Afridi declines $700000 BPL offer

Pakistan's flamboyant former captain and Twenty20 hot Shahid Afridi has shunned the dollars for national duty by opting out of the Bangladesh Premier League where he was the costliest player after fetching a price tag of $700,000 in the auction.

"Unfortunately the dates of the league clash directly with the one-day and Twenty20 series against England. So, I have decided to skip the Bangladesh event as national duty is more important," Afridi said from Australia where he is appearing in the Big Bash Twenty20 tournament.

The BPL is to be played from February 9 to 28 and the limited overs series against England also begins from February 11 in the UAE.

Afridi, who has quit Test cricket, said he was eager to play against England and do well.

"I am looking forward to that series so obviously it was not a difficult choice at all. I am available to play in foreign leagues only when not required on national duty," he said.

Earlier, the all-rounder also expressed his unavailability for the opening stages of South Africa's domestic Twenty20 competition.

Among other Pakistani players, Saeed Ajmal ($100,000), Rana Naved ($100,000) and Imran Nazir ($85,000) were bought by Dhaka Gladiators -- the team that bid for Afridi.

Number of Pakistani players were brought by the six franchises in the league including Shoaib Malik, Saeed Ajmal who fetched a price of $100,000.

The other Pakistani players brought by the franchises include Rana Naved ($100,000), Sohail Tanvir ($100,000), Kamran Akmal ($100,000), Abdul Razzaq ($100,000), Imran Nazir ($85,000), Mohammad Sami ($70,000), Fawad Alam ($45,000), Qaiser Abbas ($25,000) and Faisal Iqbal ($25,000).

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Saeed Ajmal is world's No.1 spinner

DUBAI: Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal Friday rose to world's highest ranking spinner a day after guiding his team to a comprehensive ten wicket win in the first Test against England inside three days. The 34-year-old registered his second ten-wicket haul -- a career best 7-55 in the first innings and 3-42 in the second -- to help Pakistan take a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.
"Ajmal earned 117 ratings points for his magnificent bowling performance, now has England's second-ranked James Anderson firmly within his sights who has 37 more ratings points," the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced.

Given that Ajmal is still in a qualification period for bowlers, it is likely that he will move even further up the ladder depending on how he performs in the second Test which starts in Abu Dhabi on January 25, the ICC said.

South African paceman Dale Steyn tops the bowlers' list with 896 rating points.

Ajmal has also leapfrogged England's off-spinner Graeme Swann who has slipped one position to fourth, while Ajmal's spin partner Abdul Rehman has
also leapt five places which has put him in a career best 14th position.

The latest rankings have brought bad news for England batsmen.

England opener Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, who entered in third and fourth positions respectively, have slipped two and three positions respectively, while Kevin Pietersen has fallen out of the top 10.

Pietersen, who scored two and nought in the Dubai Test, has lost six places and is now in 16th position while England captain Andrew Strauss has also dropped six places to 34th spot.

The only England batsmen to make any upward movements are wicketkeeper Matt Prior in 18th (up by one) and Swann in 64th (up by 11).

In contrast, the Pakistan batsmen have made positive gains with Younus Khan in fourth (up by two), captain Misbah-ul-Haq in 14th (up by three), Mohammad Hafeez in 30th (up by 15), Taufeeq Umar in 32nd (up by six) and wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal in 70th (up by 23). (AFP) 

CIA suspends drone attacks in Pakistan

LOS ANGELES: The US Central Intelligence Agency has suspended drone missile strikes on gatherings of low-ranking militants in Pakistan due to tensions with that country, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Javed Hashmi joins Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

MULTAN: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) firebrand leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has reached the Multan airport and announced that he is joining Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) Saturday, Geo News reported.