Babar absent as PCB chief Naqvi delivers 'beat India at any cost' pep talk
Dubai, Feb 23 (PTI): Pakistan's star batter Babar Azam was conspicuous by his absence from the team's training and there was no clarity on his availability for the Champions Trophy clash against India here on Sunday even as the country's cricket board chief Mohsin Naqvi urged the side to win "at any cost".
Speculation is rife that he may be not be considered for the match after he was not seen at the practice session on Saturday evening. The practice was attended by PCB chief Naqvi and Azam was the only player who chose to take the day off.
Azam copped a lot of criticism for a 94-ball 64 in the 60-run loss to New zealand in the opening match. He was lambasted for failing to accelerate while the asking rate crept up in the chase of 320 runs in Karachi.
Interim head coach Aqib Javed, who addressed the media after practice, did not give any specific reason for Azam's absence, saying that the former captain chose to rest.
Last night, Naqvi met the Pakistan cricket team at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, and urged them to win Sunday's crucial match against India "at any cost" to silence critics. Pakistan would be knocked out of the tournament if they lose this game.
The team was scheduled to practice for about two hours but the proceedings were halted within an hour as Naqvi took "stock of things", met captain Mohammad Rizwan and head coach Aqeeb Javed and discussed cricketing matters with them.
PTI has learnt through reliable sources that he urged the captain, coach and players to give it their best shot against India and win the match to "silence their critics, including himself."
He was seen having a long chat with pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf.
Naqvi, who was reportedly unhappy with the selection of the team, made it a point to meet each and every player, coach and support staff.
Later, Naqvi told media-persons that the Pakistani team was ready to face India and do well against them.
"It would be a great game and our team is fully prepared and in my opinion, they are in form. We are with our team, whether they win or lose," he said.
When asked about Pakistan having to play India here despite being the hosts of Champions trophy, he quipped: "You should ask this to Indians if the same would have happened to them, then how they would have felt?"
India had refused to travel to Pakistan citing security concerns and are playing their share of Champions Trophy matches in Dubai. Even the final of the tournament will be held in Dubai if India go the distance.
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Stock markets take breather after sharp rally, Sensex tanks 1,282 pts as IT shares retreat
Mumbai, May 13 (PTI): Stock markets tumbled on Tuesday with benchmark Sensex falling by 1,282 points due to profit-taking in IT, auto and private banking shares a day after a record rally.
The 30-share BSE barometer tanked 1,281.68 points or 1.55 per cent to settle at 81,148.22 with 25 of its constituents closing with losses and five with gains. During the day, it fell sharply by 1,386.21 points or 1.68 per cent to 81,043.69.
The broader Nifty of NSE dropped 346.35 points or 1.39 per cent to 24,578.35.
From the Sensex firms, Infosys declined the most by 3.54 per cent. Power Grid dropped 3.4 per cent, Eternal by 3.38 per cent, HCL Tech by 2.94 per cent, Tata Consultancy Services by 2.88 per cent and Bharti Airtel by 2.74 per cent. IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Maruti, Tata Motors, and M&M were also among the laggards.
Sun Pharma, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India and Tech Mahindra were the gainers.
Profit-taking was evident across the board, with IT, FMCG, and auto sectors emerging as the top losers, Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.
"The domestic market witnessed profit booking today, following yesterday’s sharp rally. The relief-driven surge—fuelled by easing global and domestic risks, including a reduction in trade war tensions and Indo-Pak geopolitical stress—appears to be taking a breather," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
Sensex and Nifty logged their best single-day gains in absolute terms on Monday following buying by retail and foreign investors after India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop military actions and the US and China announced a deal to lower tariffs significantly. The indices raced nearly 4 per cent on Monday on across the board rally.
Broader markets closed with gains on Tuesday with the BSE smallcap gauge jumping 0.99 per cent and midcap index by 0.17 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, BSE Focused IT tanked 2.44 per cent, teck (2.39 per cent), IT (2.21 per cent), utilities (1.35 per cent), power (1 per cent), metal (0.95 per cent) and oil & gas (0.95 per cent).
Healthcare, industrials, capital goods, services and consumer durables were the gainers.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Shanghai's SSE Composite index settled in the positive territory while Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended lower. European markets were trading mostly higher.
US markets ended significantly higher on Monday following easing of trade tensions between China and the US. The Nasdaq Composite surged 4.35 per cent, S&P 500 jumped 3.26 per cent and Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2.81 per cent.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.32 per cent to USD 65.17 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,246.48 crore on Monday after a day's breather, according to exchange data.
