International Sports

Match Preview: India and Pakistan to face off in Dubai at Champions Trophy

Anticipation for Sunday’s encounter has meanwhile reached fever pitch, given their last 50-over encounter was way back in 2023 at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup

Published

2 years ago

February 23, 2025

Ariana News

Cricket’s fiercest rivals will lock horns on Sunday in a battle that will prove pivotal to the pair’s ICC Champions Trophy aspirations and in the world of cricket, it doesn’t get much bigger than this.

Dating back to 1952, India and Pakistan is a rivalry that’s not only stood the test of time, but continues to grow and evolve.

These South Asian nations find another gear when they meet, the ICC states.

Anticipation for Sunday’s encounter has meanwhile reached fever pitch, given their last 50-over encounter was way back in 2023 at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, where India claimed a seven-wicket win.

The two sides also met at last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, where India prevailed by just six runs.

But for Pakistan, the team has reached the point of desperation as the host nation needs to win if they want to progress to the semi-finals.

While Pakistan had a good run recently when they beat South Africa in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy, they lost to New Zealand in the opening event last week.

In contrast, India however are eight wins from nine games in white-ball cricket this year so far, and unbeaten from four in ODIs.

India dominated England 3-0 leading into the Champions Trophy, before taking care of Bangladesh in their first tournament match.

For Pakistan, their opening match last week got off to a poor start when they fell to a 60-run loss to the Black Caps in Karachi. The news also got worse for the reigning champions when it was revealed that star opener Fakhar Zaman would miss the remainder of the tournament due to injury.

ICC Hall of Famer Ricky Ponting meanwhile dissected where it went wrong for Pakistan in their opening match against New Zealand and what they need to put in place to upset arch-rivals India in Dubai.

Ponting discussed Pakistan’s plight with Sanjana Ganesan on the most recent episode of The ICC Review and said he thinks it is going to be tough for the Asian side to put the loss of Fakhar behind them and return to winning ways against India.

“It’s going to be hard for Pakistan now,” Ponting said.

“We spoke only a few days ago and my prediction for that game was that Pakistan would beat New Zealand and probably beat them quite comfortably.

“Fakhar’s injury didn’t help their cause but they were chasing a very big total on the back of some great batting from New Zealand. To post 320, it was always going to be a hard run chase.

“With Pakistan, we talk about it every tournament, they’re unpredictable. You never quite know what they’re going to do.

“On their day, they were as capable as anybody. And now, having lost to New Zealand, they’re going to have to be at their absolute best against India to beat them.

“India’s got off to a great start, Pakistan not so much. And with that injury that we spoke about, I think it’s going to be hard for them to bounce back, but they can.”

Sympathy for Fakhar

Ponting had sympathy for Fakhar, who injured himself while fielding against New Zealand and was then visibly disappointed after he was dismissed with the knowledge that his injury had flared and he would likely miss the remainder of the tournament.

Pakistan confirmed on Thursday that Imam-ul-Haq had been brought into their squad to replace Fakhar and Ponting said the team needed to move on as quickly as possible to ensure they give their best against India.

On Fakhar’s injury he said: “It is heartbreaking. These players work for these big tournaments. He’s been in super touch as well. been making a lot of runs.

“And his teammates would be gutted not to have him, but even more so for him…it’s always a hard thing to get over, but at the end of the day, you have to get over it. You’ve got to find a way to bounce back really quickly.

“The best thing you can do is sit back in the dressing room that night and discuss it and put it to bed and leave it there. And then when you get up the next day, as a group, you’ve got to find a way to regroup and find someone that can come in and do a good job for Pakistan.”

Sunday’s match will be played in Dubai and gets underway at 1:30pm Kabul time.

Fans across the country can tune in to Ariana Television at 12:30pm for a preview show. The match will then be broadcast live across the country.

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International Sports

Crystal Palace cruise into EFL Cup fourth round

Strand Larsen doubled the advantage eight minutes after the restart, meeting Ben Chilwell’s cross from the left to score his second of the night.

Published

3 weeks ago

September 9, 2026

Ariana News

Crystal Palace advanced to the fourth round of the English Football League (EFL) Cup with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Championship side Middlesbrough at Selhurst Park.

Jørgen Strand Larsen scored twice with headers, one in each half, before substitute Daichi Kamada added a superb third to seal Palace’s progress.

Palace, who made eight changes from their 3-2 Premier League win over Fulham, took the lead when Óscar Mingueza delivered a cross from the right for Strand Larsen to head home.

Strand Larsen doubled the advantage eight minutes after the restart, meeting Ben Chilwell’s cross from the left to score his second of the night.

Kamada then completed the victory shortly after coming on, expertly chipping the ball over Middlesbrough goalkeeper Sol Brynn from outside the penalty area.

Middlesbrough struggled to create clear chances, with Amario Cozier-Duberry forcing Palace goalkeeper Walter Benítez into a save with 15 minutes remaining.

Strand Larsen was named Player of the Match after a standout performance.

Chelsea vs Leeds live on ATN

Football fans in Afghanistan can watch tonight’s EFL Cup action live and exclusively on Ariana Television Network (ATN), with Chelsea taking on Leeds United.

ATN will broadcast Chelsea vs Leeds live tonight, giving fans across Afghanistan the chance to watch the match exclusively on Ariana Television.

International Sports

Messi returns to Inter Miami after Argentina retirement

The Argentine superstar marked his return by creating both of Miami’s goals, underlining his continued importance to the club after revealing his decision to step away from the Argentina national team.

Published

3 weeks ago

September 6, 2026

Ariana News

Lionel Messi returned to Inter Miami action on Saturday following his announcement that he is retiring from international football, helping the Major League Soccer champions to a 2-2 draw with Atlanta United.

The Argentine superstar marked his return by creating both of Miami’s goals, underlining his continued importance to the club just days after revealing his decision to step away from the Argentina national team.

The match was delayed by 90 minutes because of thunderstorms and lightning, but Messi provided plenty of fireworks once play finally got underway.

Miami opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when Brazilian midfielder Casemiro rose to head home Messi’s corner.

Atlanta hit back just three minutes later, with former Newcastle forward Miguel Almirón firing a low shot beyond the Miami defence.

Messi was again at the centre of the action just before half-time. He started a move down the left that eventually allowed former Liverpool and Barcelona striker Luis Suárez to calmly finish and restore Miami’s lead.

But Atlanta refused to surrender, with Swiss striker Breel Embolo converting an 87th-minute penalty to earn the visitors a point.

For Messi, the match represented his first appearance since announcing his international retirement and offered an early glimpse of the next chapter of his career, with his focus now firmly on Inter Miami.

The result came during a busy night of MLS action.

Toronto and Chicago played out a remarkable 4-4 draw, while Philadelphia defeated Montreal 2-0, with 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan scoring his fourth goal of the season.

Sullivan now has 11 goal contributions this season, surpassing Freddy Adu’s previous record of 10 for a 16-year-old.

In Orlando, Antoine Griezmann scored in the 28th minute to give the hosts a 1-0 victory over San Diego, while Austin rescued a 1-1 draw against San Jose through Guilherme Biro’s seventh-minute stoppage-time equaliser.

International Sports

Iranian clubs to face Gulf opponents at neutral venues in Asian Champions League Elite

Tehran-based Esteghlal and Tabriz-based Tractor will face UAE sides Al Ain, Al Wasl and Shabab Al Ahli, as well as Qatar’s Al Gharafa, Al Sadd and Al Shamal.

Published

4 weeks ago

September 2, 2026

Ariana News

Iranian clubs Esteghlal and Tractor will play their AFC Champions League Elite matches against teams from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates at neutral venues, following the August 18 league-stage draw in Kuala Lumpur.

The Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) premier club competition is scheduled to begin on September 14, with matches involving the Iranian clubs to be played at neutral venues.

Tehran-based Esteghlal and Tabriz-based Tractor will face UAE sides Al Ain, Al Wasl and Shabab Al Ahli, as well as Qatar’s Al Gharafa, Al Sadd and Al Shamal.

The 2026/27 AFC Champions League Elite features an expanded 32-team format, with 16 clubs competing in each of the Western and Eastern zones. The top eight teams from each zone will advance to the round of 16.

The knockout stages will continue through the regional rounds, with the quarterfinals, semifinals and final scheduled to be played in Saudi Arabia from April 23 to May 1, 2027.

Meanwhile, Ariana Television Network (ATN) will broadcast AFC Champions League Elite matches across Afghanistan, bringing fans nationwide live coverage of some of the biggest club football fixtures in Asia.

Fans across Afghanistan are urged to stay tuned to ATN for more updates, match schedules and broadcast details.