AFP Asia

India vice-captain Shubman Gill on Saturday said the eagerly-awaited match against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy is a fan favourite, but for his team it’s business as usual.The arch-rivals face off in Dubai on Sunday with the blockbuster clash expected to draw a packed house as the two teams only meet in multi-nation events due to political tensions.India had refused to travel to host country Pakistan for the 50-over tournament and instead will play all their matches at the 25,000-capacity Dubai International Stadium.Gill led India to victory against Bangladesh in their opening game, scoring an unbeaten 101 at the top of the order, and he said the team will try to keep up their winning habit.”It doesn’t change anything for us honestly,” Gill said of taking on Pakistan.”We play every match to win and this is no different for us and this is how we prepare for any match that we play. So that’s how we are going to prepare for this one as well.”TV ratings soar when the Asian giants clash on the cricket field as millions tune into watch the match, which gives huge revenue to broadcasters.Streets are deserted in India and Pakistan when the two play each other and Gill said he cannot deny the excitement among the fans.”There is a long history of India-Pakistan and it’s a very exciting contest when both the teams play,” said Gill.”Everyone enjoys watching it. If so many people are getting happiness in watching this match then who are we to say under-hype or over-hype?”He added: “We go out to play cricket. We try our best to represent our country and try our best to win.”The rivals last met in a one-day game at the 2023 World Cup in Ahmedabad, with hosts India winning by seven wickets.- Bring our ‘A-game’ -India know a victory will put them in sight of the semi-finals, while Pakistan are playing for survival in the tournament after their loss to New Zealand in the opener.New Zealand top Group A ahead of India on a better run-rate. Pakistan are fourth and bottom of the group.The top two teams from each of the two groups make the semi-finals.When pressed further about the enormity of the game, Gill said: “I think it is a big match. But I think the biggest match will obviously be the finals that the team plays. And definitely, we have been playing some good ODI cricket.”Gill said Pakistan remain a dangerous side despite some poor results.”Pakistan, unfortunately, has lost some matches recently,” said Gill.”But by no means, I think we are going to take them as a lesser side. I think they have got a good side and it is important for us to bring our A-game tomorrow.”Gill has been in the form of his life in the 50-over format and on Thursday hit his second successive ODI century after he played a key role in India’s recent 3-0 sweep of England.Back-up wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant did not practise on the eve of the match with Pakistan and Gill said he is down with “viral fever”.

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.- Miandad six (April 18, 1986 – Sharjah) -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 stings (March 22, 1985 – Sharjah) -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. – Jadeja fires (March 09, 1996 – Bangalore) -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.- Ganguly ton (January 18, 1998 – Dhaka) -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.- Tendulkar rules (March 1, 2003 – Centurion) -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.- Zaman special (June 18, 2017 – London) -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.

An American-Lebanese man was found guilty Friday of attempting to kill novelist Salman Rushdie when storming a stage and repeatedly plunging a knife into the “Satanic Verses” author.Hadi Matar faces up to 25 years in prison and will be sentenced in April after being convicted of attempted murder and assault charges over the 2022 attack.Matar’s legal team had sought to prevent witnesses from characterizing Rushdie as a victim of persecution following Iran’s 1989 fatwa calling for his murder over supposed blasphemy in “The Satanic Verses.”Rushdie had told jurors of Matar “stabbing and slashing” him during an event at an upscale cultural center in rural New York.”It was a stab wound in my eye, intensely painful, after that I was screaming because of the pain,” Rushdie said, adding he was left in a “lake of blood.”He said it “occurred to me I was dying” before he was helicoptered to a trauma hospital.Jurors heard closing arguments from both prosecutors and defense lawyers before retiring briefly to consider their verdict Friday. They deliberated for less than two hours.Matar was found guilty of stabbing Rushdie about 10 times with a six-inch blade that had been shown to witnesses and the court.The defendant shouted pro-Palestinian slogans on several occasions during the trial.- Free speech v. blasphemy -Matar, from New Jersey, previously told media he had only read two pages of “The Satanic Verses” but believed the author had “attacked Islam.”After the novel was published in 1988, Rushdie became the center of a fierce tug-of-war between free speech advocates and those who insisted that insulting religion, particularly Islam, was unacceptable in any circumstance.Books and bookshops were torched, his Japanese translator was murdered and his Norwegian publisher was shot several times.Rushdie lived in seclusion in London for a decade after the 1989 fatwa, but for the past 20 years — until the attack — he lived relatively normally in New York.Last year, he published a memoir called “Knife” in which he recounted the near-death experience.The optical nerve of Rushdie’s right eye was severed, and he told the court that “it was decided the eye would be stitched shut to allow it to moisturize. It was quite a painful operation — which I don’t recommend.”Asked to describe the intensity of the pain over the attack, he said it was “a 10″ out of 10.His Adam’s apple was also lacerated, his liver and small bowel penetrated, and severe nerve damage to his arm left him paralyzed in one hand.”The first thing I said on regaining the ability of speech was ‘I can speak’,” he said to stifled laughter from jurors.British-American Rushdie, now 77, was rescued from Matar by bystanders.Venue employee Jordan Steves had told the court how he launched himself “with my right shoulder with as much force as I could manage” to help others subdue the suspect.He pointed to Matar, sitting just feet away in the ornate courtroom, when asked to identify the attacker.Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant organization Hezbollah endorsed the fatwa on Rushdie, the FBI has said, and Matar faces a separate prosecution in US federal court on terrorism charges.Iran has denied any link to the attacker and said only Rushdie was to blame for the incident.

Opener Ryan Rickelton struck a maiden one-day international hundred as South Africa routed Afghanistan by 107 runs in the Champions Trophy in Karachi on Friday.Rickelton cracked a 106-ball 103 with seven boundaries and a six to anchor South Africa’s imposing total of 315-6 in the Group B match at the National Stadium. South Africa’s pace attack of Kagiso Rabada (3-36), Wiaan Mulder (2-36) and Lungi Ngidi (2-56) then dismissed highly-fancied Afghanistan for just 208 in 43.3 overs.South Africa blunted the threat of Afghanistan’s slow bowlers with star leg-spinner Rashid Khan going wicketless for 59 runs in his 10 overs.Rahmat Shah top-scored for Afghanistan with a fighting 92-ball 90 with nine boundaries and a six before he was the last man out. Chasing a formidable target, Afghanistan desperately needed a fast start but lost flamboyant openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 10 and Ibrahim Zadran for only 17 by the 10th over.Sediqullah Atal fell for 16 while skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi went without scoring as Afghanistan were left teetering at 50-4.Shah and Azmatullah Omarzai (18) took the score to 89 before Rabada and Marco Jansen, who got rid of Mohammad Nabi, struck to effectively end Afghanistan’s hopes.Rashid Khan briefly entertained the crowd with a quickfire 13-ball 18 including a six and three boundaries.Earlier, Rickelton was ably assisted by skipper Temba Bavuma (58), Rassie van der Dussen (52) and Aiden Markram (52 not out) to steer South Africa to a solid total after they won the toss and batted.Nabi, who finished with 2-51, provided an early breakthrough with his first ball by dismissing opener Tony de Zorzi, caught at mid-on for 11.Rickelton and Bavuma then added 129 for the second wicket as Afghanistan toiled in the field.Bavuma hit five boundaries in his 76-ball knock before he was finally caught off a short Nabi delivery to give some joy to hundreds of Afghan fans in an otherwise sparse crowd.Rickelton, who has two Test centuries to his name but a previous best of only 91 in ODIs, completed his first white ball century with a single. Two runs later, however, he was gone, victim of an unlucky run out. Coming down the pitch to drive Rashid, Rickelton was forced to turn quickly and dive back into his crease as the bowler collected and fired the ball to wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz.Rickelton appeared to make his ground but replays showed that his bat was slightly raised so not in the crease when Gurbaz whipped off the bails. Van der Dussen hammered two sixes and three boundaries in his 46-ball knock before falling to spinner Noor Ahmad in the 43rd over.It was left to Markram to take South Africa past the 300-mark, clubbing six boundaries and a six in a 36-ball 52 not out that helped the Proteas to add 50 runs in the last five overs.Australia meet England in another Group B clash in Lahore on Saturday.Pakistan, India, New Zealand and Bangladesh are in Group A. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.

Pakistan face arch-rivals India in a Champions Trophy blockbuster on Sunday in front of a sell-out Dubai crowd knowing that another defeat will virtually end their title defence.The neighbours only meet in multi-nation events because of political tensions and the match is taking place in Dubai after India refused to travel to tournament hosts Pakistan.In front of what is expected to be a full house at the 25,000-capacity Dubai International Stadium, and with hundreds of millions more watching glued to their televisions, Pakistan are under pressure.Mohammad Rizwan’s side were well beaten by New Zealand by 60 runs in the opening game of the ODI competition in Karachi and realistically need to beat favourites India to stay in the hunt for a semi-final spot in the eight-nation tournament.New Zealand top Group A ahead of India — who beat Bangladesh on Thursday by six wickets — on a better run-rate. Pakistan are fourth and bottom of the group.The top two teams from each of the two groups make the semi-finals.”If we want to win against the great teams of the world and be one of the great teams of the world we will have to bring consistency,” Pakistan batsman Salman Ali Agha said.”We can’t play well in one game and bad in another.”Pakistan chased down a record 353 against South Africa last week in a tri-nation tournament at home but in the final crashed to 242 all out in a defeat to New Zealand.They suffered a big blow in the loss on Wednesday when their premier batsman Fakhar Zaman suffered a muscle injury. He has been ruled out of the tournament.Imam-ul-Haq came in as replacement for a team that hammered India in the final of the previous Champions Trophy, in 2017.That was India’s last defeat to Pakistan in an ODI match and Rohit Sharma’s men have since won five of the last six games against their greatest rivals, with one rained off.They last met in a one-day game at the 2023 World Cup in Ahmedabad, with hosts India winning by seven wickets.- Confident India -Another loss and an early exit for the hosts would take the gloss off the tournament, Pakistan’s first ICC event since co-hosting the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka.In contrast, India lived up to their favourites tag against Bangladesh, chasing down a tricky 229 with 21 balls to spare in Dubai.In-form Shubman Gill hit an unbeaten 101 for his second successive ODI century after pace spearhead Mohammed Shami returned bowling figures of 5-53.Victory for India would put them on the cusp of the last four.”After winning there is no point in having a mindset,” a confident-looking Shami said in response to a question on facing Pakistan next.”You should stay in the same frame (habit) when you win a match and when you perform well. I don’t think you need to think too much about the ICC tournament or any international match.”Fellow pace bowler Harshit Rana claimed three wickets in his team’s win and exuded the same confidence.”It’s great to perform ahead of the Pakistan match and hopefully I can take this momentum forward,” said Rana. “But the Pakistan match is just another game for us.”Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought three wars since being carved out of the subcontinent’s partition in 1947 and that rivalry is often reflected on the cricket field.Deteriorating political ties have meant the bitter rivals have not played a bilateral cricket series for over a decade.India last visited Pakistan in 2008, for the Asia Cup.

They appear tranquil soaring above Himalayan forests, but a string of cable car projects in Nepal have sparked violent protests, with locals saying environmental protection should trump tourism development.In Nepal’s eastern district of Taplejung, the community has been torn apart by a $22-million government-backed project many say will destroy livelihoods and damage ancient forests they hold as sacred.Across Nepal, five cable car projects have opened in the past two years — and 10 more are under development, according to government figures.Critics accuse the government of failing to assess the environmental impact properly.In January, protests at Taplejung escalated into battles with armed police, with four activists wounded by gunfire and 21 officers injured.The protests calmed after promises construction would be suspended, but erupted again this week, with 14 people wounded on Thursday — 11 of them members of the security forces.”We were in a peaceful protest but hired thugs showed us kukris (large knives) and attacked us — and we countered them,” protest committee leader Shree Linkhim Limbu told AFP after the latest clashes.He vowed to continue demonstrations until the project is scrapped.Around 300,000 Hindu devotees trek for hours to Taplejung’s mountaintop Pathibhara temple every year — a site also deeply sacred to the local Limbu people’s separate beliefs.In 2018, Chandra Prasad Dhakal, a businessman with powerful political ties who is also president of Nepal’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, announced the construction of a 2.5-kilometre-long (1.5-mile) cable car to the temple.The government calls it a project of “national pride”.- ‘Butchering our faith’ -Dhakal’s IME Group is also building other cable cars, including the 6.4-kilometre-long Sikles line in the Annapurna Conservation Area, which the Supreme Court upheld.The government deemed the project a “national priority”, thereby exempting it from strict planning restrictions in protected areas.The Supreme Court scrapped that controversial exemption last month, a move celebrated by environmentalists.But activists fear the project may still go ahead.Taplejung is deeply sacred to local Mukkumlung beliefs, and residents say that the clearance of around 3,000 rhododendron trees — with 10,00 more on the chopping block — to build pylons is an attack on their religion.”It is a brutal act,” said protest chief Limbu. “How can this be a national pride project when the state is only serving business interests?”Saroj Kangliba Yakthung, 26, said locals would rather efforts and funding were directed to “preserve the religious, cultural and ecological importance” of the forests.The wider forests are home to endangered species including the red panda, black bear and snow leopard.”We worship trees, stone and all living beings, but they are butchering our faith,” said Anil Subba, director of the Kathmandu-based play “Mukkumlung”, which was staged for a month as part of the protest.The hundreds of porters and dozens of tea stall workers that support trekking pilgrims fear for their livelihoods.”If they fly over us in a cable car, how will we survive?” said 38-year-old porter Chandra Tamang.The government says the cable car will encourage more pilgrims by making it easy to visit, boosting the wider economy in a country where unemployment hovers around 10 percent, and GDP per capita at just $1,377, according to the World Bank.”This will bring development,” said resident Kamala Devi Thapa, 45, adding that the new route will aid “elderly pilgrims”.- ‘Massive deforestation’ -The cable cars symbolise Nepal’s breakneck bid to cash in on tourism, making up more than six percent of the country’s GDP in 2023, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).Beyond the Pathibhara project, the government’s environmental policy is in question — in a country where 45 percent is forest.More than 255,000 trees have been cut down for infrastructure projects in the past four years, according to the environment ministry.”Nepal has witnessed massive deforestation in the name of infrastructure,” said Rajesh Rai, professor of forestry at Tribhuvan University. “This will have severe long-term consequences”.Unperturbed, the cable car builder assures his project will create 1,000 jobs and brushes aside criticism.”It won’t disturb the ecology or local culture,” Dhakal said. “If people can fly there in helicopters, why not a cable car?”The argument leaves Kendra Singh Limbu, 79, unmoved. “We are fighting to save our heritage,” he said.It has split the community, local journalist Anand Gautam told AFP.”It has turned fathers and sons against each other,” Gautam said. “Some see it as progress, others as destruction”.

In one of the world’s hottest cities, fresh and filtered water can quench the searing onslaught of climate change — but US President Donald Trump’s foreign aid freeze threatens its vital supply, an NGO says.Pakistan’s sun-parched Jacobabad city in southern Sindh province sometimes surpasses 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in increasing heatwaves causing critical health problems like dehydration and heat-stroke.In 2012, USAID committed a $66 million grant to uplift Sindh’s municipal services, including the flagship renovation of a plant pumping and purifying water from a canal 22 kilometres (14 miles) away.But Pakistani non-profit HANDS says Trump’s aid embargo has blocked $1.5 million earmarked to make the scheme viable in the long-term, putting the project at risk “within a few months”.”This has transformed our lives,” 25-year-old Tufail Ahmed told AFP in Jacobabad, where wintertime temperatures are already forecast to pass 30C next week.”If the water supply is cut off it will be very difficult for us,” he added. “Survival will be challenging, as water is the most essential thing for life.”Between September and mid-January Sindh saw rainfall 52 percent below average according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, with “moderate drought” predicted in the coming months.Heatwaves are becoming hotter, longer and more frequent due to climate change, scientists say.- Services withdrawn – The project pipes in 1.5 million gallons (5.7 million litres) daily and serves about 350,000 people in Jacobabad, HANDS says — a city where grinding poverty is commonplace.HANDS said it discovered Trump’s 90-day freeze on foreign assistance through media reports with no prior warning.”Since everything is just suspended we have to withdraw our staff and we have to withdraw all services for this water project,” HANDS CEO Shaikh Tanveer Ahmed told AFP.Forty-seven staff, including experts who manage the water purification and service the infrastructure, have been sent home.The service will likely stop functioning “within the next few months”, Ahmed predicted, and the project will be “a total failure” unless another funder steps in.The scheme is currently in the hands of the local government who lack the technical or revenue collection expertise HANDS was developing to fund the supply from bill payments, rather than donations.The international aid community has been in a tailspin over Trump’s campaign to downsize or dismantle swathes of the US government — led by his top donor and the world’s richest man Elon Musk.The most concentrated fire has been on Washington’s aid agency USAID, whose $42.8 billion budget represents 42 percent of humanitarian aid disbursed worldwide.But it accounts for only between 0.7 and 1.4 percent of total US government spending in the last quarter century, according to the Pew Research Center.Trump has claimed USAID is “run by radical lunatics” while Musk has described it as a “criminal organisation” needing to be put “through the woodchipper”.In Jacobabad, 47-year-old local social activist Abdul Ghani pleaded for its work to continue.”If the supply is cut off it will severely affect the public,” he said. “Poverty is widespread here and we cannot afford alternatives.”- ‘Supply cannot be stopped’ -Residents complain the Jacobabad supply is patchy but still describe it as an invaluable service in a city where the alternative is buying water from private donkey-drawn tankers.Eighteen-year-old student Noor Ahmed said before “our women had to walk for hours” to collect water. HANDS says the private tankers have a monthly cost of up to 10 times more than their rate of 500 rupees ($1.80) and often contain contaminants like arsenic. “The dirty water we used to buy was harmful to our health and falling ill would cost us even more,” said 55-year-old Sadruddin Lashari.”This water is clean. The supply cannot be stopped,” he added.Pakistan — home to more than 240 million people — ranks as the nation most affected by climate change, according to non-profit Germanwatch’s Climate Risk Index released this year and analysing data from 2022.That year a third of the country was inundated by unprecedented monsoon floods killing more than 1,700 and causing an estimated $14.9 billion in damages after a punishing summer heatwave.Jacobabad’s water system also suffered heavy damage in the 2010 floods which killed almost 1,800 and affected 21 million.Pakistan produces less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions which scientists say are driving human-made climate change.Islamabad has consistently called for countries which emit more to contribute to aid for its population suffering on the front line of climate change.”It’s incredibly hot here year-round,” said Lashari. “We need water constantly.” 

In Pakistan’s hottest city, fresh and filtered water can quench the searing onslaught of climate change — but US President Donald Trump’s foreign aid freeze threatens its vital supply, an NGO says.Sun-parched Jacobabad city in southern Sindh province sometimes surpasses 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in increasing heatwaves causing critical health problems like dehydration and heat-stroke.In 2012, USAID committed a $66 million grant to uplift Sindh’s municipal services, including the flagship renovation of a plant pumping and purifying water from a canal 22 kilometres (14 miles) away.But Pakistani non-profit HANDS says Trump’s aid embargo has blocked $1.5 million earmarked to make the scheme viable in the long-term, putting the project at risk “within a few months”.”This has transformed our lives,” 25-year-old Tufail Ahmed told AFP in Jacobabad, where wintertime temperatures are already forecast to pass 30C next week.”If the water supply is cut off it will be very difficult for us,” he added. “Survival will be challenging, as water is the most essential thing for life.”Between September and mid-January Sindh saw rainfall 52 percent below average according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, with “moderate drought” predicted in the coming months.Heatwaves are becoming hotter, longer and more frequent due to climate change, scientists say.- Services withdrawn – The project pipes in 1.5 million gallons (5.7 million litres) daily and serves about 350,000 people in Jacobabad, HANDS says — a city where grinding poverty is commonplace.HANDS said it discovered Trump’s 90-day freeze on foreign assistance through media reports with no prior warning.”Since everything is just suspended we have to withdraw our staff and we have to withdraw all services for this water project,” HANDS CEO Shaikh Tanveer Ahmed told AFP.Forty-seven staff, including experts who manage the water purification and service the infrastructure, have been sent home.The service will likely stop functioning “within the next few months”, Ahmed predicted, and the project will be “a total failure” unless another funder steps in.The scheme is currently in the hands of the local government who lack the technical or revenue collection expertise HANDS was developing to fund the supply from bill payments, rather than donations.The international aid community has been in a tailspin over Trump’s campaign to downsize or dismantle swathes of the US government — led by his top donor and the world’s richest man Elon Musk.The most concentrated fire has been on Washington’s aid agency USAID, whose $42.8 billion budget represents 42 percent of humanitarian aid disbursed worldwide.But it accounts for only between 0.7 and 1.4 percent of total US government spending in the last quarter century, according to the Pew Research Center.Trump has claimed USAID is “run by radical lunatics” while Musk has described it as a “criminal organisation” needing to be put “through the woodchipper”.In Jacobabad, 47-year-old local social activist Abdul Ghani pleaded for its work to continue.”If the supply is cut off it will severely affect the public,” he said. “Poverty is widespread here and we cannot afford alternatives.”- ‘Supply cannot be stopped’ -Residents complain the Jacobabad supply is patchy but still describe it as an invaluable service in a city where the alternative is buying water from private donkey-drawn tankers.Eighteen-year-old student Noor Ahmed said before “our women had to walk for hours” to collect water. HANDS says the private tankers have a monthly cost of up to 10 times more than their rate of 500 rupees ($1.80) and often contain contaminants like arsenic. “The dirty water we used to buy was harmful to our health and falling ill would cost us even more,” said 55-year-old Sadruddin Lashari.”This water is clean. The supply cannot be stopped,” he added.Pakistan — home to more than 240 million people — ranks as the nation most affected by climate change, according to non-profit Germanwatch’s Climate Risk Index released this year and analysing data from 2022.That year a third of the country was inundated by unprecedented monsoon floods killing more than 1,700 and causing an estimated $14.9 billion in damages after a punishing summer heatwave.Jacobabad’s water system also suffered heavy damage in the 2010 floods which killed almost 1,800 and affected 21 million.Pakistan produces less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions which scientists say are driving human-made climate change.Islamabad has consistently called for countries which emit more to contribute to aid for its population suffering on the front line of climate change.”It’s incredibly hot here year-round,” said Lashari. “We need water constantly.” 

India’s pace spearhead Mohammed Shami on Thursday said he came into the Champions Trophy with an eye on taking regular wickets after he returned to international cricket from a career-threatening injury.Shami claimed impressive figures of 5-53 to set up India’s six-wicket win over Bangladesh in their opening match of the 50-over tournament in Dubai.The 34-year-old stepped up in the absence of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who was forced to miss the event due to a back injury.Shami himself only returned to competitive cricket late last year after a string of injuries including ankle, heel and knee which delayed his recovery since his last match in the 2023 ODI World Cup final.Shami was India’s star bowler in the 50-over World Cup at home with 24 wickets in seven matches but the team lost the final to Australia in Ahmedabad.”It was difficult to get injured and go down from the form that you had in the World Cup,” Shami told reporters.”Those 14 months were very difficult as I had to repeat all the things and that pinches you and you feel the pain. But I got those domestic matches and four international games (against England) to get my confidence back.”On his performance in ICC tournaments, Shami said, “I always try, especially in ICC events, that even if I leak plenty of runs, I should at least get some wickets.”Shami has always been key for India in top tournaments and has snow surpassed former quick Zaheer Khan in ICC ODI tournaments as the leading bowler with 60 wickets. Zaheer took 59.Shami was missed in India’s recent 3-1 Test defeat in Australia as often Bumrah felt the absence of solid support form the other end.Shami said it was equally tough for him watching from the sidelines.”You always miss your bowling unit and the ones you’re usually with,” said Shami.”You always think ‘I wish I could contribute as well’. You always miss that when you’re injured then you can’t do anything apart from watching games, ball by ball.”Life, though, has come a full circle for Shami in Dubai, a city where he was trolled with ugly social media abuse after India lost to Pakistan in the 2021 T20 World Cup.Shami was attacked for being a Muslim and the then skipper Virat Kohli and many former players stood up for the veteran bowler.”Social media is such these days that it can lead to some unwanted things in your mind,” said Shami when asked about the incident.”I don’t like to think about such things. People will remind you about the poor performances and it will pinch you too but I feel as a cricketer and sportsman one shouldn’t look back too much and just stay in the present, and plan for the future.”India next take on arch-rivals Pakistan in a Sunday blockbuster.

In-form Shubman Gill made an unbeaten 101 to anchor India’s chase in a six-wicket win over Bangladesh as the two teams began their Champions Trophy campaign on Thursday in Dubai.Needing a tricky 229 for victory on a seemingly tough pitch, India rode on Gill’s second successive ODI ton to achieve their target with 21 balls to spare.”Definitely one of my most satisfying innings that I have played and my first century in ICC events,” Gill said after being named man of the match. “Very happy with the way I performed.”Skipper Rohit Sharma praised his opening partner, saying, “Gill, we know the class that he has, Shouldn’t surprise anyone. It was good to see him bat till the end.”Title favourites India are playing their matches in the 50-over tournament at the Dubai International Stadium after refusing to tour host nation Pakistan over political tensions.Pace spearhead Mohammed Shami set up victory with figures of 5-53, helping reduce Bangladesh to 35-5 in his opening spell before they recovered to manage 228 all out after electing to bat first.Towhid Hridoy, who made 100 — his first ODI ton — and Jaker Ali (68) put on 154 runs for the sixth wicket to lift the total, albeit with some assistance from sloppy Indian fielding including two dropped catches.In reply, India started strongly as Rohit and Gill got going with regular boundaries. Rohit became just the 10th batsman — and fourth from India — to surpass 11,000 ODI runs.The India captain made 41 before he was dismissed by fast bowler Taskin Ahmed and Virat Kohli walked in to loud cheers from the crowd at a largely empty stadium.Kohli took 10 balls to get his first run and made 22 before mis-timing a late cut to backward point off leg-spinner Rishad Hossain.India lost two more wickets after Rishad and Mustafizur Rahman removed Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer to put India in trouble at 144-4.But vice-captain Gill, who was player of the series with 259 runs in India’s 3-0 ODI sweep of England last week, kept calm as he and KL Rahul took the team home in an unbeaten 87-run stand.Rahul finished 41 not out but was dropped early in his innings by Jaker at deep mid-wicket and India never faltered after that with Gill reaching his eighth ODI century.- ‘Cost us the game’ -“Losing five wickets in the powerplay cost us the game,” Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto said.”Hridoy and Jaker batted brilliantly but we still made mistakes on the field. Dropped catches and a few run-outs missed, the result could have been different.”Shami was the bowling star with his sixth five-wicket haul in 104 ODIs, stepping up in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury.Shami, who returned to international cricket from injury after 14 months in the England series, overtook former pacer Zaheer Khan to become India’s leading bowler in ICC ODI tournaments with 60 wickets.Shami struck in the first over to get left-handed Soumya Sarkar caught behind for a five-ball duck.Left-arm spinner Axar struck twice in two balls to send Tanzid Hasan (25) and Mushfiqur Rahim, for a duck, trudging back to the pavilion.It could have been six down had Rohit not dropped a catch at first slip, denying Axar a hat-trick and handing Jaker a reprieve on nought.Jaker, who survived another chance on 24 when wicketkeeper Rahul missed a stumping, and Towhid, dropped on 23 by Hardik Pandya at mid-off, combined to thwart the Indian charge.Jaker fell to Shami but Towhid kept up the fight until his 118-ball knock ended with six fours and two sixes.India next play arch-rivals Pakistan in a Sunday blockbuster.