Parnell confirmed in a statement on Thursday that he converted to Islamic faith in January this year and is considering to change his name to Waleed, which means ‘Newborn Son’.

“While I have not yet decided on an Islamic name I have considered the name Waleed which means Newborn Son, but for now my name remains Wayne Dillon Parnell. I will continue to respect the team’s endorsement of alcoholic beverages. I am playing cricket in Sussex and this is my immediate focus,” said Port Elizabeth-born Parnell.

“As I am approaching my first period of fasting, I ask that this special time is treated with respect. I am a young man, a professional cricketer by trade, and while I can appreciate and am grateful for the public interest in my personal life, my faith choice is a matter which I would like to keep private,” said the promising Warriors left-arm seam bowler.

Proteas team manager Mohamed Moosajee, himself a Muslim, said Parnell’s Muslim teammates Hashim Amla and Imran Tahir had not influenced his decision to convert from Christianity.

“Wayne already decided a few months ago to follow Islam,” Moosajee said of the cricketer, who excelled during the ICC World Cup on the subcontinent.

“The decision to convert was his own decision, but I know nothing of the name change,” added Moosajee.

Fellow players, preferring to remain anonymous, said they believed Parnell was very serious about his choice of religion and that he had not touched a drop of alcohol, forbidden to Muslims, since the recent Indian Premier League series.

Supporting Moosajee’s denial of influence by Amla, the players said he had never attempted to convert them to his religion, although they had all been very impressed by the discipline and strict adherence that Amla showed to his religion, by refusing to participate in celebrations with them that involved liquor, staying steadfast in his daily prayers even while on tour, and refusing to wear the kit sponsored by South African beer brand Castle Lager.

In his first two years after making his debut for the Proteas in 2009, Parnell developed a hard-living reputation.

In October 2009, he was kicked out of the provincial side Warriors following an incident in a night club in the city of Port Elizabeth in the early hours of the morning.

He came to limelight when he captained South African Under-19 team in the U-19 World Cup in 2008. He was the youngest player to get a central contract in 2009 at the age of 20 years.

He is the second Christian to have reverted to Islam after Pakistan’s Yousuf Yohana (now Mohammad Yousuf) in 2006.

As regards other sports many notable sportsmen have embraced Islam including:

- Renowned American basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (formerly Lew Alcindor)

- Abdul Karim al-Jabbar (famous US footballer)

- Brazilian football players Marcio Souza De Silva and Muhammad Danilo Fernando

- French football players Eric Abidal, Franck Ribery (now Tarek) and Nicolas Anelka

- Dutch footballer Robin van Persie

- Sonny Bill Williams (New Zealand rugby union player and a heavyweight boxer)

- Most importantly American boxers Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali Clay.

When we finally arrived, the chauffeur escorted my younger sister, Laila, and me up to my father’s suite. As usual, he was hiding behind the door waiting to scare us. We exchanged many hugs and kisses as we could possibly give in one day.

My father took a good look at us. Then he sat me down on his lap and said something that I will never forget. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Hana, everything that God made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to. Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in the ground, covered and protected. Where do you find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell. Where do you find gold? Way down in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock.
You’ve got to work hard to get to them.”
He looked at me with serious eyes. “Your body is sacred. You’re far more precious than diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too.”

Source: Taken from the book: More Than A Hero: Muhammad Ali’s Life Lessons Through His Daughter’s Eyes

The Pakistani nation finally has  something to cheer about, as their tennis ace Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi made history at the last Grand Slam of the year by becoming the first man from the country to make it to the finals of a Grand Slam event.

The Lahore born 30-year old has made it to the finals of both the doubles and mixed doubles event, producing a stunning display of tennis along with his partners Rohan Bopanna and Kveta Peschke.

It has been a truly memorable week for Aisam-Ul-Haq and India’s Rohan Bopanna, as they finally made an impact on the tennis world after having easily their best season at the international level, winning some events whilst making it to the quarterfinals at the biggest stage of them all, Wimbledon, where only an injury to the Pakistani quashed their dreams.

However, they have redeemed themselves big time at the Arthur Ashe Stadium and that was visible as they trounced some of the biggest pairs in the game, before disposing off Argentine pair of Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (7-5) and 6-4.

This is the best ever performance for both players individually as well as a pair ever since they started playing together around two years ago.

The incredible aspect about the pair is that they belong to countries that have fought three wars and have a bitter history – to say the least – across the Wagah border.

The duo is a symbol of hope and peace, and if they win, they are set to be wild celebrations across Wagah and for once some more than a billion people will be united in a moment of triumph.

The two have been great buddies of the court and have brushed aside the bitterness that prevails; they have been extremely lucky that their games complement each other, and above all, they have proven to the rest of the world that the two nations can have love and tolerance for each other only if politics are kept aside.

With their golden run, they have proved to the poverty-stricken people of the region that they can touch the sky if they unite and spread across message of love, peace and tranquillity.

The duo was quietly confident before leaving for the United States. Aisam-Ul-Haq had remarked then that he and his partner were up for something very special and they sure have done that.

They were finally rewarded for their consistent performances, winning a berth amongst the seeds for the event; they are currently placed at number 15 in the ATP doubles team rankings.

While India has had many outstanding doubles pairs like Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, Pakistan has struggled to make an impact at either the singles or doubles event.

Aisam-Ul-Haq is easily the best player to represent Pakistan on the ATP circuit and has proven that anything can be achieved with hard work and determination.

He has an impeccable demeanour off and on the court, and is already being hailed as a hero in the country as he continues breaking records at a time when Pakistan’s more esteemed and revered cricketing team lets the nation down with their spate of controversies and abysmal on-field performances.

He hails from a tennis background and he and his sister have the unique record of being one of the few pairs of siblings to have represented their country at the Davis Cup and Federation Cup, the country level competitions for men and women.

Now he is a step away from creating history; the success-starved people of Pakistan would be happy with either a doubles or mixed doubles crown, yet nothing would beat a pair of triumphs. 

The 22-year-old clocked 11.81 seconds to clinch gold medal in the race in theSouth Asian Federation (SAF) Games Sunday, becoming Pakistan’s first female athlete to win the sprint in the competition’s 26-year history.

She returned to Pakistan today with hundreds of fans greeting her at the airport. In the following photo Naseem Hameed is seen with her parents on her return to Pakistan.

Dawn reports her talking to press and saying:

“I had forgotten the world for six months and trained really very, very hard under my coach Maqsood Ahmed to achieve this. It is a great moment for me to have brought glory to the country in my event after the poor showing by our national cricket team and especially since our athletics standards have been poor of late. I hope my performance will inspire the young athletes to become professionals.”

I agree with her statement that this is one positive news for Pakistan in sports after the recent cricket debacle.