Hashim Amla plays a short during a Test match. File
Hashim Amla ended his 22-year playing career on Wednesday, with his legacy secure as one of South Africa’s all-time cricketing greats.
The 39-year-old had already retired from international cricket in 2019.
English county Surrey announced they had been informed by Amla, 39, that he would not be returning as a player this year after helping the side to win the English county championship in 2022.
Surrey’s director of cricket Alec Stewart lauded Amla for his “phenomenal career.” “He will quite rightly go down as a great of the game. Hashim is a fantastic cricketer and a wonderful person… Everyone at Surrey wishes him the best in the future,” Stewart said.
Amla was a key member of one of South Africa’s most powerful teams when they clinched the Test championship mace with a series win in England in 2012.
Batting in a line-up which included captain Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers, Amla made a South African record 311 not out in the first Test at The Oval in London.
It remains South Africa’s only triple century in Tests. It was one of Amla’s 28 centuries in a 124-match Test career during which he scored 9,282 runs at an average of 46.64.
He had an even better average in one-day internationals, hitting 27 centuries in 181 matches and scoring 8,113 runs at 49.46. Amla spent much of his Test career batting at number three but opened the batting in one-day games, setting records for reaching each thousand-run milestone between 2,000 and 7,000 in the fewest innings.
He made his first-class debut for a Kwa-Zulu-Natal team, against the touring England team, as a 16-year-old in December 1999 and made his Test debut against India in Kolkata five years later.
He struggled at the start of his Test career and was criticised for a notably angled backlift. He made what he described as minor adjustments to his technique and became one of the most stylish players in world cricket with his fluent cover driving and wristy leg-side strokes.
Amla captained South Africa in 14 Tests but never seemed fully at ease in the role and resigned midway through a series against England in 2015/16 after scoring a double century in a high-scoring draw at Newlands in Cape Town.
He retired from international cricket after the 2019 cricket World Cup and did not play in South African domestic cricket after the 2018/19 season. But he continued to be a prolific run-scorer for Surrey, scoring 1,712 runs at an average of 48.91 in his last two seasons. Amla is currently a batting consultant with the MI Cape Town franchise in the SA20 league.
Agence France-Presse
UAE President receives Chairman of Oman’s Shura Council
President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Thursday received Khalid bin Hilal Al Ma’awali, Chairman of Oman’s Shura Council, who is on a working visit to the UAE.
During the meeting held in Qasr Al Bahr Palace in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed welcomed the Chairman of Oman’s Shura Council, and exchanged with him cordial talks that highlight the depth of the historical UAE-Oman ties.
The meeting was attended by Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council; Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court; Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Advisor for Special Affairs at the Ministry of Presidential Court; and Ali Bin Hammad Al Shamsi, Deputy Secretary-General of the Supreme National Security Council.
WAM
Sukesh made my life hell, says Bollywood actor Jacqueline
Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez on Wednesday told a Delhi court in the Rs200 crore extortion case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, that he had played with her emotions and made her life “hell.”
In the case being heard in the Patiala House courts, she claimed that her instincts told her that she is being taken for a ride when his aide Pinky Irani introduced him to her as “a government official.”
According to Jacqueline’s statement, he had introduced himself as the owner of Sun TV and claimed (late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister) J. Jayalalithaa was his aunt.
“Chandrashekhar said he was a big fan, and said I should do films in south India too, and as the owner of Sun TV, they had many projects lined up.
“We should try to work together in south Indian movies. Sukesh misled me, ruined my career and my livelihood,” she said.
Jacqueline said that she only later got to know he was arrested for impersonating senior officials of the Home and the Law Ministries.
She claimed that she got to know that his real name only after she got aware of his criminal background.
The actor said that she was cheated by Irani as she never disclosed his background to her.
“Pinky Irani was aware of Chandrashekhar’s activity and background. But she never disclosed this to me,” she said.
The same court, on Jan.16, had issued notice to Enforcement Directorate (ED) on an application moved by the actor asking permission to fly to Gulf post Jan.27 for professional work.
She had made an urgent request for hearing. The court, hence, listed the matter for next hearing on January 25.
Jacqueline, in December last year, had moved a plea seeking to travel abroad to visit her ill mother in Bahrain.
Howbeit, she withdrew it as the court wasn’t willing to allow her to travel abroad.
Chandrashekhar allegedly extorted money from politicians, celebrities and businessmen.
He duped former pharma company Ranbaxy owner Shivinder Mohan Singh’s wife Aditi Singh of Rs 200 crore.
He had allegedly sent super expensive gifts to Jacqueline, while he also booked a chartered flight for her from Mumbai to Chennai during his bail period.
Moreover, according to the ED, it is suspected that alleged conman had sent huge chunks of money extorted from Singh to her.
Indo-Asian News Service
English
Arabic