Williamson suffered an injury to her anterior cruciate ligament during Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat against Manchester United on Wednesday, collapsing just 12 minutes into the game at Leigh Sports Village stadium.
Williamson was substituted after sustaining an ACL injury during Arsenal’s clash with Manchester United Pic: REUTERS
England captain Leah Williamson has said her “World Cup dream is over” after suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in Arsenal’s defeat at Man Utd on Wednesday.
Williamson was taken off after collapsing to the ground only 12 minutes into Arsenal’s 1-0 loss at Leigh Sports Village, with her knee appearing to be the source of her discomfort.
The 26-year-old was able to walk off the pitch at Leigh Sports Village stadium in Manchester, with the assistance of two Arsenal physios.
But a scan revealed she had sustained the serious knee injury, which usually takes at least six months to recover from.
Arsenal Women tweeted: “We can confirm that Leah Williamson suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament on Wednesday night,” adding: “We’re all right behind you, @leahcwilliamson”.
We can confirm that Leah Williamson suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament on Wednesday night.
Williamson released a statement on social media shortly after the announcement, saying: “Until I have the words to express my feelings properly, I will struggle to verbalise them.
“The noise around the situation is quite loud and I need some quiet to let it all sink in.
“Unfortunately the World Cup and Champions League dream is over for me and everyone will think that’s the main focus, but it’s the day to day of what I’m about to go through that is the most draining of my thoughts.”
The injury means Williamson is unlikely to lead the the Lionesses at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which runs from 20 July to 20 August.
England manager Sarina Wiegman is due to announce her squad in late May, ahead of England’s opening game against Haiti on 22 July in Brisbane.
The injury came just a fortnight after Williamson led England to the inaugural Finalissima trophy at Wembley, beating Brazil in a penalty shoot-out to land the second piece of silverware since Wiegman named her as captain ahead of last summer’s Euros.
Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall initially blamed the Man Utd pitch for Wednesday’s incident and said he was unsure how long Williamson would be unavailable for.
She will undergo surgery in “due course”, Arsenal said.
“Everyone at Arsenal will be supporting Leah closely throughout the journey ahead and we would ask that her privacy is respected at this time,” the club said in a statement.
Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Friday dropped a hint that he could be playing in his last Indian Premier League season, saying “it’s the last phase of my career”. Dhoni’s side gave the fans at the MA Chidambaram Stadium much to rejoice on Friday night, defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets, with New Zealand cricketer Devon Conway scoring his third half-century of this IPL season and Ravindra Jadeja claiming three crucial wickets.
Chasing 134/7, CSK scored the winning runs with eight balls to spare with Conway scoring an unbeaten 57-ball 77 and sharing an 87-run partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad (35) for the opening wicket.
Overcome by the huge roar and support of the crowd when he came out of the dugout after his team won the match, Dhoni said, “All said and done, it’s the last phase of my career, however long I play.
“After two years, the fans have had the opportunity to come here and watch, feels good to be here. Crowd has given us a lot of love and affection,” said Dhoni after the match.
Dhoni was all praise for young Sri Lankan pace bowler Matheesha Pathirana, who bowled four superb overs and grabbed two wickets, even though he was a little expensive, conceding 42 runs.
“Not getting enough chances to bat, but no complaints. I was hesitant to bat second because I had that feeling there won’t be a lot of dew. When there are chances of dew, you have to bat second.
“Spinners once they came in, bowled a very good length. Fast bowlers once they came back, especially Pathirana, bowled superbly,” added Dhoni.
Conway said CSK were trying to perfect a winning template after yet another dominating display.
Conway, who turned the match into a no contest with his unbeaten half-ton, added that the below-par score of 134 set by SRH made the home team take fewer risks while chasing.
Though CSK completed the task in 18.4 overs, they could have finished the job much earlier but they chose caution over aggression at the M Chidambaram Stadium.
Four Lions players, including 2022 first-round pick Jameson Williams, were among five players leaguewide to be suspended for violating the NFL’s gambling policy after an investigation by the league.
Lions wide receiver Quintez Cephus and safety C.J. Moore have been suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games, as was Washington Commanders defensive end Shaka Toney. They can reapply for reinstatement after one year, although Detroit announced that its two players have been released.
Second-year wide receivers Williams and Stanley Berryhill are being suspended for six games each for mobile betting that occurred at the Lions’ Allen Park facility. These two did not bet on NFL games, the team said.
The NFL noted in its announcement that it uncovered no evidence indicating any inside information was used or that any game was compromised by the players’ betting.
The Lions became aware of the NFL’s investigation about a month ago before the league reached a final decision.
“As a result of an NFL investigation, it came to our attention that a few of our players had violated the league’s gambling policy,” Detroit general manager Brad Holmes said in a statement. “These players exhibited decision making that is not consistent with our organizational values and violates league rules. We have made the decision to part ways with Quintez and C.J. immediately. We are disappointed by the decision making demonstrated by Stanley and Jameson and will work with both players to ensure they understand the severity of these violations and have clarity on the league rules moving forward.”
Separate from these punishments, several Lions staff members in various departments were dismissed last month for violating the gambling policy, a source told ESPN.
The Commanders also released a statement saying they had been made aware of Toney’s suspension.
“We have cooperated fully with the NFL’s investigation since receiving notice and support the league’s findings and actions,” the team said. “All further questions on the topic should be directed to the NFL League Office.”
According to league policy, NFL players and personnel cannot bet on NFL games, the draft or any league-related activities under any circumstances. They also cannot place any bets while at a team facility or on team-related travel.
Williams’ representation, Alliance Sports, released a statement of apology on behalf of the wide receiver.
“Jameson takes full responsibility for his actions and is very apologetic to the NFL, his teammates and the fans and city of Detroit,” Alliance Sports said. “However, it is important to note that Jameson’s violation was not for betting on football but rather due to a technical rule regarding the actual location in which the online bet was placed — and which would otherwise be allowed by the NFL outside of the club’s facility. Jameson would never intentionally jeopardize the integrity of the game he loves so much and looks forward to getting back to his team as soon as possible.”
There has been excitement around Williams as he enters his second season after being limited to six games as a rookie because of a torn ACL that he suffered in the 2021 College Football Playoff championship game while playing for Alabama.
Skipper David Warner found his perfect hitting arc after Ishant Sharma rolled back the years but even then Delhi Capitals stuttered badly in a modest chase before beating Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets on Thursday to stay afloat in this edition of the IPL. With their backs to the wall after five defeats on the trot, the DC bowling line-up collectively came to the party as KKR managed only 127 on a spicy deck which aided both pacers and spinners alike. Warner, DC’s best batter this season, was struggling with his strike-rate in earlier games but on Thursday, he smashed 57 off 41 with the target being reached with four balls to spare.
The DC batting, save Warner looked wobbly once again but a below-par score perhaps saved the day for the home team as the ball started gripping in the second half of the chase making it difficult for strokeplay. Axar Patel (19 not out off 22 balls) despite a groin strain managed to take his team past the finishing line.
DC’s victory was about two veterans winning the Powerplay contest for their team.
The 34-year-old Ishant (2/19 in 4 overs), who is well past his prime, got his first opportunity and used his oodles of experience to peg back KKR inside the ‘Bowling Powerplay’.
The 36-year-old Warner then showed his destructive avatar hitting as many as 10 boundaries in the ‘Batting Powerplay’ to kill the contest and earn his team’s first win of the competition.
The manner in which he swept, the two KKR spinners Sunil Narine and Anukul Roy hardly had any answers. In all, he hit 11 boundaries.
The win doesn’t alter DC’s standing in the points table as they remain last but the victory does give them hope for a turnaround.
Once Warner won a good toss and opted to field, Ishant, playing his first IPL match in over two seasons, was bang on target with 13 dot balls and hitting those immaculate three-quarter lengths, just like yesterday.
In rhythm, he still hits 140 clicks but once he was done with his four overs, he literally collapsed in the dug-out chair as Prithvi Shaw came in as ‘Impact Player’.
His India days are well over and Ishant certainly would like to remain an ‘IPL to IPL’ player till his body allows him to take rigours of top flight cricket.
Mukesh Kumar (1/34 in 4 overs) also bowled well in the Powerplay while Axar (2/13 in 3 overs), who hasn’t enjoyed favourable match-ups against left-handers, removed the dangerous Rinku Singh as KKR lost wickets in clumps.
If Ishant, Mukesh and Axar were brilliant in the front 10, Kuldeep Yadav (2/15 in 3 overs), who got Jason Roy (43 off 39 balls), was brilliant as he created doubts in the minds of the batters by varying his pace.
Rajasthan Royals fell short by 10 runs as Lucknow Super Giants registered a significant win in IPL 2023.
Lucknow Super Giants beat Rajasthan Royals by 10 runs
The pitch was far from conducive for batting, but the bowlers still had a job to do, and the ones at Lucknow Super Giants did that with aplomb for a 10-run win over Rajasthan Royals in the IPL here on Wednesday. Chasing 155, RR were stopped at 144 for six as their return to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium after four years ended in disappointment, despite a creditable outing with the ball earlier in the evening. RR openers Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal knew that playing strokes wouldn’t be easy on this track, but they managed to keep pace with the required run rate.
However, LSG staged a remarkable comeback to emerge winners in the end.
Young Jaiswal made 44 off 35 balls with the help of four boundaries and two sixes, while his senior opening partner Butter got 40 in 41.
LSG waited quite a bit before bringing their impact player Amit Mishra into action. And for their first breakthrough, they had to wait till the 12th over, when Jaiswal cut Marcus Stoinis to the short third man fielder Avesh Khan, who seemed to have injured his hand while completing a low catch.
Despite losing a wicket, RR were still in the driver’s seat but that changed after Sanju Samson was run out following a horrible mix up with Buttler. The game turned on its head when Buttler holed out to deep midwicket to RR at 97 for three in the 14th over.
Shimron Hetmyer joined Devdutt Padikkal in a crucial passage of play, but the former was out caught in the deep off the bowling of Avesh Khan. RR couldn’t do much after that.
Earlier, Kyle Mayers top-scored with 51 before Marcus Stoinis (21 off 16 balls) and Nicholas Pooran (28 off 20) helped the team reach 154 for seven.
Trent Boult bowled exceptionally to finish with figures 1-16 in four overs, while Ravichandran Ashwin was also excellent with the ball, ending with 2/23 from his four.
Seasoned New Zealander Boult sent down two brilliant overs to justify RR skipper Samson’s decision to field first after winning the toss.
As Boult, one of the world’s leading seamers for more than a decade, went about his task in his usual manner, KL Rahul looked clueless and the pressure created by the crafty bowler got to the struggling LSK captain.
Unable to free his arms, Rahul ended up playing a Sandeep Sharma delivery in the air but the young Jaiswal fluffed the chance. He was on six at the time. After he added another six runs to his total, Rahul got another chance when Jason Holder, who normally has a safe pair of hands, dropped a skyer after running backwards from mid-off.
This was seven balls after Jaiswal had a shy at the bowler’s end and missed a run out chance with Rahul well out of crease.
Those two missed chances miffed Samson no end but RR did not have to pay a heavy price as Rahul got out for an unconvincing 32-ball 39.
Michael Schumacher’s family are planning legal action against a German weekly magazine over an ‘interview’ with the seven times Formula One champion that was generated by artificial intelligence.
A spokesperson for the Schumacher family, asked by Reuters for a comment on Wednesday, pointed to published reports of legal action.
The Ferrari great has not been seen in public since he suffered a serious brain injury in a skiing accident on a family holiday in the French Alps in December 2013.
The family has guarded his privacy since, with access limited to those closest to him and little information given about his condition.
The latest edition of Die Aktuelle ran a front cover with a picture of a smiling Schumacher and the headline promising ‘Michael Schumacher, the first interview’.
The strapline added: “it sounded deceptively real”.
Inside, it emerged that the supposed quotes had been produced by AI.
SRH vs MI: Mumbai Indians (192/5) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (178) by 14 runs to register their third win in a row in IPL 2023.
Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad played out yet another thriller in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Tuesday with the former emerging victorious by 14 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal.
Chasing 193 for victory, the Sunrisers brought the equation down to 20 in the last over with two wickets in hand and the dangerous Abdul Samad on strike.
Arjun Tendulkar was handed the ball by skipper Rohit Sharma and he managed to give away just 5 runs along with the wicket of Bhuvneshwar Kumar as Hyderabad finished at 178-all out in 19.5 overs.
Tendulkar’s maiden IPL wicket saw him finish with impressive figures of 1 for 18 from 2.5 overs.
Three wins in a row for the @mipaltan as they beat #SRH by 14 runs to add two key points to their tally.
“Obviously it was great getting my first IPL wicket. I just had to focus on what was in hand, the plan and executing it.
“Our plan was just to bowl wide and get the long boundary into play, make the batsman hit it to the longer side.
“I love bowling, I am happy to bowl anytime the captain asks me to and just stick to the team plan and give my best,” Tendulkar said after the match.
A special moment for young Arjun Tendulkar, who gets his first wicket in #TATAIPL and it is his captain Rohit Sharma, who takes the catch of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
SRH were struggling at 72 for 4 at one stage but managed to recover thanks to useful contributions from opener Mayank Agarwal (48) and Heinrich Klaasen, who 16-ball 36 brought the hosts back in the reckoning.
But important strikes from Piyush Chawla (2/43) and Jason Behrendorff (2/37) in the final stages took the game away from SRH, who dropped down to ninth on the table with 4 points from 5 games.
Sourav Ganguly, has over three million followers on Instagram, and follows 106 people. Virat Kohli is not among them. Kohli on the other hand, has over 246 million followers on Instagram, and follows 276 persons. Ganguly is not among them.
The twist in the tale involving Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly does not seem to end. After a recent IPL 2023 match between Delhi Capitals, where ex-India captain Ganguly is working as ‘Director of Cricket’, and Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore, several videos of them went viral, which led to social media users saying that the duo might be avoiding each other. However, no official response has come from either side regarding the speculation that has been doing the rounds after the visuals emerged. In one of the videos, with players and staff of both the teams lined up for doing customary post-match handshakes, Ganguly can be seen jumping the queue as DC coach Ricky Ponting was talking to Virat Kohli.
Several Twitter users thought that the duo was deliberately avoiding each other.
Saurav Ganguly ignored Virat Kohli and Walk off where you can see Kohli turned back to see Dada
Once again Dada showed Virat Kohli his place pic.twitter.com/AphU0U3IMO
— R e t i r e d (@Sense_detected_) April 15, 2023
Then, two other videos emerged which got the internet saying that Kohli was staring at Ganguly’s direction.
When it seemed like MS Dhoni’s last possible trip to the M Chinnaswamy stadium would end with the unlikely image of him dropping a sitter, he pouched two crucial catches to ensure nothing of that sort would happen.
In taking two difficult skiers, one of which seemed like it clipped the strings of the spider cam on its way down, Dhoni caught out Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell.
Frankly, had it not been for those two dismissals, Royal Challengers Bangalore – who needed a comfortable 68 runs from 36 balls at the time as a result of the duo’s 61-ball 126-run third-wicket alliance – could well have pulled off their highest successful run chase in the Indian Premier League.
But the outcome of Dhoni’s calm offset the three other drop catches by his team-mates and allowed Chennai Super Kings to breathe a sigh of relief in their 8-run win. RCB finished on 218 for 8 in 20 overs.
Quite the unexpected finish, in terms of a runs tally at least, for RCB to be in after conceding the highest-ever innings total to an opposition at this venue: CSK put up 226 for 6 courtesy an un-aesthetic Devon Conway (83) and Shivam Dube (52).
CSK surpassed the 222 compiled by Kolkata Knight Riders at the very first IPL game in 2008.
And so, expectations of a ‘classic’ had already waned by innings break, partly owning RCB’s tapering batting unit. It didn’t help that Virat Kohli unfortunately dragged Akash Singh onto the stumps for 6.
It was then down to Du Plessis, who was still wearing the wounds of an injury he picked up while fielding, and Maxwell to give the packed house something to look forward to.
What followed was a level of belligerence from a tandem which hasn’t been seen at the venue for a while.
With Du Plessis scoring 62 from 33 balls and Maxwell (76 from 36 balls) using his long-handle for the perfect lever, RCB remained in the zone of hope for longer than anyone could have anticipated. Also, at the rate at which CSK’s absent-minded fielders were dropping catches, the game was wide open.
Protestors appeared to throw orange powder on the snooker table.
Protestors covered the table in powder at the World Snooker Championship (Image: BBC)
Just Stop Oil protestors forced a match at the World Snooker Championship to be abandoned after an individual threw orange paint onto the table. The first-round match-up between Joe Perry and Rob Milkins had to be rescheduled after ‘scary’ scenes in which a man made his way onto the table and covered the surface with dried orange powder.
One protestor appeared from out of shot on the BBC’s live coverage and climbed onto the table. The individual was carrying a small pouch and wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the name of the anti-fossil fuel activist group Just Stop Oil.
They reached into the pouch and threw what seemed to be orange powder that they then covered the table with. It was later suggested that the substance was instead dried orange paint.
Members of the audience could be shouting “Shame!” while others were heard demanding stewards to: “Get them off!”
Other fans could be heard swearing and hurling insults at the man. As the BBC cut to a wide shot of the dramatic scenes, it became clear that a second protestor had attempted to jump on the table on the other side of the Crucible.
A protestor appeared to wear a ‘Just Stop Oil’ t-shirt (Image: BBC)
The man identified himself on Just Stop Oil’s official website as Eddie Whittingham, a 25-year-old student from Exeter University. The second protestor revealed themselves to be Margaret Reid, a 52-year-old woman from Kendal.
Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry said on commentary: “It’s scary actually. Wow. I just hope the cloth can be recovered from that. Do you get the hoover out? I don’t know. It caught us by surprise. We’re both watching it and all of a sudden this happens.
“For me, straight away, as a snooker player – is the table recoverable? That’s the first thing I think of. We don’t know what that is on the table, whether it can be brushed off or not. If it can’t, that match is not getting played tonight on that table. The whole table needs a recovery and that takes a long time.”
IPL 2023: Multiple players were fined in Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders match at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, 16 April. MI captain Suryakumar Yadav was docked Rs 12 lakh.
Three players were fined or docked match fees during an eventful game of cricket between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday, 16 April in the Indian Premier League. MI captain Suryakumar Yadav, KKR captain Nitish Rana and Mumbai spinner Hritik Shokeen faced the wrath of the match referee on Sunday.
Stand-in captain in the absence of Rohit Sharma (Impact Player), Suryakumar Yadav failed to manage the overs and committed offences relating to over-rate that saw him get fined Rs 12 lakh by the match referee.
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Nitish Rana was fined 25 percent of his match fee for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during the first innings of the game, where he had a flare up with Hrithik Shokeen. Rana and Shokeen are teammates in the Indian domestic circuit for Delhi, and it is speculated that the IPL incident was a bust up from their Delhi days.
Shokeen and Rana got into a verbal spat in the ninth over of the game when the bowler dismissed the KKR captain and proceeded to give him a send off. Rana did not take the gesture kindly and hurled some back himself before the duo were pulled away by the MI players present on the pitch.
Kohli and Ganguly have not been on good terms since that row, as evident from not one but two incidents during the IPL 2023 match between RCB and DC.
Virat Kohli gives death stare to DC director Sourav Ganguly
The Virat Kohli-Sourav Ganguly episode that shook world cricket more than a year back is secret to none. The entire row had started after Kohli was removed from captaincy in ODI cricket. Kohli had stepped down from the T20I leadership position in 2021 before there was a war of words targetted at each other via media interactions and eventually ended with the former relinquishing his captaincy role in Tests as well in January 2022. It has been over 14 months now, and two have not been on good terms since then, as evident from not one but two incidents during the IPL 2023 match between RCB and Delhi Capitals at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
Both incidents went viral on social media after the match where Kohli was named the Player of the Match for his record half-century knock. Well, it seemed only fitting given the scenario and the videos that went viral, to speak in terms of ardent fans of the former India skipper, it was “karma”.
The first video was from the 18th over of the Delhi’s chase of 175. In the third ball of that over, Kohli had taken a wonderful catch at long-on to dismiss Aman Hakim Khan for 18 off 10. The equation was reduced to 47 required off the final 15 balls with one wicket in hand.
As Kohli was walking his way back to his fielding position near the boundary rope, he gave a death stare to Ganguly, director of cricket at Delhi Capitals, who was seated at the dugout.
IMAGE: Sikandar Raza hammered his maiden IPL half-century to guide Punjab to a thrilling win over Lucknow. Photograph: BCCI
Sikandar Raza slammed his maiden IPL fifty after an impressive show by his side’s bowling unit as Punjab Kings beat Lucknow Super Giants by two wickets in a last-over finish in Lucknow on Saturday.
Invited to bat, captain KL Rahul smashed his first fifty of this IPL season but Punjab Kings roared back with timely wickets to restrict the Lucknow side to a modest 159 for eight.
Chasing 160 for a win, Zimbabwean Raza, who also picked a wicket with his spin bowling, cracked a 41-ball 57 to keep PBKS in the hunt after Matthew Short’s 22-ball 34.
Once he was holed out in the 18th over off Ravi Bishnoi, Shahrukh Khan (23 not out) completed the job, knocking off the final runs with a boundary.
Raza hit four boundaries and three sixes in his match-winning knock.
IMAGE: Player-of-the-Match Sikandar Raza top-scored for the Punjab Kings. Photograph: BCCI
On a two-paced wicket, KL Rahul displayed great composure en route his 56-ball 74 as he added 53 and 48 runs with Kyle Mayers (29) and Krunal Pandya (18) for the first and third wickets respectively.
However, LSG couldn’t finish things with a flourish as they lost four wickets for 48 runs in the last five overs, with Sam Curran picking up three of those.
Kagiso Rabada (2/34), Arshdeep Singh (1/22), Harpreet Brar (1/10) and Sikandar Raza (1/19) were also among wickets.
Defending the total, pacer Yudhvir Singh made a sensational debut, dismissing fellow debutant Atharva Taide (0) and Prabhsimran Singh (4) — who replaced Rahul Chahar as impact sub — in his first two overs to reduce PBKS to 17 for 2.
Matthew Short looked in good nick, slamming three boundaries off Avesh Khan, before producing two hits to the fence off Yudhvir.
Krishnappa Gowtham, who replaced Kyle Mayers as impact sub, too, was smacked for a six by Short but the spinner had the batter caught by Stoinis as Punjab slumped to 45 for 3 in 6 overs.
Raza then took the onus on himself as he and Harpreet Singh Bhatia (22) added run-a-ball 30 before Pandya broke the stand, holing out the former at deep backward square.
IMAGE: Ravi Bishnoi picked up the big wicket of Sikandar Raza. Photograph: BCCI
Raza exploded in the 13th over, clobbering two successive sixes and a four off Pandya to pile up 17 runs.
However, KL Rahul produced a sensational effort to get rid of Jitesh Sharma, while Ravi Bishnoi, introduced after 14 overs, got rid of Curran (6) before accounting for Raza to raise hopes of an upset.
Needing 21 in 13 balls, Shahrukh sent Woods sailing for a maximum, while Brar too picked up a four to bring down the required runs.
IMAGE: Shahrukh Khan hit the winning runs for PBKS. Photograph: BCCI
Earlier, Rahul and Mayers provided LSG a flying start with the burly left-handed West Indian being the aggressor initially.
While Rahul dealt in boundaries, Mayers dealt in maximums.
Mayers blasted Mathew Short over deep backward square leg and followed it up with a backward punch for another six over covers off Sam Curran before depositing Rabada into the stands as LSG raced away to 40 for no loss in the powerplay.
With the pitch offering a bit of grip and turn, Curran, who led PBKS in place of an injured Shikhar Dhawan, brought in the spinners.
Harpreet Brar soon removed Mayers, who was holed out to deep backward square leg in the eighth over, while Raza trapped Deepak Hooda (2) as LSG slipped to 62 for 2.
Matt Henry picked up a hat-trick spread across two overs in the first T20I against Pakistan in Lahore to join an elite group of New Zealand bowlers
Matt Henry finished with 3/32, his career-best figure in T20Is.
Matt Henry picked up a hat-trick spread across two overs in the first T20I against Pakistan in Lahore to join an elite group of New Zealand bowlers. Henry had derailed Pakistan’s innings in the 13th over with the wickets of Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed off back-to-back deliveries. Shadab was caught out by Latham off the penultimate ball of the over and Itikhar fell the next ball, edging again to the wicketkeeper. Henry returned in the 19th over to dismiss Shaheen Afridi off the first ball, caught brilliantly near the ropes by Daryl Mitchell off the first ball in the over.
Shadab Khan
Iftikhar Ahmed
Shaheen Afridi
A hat-trick for Matt Henry in the first T20I at the GSL. #PAKvNZ | #CricketMubarak pic.twitter.com/h6bZP6O1hM
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) April 14, 2023
Henry finished with 3/32, his career-best figure in T20Is and also became just the fourth New Zealand bowler to take a hat-trick in men’s T20Is. Jacob Oram was the first to do so when he took a hat-trick in 2009 against Sri Lanka. The all-rounder then became just the second player to record a hat-trick in men’s T20Is. Tim Southee joined him on the list next year against Pakistan.
Rinku Singh played a knock for the ages to save Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)’s blushes in an IPL 2023 game against the Gujarat Titans. With KKR needing 29 runs off the final over, Rinku smashed GT pacer Yash Dayal for five sixes on the trot and secured a memorable win for KKR. Former Ahead of KKR’s game against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Friday, India opener Virender Sehwag has now compared Rinku to the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni.
Sehwag explained that when Tendulkar and Dhoni were were batting, the Indian team always had hopes on the two legends. Similarly, with Rinku in the side, KKR also have someone who they can rely on.
“There is a belief in KKR team that Rinku Singh is still there. When MS Dhoni had started finishing off games, there was a belief that Dhoni is still there. In 90s, it was if Tendulkar is there match can be won, if not then no. Now the same thing is with KKR and Rinku Singh. Before it was Andre Russell for them,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Bishop was mighty impressed with Gill, who dropped an epic ‘love story’ remark after Tewatia guided GT to a thrilling win over PBKS in IPL 2023.
Bishop was mighty impressed with Gill, who dropped an epic ‘love story’ remark after Tewatia guided GT to a thrilling win(IPL-PTI)
Sam Curran’s death-bowling heroics failed to produce another final-ball thriller in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Thursday as Rahul Tewatia held his nerve and finished things off in style for the defending champions. Thwarting Curran’s bid of pulling off a heist, an ice-cool Tewatia came up with a nonchalant scoop over the short fine leg to seal Gujarat Titans’ (GT) famous win over Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL 2023.
After scripting an unforgettable Sharjah night back in 2020, Tewatia had smoked back-to-back sixes when GT needed 12 from 2 balls against Punjab Kings last season. Before Tewatia provided the finishing touch in the recently concluded IPL 2023 match, India opener Shubman Gill played a scintillating knock of 67 off 49 balls against Punjab Kings to put Pandya and Co. in the driving seat. Though Gill remained keen on closing the chase for the reigning IPL champions, the in-form batter was cleaned up by pacer Curran in the final over. With Tewatia smashing the penultimate ball for a boundary, Pandya’s GT side returned to winning ways after losing a humdinger to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their previous outing.
‘Tewatia and Kings XI is a love story”
Roped in for a quick chat by former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop, Gill not only reflected on his brilliant knock but the star batter also gave a special mention to Tewatia for breaking PBKS hearts in the IPL 2023. “I should’ve finished the match. Rahul Tewatia and Kings XI is a love story. In these type of games, there’s definitely pressure on both teams. It’s about trying to minimise dot balls. It was difficult for them also to score runs against old ball. Was important to have a good powerplay,” Gill said.
The 2019 WTA Finals were held in Shenzhen, China, with Ashleigh Barty winning the title
The Women’s Tennis Association will resume tournaments in China this year having accepted an investigation into the sexual assault allegations made by former player Peng Shuai will not be carried out by the Chinese government.
Former doubles world number one Peng said in November 2021 she was “forced” into a sexual relationship with former China vice-premier Zhang Gaoli.
The WTA suspended its end-of-year events in China and said it would not return until there was an investigation and it had proof of Peng’s safety.
After making the accusation in a social media post, Peng briefly disappeared from the public eye and she then later denied making the allegation. Zhang has not commented publicly on the allegation.
The WTA had called for the Chinese authorities to hold a “full, fair and transparent” investigation before any tournaments could go ahead.
“We’ve been in this for 16 months and we are convinced that at this point our requests will not be met,” WTA chief executive Steve Simon told BBC Sport.
“To continue with the same strategy doesn’t make sense and a different approach is needed. Hopefully, by returning, more progress can be made.”
The decision means the final two months of the WTA season will once again be dominated by China. Simon said the schedule will be “very similar” to the pre-pandemic year of 2019 when eight Chinese tournaments were staged in eight weeks from early September.
And crucially, the season-ending WTA Finals will resume its 10-year deal with the city of Shenzhen. Prize money this year, as it was in the first year of the contract in 2019, will be £11.2m.
Simon says the “great majority” of players are in support of a return to China.
And despite promising a hard-line stance with the Chinese government, in which there would be no room for compromise, he says he has not considered resigning.
“No, I would never do that to an organisation. It’s about leading an organisation and listening to its members,” he said.
“We have athletes that come from over 80 nations, so there’s plenty of different opinions, but the majority of athletes were very supportive of a return back to the region. We certainly have some that were not, but the majority – the great majority – were in support and are in support of going back. There was strong support across the members, the [player] council and the board.”
Simon says this change of heart was not forced upon them by commercial realities, but accepts members would have “sacrificed a great deal” had the WTA Tour withdrawn from China for good.
The WTA’s boycott lasted just over 16 months, although no tournaments could have taken place in the country during that period anyway because of the Covid pandemic.
“We’ve achieved some assurances from people that are close to Peng that she’s safe and living with her family in Beijing,” Simon said when asked whether the WTA had achieved anything. He says he has not yet been able to speak personally with Peng.
“We do also have some assurances that there won’t be any issues with our players and staff while they are competing in China. And hopefully we have received some respect for the stance we took,” he continued.
“We haven’t seen anyone else take a stance such as we did. There hasn’t been any other sporting leagues or any business that have – we took that strong stance, we stand behind it.”
The men’s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour committed itself to 2023 events in Chengdu, Zhuhai, Shanghai and Beijing once China’s Covid regulations eased, and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said this month it is looking forward to bringing the World Tennis Tour back to China.
“We didn’t go into this with expectations that anybody would [follow suit],” Simon added.
“I would have liked to have seen that, for sure, but we didn’t expect it and we’re not pointing fingers at anyone else.”
Simon denies that by returning to China, the WTA has removed a crucial pillar of support for Peng.
“We are hoping by the return more progress will be made,” he said. “We are very proud of the position we took.
“We’re not going to let Peng be forgotten at this point in time.”
Kai Ong, a China researcher at Amnesty International, said: “There’s no independently-verifiable evidence that can prove Peng Shuai is truly safe and free.
“We’re reminding the WTA of the structural hurdles many survivors of sexual violence in China face when seeking justice and remedy.
“Returning to China without continuing to push for an independent investigation into Peng’s accusations risks perpetuating the systemic injustice faced by sexual violence survivors in the country.”
‘A welcome return from a tennis perspective’
The move was described as “very important” by French world number five Caroline Garcia, who said she understood the decision to return to China.
“The ATP and the ITF was already going back, and women’s tennis is following,” she told BBC Sport.
“In the past we have had some huge tournaments over there and I think it is an important swing for us in our calendar and I’m looking forward to it.”
Former British number one Anne Keothavong, who captains the nation’s Billie Jean King Cup team, and current British player Katie Boulter both stressed Peng’s safety was their main concern.
But they added the future health of the WTA Tour – and the staging of more tournaments – had to be considered.
“From a tennis perspective, hopefully it will be a welcome return,” said Keothavong.
You love him or you hate him, but you simply can’t ignore him. Gautam Gambhir is a character who finds it hard to stay away from the headlines. After Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) thrilling last-ball victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match on Monday, Gambhir’s gesture towards the home fans sent social media into a frenzy. As Lucknow sealed a 1-wicket win over the Bengaluru side, Gambhir was truly fired up.
Needing just 5 runs to win from the last 6 balls, Lucknow had 3 wickets in hand and the pair of Mark Wood and Jaydev Unadkat in the middle. RCB managed to pick two wickets from those 6 balls but a fumble from the wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik on the last ball of the over saw LSG pull off a thriller.
Gambhir was understandably pumped after his team’s win. After exchanging handshakes with RCB players, he gave a ‘finger on lips’ gesture to the home fans. The video has now gone viral on social media.
The last over started with 29 needed. Then it was 28 from five balls. Then followed carnage, and an unlikely Knight Riders win
Kolkata Knight Riders 207 for 7 (Venkatesh 83, Rinku 48*, Rana 45, Rashid 3-37, Joseph 2-28) beat Gujarat Titans 204 for 4 (Vijay 63*, Sai Sudharsan 53, Narine 3-33) by three wickets
This is what they mean when they say truth is stranger than fiction.
Chasing 205, Kolkata Knight Riders’ Impact Player Venkatesh Iyer and their captain Nitish Rana had kept them in the game by adding 100 runs 9.1 overs. Alzarri Joseph dismissed both, and then Rashid Khan picked up a hat-trick to kill the contest. At least that’s how it appeared.
But, just then, Rinku Singh rose to the occasion. When Knight Riders needed 39 off eight balls, Rinku was on 8 off 14. He hit the last two balls of the 19th over, bowled by Josh Little, for a six and four.
With 29 required from the last over, ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster gave Knight Riders a 1.29% chance of winning. After all, no team had chased down that many in the 20th over of a T20 game. The previous best was 23, by Sydney Sixers against Sydney Thunder in 2015, and Rising Pune Supergiants against then Kings XI Punjab in 2016.
Umesh Yadav took a single off Yash Dayal’s first ball, and then Rinku went 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 to script a win that will be talked about for a long, long time.
Knight Riders’ opening woes
In Rahmanullah Gurbaz and N Jagadeesan, Knight Riders had their third opening pair of the season in as many games. In fact, since the start of IPL 2022, they have used nine different opening pairs in 17 matches – Delhi Capitals are second with five, also in 17 games – and have had starts of 30 or better only twice. It was no different on Sunday. Mohammed Shami and Little, who came in as an impact substitute for B Sai Sudharsan, removed Gurbaz and Jagadeesan inside four overs with just 28 on the board.
Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana threaten to take the game away
Knight Riders finished the powerplay on 43 for 2. The field restrictions were lifted, but Iyer and Rana didn’t have a problem in sending the ball to the boundary, or over it. Iyer hit Dayal for a four and six in the seventh over. In the next, Rana smashed Joseph for two sixes.
Rashid’s first two overs went for 23. Sandwiched between them was a 17-run Dayal over. With 77 needed from seven overs, Knight Riders were well and truly alive, before Joseph’s double-strike to remove both set batters tilted the game towards Titans.
Rinku trumps Rashid’s hat-trick
Rashid had conceded 34 in his first three overs, but he almost won the game for his side with his final over. Knight Riders needed 50 from four overs with Andre Russell in the middle. It looked like Rashid had kept his one over only for Russell – he had dismissed him four times in 38 balls before this game. And with his first ball, he had Russell caught behind off an inside edge that bobbed up off the pad. Narine hit the next to deep midwicket, and Shardul Thakur was lbw off the third to give Rashid his record fourth hat-trick in T20 cricket. All three wickets came from googlies.
Rashid seemed to have sealed the game. Except Rinku had other ideas. With 28 needed from five balls, Dayal lost control. The next three balls were full tosses, and Rinku dispatched them over long-off, over deep-backward square leg, and again over long-off.
After a chat with Rashid and David Miller, Dayal bowled a back-of the-hand slower one into the pitch only for Rinku to clear long-on. With four needed from the last ball, another meeting was called, with Shubman Gill too joining in this time. Dayal bowled the last one short and outside off and Rinku hit it over his head. Even before the ball had cleared the boundary, Rinku took off in celebration, running towards his team-mates, who had rushed on to the field to embrace him.
Shubman Gill gives Titans strong powerplay
The day started with Rashid, standing in for the unwell Hardik Pandya, opting to bat after winning the toss. After a slow start, Wriddhiman Saha was looking to accelerate. He had hit a boundary in each of the previous three overs, but Sunil Narine neutralised that threat. Saha tried to slog-sweep, only to top-edge it towards deep midwicket where Jagadeesan, running backwards, took an excellent catch.
That left Titans 38 for 1 after five overs. Varun Chakravarthy, though, bowled a touch too full and Gill caressed him for back-to-back fours through extra cover. Varun’s over also included five wides, which helped Titans finish the powerplay at 54 for 1.
Actor Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan, on Sunday, hailed cricketer Rinku Singh for his stupendous 5 successive sixes in the final over of Kolkata Knight Riders’ thrilling IPL 2023 match against Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Taking to Instagram, Suhana shared a picture on her story and wrote, “Unreal.” With this win, KKR has climbed to third position in the points table, winning two of their three matches and losing one. They have a total of four points. GT has slipped to fourth position and has a similar win-loss record to KKR, but KKR is one position up due to a superior net-run-rate.
Actor Ananya Panday also shared a picture on her stories and dropped raising hand emoticons.
Talking about the match, Gujarat Titans posted 204/4 in their 20 overs after electing to bat first. Vijay Shankar top-scored with 63 off 24 balls, consisting of four boundaries and five sixes. Sai Sudharshan also scored his second half-century in IPL 2023, scoring 53 in 38 balls consisting of three fours and two sixes. Shubman Gill also played a solid knock of 39 runs in 31 balls, with five fours.
Sunil Narine was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, taking 3/33 in four overs. Suyash Sharma also continued his solid run after a three-for against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the previous match, taking 1/35 in his four overs.
In the chase of 205 runs, KKR was reduced to 28/2, but skipper Nitish Rana (45 off 29 balls with four boundaries and three sixes) put on a hundred-run stand for the third wicket with Venkatesh Iyer, who scored 83 in 40 balls, which consisted of eight fours and five sixes.
MI vs CSK Highlights: Chennai Super Kings defeated Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets at Wankhede Stadium in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match on Saturday (April 8).
Chennai Super Kings’ Ravindra Jadeja (4-0-20-3) and Mitchell Santner (4-0-28-2) halted Mumbai’s advance by sharing five wickets to restrict the hosts to paltry 157/8. ( Image Source : PTI )
Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians IPL 2023 Highlights: Ajinkya Rahane’s (61 runs off 27 balls) fiery knock following Ravindra Jadeja’s (3/20) magical spell powered MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to an emphatic seven-wicket win over Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians (MI) at Wankhede Stadium in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match on Saturday (April 8). Today, Mumbai’s top-order was simply outdone by CSK’s bowling attack. Another highlight of the high-octane CSK vs MI El Clasico was the return of Ajinka Rahane who announced that he isn’t finished yet by scoring the fastest fifty in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 so far. The win comes as a big boost to CSK’s morale and their Net Run Rate (NRR).
Earlier, MS Dhoni won the toss and invited Mumbai Indians to bat first. Chennai Super Kings’ Ravindra Jadeja (4-0-20-3) and Mitchell Santner (4-0-28-2) halted Mumbai’s advance by sharing five wickets to restrict the hosts to paltry 157/8. The CSK bowling duo spun web around MI batters after the home side raced to 61 for one in the powerplay. Jadeja, the senior all-rounder, rocked MI’s batting lineup by taking three wickets for 20 runs in his four overs, while Mitchell Santner and Tushar Deshpande bagged two wickets apiece, and Sisanda Magala picked one wicket.
Here’s all you need to know about Suyash Sharma, KKR’s new mystery spinner, who made an instant impact against RCB in IPL 2023.
Kolkata: KKR bowler Suyash Sharma being greeted by teammates after he dismissed RCB batsman Karn Sharma during IPL 2023 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Garden in Kolkata, Thursday, April 6, 2023. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra) (PTI04_06_2023_000369B)(PTI)
Making the most of the Impact Player rule in their recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Virat Kohli-starrer Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) unleashed youngster Suyash Sharma at the monumental Eden Gardens on Thursday. Suyash, who was not even born when India contested the 2003 World Cup final against Australia, ended up spinning a web around the formidable Bangalore side in match No.9 of the cash-rich league.
Teaming up with mystery spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, debutant Suyash demolished RCB as du Plessis’ men folded for a paltry total of 123 in 17.4 overs while chasing a mammoth 205. Capping off an unforgettable debut for the Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Suyash bagged the crucial wickets of Dinesh Karthik (9), Anuj Rawat (1) and Karn Sharma (1) in the lopsided contest. The KKR youngster bagged three wickets for 30 runs in his full quota of 4 overs.
“Suyash is a confident young man and he has belief in himself. He made his chance count and it was great to see him bowl that way,” KKR’s stand-in skipper Nitish Rana gave a special mention to Suyash after the match. Opener Venkatesh Iyer was substituted by KKR for Impact Player Suyash in Kolkata’s first home game of the new season. A new fan favourite at the Eden Gardens, Suyash didn’t record a single appearance in any form of professional competition prior to his KKR debut.
Schools and colleges across the U.S. would be forbidden from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes under a proposal released Thursday by the Biden administration, but teams could create some limits in certain cases — for example, to ensure fairness.
The proposed rule sends a political counterpunch toward a wave of Republican-led states that have sought to ban trans athletes from competing in school sports that align with their gender identities. If finalized, the proposal would become enshrined as a provision of Title IX, the landmark gender-equity legislation enacted in 1972.
It must undergo a lengthy approval process, however, and it’s almost certain to face challenges. While opponents sharply criticized the proposal, some advocates for transgender athletes were concerned that it did not go far enough.
The proposal comes on the same day that the Supreme Court said a 12-year-old transgender girl in West Virginia can continue competing on her middle school track and cross-country teams while legal battles over the state’s transgender law continue. The law bans transgender athletes from female teams.
All told, at least 16 states now have bans in effect covering at least high school interscholastic sports. Some also extend to intramural, club or college sports. Enforcement of bans in at least three other states has been put on hold by courts, and one more has adopted a ban that doesn’t take effect until July.
Under the Education Department’s proposed rule, no school or college that receives federal funding would be allowed to impose a “one-size-fits-all” policy that categorically bans trans students from playing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Such policies would be considered a violation of Title IX.
Still, the proposal leaves room for schools to develop team eligibility rules that could ultimately result in restrictions around trans athletes’ participation.
That would be allowed only if it serves “important educational objectives,” such as fairness in competition and reduction of injury risks.
Any limits would have to consider the sport, the level of competition and the age of students. Elementary school students would generally be allowed to participate on any teams consistent with their gender identity, for example. More competitive teams at high schools and colleges could add limits, but those would be discouraged in teams that don’t have tryouts or cuts.
“Every student should be able to have the full experience of attending school in America, including participating in athletics, free from discrimination,” said Miguel Cardona, Biden’s education secretary, in a statement.
Biden’s administration used “fairness of competition” as criteria, which has been part of the debate both in the U.S. and globally. But officials offered no specifics on how this could be done.
Of the tens of millions of high school students in the U.S., about 300,000 youth between the ages of 13 to 17 identify as transgender, according to a 2022 study from the Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA focused on LGBTQ+ issues. The number of athletes within that group is much smaller; a 2017 survey by Human Rights Campaign suggested fewer than 15% of all transgender youth play sports.
Asked about the proposal, Bobbie Hirsch, a transgender man and sophomore on the Wayne State men’s fencing team, said “anything helps.” But he feared the language in the rule would make it easier for schools to tell transgender athletes they can’t play on a team. “That’s the direction things have been going,” he said in a phone interview.
Hirsch competed on the women’s team in the 2021-22 season, and began transitioning socially in high school and medically last summer.
Eli Bundy, an 18-year-old transgender resident of Charleston, South Carolina, said they welcomed the proposal but were stopping short of celebrating.
“I have a hard time feeling relief when positive stuff happens at the national level, because there’s still so much at the state level from the South Carolina Legislature that is antagonistic and sends a really harmful message to trans youth,” said Bundy, who testified in 2021 against the state’s ban on transgender students’ participation in girls’ or women’s sports at public schools and colleges.
The win means the Lionesses have now gone 30 games without defeat. They go on to play Australia next Tuesday, before opening up their World Cup campaign in July.
The Lionesses celebrate their Women’s Finalissima win
The Lionesses have beaten Brazil in the first-ever Women’s Finalissima, after the match went to penalties at Wembley Stadium.
Ella Toone’s 23rd-minute strike put England in front before a late equaliser from Andressa Alves took the game to a shootout, which the hosts won 4-2.
Georgia Stanway scored the first penalty for the home side before Brazil’s Adriana levelled matters. Toone and Brazil’s Tamires both missed their spot kicks, before Rachel Daly scored hers.
Brazil captain Rafaelle then missed and England’s Alex Greenwood scored. Kerolin kept the South Americans in the shootout until Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty as Wembley erupted.
Kelly repeated the feat of scoring the winner after the Lionesses were crowned Women’s European champions last July, beating Germany 2-1.
Speaking after the game, Kelly heaped praise on goalkeeper Mary Earps for her performance, saying: “Mary pulled off some great saves in that shootout.
“Mary’s unbelievable, she’s got a great mentality and a great keeper as well and I think she showed that in the penalty shootout. She was unbelievable.”
Goalscorer Toone added: “It’s always fun being at Wembley in front of all our fans and it was nice to get the win and the medal round our necks.”
Thursday’s win against Brazil means the Lionesses have now gone 30 games without defeat.
The Women’s Finalissima pits the Euro winners against the South American champions.
The Brazilian team became the Copa America winners after beating Colombia 1-0 in the same month that England defeated Germany.
Top knocks from Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh, followed by a four-wicket haul from Nathan Ellis guided Punjab Kings to a victory by five runs in a thrilling IPL 2023 match against Rajasthan Royals
RR vs PBKS, IPL 2023: PBKS beat RR by 5 runs
Top knocks from Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh, followed by a four-wicket haul from Nathan Ellis guided Punjab Kings to a victory by five runs in a thrilling IPL 2023 match against Rajasthan Royals. Asked to bat first, PBKS posted a huge total of 197/4 in 20 overs with Dhawan and Prabhsimran scoring 86* and 62 runs respectively. For RR, Jason Holder scalped two wickets while Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal scalped one wicket each. Later, RR lost some early wickets after Nathan Ellis took four wickets and Arshdeep Singh took two wickets. However, Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel anchored the innings and took the game to the last over. Unfortunately, the duo could not take RR across the line as Sam Curran successfully defended 16 runs off the last over and restricted them at 192/7.
Indian cricketers are said to be enjoying the leverage that comes from the popularity of cricket – which is more of a religion in the country. Indian cricketers apparently not only earn a huge chunk from brand endorsements, but are among sport personalities to attract large endorsements.
Overall, spending on sports celebrity endorsements has increased 20% by ₹124 crore to ₹749 crore in 2022 from ₹625 crore in the previous year, says GroupM ESP Sporting Nation Report 2023.
About 85% of the total endorsement value of ₹749 crore, which is ₹640 crore, went to cricketers. The remaining ₹109 crore went to other sports.
A total of 505 brand endorsement deals took place, out of which, 381 deals were with cricketers.
The top athletes in sports celebrity brand endorsement are Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Neeraj Chopra, and PV Sindhu.
In fact, the average deal value involving cricketers is 1.8 times that of athletes from emerging sports.
Virat Kohli continues to be the topper of brand endorsements with 30 brands
From being a brand ambassador to ethnic wear brand Manyavar, wearables brands Noise, e-commerce platform Myntra and several others, Virat Kohli is said to be dominating the brand endorsement space.
“Talking of specific individuals in the team sport, recent years have seen Virat Kohli dominating the brand endorsement space in Indian sports, building a substantial lead over the others, in terms of earnings,” said GroupM ESP Sporting Nation Report 2023.Former captain of the Indian cricket team MS Dhoni is another one on the list that makes a huge amount from brand advertisements followed by Rohit Sharma. Apparently, all three Indian cricketers have 30 brands each.
The report says that other Team India stars like Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan are also among the big scorers in the endorsement space, be it in terms of overall revenue, or with respect to acquisition of new brands too.
New ones on the pitch of brand endorsements are cricketers like Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer.
“Cricketers with a more recent ascendancy to the world of stardom, like Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, can be considered to be the new favourites of brands and they are expected to score at a brisk rate in near future,” said the report.
As the Indian women’s team has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last few years, women cricketers like Harmanpreet Kaur, Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana are also attracting brand endorsements.
Chennai Super Kings collected their first points of the IPL 2023 after defeating Lucknow Super Giants by 12 runs on Monday night. The victory was special as it was achieved at their home ground, MA Chidambaram Stadium, where MS Dhoni and Co returned after more than 1000 days. Despite the winning return, the CSK captain wasn’t pleased with his fast bowlers and even issued a strict warning to them.
CSK might have bounced back after losing the season opener but they need to take strict measures to deal with their bowlers’ frequency of giving away extra runs. The pacers conceded as many as 13 wides in the encounter against LSG at Chepauk. A total of three no-balls were also bowled, all by Tushar Deshpande, during the game. So far, the CSK bowlers have bowled 17 wide balls and 7 no-balls in just matches.
Dhoni is known for taking unpredictable calls in pressure situations but he doesn’t sustain a bowler bowling too many no-balls.
Speaking about the same at the post-match presentation, the CSK captain issued a second warning and stated if the bowlers don’t get in line right away, he will walk away from the team.
“Fast bowling – we need to slightly improve. Need to bowl according to the conditions. What is important is to keep an eye as to what the opposition bowlers are doing,” Dhoni said.
“One more thing is they’ll have to bowl no no-balls or extra wides. Or they’ll have to play under a new captain. It will be my second warning and then I’ll be off. The only reason we’ve scored those runs is if the surface is nice,” he added.
Virat Kohli became the first Indian batsman to reach the historic IPL milestone. Overall, however, David Warner tops the list.
Virat Kohli in action for RCB during IPL 2023
Virat Kohli looked in glorious form as the star batter scored a magnificent half-century to guide Royal Challengers Bangalore to victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Sunday. Kohli looked in stupendous form as he slammed 82 off just 49 deliveries with the help of six fours and five sixes. This was his 50th 50-plus score in IPL and he became the first Indian cricketer ever to achieve the impressive feat. Overall, Delhi Capitals opener David Warner tops the list with 60. Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan is third on the overall list with 49. Kohli currently has 45 fifties and 5 hundreds to his name.
Kohli and Faf du Plessis dished out a chasing master-class with a 148-run opening partnership as RCB made a sensational start to their IPL campaign with a comprehensive eight-wicket victory.
Sent into bat, Tilak Varma smashed a scintillating 84 off 46 balls to single-handedly power MI to 171 for seven but Kohli and du Plessis made mockery of the total, slamming twin fifties as RCB romped home with as many as 22 balls to spare.
Chasing 172, Kohli (82 not out) and Du Plessis (73) produced an exhibition of sublime stroke-making, plundering 10 boundaries and as many maximums during their near-flawless 89-ball stand.
After du Plessis perished in the 15th over, Kohli completed the job, hitting a four and six off Arshad Khan to knock off the winning runs to hand MI their 11th consecutive defeat in their first match of the season.
MI brought in Jason Behrendorff in place of Suryakumar Yadav as their impact player but it didn’t work as he and his new-ball partner Arshad were taken to the cleaners by Kohli and du Plessis, racking up 30 in three overs.
If Behrendorff was smacked for successive sixes by du Plessis, Kohli blasted a four and six off Jofra Archer after being dropped by the bowler in the first ball.
Veteran spinner Piyush Chawla was then introduced but du Plessis sent him across the extra cover, while Kohli pulled one across the midwicket off Archer as RCB scored 53 in six overs.
Cameron Green was then taken apart with du Plessis hitting two fours and a maximum. The skipper repeated the treatment to Hrithik Shokeen with two maximums to reach his fifty.
Kohli then whacked Chawla over long-on to bring up the team hundred before reaching his individual fifty in the 12th over.
Jason Behrendorff bled 16 runs in the next with du Plessis cracking a six and a four. Kohli then pulled Archer over deep square leg as runs kept coming thick and fast. MI picked up du Plessis and Dinesh Kartik (0) in the fag end but it was too late as Glenn Maxwell (12 not out off 3 balls) and Kohli finished off things in style.
Earlier, MI had a poor start but Varma, coming off a successful last season, held the innings together with a sensational knock.
RCB bowlers had reduced MI to 20 for three in 5.2 overs but Varma added 50 and 48 with Nehal Wadhera (21) and Arshad Khan (15 not out) for the fifth and eighth wickets respectively.
The 20-year-old decorated his knock with nine boundaries and four sixes.
Former Indian cricketer, 88-year-old Salim Aziz Durani passed away in Jamnagar on Sunday morning. He was suffering from illness for a brief period of time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led heartfelt tributes for Durani. “Salim Durani Ji was a cricketing legend, an institution in himself. He made a key contribution to India’s rise in the world of cricket. On and off the field, he was known for his style. Pained by his demise. Condolences to his family and friends. May his soul rest in peace,” PM Modi wrote.
Former Indian cricketer Ravi Shastri expressed his grief in a tweet, “Easily one of the most colourful cricketers of India – Salim Durani. Rest in Peace. Aum shaanti.”
In the era of 1960-1973, Durani marked his presence with his pure ability to send the ball flying into the stands. He was an allrounder and had a unique ability to finish off the game either with the bat or with the ball. He was a part of India’s successful victory against England in 1961-62.
Durani capped off an impressive display by picking up eight wickets against the English team. In his illustrious career, Durani also picked up the wickets of one of the best cricketers like Clive Lloyd and Gary Sobers.
With his slow left-arm orthodox bowling style Durani certainly knew how to increase the intensity in a game and add a touch of entertainment for the fans as well. The former Indian cricketer featured in 29 Test matches for team India and scored 1,202 runs with an average of 25.04.
Rashid was wanted in dozens of cases of dacoity and murder, including the triple murder of three relatives of Suresh Raina in Punjab in 2020 (Twitter)
Rashid alias Chalta Firta alias Sipahiya, a notorious criminal was gunned down by a team of UP police on Saturday evening in an encounter. He was involved in the 2020 triple murder case in which cricketer Suresh Raina’s relatives were killed. He was gunned down by police in a shoot-out in Shahpur area.
“Rashid alias Chalta Firta alias Sipahiya, who carried a cash reward of Rs 50,000 on his head, was killed in an encounter,” SSP Sanjiv Suman told the media. Police personnel first intercepted two motorcycle-borne men following a tip-off that members of an inter-state gang were staying in Shahpur police station area. However, the men opened fire on the police, a PTI report said.
As police fired in retaliation, Rashid was killed while his associate managed to escape. Two firearms were recovered from the criminal. Efforts are on to nab Rashid’s associate, the SSP said.
Station House Officer (SHO) of Shahpur, Bablu Singh, also sustained a bullet injury and was shifted to a hospital during the operation.
Outside of cricket Virat Kohli is a big fan of sporting stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Roger Federer.
Virat Kohli in a chat with RCB ahead of IPL 2023 season
One of the greatest cricketers of all time, Virat Kohli remains an icon in the sporting spectrum. While Sachin Tendulkar is the man Kohli has idolised growing up, there are some non-cricketing heroes too that the talismanic batter has sought inspiration from. In a video shared by his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Kohli was asked about a hypothetical situation where he is sitting with sporting greats like Cristiano Ronaldo and Roger Federer — two athletes he admires a lot. The Indian cricket star gave a brilliant response.
“I’ll just keep quiet and listen to both of them, to be very honest. I don’t have much to add to that conversation. I’ll just soak it in and listen to some of the greatest athletes in the history,” said Kohli in reply, in a video shared by RCB.
RCB, as a franchise, has done multiple rounds of interviews with some of its current and former stars. Even AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle got together for a fun chat session where the former spoke about his first interaction with Kohli.
De Villiers even revealed that he found Kohli ‘cocky and arrogant’ when he first met him.
Russian men’s world number six Daniil Medvedev (left) and Belarusian women’s world number two Aryna Sabalenka will now feature at Wimbledon
Russian and Belarusian players will be able to compete at Wimbledon this summer after the All England Club lifted the ban it imposed last year.
The players will be able to feature this year “subject to competing as neutral athletes” and complying with certain conditions.
They were banned in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the support provided by Belarus.
Wimbledon starts this year on 3 July at the All England Club (AELTC).
“We continue to condemn totally Russia’s illegal invasion and our wholehearted support remains with the people of Ukraine,” said AELTC chairman Ian Hewitt.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision, not taken lightly or without a great deal of consideration for those who will be impacted.”
The decision also covers other British events held in the run up to Wimbledon, most notably the tournaments at Queen’s and Eastbourne.
Conditions players must comply with include:
Agreeing not to support the Russian and/or Belarusian states or their regimes and leaders
Not receiving funding from Russian and/or Belarusian states, including sponsorship from companies operated or controlled by them
Outside Wimbledon and other British events, players have been able to compete on the game’s professional tours as neutrals – including in the other Grand Slams – whereas Wimbledon and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) were fined for the bans imposed last year.
The AELTC said its decision for the 2023 championship was made after discussion with the UK government, the LTA and international stakeholders.
The AELTC and LTA said they stand by last year’s position but that without changing their stance this year, tennis’ two main professional tours, the men’s ATP and women’s WTA would have cancelled the LTA’s membership.
As a result, Queen’s, Eastbourne and other British grass-court events would not have been staged, damaging British tennis organisations financially.
Russian trio Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Daria Kasatkina – who are all in the top 10 of the men’s and women’s rankings – are among the high-profile names able to play this summer.
Belarusian women’s world number two Aryna Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open earlier this year, will also now likely feature.
Players and their support staff will have to sign neutrality declarations in order to compete.
Punishments for breaking the declarations will range from fines to expulsion from the tournament.
What has changed since last year?
Many sports banned Russian and Belarusian teams and athletes in response to the invasion but the ATP and WTA decided players could compete under a neutral flag.
Last month, Ukraine’s highest-profile player Elina Svitolina told BBC Sport that Russian and Belarusian athletes must remain excluded from Wimbledon while “innocent Ukrainians are still being killed”.
Wimbledon’s decision last year was guided by the UK government and supported by 69% of the British public, according to a You Gov poll.
As well as being fined, the WTA and ATP said they would cancel the LTA’s membership if it exercised further “discrimination based on nationality”.
That led to the LTA fearing the tournaments traditionally staged in the lead-up to Wimbledon may be lost forever.
The LTA was fined $750,000 (£608,355) by the WTA and $1m (£811,140) by the ATP for excluding players from the tour events they operate in 2022.
“There is no doubt the affect of the LTA losing membership to the tours would have been very damaging and far reaching,” LTA chief Scott Lloyd said.
A LTA statement added: “The impact would be felt by the millions of fans that follow the sport, the grassroots of the game, including coaches and venues which rely on the events for visibility and to bring new players into the game, and of course professional British players.
“Given this, and our responsibility as the national governing body of tennis in Britain, we have worked closely with the UK government, ATP, WTA and ITF, alongside the All England Club, to find a solution for 2023.”
The AELTC added: “Tennis events outside of the UK have experienced a year of competition with players from Russia and Belarus competing as ‘neutral’ athletes.
“We also consider alignment between the Grand Slams to be increasingly important in the current tennis environment.”
According to the complaint, when the cyclist decided to quit the camp and return to India, Sharma called her family and asked them to get her married as she did not have a future in the sport.
SAYING THAT she feared for her “life”, a top Indian cyclist has accused the chief national team coach, R K Sharma, of allegedly forcing himself into her room, offering a “post-training massage”, “forcefully” trying to pull her towards him, and asking her to “sleep with him”, during a camp in Slovenia last month, according to her complaint emailed to the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
The complaint states that Sharma allegedly told the cyclist that he “wants” her “to be his wife”. When she resisted, the complaint alleges, the coach threatened to destroy her career by “removing her from the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE)”, and making sure she would “sell vegetables on the road”.
According to the complaint, when the cyclist decided to quit the camp and return to India, Sharma called her family and asked them to get her married as she did not have a future in the sport.
Sharma is still in Slovenia with the rest of the Indian team at the training camp for the Asian Championships this month, and is scheduled to return on June 14. He did not respond to calls and messages from The Indian Express seeking his response to the allegations. The coach has been involved with the national team since 2014.
SAI has constituted a committee to probe the matter. Cycling Federation of India (CFI) also formed a committee. We’ve met the cyclist & assured her that justice will be provided: MP Singh, Gen Secy,CFI on complaint by a woman cyclist over inappropriate behaviour by a coach (07.6) pic.twitter.com/LQVWNVicpx
The cyclist’s complaint was brought to light on Monday by SAI in a brief statement, which said she was “immediately” brought back “to ensure her safety” — and that a panel has been set up to “investigate the matter”, which “is being dealt (with) on priority”.
In a separate statement on Monday, the Cycling Federation of India (CFI) identified the complainant and the coach, said it stands “with the complainant” and has formed a probe panel of its own.
In the detailed complaint, the cyclist describes the coach’s conduct as “inappropriate, unlawful and objectionable”.
“I was scheduled to leave for the cycling training camp in Slovenia for the date 15th May 2022 to 14th June 2022,” the complaint states. “After all the logistical arrangements were made, to my sheer surprise and shock, three days before my scheduled travel date, I received a call from my coach Mr R K Sharma telling me that I have to share the room at Hotel Balnea in Slovenia with him alone,” it states.
India Women vs South Africa Women, World Cup 2022 Score Updates: Indian opener Smriti Mandhana completed her 22nd ODI half-century at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Women’s World Cup Live Score: Smriti Mandhana remained key as she scored another half-century.
Indian openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana got off to a solid start as they added 91 runs for the first wicket in 15 overs before the former was run-out for 53. Yastika Bhatia soon followed as she was dismissed for 2 runs as India went two wickets down in quick succession. However, Mandhana continued to pile on the runs to complete her 22nd ODI half-century and partner well with skipper Mithali Raj. Earlier, India opted to bat against South Africa at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch in a crucial encounter for both teams. Two changes each for India and South Africa in their respective final XIs. Meghna Singh came in for Jhulan Goswami while Deepti Sharma in for Punam Yadav and for South Africa, Lara Goodall came in for Tazmin Brits while Masabata Klaas is in for Tumi Sekhukhune. While South Africa have already qualified, India need to win — or for the match to be washed out — to make it to the final four of the World Cup. If they lose, they will need England to lose to Bangladesh by a worse margin so they drop below the Mithali Raj-led team on Net Run Rate.
Mithali Raj at the toss: “We’ll have a bat. Yesterday’s match was played on the same track. Spinners will get some assistance in the second innings. It’s a good wicket to bat when the sun is out. We have to be composed and play our best cricket. We have two changes. Meghna Singh comes in for Jhulan, Deepti in for Punam.”
KKR beat CSK by 6 wickets to start the IPL 2022 on a high (IPL Image)
Shreyas Iyer’s leadership skills outshone Ravindra Jadeja’s in the season opener of IPL 2022 as Kolkata Knight Riders registered a comfortable six-wicket win over defending champions Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede Stadium. Ajinkya Rahane, who recently lost his place in India’s Test squad, silenced his critics with a crucial 44-run knock to set up the platform for his new franchise in a successful run chase. Shreyas hit the winning runs in his first match as KKR captain as his team chased down the 132-run target with 9 balls to spare.
Veteran Chennai Super Kings wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni turned back the clock to smash his first IPL century since 2019. Dhoni ended his century drought to pull his team to a fighting total of 131/5 after a very sluggish start against a high-quality KKR bowling attack.
Chasing the target of 132, KKR were off to a solid start as Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer shared a 43-run stand for the opening wicket. However, Dwayne Bravo got the better of Venkatesh (16) with a slower one as he edged that to Dhoni behind the stumps. Rahane was then joined by Nitish Rana who also scored crucial 21 runs before becoming the second victim of Bravo.
Rahane, who was looking in great touch, was dismissed by New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner. The veteran India batter tried to play a big shot over mid-wicket but missed the connection and got caught by Jadeja.
CSK lost by six wickets in Ravindra Jadeja’s first game as captain of the four-time IPL winning side.
Ravi Shastri; Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja did not have a perfect start to his captaincy period for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as the defending champions lost by six wickets against Kolkata Knight Riders in the season opener of the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). And following the game, former India head coach Ravi Shastri gave his verdict on Jadeja’s captaincy in the game.
MS Dhoni’s quickfire half-century, his first since 2019, and his unbeaten 70-run stand with Jadeja helped CSK bounce back from 61 for 5 in the 11th over to 131 for five at the end of 20 overs.
Chennai tried their best to defend the total and emulate the result the had achieved in the IPL 2021 final against the same side, but KKR wrapped up the chase with nine balls to spare.
Speaking to Star Sports at the end of the game, Shastri felt that Jadeja should have been more brave with his bowling decisions, exemplifying that Shivam Dube shouldn’t have bowled the eighth over and one between him or Mitchell Santner should have been used in the attack.
“Jadeja for me, as a captain, needs to be a little more braver when it comes to when to bowl. Sometimes as a captain, when you are a premier bowler you tend to hold yourself back. There has to be someone there to tell him you got to bowl and that you are good enough to get wickets. And I though they were over late. Instead of Shivam Dube in that overs it should have been an experienced bowler – Jadeja or Santner. Because when you are defending 130, one mistake can cost you, one over of 14 or 15 runs can cost you and the game will slip,” he said.
The Rajasthan Royals found themselves in a spot of bother just a day before the commencement of IPL 2022 when skipper Sanju Samson had urged the franchise’s social media team to behave professionally after they had played a social media prank on him on March 25. Sanju’s photo which was clicked while he was supposedly relaxing in the team bus was given a hilarious touch with the usage of filters.
Moments after Samson had criticized the RR social media team for the prank, the Rajasthan Royals team management issued a statement where they took strict action against them by mentioning that the franchise has decided to appoint a new team in due course. Now, the admin has shown his hilarious side after getting fired.
Rajasthan Royals give a hilarious send-off to social media admin
In the video posted by the Royals on their official Twitter handle, the franchise’s social media admin hilariously tries to convince the players and the members of the support staff to save his job. Meanwhile, the person’s face cannot be seen as he is standing behind the camera. Young all-rounder Riyan Parag urges the person to have a word with head coach Kumar Sangakkara and bowling coach Lasith Malinga.
Legendary WWE wrestler Triple H, AKA Paul Levesque revealed that he is done as an active wrestler and announced his retirement from in-ring competition.
Legendary WWE wrestler Triple H, AKA Paul Levesque revealed that he is done as an active wrestler and announced his retirement from in-ring competition. Levesque suffered a cardiac issue last September, and the decision to walk away from the ring is a result of it. ‘The Game’ as Triple H is fondly called, admitted that his heart issue was life-threatening and that he had gone into heart-failure and said there were instances he doubted whether he would make it.
Levesque, 52, said that he was down pneumonia, which filled his lungs and arms with fluid. A normal heart ejection fraction operates at 55-60 percent but Levesque’s had dropped to 12 percent “By the time I got to the emergency room, my ejection fraction had gone down to 22,” Triple H told Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take.
“Which, I was in heart failure. Bad. By the next morning – as they figured that out that evening – by the next morning as they got the MRI done and they were sending me in for a heart scan. My ejection fraction was down to 12. So, I was nosediving and sort of at the one-yard line of where you want to be – or where you don’t want to be, really, for your family and your future.”
MS Dhoni shockingly stepped down as the Chennai Super Kings captain on March 24 having led them successfully for 12 seasons. Star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been appointed as his successor. After taking over the reins from Dhoni, Jadeja has exuded confidence to lead the team from the front from this year onwards and also take the legacy of the franchise forward.
Meanwhile, it seems that Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma is not convinced that the southpaw will be a good leader for CSK. While the former Ranji player did hail Ravindra Jadeja the all-rounder, he made it clear that sometimes a good cricketer is not necessarily a good captain adding that the middle-order specialist is an inexperienced candidate as well.
Ravindra Jadeja doesn’t have that much experience: Rajkumar Sharma
“Ravindra Jadeja is no doubt a leading all-rounder in the world. But since he hasn’t captained much and doesn’t have that much experience, then it would be something to look out for. Sometimes a good cricketer isn’t necessarily a good captain and vice versa”, said Rajkumar Sharma while speaking on the YouTube podcast ‘Khelneeti’.
India vs Bangladesh Live Score, Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022: Currently placed fourth in points table with back-to-back feats, India take on Bangladesh in must-win game. Catch Live Updates of IND vs BAN, being played at the Seddon Park, Hamilton.
India vs Bangladesh, Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022: India posted 229/7 in 50 overs after opting to bat first against Bangladesh in the must-win Women’s World Cup fixture in Hamilton. Yastika Bhatia, who scored 50, emerged as the leading run-scorer. Meanwhile, Mithali Raj failed to live up to her reputation, getting out for a golden duck. Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana got the team to a perfect start, adding 74 runs for the opening wicket. However, Bangladesh bounced back well and picked three wickets in quick succession. Harmanpreet Kaur also failed to do much as she was run-out on 14(33). Yastika Bhatia and Richa Ghosh then stitched a crucial 50-plus stand before Ghosh was caught-behind on 26. Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar then added 48 runs together to help India post a respectable total. India have so far won two games and lost three, including back-to-back defeats against England and Australia. They find themselves in a tricky spot against Bangladesh, who have put up a commendable fight against their opponents. A memorable win against Pakistan is the highlight of their campaign so far. India need to win games against Bangladesh and South Africa to stay alive in the tournament.
In the last two editions of the IPL, MS Dhoni has struggled with the bat, scoring a combined total of 314 runs from 30 matches.
MS Dhoni hasn’t scored a fifty in his last 30 IPL matches. (CSK/Twitter)
In the last two editions of the IPL, MS Dhoni has struggled with the bat, scoring a combined total of 314 runs from 30 matches. If his tally of 200 runs in IPL 2020 was disappointing, the following year was even worse as Dhoni aggregated only 114 runs. In the last two seasons, Dhoni hasn’t scored a single half-century although in IPL 2021, he did play a cameo of 18 off 6 balls that won Chennai Super Kings the Qualifier 1 game against Delhi Capitals.
With 13 needed off the last over, Dhoni cracked three fours off Avesh Khan and rolled back the years. It was vintage Dhoni at his ‘finisher’ best but former India all-rounder Reetinder Sodhi feels the CSK skipper’s golden days with the bat are behind him. And if the stats are anything to go by, it might be true. Dhoni usually bats lower down the order for CSK, but with his finishing skills on the wane, Sodhi feels CSK and Dhoni would both benefit if the skipper bats higher.
“MS Dhoni has to bat up the order because he is no longer the same finisher that he was known to be a few years back. If he takes his time, comes in the 10th or 11th over, he can hit the lusty blows later. MS Dhoni knows that he is the key to CSK’s prospects,” Sodhi said on India News, also featuring former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim.
A superb run of form had helped Lakshay secure a bronze medal in World Championships, win his maiden Super 500 title at India Open in January, and then end up as runners-up at the German Open.
Indian Shutter Lakshya Sen, Pic Courtesy: AFP
New Delhi: World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen’s superb run in the All England Open Championships ended with a 10-21, 15-21 loss to reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the men’s singles final in Birmingham on Sunday. Axelsen, today, brought his A-game to win his second title as he outclassed Sen in a hard-fought battle.
Sen started the final on the backfoot as Axelsen was in top gear right from the start of the match. It seemed that Sen was running out of ideas against World No. 1. The Danish star dominated the India shuttler to win the first game 21-10 in 22 minutes and then crushed his opponent 21-15 in the 2nd set to seal an easy win.
The 20-year-old Almora Lad could have become the third Indian shuttler to win the prestigious final of the world’s oldest badminton tournament — the All England Open.
Pandya has not donned the India jersey ever since the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in November last year.
It seems that Hardik Pandya might be in the perfect frame of mind ahead of the IPL 2022 that gets underway on March 26. He will be leading the new entrants Gujarat Titans. Gujarat had roped him in a pre-auction deal for INR 15 crore after he was released by the five-time winners Mumbai Indians.
Lately, the star all-rounder made it clear that he is not treating the upcoming edition of the marquee tournament as a comeback as he is still a “work in progress”. It is to be noted that Pandya has not donned the India jersey ever since ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in November last year as he is working on his fitness and trying to rediscover his mojo.
I am just a work in progress right now: Hardik Pandya
“I don’t think it is going to be my comeback or I am focusing on it. For me, right now I just want to be in a positive mindset and I’m not looking way ahead, I am just focusing on things which are controllables, which is looking after my body and making my team win,” said Pandya while speaking to the IPL website.
“Eventually if I do things right for Gujarat Titans in IPL, then things will fall into places for future as well. I am just a work in progress right now but for me, what will be important is that I will always be available for the players no matter what time and day. I want to give the players security and freedom,” he added.
Padukone and Gopichand are the only Indians to have won the prestigious event
Lakshya Sen during the men’s semifinal match against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham on March 19, 2022. | Photo Credit: AP
World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen stunned defending champion Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia to reach his maiden final at the All England Championships in Birmingham on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Sen became only the third men’s singles player after Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand to reach the final after outwitting Lee 21-13 12-21 21-19 in a gruelling semifinal match.
Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj are now in a league of their own.
Jhulan Goswami became the first player to reach 250 ODI wickets earlier. (ANI)
Veteran India fast bowler Jhulan Goswami has become just the second player after captain Mithali Raj to make 200 appearances in women’s ODIs. Saturday’s World Cup match against Australia is Goswami’s 200th of her career. The 39-year-old Jhulan had earlier become the first player to take 250 wickets in women’s ODIs.
Mithali, on the other hand, is making her 230th ODI appearance. Former England captain Charlotte Edwards previous held the record for most ODI appearances before Mithali and Jhulan went past her. Among active players, South Africa’s Mignon du Preez is closest to the pair, having played 150 matches.
Jhulan is representing India in her fifth Women’s World Cup edition, having made her debut in the tournament in 2005.
Goswami had become the highest wicket-taker in Womens’ WCs by dismissing Anisa Mohammed in the 36th over of the innings with West Indies chasing a mammoth target of 318 set by India. The bowler, thus, lead the chart ahead of Fullston (39 wickets), England duo of Carole Hodges (37 wickets) and Claire Taylor (36) and another Australian in Cathryn Fitzpatrick (33).
There were calls to retire the iconic No.7 jersey as a mark of respect to MS Dhoni’s contribution to Indian cricket.
Former India skipper MS Dhoni(Getty Images)
MS Dhoni and No. 7 go hand in hand. The talismanic keeper-batter has been sporting the iconic No. 7 jersey since his international debut in 2007 and the number has eventually become synonymous with him. Dhoni may have retired from the biggest stage, but the former India skipper remains to be a crucial part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set-up.
Widely regarded among the most successful captains to have braced the sport, Dhoni opened up about the significance of the No. 7 jersey but ruled out any superstitious perspective to it. There were calls to retire the jersey digits as a mark of respect to Dhoni’s contribution to Indian cricket. And the 40-year-old Dhoni shared the “simple” reason behind selecting the number, saying his date of birth is emblematic of the digit.
“A lot of people initially thought that 7 is a lucky number for me and all of that. But I chose the number for a very simple reason. I was born on the 7th of July. So it’s the 7th day of the 7th month, that was the reason,” Dhoni told fans during a virtual interaction held by India Cements.
“Rather than getting to all the different things as to what number is a good number and all, I thought I will use my date of birth as the number. Then whenever people kept asking me, I kept adding to the answer. 81 was the year, 8-1 is again 7, 7 is a very neutral number. People actually kept telling me, I started absorbing it and I started telling it to others in the same way,” he further said.
Ind vs Eng Womens World Cup 2022 Live: England captain Heather Knight won the toss and chose to bowl against India. Rejuvenated after scoring a massive win over the West Indies, India will look to make their road to the semifinals easier when they face a beleaguered England in a crucial match of the Women’s ODI World Cup at Mount Maunganui. Get live cricket score updates of womens world cup 2022 match between India vs England. Check live scorecard, ball by ball commentary, cricket score online on Times of India.
OVERS 33.1: OUT! Richa Ghosh (33) is run out, India 123/8
08:39 (IST) Mar 16
India 120/7 after 32 overs
08:39 (IST) Mar 16
OVERS 31.5: FOUR! Richa Ghosh edges a Kate Cross delivery to the third man fence
08:38 (IST) Mar 16
OVERS 31.3: BIG HIT! Jhulan Goswami hits a Kate Cross delivery over the long-off fence for the first SIX of the match
IPL 2022 mega auction had some shocking surprises with big names going unsold.
The IPL 2022 mega auction took place last month in Bengaluru for two days and the ten franchises spent a lot of money to make sure that they set a strong core for the upcoming seasons. However, there were some surprises for the fans as some of the big names in the tournament went unsold and they might be back in the race as replacements for IPL 2022 later.
A lot of factors have been considered while picking up players in the mega auction and it is not easy to get a bid despite the expansion into ten teams this time. The domestic performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy have all been looked upon and there isn’t any room for emotions in the mega auction.
The recent form and game time is also considered as the analysts, for each franchise will make sure the hard yards have been done in the backend and they have a big role to play during the mega auction. However, the long tournament this year from March 26 to May 29 might just bring the unsold players back into the equation taking injuries and the bio bubble fatigue into consideration.
5 Unsold Indian players who can come in as replacements in IPL 2022 later
1. Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina was surprisingly unsold in the IPL 2022 mega auction despite having a staggering record in the cash-rich tournament. Popularly called the Mr. IPL for his consistent performances over the years for the Chennai Super Kings, Raina is among the all-time greats of the tournament and should come in as a replacement in IPL 2022 later.
Raina missed the IPL 2020 edition due to personal reasons and when he returned to the tournament in 2021, he wasn’t as effective as he used to be in the past. With 160 runs in 12 games in IPL 2021, Raina was nowhere near his best in the previous edition and wasn’t picked for the final few games due to his injury concerns.
However, the 35-year-old has scored 5528 runs in 205 IPL games, and his IPL experience will be immaculate to any franchise. He is one of the best fielders India has ever produced and is very quick in the inner field, although he has lacked fitness off late. The left-hander will be a huge asset to any franchise still if he can get some game time which will be crucial to his return.
2. Ishant Sharma
Ishant Sharma has been a great servant for India in Tests having played more than 100 Tests, and it was a big surprise that he went unsold in the IPL 2022 mega auction. The right-arm seamer has been dropped from the Indian Test squad recently with the young pacers stepping in and he will have to be back at his best to ensure he is picked up again in the squad.
Ishant has been around the IPL for a long time since the inaugural edition and has played for various franchises as well. He has come in as a replacement bowler in the past but has lost a bit of pace that did threaten batters a little bit earlier in his career. The tall lanky pacer regrouped his limited-overs bowling in 2019 since being picked up by Delhi Capitals and has been bowling really well with the new ball in the format.
His overall IPL numbers haven’t been that impressive, however, Ishant has been quite impressive in the last three seasons of IPL and has managed to hit the right lengths. He hasn’t been taking up the responsibility of bowling the death overs, which proved to be very costly for him at the start of his IPL career and franchises might consider him as a replacement.
3. Amit Mishra
Amit Mishra is one of the best leg spinners in IPL history with some stunning numbers to his name and he deserved a bid in the IPL 2022 mega auction. The 39-year-old hasn’t announced his retirement from international cricket despite making his debut in 2003 and remained in the shadow of the legendary Anil Kumble for a long time.
However, Mishra has been a huge success in IPL with 166 wickets in 154 IPL games at an average of 23.9 and has taken three hattricks as well. Mishra is a handy batter down the order as well and he will be in the eyes of a lot of franchises given his experience in the tournament.
Mishra played just the four games in the previous edition for Delhi Capitals and he did impress with six wickets which included a four-wicket haul as well. He has the ability to change games around quickly and recently the Delhi franchise owner, acknowledged him for his services over the years.
India registered a 2-0 clean sweep over Sri Lanka by beating them 238 runs in the second Test in Bengaluru. Here is how the world reacted to Indias massive win in 2nd Test against Sri Lanka.
Indian cricketers with the trophy after clean sweeping Sri Lanka 2-0
India displayed another clinical performance to hammer Sri Lanka by 238 runs in the second Test and take the two-match series 2-0on Monday in Bengaluru. The Rohit Sharma-led side started Day 3 of the pink-ball day-night Test needing 9 wickets and they got that within a session and a half to extend their dominance on home soil. Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah were the stars of the show for India. The off-spinner picked up four wickets and also went past Dale Steyn in the highest wicket-takers’ list to lead India’s charge. Bumrah on the other hand, returned with three wickets to back his five-wicket haul in the first innings. For Sri Lanka, captain Dimuth Karunaratne played a brilliant knock, scoring his 14th Test ton while Kusal Mendis slammed a breezy half-century. But it wasn’t enough as India bowled them out for 208 in the second innings to complete the series sweep. The hosts had won the first Test by an innings and 222 runs.
Shreyas Iyer was declared the Player of The Match for his twin half-centuries on a pitch that had a lot of help for the spinners and was not at all easy for batting. India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was named as Player of The Series for his impactful performances with the bat and assured keeping behind the stumps.
Daniil Medvedev ‘s first stint as the World No. 1 lasted for less than a month
Daniil Medvedev ‘s first stint as the World No. 1 lasted for less than a month after he crashed out of the Indian Wells Masters in the third round.The Russian tennis ace suffered defeat at the hands of Gael Monfils in California, as the Frenchman came from a set down to secure a victory.
Medvedev appeared to let his emotions get the better of him as he was blown away in the third set. After being broken in the first game of that deciding set, Medvedev took his frustrations out on his racket and smashed it into pieces. He made such a mess that, after the pair changed ends, Monfils was left to sweep up pieces of plastic from the baseline with a towel.
The 26-year-old Medvedev, competing as a neutral athlete, needed to reach at least the last eight to maintain his place at the top of the pile.
Now that he has failed to do so, Novak Djokovic will once again wear the crown despite being absent from this tournament due to travel rules preventing him from entering the US because he is unvaccinated against Covid.
Rishabh Pant was instrumental in India’s 2-0 triumph in the Test series as the Lankan bowlers endured a hard time against him.
Irfan Pathan and Rishabh Pant. (Photo Source: Getty Images)
Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has lavished massive praises on Rishabh Pant following the wicketkeeper-batter’s stellar show against Sri Lanka. The southpaw was instrumental in India’s 2-0 triumph in the Test series as the Lankan bowlers endured a hard time against him. Pant scored 185 runs in three innings and that too at a strike rate of over 120.
In fact, during the second Test in Bengaluru, Pant slammed a 28-ball half-century, the fastest by any Indian in Test matches. As he was impressive behind the stumps as well, Pant was named the Player of the Series. Irfan was among many to laud the youngster’s stellar show and he even made a bold prediction. The former cricketer reckons Pant will surpass MS Dhoni’s to become India’s most-successful wicketkeeper-batter in Tests.
Rishabh Pant still has a long way to go: Irfan Pathan
“He is just a 24-year-old boy, and at such a young age, so much improvement has been seen in his cricket. I believe by the time he finishes his cricket career, there is still a long way to go, you will see him play 10 years of international cricket for sure, he will become India’s highest run-scoring wicketkeeper-batter in Tests, I have no doubt about that,” Irfan said on Star Sports.
He entered the WWE’s Hall of Fame twice, as Razor Ramon and as a founding member of the New World Order.
Scott Hall (left, as Razor Ramon) fought “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at WrestleMania in 2002. GEORGE PIMENTEL/WIREIMAGE
Scott Hall, the two-time WWE Hall of Famer who famously ignited pro wrestling’s “Monday Night Wars” in the 1990s by walking in unannounced during a rival organization’s marquee TV show, has died. He was 63.
Hall was taken off life support Monday in a hospital in Marietta, Georgia, after he broke his hip in a fall in March and suffered several complications while in surgery on Saturday. The WWE announced his death.
“My heart is broken and I’m so very fucking sad,” his longtime tag team partner Kevin Nash wrote on Instagram. “I love Scott with all my heart, but now I have to prepare my life without him in the present. I’ve been blessed to have a friend that took me at face value and I him.”
Very good at being very evil in the ring, Hall won the WWE Intercontinental title four times and WCW Tag Team championships seven times (as “The Outsiders” with Nash), and in 1994 at WrestleMania X at Madison Square Garden, he competed in an iconic ladder match against Shawn Michaels. However, he never won the world title.
During his 26 years as a wrestler, he also feuded with the likes of Sting, Lex Luger, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Ric Flair and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
After his retirement in 2010, Hall was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, first in 2014 as bad guy Razor Ramon (resplendent with gold chains, slicked-back hair and toothpick in mouth in an homage to Al Pacino’s Scarface character) and then in 2020 as a member of the villainous stable the New World Order (nWo).
During Memorial Day weekend on the May 27, 1996, episode of WCW Monday Nitro on TNT (owned by Ted Turner), the 6-foot-7 Hall suddenly appeared striding through the crowd, entering the ring unannounced to interrupt a match.
Mitchell Starc’s delivery was clocked at 145kph and Fawad Alam was completely beaten by the pace as the ball tailed in and crashed into his pads.
Mitchell Starc trapped Fawad Alam with a ‘blazing yorker’
Mitchell Starc was on top of his game as his spell of three for 29 saw Australia bowl out Pakistan for a paltry of 148 in the first innings on Day 3 of the ongoing second Test at the National Stadium in Karachi. However, Starc’s “blazing yorker” which got the better of Fawad Alam hogged all the limelight on a day dominated by the Australian bowlers. The delivery was clocked at 145kph and Alam was completely beaten by the pace as the ball tailed in and crashed into his pads.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shared the video of the dismissal on their official Twitter handle.
This was Fawad Alam’s first opportunity to contribute with either bat, ball in this series. The experienced left-hander did not get an opportunity to bat or bowl in the first Test. Alam’s seven-day wait ended in a golden duck as he was dismissed off the first ball.
After rolling over Pakistan for cheap, Australia took a first innings lead of 408.
The visitors were 81 for one at stumps on Day 1, extending their lead to 489 with Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne unbeaten on 35 and 37, respectively.
India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant scored the fastest Test fifty by an Indian batter on Sunday when he completed his half-century in 28 deliveries on the second day of the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru.
Rishabh Pant on Sunday broke Kapil Dev’s record of fastest Test fifty for India.
India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant scored the fastest Test fifty by an Indian batter on Sunday when he completed his half-century in 28 deliveries on the second day of the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru. With India having bowled Sri Lanka out for 109 early in the day’s play, the hosts extended their 143-run first innings lead with some quick scoring in their second innings. It was Rishabh Pant, batting at No. 5, who took charge of the innings and attacked the visiting bowlers to help consolidate India’s control.
With his brisk fifty, Pant broke Kapil Dev’s almost 40-year record of the fastest Test fifty by an Indian batter.
Kapil Dev had scored a 30-ball half-century while batting against Pakistan in the Karachi Test in December, 1982. Despite his heroics, Pakistan went on to win the match by an innings and 86 runs.
Earlier on Sunday, Jasprit Bumrah took a fifer, his first in a home Test, as India ran through Sri Lanka’s lower order and bowled them out for 109.
Sri Lanka had resumed batting at 86/6 on Day 2 but could add only 23 runs to their total.
India started their innings well, with Rohit Sharma scoring 46 and Hanuma Vihari chipping with a knock of 35.
Iyer created an unimpressive record despite playing a match-defining knock.
Shreyas Iyer. (Photo Source: BCCI)
India found themselves in a spot of bother having lost half their side early after winning the toss on Day one of the second Test against Sri Lanka at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Having been reduced to 148/6, the hosts could have been bundled out cheaply had it not been for Shreyas Iyer’s vital half-century that helped them in crossing the 250-run mark.
The middle-order sensation made it matter yet again just like he had during the three WI T20Is that preceded the Test series. Iyer scored 92 runs off 98 deliveries. While he did reach his fifty with a splendid six, the Mumbai cricketer also went on to create an unwanted record as he joined two of India and world cricket’s batting megastars after falling eight short of a deserving century.
After being stumped by Niroshan Dickwella off left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama for 92, Shreyas Iyer ended up creating an unwanted record held by batting legend Sachin Tendulkar and his former opening partner Virender Sehwag. In fact, he became the fourth batter to be stumped while batting in the 90s.
This season, physios and trainers of the NCA and head coach Rahul Dravid will be in touch with the country’s top cricketers to ensure they stick to the plan, with the focus on strength and conditioning.
As the BCCI moves to a centralised system, the NCA, headed by VVS Laxman, will play a more active role in scientific fitness monitoring of the cricketers who are part of the core group expected to play in the T20 World Cup later this year and the 50-over World Cup in 2023.
TO AVOID untimely injury breakdown and ensure optimum fitness with two World Cups scheduled in as many years, contracted Indian cricketers will have to follow a fitness plan designed by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) during the course of the IPL, which is set to begin March 26. Earlier, once players joined their IPL teams, they followed the regimen of their respective franchises.
The NCA-monitored fitness plan has been put in place after the BCCI and selectors were kept in the dark earlier about the fitness status of top cricketers during the IPL.
This season, physios and trainers of the NCA and head coach Rahul Dravid will be in touch with the country’s top cricketers to ensure they stick to the plan, with the focus on strength and conditioning. The BCCI has informed the IPL teams about the direct role the NCA will play in fitness management of players.
Cristiano Ronaldo became the all-time leading men’s goalscorer in football history as his brilliant hat-trick inspired Manchester United’s 3-2 win against Tottenham, while Liverpool closed the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City with a 2-0 victory at Brighton on Saturday.
Ronaldo had netted just once in his previous 10 games amid speculation that the Portugal striker was considering his future after less than a season of his second spell with United.
The 37-year-old’s commitment was questioned when he reportedly jetted to Portugal last weekend rather than watch his team after being ruled out of their 4-1 defeat at Manchester City with a hip injury.
Even United interim boss Ralf Rangnick conceded he did not know if Ronaldo was happy at the club.
But Ronaldo proved his commitment to the United cause with a superb display to single-handedly dispatch Tottenham at Old Trafford.
Chasing an elusive international hundred for 28 months now, Virat Kohli would hope for a turnaround at his ‘spiritual home’ when India take on an under-prepared and injury-hit Sri Lanka in the second Test, with the action unfolding under flood lights, in Bengaluru from Saturday.
India will look to sweep the two-match Test series 2-0 against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru.
Chasing an elusive international hundred for 28 months now, Virat Kohli would hope for a turnaround at his ‘spiritual home’ when India take on an under-prepared and injury-hit Sri Lanka in the second Test, with the action unfolding under flood lights, in Bengaluru from Saturday. Interestingly, the last time Kohli reached a three-figure mark, it was a ‘Pink Ball’ game in which India thrashed Bangladesh by an innings and 46 runs in Kolkata, back in November 2019. He had scored 136 back then. The former India skipper has taken strike in 28 innings since then but a Test hundred has remained elusive. The 33-year-old has got a 50-plus score only six times with highest being a knock of 79 against South Africa in Cape Town in January this year.
Now he is returning to the M Chinnaswamy stadium, a venue which he knows like the back of his palm as he has led his IPL side Royal Challengers Bangalore here (RCB) for a decade. That comforting familiarity with the conditions may also help.
Kohli vs tough times
A colossus that he has developed into in world cricket, expectations are always high from the star Indian cricketer, who is perhaps enduring the most challenging phase of his career and not just in pure cricketing terms.
Kohli’s run-in with the establishment and the subsequent removal from the leadership role in ODIs may have added pressure but he can breath easy since in Sri Lanka he faces a bowling attack, which hardly has the wherewithal to trouble the Indian batters in their own den.
ICC Women’s World Cup: India skipper Mithali Raj on Saturday scripted a massive record in the ongoing Women’s World Cup
Mithali Raj has now captain in most number of matches at Women’s World Cups.
India skipper Mithali Raj on Saturday scripted a massive record in the ongoing Women’s World Cup. With India electing to bat against West Indies in their third match of the tournament at the Seddon Park in Hamilton, Raj has now made the most appearances as captain in Women’s World Cup history. She went past former Australian women’s team captain Belinda Clark, who had captained in 23 matches. So far, Mithali has captained India in 23 World Cup matches, bagging 14 wins, eight wins and one no result.
Mithali will be hoping to cap the record with a win over the West Indies, with India having lost one match and won one in the ongoing tournament so far.
India vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test: The KSCA has announced in a statement that 100 percent crowd capacity will be allowed in the Bengaluru Test match.
IND vs SL: The 2nd Test match will have 100 percent crowd capacity.
The second Test between India and Sri Lanka, a pink ball game starting on Saturday, could witness a full house after the Karnataka State Cricket Association on Thursday allowed 100 percent crowd attendance for the match owing to sharp decline in COVID-19 cases and high demand for tickets. “KSCA is happy to inform that there has been very good response for viewership of the India vs Sri Lanka Day-Night Test cricket match being played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore from 12-16 March, 2022.
“Considering the high number of volume of response and since there are no further restrictions for spectators, KSCA will be opening up sale of tickets for full capacity of the stadium,” KSCA treasurer Vinay Mruthyunjaya said in a statement.
The prices of the tickets per day has been kept at Rs 1250 (Grand Terrace), Rs 750 (E-Executive), Rs 500 (D Corporate) and Rs 100 respectively.
In the first Test between India and Sri Lanka, which was also Virat Kohli’s landmark 100th Test, 50 percent crowd capacity was allowed at the PCA Stadium in Mohali.
