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Samina Baig becomes first Pakistani woman mountaineer to summit K2

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Pakistani female mountaineers created history on Friday morning by achieving what no other woman from the country has done before – reaching the top of the 2nd highest peak of the world – 8611m high K2.

At 7:40am Pakistan time, Samina Baig summited the mighty K2 along with her team members and became the first ever Pakistani woman to scale the K2. Less than three hours after Samina’s summit, Naila Kiani reached the top – becoming the second.

No other Pakistani woman has achieved this feat before. 

Several other climbers from various countries, including female climbers from Oman, Lebanon, Iran, and Taiwan, also summited the peak on Friday morning.

The summit push started late last night as soon as rope fixing teams completed their jobs and the first group reached K2 at around 3:00am in the night.

Pakistan’s 31-year-old climber, Samina Baig’s team confirmed that she – along with other Pakistani mountaineers – summitted at 7:42am PKT on Friday. 

“We are extremely proud to announce that Samina Baig, with her strong Pakistani team, successfully summited the world’s most fascinating and dangerous mountain, known as Savage Mountain, the world’s second and Pakistan’s tallest mountain, K2, at 8611 metres this morning at 7:42am,” said the statement by Samina’s team at ground.

“Grateful and blessed that K2 allowed her to stand atop this incredible mountain,” the statement added.

Samina Baig comes from the remote village of Gilgit Valley, Shimshal. Earlier in 2013, she became the first Pakistani woman to scale the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest.

The other members to climb with Samina include Eid Muhammad, Bulbul Karim, Ahmed Baig, Rizwan Dad, Waqar Ali and Akber Hussain Sadpara.

Less than three hours after Samina’s feat, Pakistan’s other climber, Naila Kiani, reached the top of K2.

“Yes, Allhamdolillah,” Naila texted this correspondent via satellite communication device, confirming her summit. 

Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Samina Baig and the team on accomplishing the feat. 

“Congratulations to Samina Baig, the first Pakistani woman mountaineer to reach the summit of the world’s second highest peak, ‘K2,’ and her family on their accomplishment. Samina Baig has emerged as a symbol of Pakistani women’s determination, courage, and bravery,” said the PM in tweet. 

Pakistan’s Sohail Sakhi and Sirbaz Ali Khan also summited K2 along with Naila. 

Samina Baig becomes first Pakistani woman mountaineer to summit K2

Over 50 climbers completed their summits of K2 on Friday morning, and this also included Norway’s Kristin Harlia, who reached the top of K2 between 2:30am and 4:00am and has since then returned to safe camp.

Kristin Harilia is aiming to summit all 14 8000ers in six months. This was her 8th such summit in less than 3 months. If she gets success, she will be the first woman in world to summit all the world’s top peaks in one season. 

She was joined by the USA’s Kristin A. Bennett, Norway’s Frank Loke and Canada’s Liliya Ianovskia. They were supported by a team of mountain guides that included Pakistan’s Fida Ali along with Nepal’s Pema Chhiring Sherpa, Dawa Ongju Sherpa, Pemba Tasi Sherpa, Dawa Dorchi Sherpa, Dawa Wongju Sherpa, and Pemba Dorchee Sherpa.

In another development, 29-year-old Tseng Ko-Erh, who is also known as Grace Tseng, summited the mountain without using supplementary oxygen and has become the youngest female in the world to do so. She is also the first Taiwanese woman to stand atop K2.

Her expedition organisers announced that their 3-member team had just made it to the top of the world’s 2nd highest mountain. They reached the summit of Mount K2 (8611 m) at 7:35 am Pakistani time.

Two other members of the team were Nima Gyalzen Sherpa and Ningma Dorje Tamang of Nepal.

Iran’s Afsane Hesamifard and Oman’s Nadhira Alharthy became the first ever female climbers from their respective countries to summit the K2. They were part of the seven summit trek team and reached the top just a few hours after the rope fixing. The team also included a Chinese female climber, He Jing, who summited the mountain without supplementary oxygen.

The other members of the seven summit team included Poland’s Monika Witkowska, Russia’s Vladimir Kotlyar, and Nepal’s Mingtemba Sherpa, Pasang Sherpa, Fura Tshering Sherpa, and Ngima Sherpa. 

In another group to summit K2 on Friday morning, Nelly Attar – an Arab Lebanese woman – successfully scaled the K2. She was accompanied by America’s Terray Ellington Sylvester, Argentina’s Claudio Cocho Javier and Estonia’s Krisli Melesk. 

Along with them, Pakistan’s Inayat Ali also climbed K2. Nepali Aang Phurba Sherpa, Siddhi Bahadur Tamang, Dorji Gyljen Sherpa, Kamdorji Sherpa, Lakhpa Wongchu Sherpa, Mingdongji Sherpa, Lakpa Bhote, Rinji Sherpa, Temba Sherpa and Lakpa Sherpa – who all were part of Madison Mountaineering – also summited K2 in the early morning.

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Pakistan releases their England against Ireland team, and Hasan Ali is back.

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The men in green will play a three-match series against Ireland before taking on England in a four-match series.

The 18-player roster now includes Salman Ali Agha, Hasan Ali, and Haris Rauf, who were all reinstated by the national selection committee.

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Zaman Khan and Usama Mir, meanwhile, were left off the final roster.

Continue reading: Ramiz Raja selects Pakistan’s starting combination for the 2024 T20 World Cup

After the first Twenty20 International at Leeds on May 22, the team will be whittled down to 15 players for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 next month in order to meet the ICC’s deadline of May 24.

Pakistan squad for Ireland and England series:

Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Irfan Khan Niazi, Iftikhar Ahmad, Usman Khan, Azam Khan (wk), Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abbas Afridi,  Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Salman Ali Agha.

Ireland vs Pakistan T20I series:

10 May: First T20I in Dublin (7pm PST)

12 May: Second T20I in Dublin (7pm PST)

14 May: Third T20I in Dublin (7pm PST)

England vs Pakistan T20I series:

May 22: First T20I in Leeds (10:30pm PST)

May 25: Second T20I in Birmingham (6:30pm PST)

May 28: Third T20I in Cardiff (10:30pm PST)

May 30: Fourth T20I at The Oval, London (10:30pm PST)

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Gary Kirsten hopes to provide players with “clarity” prior to the Twenty20 World Cup.

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When Kirsten featured on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) podcast, she acknowledged the difficulty of making quick adjustments but expressed optimism that the squad could establish a structure over the next three weeks, giving the players plenty of time to prepare for the World Cup.

He added that they have been communicating as a squad and praised Azhar Mahmood for his outstanding work as the “interim head coach.”

“I happen to be working on an assignment right now. Moving away was therefore challenging. I need to look over my contract right now.

But the arrangements are set in motion. In his role as acting head coach, Azhar Mahmood is performing admirably. Right now, we’re speaking with each other. I’m learning about the squad and their style of play.

It’s lovely to see them play. I have to be in the room, but I have to keep my distance. Although we communicate as a team, he is now in charge. I don’t want to take the lead from a distance because I don’t believe it is a good place to be. Actually, it’s not easy, but we’re trying our hardest.

“It’s going to be a fast turnaround (for me), we just need to acknowledge that.” However, over the next three weeks or so, we hope to implement some structures into the team to give the players the clarity they need ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Notably, Gujarat Titans, an Indian Premier League (IPL) team, have Gary Kirsten as their coach and mentor.

Kirsten will be leading the team in the following year’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan, ACC T20 Asia Cup 2025, and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka in addition to the forthcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 and other bilateral white-ball series.

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Jason Gillespie and Gary Kirsten discuss their candidacies as Pakistan’s next coaches.

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At a news conference held here today, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi announced the appointments.

After finishing his duty in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), Kirsten will assume leadership as the head coach of Pakistan’s ODI and T20I teams.

Kirsten will be in charge of the team for the following year’s ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan, ACC T20 Asia Cup in 2025, and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in addition to the forthcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 and other bilateral white-ball series.

“It’s an incredible privilege to be given the job of leading the Pakistan men’s national team in white-ball cricket and to return to the world of international cricket after a long absence,” Kirsten said.

“I’m excited about the chance to support the Pakistan men’s national team in limited-overs cricket and hope to make a positive impact.”

“My aim is to bring the Pakistan men’s white-ball team together, utilizing their exceptional abilities to work toward a single goal and succeeding as a team on the pitch.

“Over time, my viewpoint on Pakistani cricket has not changed. The squad is constantly expected to perform at a high standard on a regular basis.

But in team sports, it’s not always easy to stay at the top of your game. It gives me great satisfaction as a coach to see players reach their greatest potential.

“I look forward to working with each player individually and as a team to support their development.”

In the interim, Gillespie will take over for the August home Test matches in the ICC World Test Championship against Bangladesh. In the 2024–25 season, there will also be tests at home in October against England and away in December against South Africa.

“I express my gratitude to the PCB for their belief in my abilities and for granting me the privilege of leading one of the most esteemed and accomplished cricket teams in the conventional format of the game,” Gillespie said.

“Given its illustrious history and fervent fan base, coaching the Pakistan cricket team is an enormous accomplishment for any coach.

I enjoy being able to concentrate on Test cricket because I adore the sport. The fact that Pakistan has such a large talent pool is another thing I adore.

“I like to think that I can contribute in some small manner to the players’ development. I’m taking this role because I want to win tests. I enjoy winning, and I’m confident we have what it takes to succeed.

In the end, it all comes down to playing the kind of cricket we want to play—a style that wins games for us, thrills the crowd, and makes everyone associated with Pakistani cricket happy.

“We have some excellent fast bowlers in Pakistan, and making use of them will be crucial to any success we have.”

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