for all government, private schools, colleges, anganwadi and coaching institutes. Also, exams to be held on May 8th have been postponed.

Barmer District Collector Tina Dabi has announced holidays for all government and private schools, anganwadis, and madrassas from May 8 in response to any emergency situation.

In Jaisalmer, District Collector Pratap Singh Nathawat has issued closure orders for all educational institutions. Additionally, a 4-hour blackout was imposed in Jaisalmer from 12 midnight to 4 a.m. on Thursday to enhance operational security.

Sri Ganganagar and Bikaner District Collectors Dr. Manju (Sri Ganganagar) and Namrata Vrishni (Bikaner) have announced school closures until further notice, citing heightened tensions along the border.

These precautionary steps have been taken as India prepares for potential retaliation from Pakistan following Operation Sindoor.

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