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Melbourne Stars sign Zahir Khan for Big Bash League
Australia’s Melbourne Stars have secured Afghanistan spinner Zahir Khan ahead of the upcoming Big Bash League season.
Stars announced the agreement on their website Wednesday and said the 21-year-old left-arm wrist spinner is expected to be available for the full BBL season.
Khan’s signing follows last week’s confirmation the club had also secured England’s Jonny Bairstow and West Indian Nicholas Pooran on the club’s international roster.
Khan played eight matches for the Brisbane Heat last season, taking eight wickets and has represented teams in the IPL, Caribbean Premier League and Pakistan Super League.
Khan said he was excited about playing for Stars and said he expected them to do well in the upcoming BBL.
“I’m really looking forward to playing for the Stars during this BBL season. The squad is looking strong and I’d like to thank the club for giving me the chance to be part of it. Together I am sure we will build a successful season,” Khan said.
Melbourne Stars Head Coach David Hussey welcomed Khan’s signing.
“We’re looking forward to having Zahir on board for this season. His left arm wrist spin will give us a variety of options. Together with Adam Zampa, Tom O’Connell, Clint Hinchliffe and the support our skipper Glenn Maxwell, we’re pleased with the group of spinners we’ll have available over the course of the season,” Hussey said.
Meanwhile, Melbourne Stars General Manager Nick Cummins said the club had almost finalised the squad for the season.
“We’re bringing together some of the most talented T20 players in the world this season with a truly international roster. We’re looking forward to having Zahir on board and the support of Melbourne’s Afghan community behind him,” Cummins said.
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Girls’ education is a ‘vital issue’ for Afghanistan: Karzai
Former president Hamid Karzai said in a meeting with Iran’s ambassador and special representative, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, that education of girls was a “vital issue” for Afghanistan.
Karzai said he appreciated Iran’s cooperation and its standing with the Afghan people, especially Iran’s contributions to education in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Karzai said peace and stability in the region are in the interest of all regional countries.
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Uzbekistan’s humanitarian aid arrives in Balkh
A shipment of humanitarian aid from Uzbekistan was handed over on Thursday to the local officials of Balkh province in the trade port of Hairatan.
Local authorities said the aid, which includes flour, oil, wheat, sugar and meat, has been handed over by Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya governor to the governor of Balkh.
The governor of Surkhandarya stated the purpose of sending this aid was to support the people of Afghanistan and stressed the need for the development of good relations between the two countries.
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Afghanistan’s problems caused more damage to Pakistan than 3 wars with India: Durrani
Islamabad’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said on Wednesday that Pakistan has suffered more due to Afghanistan’s internal situation than Pakistan has suffered in three wars with India in terms of blood spilt and finances drained.
Durrani said at a one-day International Conference titled “Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape”, which was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), that over 80,000 Pakistanis died in the two decades of the War on Terror and that his country was still counting its dead and injured.
“After the withdrawal of NATO forces, it was hoped that peace in Afghanistan would bring peace to the region. However, such expectations were short-lived,” he said.
He also stated that attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group on Pakistan’s border areas increased by 65 percent, while suicide attacks increased by 500 percent.
“The TTP’s enhanced attacks on Pakistan while using Afghan soil have been a serious concern for Pakistan. Another worrying aspect is the participation of Afghan nationals in these attacks,” he said.
Durrani also said Pakistan had suffered geopolitically since the Soviet Union invaded the neighboring country.
“The post-9/11 world order has negatively impacted Pakistan. Apart from losing 80,000 citizens’ lives, including 8,000 law enforcement agency personnel, the country’s economic opportunity cost is estimated at $150 billion,” Durrani said.
Talking about the future outlook for Pakistan in the regional context, Durrani said that while “our eastern neighbor is likely to continue with its anti-Pakistan pursuits, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term.”
However, he said Pakistan can overcome its difficulties with Afghanistan, including the TTP challenge.
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