Pakistan looks to spinners for win over Sri Lanka

Dubai: Pakistan are hoping for a wicket that takes turn to give their spinners an edge in the second Test against Sri Lanka starting Wednesday in Dubai.

Saeed Ajmal toiled for 49 wicketless overs in Sri Lanka's second innings in the drawn first Test in Abu Dhabi last week, as skipper Angelo Mathews hit a career best 157 not out. His fighting knock helped Sri Lanka erase Pakistan's 179-run lead and set them a 302-run victory target. They finished on 158-2.

It was the first time in Ajmal's 31-Test career that the 36-year-old had bowled more than 17 overs in a second innings and finished wicketless. Ajmal has taken 24 wickets at Dubai stadium, including seven against England which helped Pakistan inflict a 3-0 series defeat on the then-world number one team in 2012.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq is hoping his spinners get more help from the pitch in Dubai for the second of three Tests. "It was a sort of a setback for both teams as regards spinners in Abu Dhabi, but I think the Dubai wicket will be different and spinners will get turn on the third day," he said. Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by nine wickets in Dubai on their way to a 1-0 series win in 2011.

In that game Ajmal took eight wickets and Abdul Rehman four.

Left-arm spinner Rehman is likely to replace fast bowler Rahat Ali, who went wicketless in the first Test. Despite hundreds from Misbah and Younis Khan last week, Pakistan will also look to bolster their batting after they slumped from 329-4 to 383 all out in their first innings in Abu Dhabi.

"We need to work on our batting more as we should have got 450-odd runs on the board to have a big lead to put pressure on the opposition," said Misbah.

Pakistan have the option of replacing opener Khurram Manzoor with Shan Masood. The recalled Sarfraz Ahmed will keep wicket after Adnan Akmal had to return home following a fractured finger in the first Test.

Sri Lanka have summoned one-day opener Kusal Perera after Lahiru Thirimanne failed to recover from an ankle injury. They have not sought a replacement for paceman Nuwan Kulasekara, who returned home with a hamstring injury. Sri Lanka will be counting on the vastly experienced Mahela Jayawardene to come good after he failed in the first Test, managing five and nought.

Spinner Rangana Herath will also look for more rewards after getting just four wickets in Abu Dhabi. And off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake will try to secure his place in the side after getting support from his skipper.

"We all know Sachithra is a good spinner. Playing in his first Test, it was not easy playing on a pitch like this," said Mathews after Senanayake went wicketless in Abu Dhabi. Mathews, who scored 91 in the first innings before his unbeaten century in the second,  was delighted with his own form. "I was a little bit under pressure and I am happy that I justified my place," he said.

Teams (from): Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Khurram Manzoor, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Talha.
Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (capt), Dinesh Chandimal, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Kaushal Silva, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Perera, Prasanna Jayawardene, Suranga Lakmal, Shaminda Eranga, Nuwan Pradeep, Sachithra Senanayake, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Vishwa Fernando.
Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (AUS) and Sundaram Ravi(IND)
TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)

Perera to replace Thirimanne in Sri Lanka squad

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Thank you but no thanks, Pervez Musharraf tells Pakistan government

Islamabad: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has rejected 'with thanks' the government's offer to bring his ailing mother to Pakistan from Dubai, one of his aides said on Monday.

"Thank you very much but don’t try to fool people," Aasia Ishaque, Musharraf's spokesperson, said when she was asked about his reaction to the offer made by the government on Sunday.

The government said it was willing to bring Musharraf's 95-year-old ailing mother from Dubai in a special aircraft or an air ambulance as a humanitarian gesture so that the two could be reunited.

The government also offered to provide her medical treatment.

"The government is trying to fool the people of this country. Musharraf has enough resources to bring back his mother if her health permits," Ishaque told reporters.

"The offer clearly shows that the government now knows that Musharraf is not going to run away despite all the pressure." Advising the government to "concentrate on the miseries of the people", she said Musharraf will remain in Pakistan and fight "politically motivated" cases against him.

The 70-year-old former army chief, who is facing a plethora of cases, cannot travel abroad as he is included in the Interior Ministry's Exit Control List (ECL).

Musharraf's petition to have his name removed from the ECL, so that he could fly to Dubai to visit his mother, was rejected by the Sindh High Court.

Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said on Sunday that the independent judiciary will decide Musharraf's fate.

The former army chief is set to appear in a special court on January 1 to face charges of high treason for imposing emergency in 2007.

He is the first general to face trial for treason. If convicted, he could get life imprisonment or the death penalty. 

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Thank you but no thanks, Pervez Musharraf tells Pakistan government

Islamabad: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has rejected 'with thanks' the government's offer to bring his ailing mother to Pakistan from Dubai, one of his aides said on Monday.

"Thank you very much but don’t try to fool people," Aasia Ishaque, Musharraf's spokesperson, said when she was asked about his reaction to the offer made by the government on Sunday.

The government said it was willing to bring Musharraf's 95-year-old ailing mother from Dubai in a special aircraft or an air ambulance as a humanitarian gesture so that the two could be reunited.

The government also offered to provide her medical treatment.

"The government is trying to fool the people of this country. Musharraf has enough resources to bring back his mother if her health permits," Ishaque told reporters.

"The offer clearly shows that the government now knows that Musharraf is not going to run away despite all the pressure." Advising the government to "concentrate on the miseries of the people", she said Musharraf will remain in Pakistan and fight "politically motivated" cases against him.

The 70-year-old former army chief, who is facing a plethora of cases, cannot travel abroad as he is included in the Interior Ministry's Exit Control List (ECL).

Musharraf's petition to have his name removed from the ECL, so that he could fly to Dubai to visit his mother, was rejected by the Sindh High Court.

Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said on Sunday that the independent judiciary will decide Musharraf's fate.

The former army chief is set to appear in a special court on January 1 to face charges of high treason for imposing emergency in 2007.

He is the first general to face trial for treason. If convicted, he could get life imprisonment or the death penalty. 

View the original article here

Police register FIR against 3-yr-old in Pakistan for 'attacking, robbing' man

Picture for representation only - AFP/File photo

Lahore: Police have registered an FIR against a three-year-old boy and his mother for allegedly attacking and looting a man in Multan district of Pakistan's Punjab province.

Mohammad Farooq said that Farrukh Bibi and her son Saud attacked him with a dagger and snatched his cell phone and Rs 22,000 in cash.

A case has been registered based on Farooq's complaint.

Farrukh Bibi, through her counsel, on Thursday filed a bail application informing the court that the FIR was fake as her son - Saud - was merely three years old.

"How a woman along with her three-year-old son could attack a man," her counsel argued in the sessions court (Multan). Police registered the case after the complainant bribed them, she alleged.

Additional District Sessions Judge Shahbaz Ali Paracha granted bail to her and ordered to expunge the name of the toddler from the case. He summoned the police officials concerned for January 16. 

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Pervez Musharraf says Pakistan army still backs him

Islamabad: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, hemmed in by legal woes, has dismissed the notion that Pakistan's powerful army has abandoned him, saying the 6.5 lakh force was still with him.

"I have led my men at Brigadier level and as Chief. Ask the 6.5 lakh personnel," Musharraf said when asked if the Army had abandoned him.

He said he had led the army as a leader and not the commander.

"The real leadership is without the stars on your soldier. Remove it and then see if your men actually listen to you," Musharraf said in an interview to ARY news channel aired last night.

He said the 6.5 lakh-strong Army had not abandoned him. This was the second interview Musharraf gave to the news network.

In an earlier interview the 70-year-old had sought "forgiveness" for any wrongs he may have committed during his nine-year rule and said he will face all cases against him and not run like a coward. Asked about the negotiations with the Taliban and other militant groups, he said he supported it but "talks should be held from a position of strength".

He said talks are been held from a position of weakness. Musharraf is set to appear before a Special Court on January 1 on treason charges.

The special court was set up by the Nawaz Sharif government to try the former military ruler for high treason for suspending the constitution in 2007.

The former president is charged with abrogating, subverting, suspending, holding in abeyance and attempting to conspire against the 1973 Constitution by declaring emergency and overthrowing the superior judiciary in November 2007.

On November 17, the government decided to initiate treason proceedings against Musharraf, who came to power in 1999 by toppling a government led by Sharif and ruled till 2008 when he was forced to resign after being threatened with impeachment.

He lived in self-exile for about five years and returned to Pakistan in March to contest elections but was hauled to court in different cases, including one over the 2007 assassination for former premier Benazir Bhutto. 

Musharraf has secured bail in four major cases against him but the trial for treason poses the biggest challenge to the former army commando.

This is the first time in Pakistan's history that a military ruler has been put on trial for treason.

If convicted, Musharraf could face life imprisonment or the death penalty.

The military, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 66-year history, has not commented on Musharraf's case. A Pakistani court on Monday said it was unable to lift a travel ban on Musharraf, who wanted to go abroad to meet his ailing mother.

The government said it was willing to bring Musharraf's 95-year-old mother from Dubai in a special aircraft or an air ambulance as a humanitarian gesture so that the two could be reunited.

The government also offered to provide her medical treatment. But Musharraf rejected "with thanks" the government's offer, saying he had enough resources to bring her back.

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Thank you but no thanks, Pervez Musharraf tells Pakistan government

Islamabad: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has rejected 'with thanks' the government's offer to bring his ailing mother to Pakistan from Dubai, one of his aides said on Monday.

"Thank you very much but don’t try to fool people," Aasia Ishaque, Musharraf's spokesperson, said when she was asked about his reaction to the offer made by the government on Sunday.

The government said it was willing to bring Musharraf's 95-year-old ailing mother from Dubai in a special aircraft or an air ambulance as a humanitarian gesture so that the two could be reunited.

The government also offered to provide her medical treatment.

"The government is trying to fool the people of this country. Musharraf has enough resources to bring back his mother if her health permits," Ishaque told reporters.

"The offer clearly shows that the government now knows that Musharraf is not going to run away despite all the pressure." Advising the government to "concentrate on the miseries of the people", she said Musharraf will remain in Pakistan and fight "politically motivated" cases against him.

The 70-year-old former army chief, who is facing a plethora of cases, cannot travel abroad as he is included in the Interior Ministry's Exit Control List (ECL).

Musharraf's petition to have his name removed from the ECL, so that he could fly to Dubai to visit his mother, was rejected by the Sindh High Court.

Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said on Sunday that the independent judiciary will decide Musharraf's fate.

The former army chief is set to appear in a special court on January 1 to face charges of high treason for imposing emergency in 2007.

He is the first general to face trial for treason. If convicted, he could get life imprisonment or the death penalty. 

View the original article here