Irfan could have been lethal at World T20: Hafeez

Captain Mohammad Hafeez says Pakistan will miss tall fast bowler Mohammad Irfan in the World Twenty20 after the 2.16-metre (7-foot-1) paceman could not recover from a hip injury. Irfan was hurt during the limited-overs series against South Africa in October, and will also miss the Asia Cup, followed by the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh next month.

''Irfan will be missed because his first two overs could be lethal, but it's an opportunity for others to come and make an impact,'' Hafeez said on Wednesday. The fast bowling has been beefed up with the return of fit-again Umar Gul, who has fully recovered from a knee injury, and will be supplemented by left-armer Junaid Khan, Bilawal Bhatti and Anwar Ali. The spinning trio of Shahid Afridi, Zulfiqar Babar and Saeed Ajmal could also pose a real threat on the slow pitches of Bangladesh ''We have a very good (bowling) combination according to the conditions,''

Hafeez said. ''We have world-class spinners along with experience of Umar Gul ... the selectors have picked a very good team.'' Hafeez also backed the decision to recall wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik for the World Twenty20, as he pointed out the youngsters hadn't performed in the recent past. ''Unfortunately, players on whom we relied, like Umar Amin, couldn't perform,''

 Hafeez said. ''You need experience (for major events) so that's why Kamran Akmal has been included.'' Pakistan will be defending the Asia Cup title it won in 2012 by defeating Bangladesh in the final by two runs, but Hafeez said there's no favorite when the tournament starts on Feb. 25. Newly appointed Pakistan cricket coach Moin Khan Tuesday urged his players to shrug off “the fear of failure” as they prepare to defend the Asia Cup which starts later this month.

Why did Salman Khan and Jacqueline Fernandez reshoot a song for Kick?

We hear it was coz of Sallu miyaan that a song had to be reshot. Was Khan not happy with the choreographer? Was he given difficult steps?

in.com

Asia Cup 2014: Full schedule - India 

play Pakistan on March 2

  the 2014 Asia Cup that will start on February 25 and run until March 8. The tournament will be played at two venues in Dhaka - at Fatullah and Mirpur. Looking at the fixtures, absence of reserve days looks to be a concern if rain arrives, though Dhaka has a dry season at this time of the year. 

 The high-octane India-Pakistan match is scheduled for March 2. Here's the complete schedule with timings (IST): February 25: Pakistan v Sri Lanka, Fatullah, 1330 IST February 26: Bangladesh v India, Fatullah, 1330 IST February 27: Afghanistan v Pakistan, Fatullah, 1330 IST February 28: India v Sri Lanka, Fatullah, 1330 IST March 1: Bangladesh v Afghanistan, Fatullah, 1330 IST March 2:

 India v Pakistan, Mirpur, 1330 IST March 3: Afghanistan v Sri Lanka, Mirpur, 1330 IST March 4: Bangladesh v Pakistan, Mirpur, 1330 IST March 5: Afghanistan v India, Mirpur, 1330 IST March 6: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, Mirpur, 1330 IST March 8: Final, Mirpur, 1330 IST   Sports 

 

 

bollywoodhungama

Kareena shoots ad with international production

Global hotties Eva Mendes and Eva Longoria are the
 fabulous faces of the Magnum ice-cream brand.
 Now it's Kareena Kapoor who is the ice cream's brand
 ambassador in India.

 On Sunday, Kareena shot her first ad for the ice
 cream.
To ensure international standards, the entire team
 that shot the ads for the two enchanting Evas,
 Mendes and Longoria, was flown into Mumbai from
 New York for the Sunday ad.

And to ensure that Kareena looked her international best her habitual stylist Manish Malhotra was set aside just this once. Instead young dynamic Tanya Ghavri who has been working sartorial miracles on Sonam Kapoor and Ilena D'Cruz was roped in to do Kareena's look for the ad.

Taking a break from the very stylish ad-shoot on Sunday, Kareena said, "It's amazing to work with international brands and teams. Yes, I am shooting an ad with the crew that did the ads for Eva Mendes and Eva Longoria. Their style of working is very different from our own very talented ad-makers."

About not having her favourite designer Manish Malhotra on board Kareena says, "Manish is family. There is no question of replacing him. I just wanted to try another stylist for this ad. We all need to work with different people, experience new strains of creativity. Or we stagnate. And to me stagnation is death."

The actress who has now washed her hands off Karan Johar's Shuddhi is getting ready to shoot Dev Benegal's Bombay Samurai in May.

While it's too early to discuss her role one has good reason to believe that Kareena would be kicking serious ass in the film. If sources are to be believed she has heavy-duty action scenes to perform in Benegal's scenes.

Both Farhan Akhtar and Kareena go into intense training to look fighting-fit for Benegal's film.

And Kareena needs to again lose some more weight for the role.

"Not Size 0, God forbid! But I need to look leaner especially since my co-star is one of most sinewy guys in our cinema," laughs Kareena.