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Credit Saison, Japan’s third-largest credit card company, said Monday it is creating a new venture fund to back early-stage blockchain firms working in the real-world asset sector, according to local media reports. The vehicle, known as Onigiri Capital, has raised $35 million so far from Credit Saison and other backers and, according to a company […] The post Japanese TradFi giant Credit Saison launches $50M blockchain fund to bridge US startups with Asia appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Skipper Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu struck attacking half-centuries to lead the United Arab Emirates to a thumping 42-run win over Oman in the men’s Asia Cup on Monday. Waseem, who hit 69, and Sharafu, who made 51, put on 88 runs for the opening wicket to guide hosts UAE to a challenging 172-5 in Abu Dhabi. The home bowlers then combined to dismiss Oman for 130 in 18.4 overs for their first win in this edition of the regional tournament played in the T20 format. Medium-pace bowler Junaid Siddique stood out with figures of 4-23. Haider Ali and Muhammad Jawadullah took two wickets each. The batters had set up victory.  Waseem and Sharafu started cautiously but soon took the attack to the opposition with a flurry of boundaries. Sharafu fell for his 51, but Waseem kept up the charge and reached fifty with a six. The captain was run out in the final over. UAE play Pakistan, who went down to tournament favourites India in a key match, next on Wednesday, with the winner likely to move into the Super Four sta...

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday lodged a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) against the match referee for yesterday’s Asia Cup game between Pakistan and India over his alleged violations of rules pertaining to the “Spirit of Cricket”, PCB Chairperson Mohsin Naqvi said. “The PCB has lodged a complaint with the ICC regarding violations by the Match Referee of the ICC Code of Conduct and the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) Laws pertaining to the Spirit of Cricket,” Naqvi posted on X, referring to referee Andy Pycroft. “The PCB has demanded an immediate removal of the match referee from the Asia Cup,” he added. According to an earlier press release by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), Pycroft was scheduled to be the match referee for the Pakistan-UAE match on Wednesday. The Asia Cup match between the two sides took place on Sunday in Dubai, where spinners led by Kuldeep Yadav helped India beat Pakistan by seven wickets as the neighbours met on the cricket pitch for the first time since...

Pakistan suffered an ignominious defeat at the hands of India, who beat them by seven wickets after beating the paltry 128-run target set by the Green Shirts during yesterday’s Asia Cup game. However, the match had been marred by controversy from the beginning due to calls from across the border to “boycott” the fixture. It seems the pressure got to the players as well, with the Indian team refusing to shake hands with their rivals at the toss and after the match. Furthermore, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav was said to have “politicised” the win by bringing up the Pahalgam terrorist attack in India-occupied Kashmir, over which the two countries fought a four-day military conflict in May, saying the victory was “a perfect gift” for his nation. From cricketers and politicians to fans and analysts watching the game, social media was rife with their takes on the scene. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi expressed his disappointment over the “lack of sportsmanship” in a post on X shortly after the...

Another Pakistan-India match, the gulf of quality between the two sides glaring yet again, and brighter than ever. Fair to say Pakistan are a young side undergoing transition under a new captain and a newer team management, but there were enough instances throughout the fixture that highlighted a bigger problem: big-match nerves. One of those few instances was Shaheen Shah Afridi’s late onslaught of 33 off 16, which included four clean hits for sixes. He and Sufiyan Muqeem added 43 off 22 balls — a strike-rate of 195-plus — to drag Pakistan to 127-9 when it looked like the team wouldn’t even get into three figures. If tailenders can do that, why not the specialist batters? India’s Suryakumar Yadav plays a shot during the Asia Cup 2025 T20 International cricket match against Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai, the UAE. — Reuters To put it simply, the pressure of the big occasion got the better of them before India, obviously a well-oiled T20 machine, faced no challenge whatsoever during the c...

Some Indian politicians and former cricketers have called on their country to boycott its matches with Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup tournament, as the two arch-rival teams are set to face each other in Dubai today. An India-Pakistan cricket match is always a blockbuster. Still, emotions will run even higher in today’s Asia Cup clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who fought a four-day military conflict in May. The countries have been at odds in various matters since then, including claims of downing jets, ceasefire requests, geopolitical narratives and of course, cricket. Several former Indian players and politicians have urged the BCCI to boycott what will be the first meeting between the teams since the recent hostilities. New Delhi only cleared the match in a recently announced sports policy, saying the Indian national team can play Pakistan in multi-national events but not in bilateral competitions. Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, head of the Shiv Sena-UBT party, has announc...

Pakistan batter Saim Ayub said on Saturday that the team was not just focusing on the Pakistan-India match, but winning the men’s Asia Cup. The arch-rivals will clash in a geopolitically-charged men’s Asia Cup contest in Dubai on Sunday. It will be the first cricket match between the sides since four days of military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May. While reigning T20 world champions India are the firm favourites to retain their title, Pakistan are on a high, having convincingly beaten Afghanistan to win the final of a tri-series and Oman in the lead-up to the contest. Speaking at the pre-match press conference in Dubai, Saim said: “We are not just looking forward to the Pakistan-India match, but we are looking forward to winning the tournament.” He added that the current tournament is what matters at this moment. Responding to a question about Pakistan’s new batting approach against the quality of the Indian attack, Saim said: “The focus is on playing fearless cricket against all opponen...

Sri Lanka won against Bangladesh with ease in their first Twenty20 International (T20I) encounter of the men’s Asia Cup 2025 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The Sri Lankan men’s side chased down the target in just 15 overs after restricting the Tigers to 139 in the first innings. Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka had won the toss in Abu Dhabi and elected to bowl in their first match of the Asia Cup. Bangladesh made one change to their playing eleven from their victory over Hong Kong, as left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam came in for the right-arm Taskin Ahmed. Bangladesh skipper Litton Das had top-scored with 59 as Bangladesh beat a spirited Hong Kong by seven wickets in their first match of the Asia Cup on Thursday. The eight-nation T20 tournament began on Tuesday with Afghanistan beating Hong Kong by 94 runs. Pakistan, India, Oman and UAE are in Group A, while Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Bangladesh form Group B. The top two teams from each Group will qualify for the Super Four stage. The top two teams will ...

A Pakistan-India cricket match is always a blockbuster, but emotions will run even higher in Sunday’s Asia Cup clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who engaged in a four-day military conflict earlier this year. Even before the clashes in May, which nearly escalated into a full-blown war, bilateral cricket ties were suspended. The arch-rivals now play each other only in multi-team tournaments. Political relations have deteriorated further since the clashes, with several former Indian players urging the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to boycott what will be the first meeting between the teams since the recent hostilities. While the threat of a boycott is over, sparks may fly with Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha and his Indian counterpart Suryakumar Yadav ruling out dialling down aggression in the much-anticipated Group A fixture. While reigning T20 world champions India are the firm favourites to retain their title, Pakistan are on a high, having convincingly beaten Afghanistan to win the ...

Pakistan beat Oman by 93 runs after electing to bat first in their opening Twenty20 International (T20I) encounter of the men’s Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai on Friday. The Green Shirts will face India next on Sunday — the arch-rivals will clash in a geopolitically-charged contest in Dubai. It will be the first cricket match between the sides since four days of military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May. Player of the match Mohammad Haris top-scored with 66 of 43 deliveries after being sent at his preferred position of one down for a change after a string of failures down the order in the tri-series. Oman restricted the Pakistani batters to 160-7 after the Green Shirts were 85-1 at the halfway mark of the first innings. However, their batting reply fell apart against the quality of the Pakistani bowling attack — getting bowled out for a paltry 67 on a typical Dubai wicket. Speaking after the match, skipper Salman Ali Agha said: “With the bat we still need to work [to improve], but the bowling was ...

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Azmatullah Omarzai hammered a 20-ball fifty as Afghanistan thrashed Hong Kong by 94 runs in the opening match of the men’s T20 Asia Cup on Tuesday. The 17th edition of the Asia Cup kicked off with the Group ‘B’ match between the two teams which have six-time Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as the other teams in their group Afghanistan elected to bat first in Abu Dhabi and posted 188-6 with opener Sediqullah Atal playing the anchor role with an unbeaten 73. His fifth-wicket partnership of 82 with Omarzai, who hit 53 off 21 balls, including two fours and five sixes, proved key for Afghanistan in the Group B fixture. Afghanistan’s bowlers then combined to keep Hong Kong down to 94-9. Temperatures early on touched 40 degrees Celsius, but it was the humidity in the evening that tested the fitness of the players who took regular drinks breaks. Hong Kong bowlers struck two early blows, but Atal stood firm to put on 51 runs with veteran Mohammad Nabi, who made 33, as the two counter-attacked. Off-spinner ...

A blockbuster between India and Pakistan headlines the Asia Cup starting on Tuesday as they face off for the first time in cricket since their military conflict in May. Along with regional bragging rights, the T20 competition will serve as a build-up towards the T20 World Cup in February-March in India and Sri Lanka. The eight-team event in the United Arab Emirates begins when Afghanistan play minnows Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi. Arch-rivals India and Pakistan clash in Dubai on September 14, with Pakistan bowling great Wasim Akram saying players and fans from both teams should “remain disciplined and not cross the line”. The neighbours have not met on either side’s soil in a bilateral series since 2012 and only play each other in international tournaments on neutral ground as part of a compromise deal. The two Asian cricketing giants have been clubbed together in the same group and could potentially meet three times in the tournament, which concludes on September 28. There have been tensions in the build-up after ...

Sora Ventures has launched Asia’s $1B Bitcoin Fund with a $200M institutional commitment, aiming to build a centralized treasury pool within six months The post Asia’s $1B Bitcoin Fund Launched by Sora Ventures in Bold Institutional Play appeared first on Cryptonews.

Stargazers will have a chance to see a “Blood Moon” on Sunday night during a total lunar eclipse visible across Asia, as well as swathes of Europe and Africa. When the Sun, Earth and Moon line up, the shadow cast by the planet on its satellite makes it appear an eerie, deep red colour that has astounded humans for millennia. People in Asia, including India and China, will be best placed to see Sunday’s total eclipse, which will also be visible on the eastern edge of Africa as well as in western Australia. The total lunar eclipse will last from 1730 GMT to 1852 GMT (10:30pm PKT to 11:52pm PKT). Stargazers in Europe and Africa will get a brief chance to see a partial eclipse just as the Moon rises during the early evening, while the Americas will miss out. The Moon appears red during lunar eclipses because the only sunlight reaching it is “reflected and scattered through the Earth’s atmosphere”, said Ryan Milligan, an astrophysicist at Northern Ireland’s Queen’s University Belfast. Blue wavelengths of light are...

The tickets for the Men’s Asia Cup 2025 — including the much-awaited Pakistan-India clash — are now available for sale, the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) said on Friday. According to the board, the tickets are being sold starting from 40 dirhams (PKR 3,069.51) for the matches in Abu Dhabi and 50 (PKR 3,836.89) dirhams for the ones in Dubai. “Tickets for the most sought-after India v Pakistan match will initially be available in a seven-match tickets package starting at 1,400 [dirhams] (PKR 10,743.28),” the ECB announced. It said fans could buy separate (standalone) tickets for each of the remaining matches not included in the seven-match ticket package. The board said that, in the coming days, tickets will also be made available at the ticket booths at both the Dubai International Stadium and Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi — the details of which will be announced in due course. The Salman Ali Agha-led Pakistan are set to compete in the Asia Cup that runs from Sept 9 to 28 in the UAE. The Green-shirts are in ...

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has responded to the ongoing debate surrounding the exclusion of senior players Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from the national team for the tri-nation series and the Asia Cup 2025. Speaking to newsmen in Lahore, where he presided over the PCB’s 80th Board of Governors (BoG) meeting, […]

India’s sports ministry on Thursday declared that India and Pakistan would not have any bilateral sporting ties even on neutral venues as per an unprecedented new policy but the cricket team would not be stopped from playing the Asia Cup next month as it is a multi-lateral engagement, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. Political tensions bet­ween the two nations over the years have cast a sha­d­ow over bilateral sporting events, causing major tournaments to hang in the balance. The countries’ teams have previously refused to travel across the border for sporting events, electing to play on neutral ground via a hybrid model instead. Last month, the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) instructed all national sports federations to seek prior consultation and approval before participating in any sporting events held in India due to ’“security concerns”. According to PTI, India’s sports ministry unveiled the new policy with regard to India’s international engagements with emphasis on Pakistan. It added that a well-p...

The national men’s T20 squad arrived in Dubai for the upcoming Asia Cup and Tri-Nation series, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Wednesday. The tri-series against Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates, which starts on August 29, and the Asia Cup from September 9 will both take place in the UAE. In a post on X, the PCB said the team arrived in Dubai in four groups, adding that it would participate in a pre-series training camp from August 21-27 and take part in a training session at the ICC Cricket Academy tomorrow. The squad departed from Pakistan in four different groups “to ensure a smooth and organised arrival of players and support staff in Dubai”, state media PTV reported. While the ICC Cricket Academy will serve as the “primary training facility” for players, the team was scheduled to play a T20 practice match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the state broadcaster said. All training sessions and practice matches will take place in Dubai according to the official schedule, PTV stated...

Pakistan left out Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from the T20 squad named on Sunday for the Asia Cup and a warm-up tri-series beginning this month against Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates, according to a press release issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Azam and Rizwan have been star performers in the shortest format in the past, but have not played since December, which head coach Mike Hesson put down to other players performing well while addressing a press conference. “We know what a fine player Babar (Azam) is,” said Hesson. “Babar has been asked to improve in certain areas, like taking on spin and in terms of his strike rate, and he is working hard on these things. “The players we have are performing well and having a positive impact,” said Hesson. Since Hesson took over as head coach in May, Pakistan have played three T20 series — winning 3-0 at home but losing 2-1 away to Bangladesh. They then beat the West Indies 2-1 in the United States. “Our focus is to win the tri-series and the Asia Cup,...