Shoaib Akhtar rips into captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, calls him ‘fat and unfit’
New Delhi: Pakistan’s meek surrender in their match against West Indies hasn’t gone down well with former pacer Shoaib Akhtar and the bowler who was known to send shivers down the spine of opposition batsmen with his pace has ripped apart skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed and called him one of the most unfit cricketers in this generation.
According to a senior Pakistani journalist Saj Sadiq, Shoaib called him ‘unfit’. “When Sarfaraz Ahmed came for the toss, his stomach was sticking out and his face was so fat. He’s the first captain I’ve seen who is so unfit. He’s not able to move across and he’s struggling with wicket-keeping,” Sadiq tweeted.
Writing “Speechless” himself, Akhtar then tweeted: “Ok the match is over. Recollecting my thoughts and emotions. We have to back these boys, they are representing our nation. They need our support throughout the World Cup,” he said.
“It’s a disappointing performance of Team Pakistan, let’s not disheart them more and back them up,” Akhtar wrote in the third and final tweet.
Speaking after the game on Friday, skipper Sarfaraz said his batting department failed to click, resulting in a defeat for his side. “If you lose the toss in these conditions, and lose wickets, it’s hard to come back into the game. Have to play positive cricket here. Didn’t do well as a batting unit today. We know they’re going to come hard with their pace bowlers. We didn’t play well against the short ball.”
He however, seemed confident of making a comeback in the tournament and showered praise on pacer Mohammad Amir, who picked up three wickets for just 26 runs. “Today was a bad day. Confident my team will bounce back. Good to see Amir bowling well. Always good support here in England,” Sarfaraz said.
Pakistan next play England at Trent Bridge on Monday and they will have their task cut out as the Englishmen are looking confident and thrashed South Africa in their opening game.
It's a disappointing performance of Team Pakistan, let's not
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) May 31, 2019
disheart them more and back them uphttps://t.co/8cFvg7YqwK
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
