Sports

rohit-sharma-to-retire-from-test-cricket-soon-will-play-odi-world-cup-2027-boyhood-coach-drops-bombshell-revelation

Mon Oct 07 23:07:08 IST 2024

Rohit Sharma may retire from Test cricket after the ongoing WTC season with an eye on the ICC ODI World Cup 2027, his childhood coach Dinesh Lad has reportedly claimed.

It was not a passing remark but Dinesh Lad told a daily that he can "promise 100 per cent that Rohit Sharma will play 2027 ODI World Cup." The 37-year-old big-hitting Mumbaikar would become the oldest Indian ever to play in the acclaimed tournament if he could make it to the Indian squad for its 2027 edition in Africa.

Rohit Sharma is playing unbeliveable cricket at the moment but considering the age factor, he may retire from the longest format of the game after the 2025 World Test Championship final, Lad told Dainik Jagran.

However, the coach didn't reveal if (at all) Rohit Sharma had shared his plans with him.

When India lifted the ODI World Cup in 2011 under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sharma didn't make the team. In 2015 and 2019, India bowed out in the semifinal while the 'Hitman' was the captain when Australia defeated India in the summit clash. Rohit's men made it to the final undefeated but were outmatched by the Kangaroos at Ahmedabad. Rohit Sharma's desperation to win the coveted trophy is no secret.

After leading the team to glory in the T20 World Cup earlier this year, the Mumbai Indians veteran had retired from the format along with Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli.

South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia will co-host the 2027 edition of the ICC ODI World Cup.

football-la-liga-barcelona-s-hansi-flick-punished-defender-jules-kounde-by-benching-him-against-alaves-reason

Mon Oct 07 17:16:32 IST 2024

When Barcelona defeated Deportivo Alaves 3-0 in La Liga on Sunday, Hector Fort started in the right-back position instead of Jules Kounde. It was the first time that the versatile French defender was left out of Barca's starting eleven all season by gaffer Hansi Flick.

Kounde, who has been in red-hot form all season, was believed to have been given a deserved day off by his manager. However, it turns out that was not the case. Kounde was left out of Barcelona's starting eleven by Flick as a punishment. The defender failed to turn up for the Catalan team's pre-game meeting on time, which irked Flick.

The former Bayern Munich manager, hellbent on his disciplinary principles, decided to punish Kounde for taking the team meet lightly, Spain-based Sport said in a report. Many of his players were warned about breaking punctuality rules by Flick throughout the season but Kounde became the first to be punished, the report added.

Robert Lewandowski scored a hat trick in a 25-minute span as Barcelona won the last game of the Spanish top league before the international break.

In another development, Barcelona's Spain forward Ferran Torres suffered a hamstring injury and will be out of action for an indefinite period, the La Liga club said on Monday. Ferran could be out for six to eight weeks after he picked up the injury during the Alaves game. Barcelona are navigating an injury crisis, with Dani Olmo, Gavi, Fermin Lopez, Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araujo, and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen among the players sidelined."

cricket-live-india-vs-ban-t20i-suryakumar-yadav-batters-find-form-register-easy-win-at-gwalior

Sun Oct 06 22:29:59 IST 2024

Mayank Yadav bowled with a rattling pace in a promising debut while spinner Varun Chakaravarthy made an impressive comeback to set up India's dominating seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the series-opening T20 on Sunday.

India, oozing with fresh talent, bundled out Bangladesh for a below par 127 before the batters played an array of audacious strokes to gun down the target in 11.5 overs.

The starts with the ball was rookie Mayank and Varun while sizzling cameos from Sanju Samson (29 off 19), skipper Suryakumar Yadav (29 off 14) and Hardik Pandya (39 not out off 16 ) ensured a breezy chase for the hosts.

A full house at the newly built Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium witnessed high-quality bowling from India and largely ordinary batting from their opponents.

All eyes were on Mayank (1/21) ever since he marked his run-up before toss and the 22-year-old from Delhi did not disappoint in his first competitive game in more than five months.

Having attracted global eyeballs for consistently bowling in the 150kmph range during the IPL, Mayank was able to generate serious pace in his opening spell of 2-1-3-1. His first over was a maiden.

Having suffered a side strain shortly after a sensational IPL debut, there were question marks over his fitness in the long term but he dispelled some of those doubts on Sunday.

Mayank was able to hit 145.7 kmph only in his second ball of the evening before hitting 148.7 kmph with the first ball of his second over.

Veteran batter Mahmudullah was among the batters who were wary of his extra pace and ended up becoming the pacer's first international wicket. The 38-year-old tried to improvise by charging down the wicket but ended up slicing a regulation catch to Washington Sundar at deep point.

Varun (3/31), brought back into the team after nearly three years, troubled the Bangladesh batters who failed to read him. Among them was middle-order batter Jaker Ali who had stumps his castled with a ball that turned back in.

Like Mayank, Varun too was brought inside the powerplay. The mystery spinner bounced back after conceding 15 runs in his opening over by dismissing Towhid Hridoy (12).

At 64 for five in 10 overs, Bangladesh's innings was going nowhere and India were able to press on the advantage thereafter.

Mayank returned to bowl the 13th which went for 15 as Bangladesh batters used his extra pace to collect a six and four in the third man region. He ended his quota by bowling the 19th over which included a couple of yorkers.

Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh (3/14) had played his part his in the powerplay by removing openers Litton Das and Parvez Hossain Emon before picking his third wicket to end Bangladesh's innings. Mehidy Hasan Miraz was the top-scorer for the visitors with 35 not out off 32 balls.

India came out to bat with uber aggressive intent with Abhishek Sharma (16 off 7) and Samson going hard from the get go. Promoted to the top of the order, Samson played a few delightful shots before falling to off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

Pick up shots off pacer Taskin Ahmed in the fifth over was the highlight of Suryakumar's innings. The result was a foregone conclusion when India raced to 71 for two in the powerplay. Debutant Nitish Reddy (16 not out off 15) and Hardik got the team home in a canter. Hardik went ballistic in the 12th over bowled by Taskin Ahmed to finish the game in style.

A sell out crowd was in attendance as international cricket returned to Gwalior after 14 years. The stadium built in the outskirts of the city made its international debut.

from-flat-foot-to-produnova-vault-indias-gymnastics-star-dipa-karmakar-retires

Mon Oct 07 18:35:52 IST 2024

For a five-year-old girl who was told that she cannot be a gymnast ever because of her flat feet, going on to represent her nation at the Olympics is nothing short of a fairytale. But, the golden girl of Indian gymnastics, Dipa Karmakar, did just that.

She became the first female gymnast from India to compete at the Olympics, and could have etched her name in the record books, had she not missed the bronze in the 2016 Rio Olympics by just 0.15 points, and finished fourth.

The 31-year-old, on Monday, announced her retirement from gymnastics. "After much thought and reflection, I have decided to retire from competitive gymnastics. This is not an easy decision, but it feels like the right time," she said in a statement on social media.

"Gymnastics has been at the centre of my life for as long as I can remember, and I am grateful for every moment - the highs, the lows, and everything in between."

Dipa is India’s second gymnast after Ashish Kumar to win international medals and the first Indian female gymnast to win a bronze in the Commonwealth Games (2014) and in the Asian Championships (2015). An Arjuna Award recipient, Karmakar won both her international medals with the Produnova Vault—named after Russia's Elena Produnova, who performed the vault, later named after her, in 1999. It is considered one of the hardest vaults as the risk of injury is high. Even Dipa had to ditch it after an ACL injury.

Hailing from Agartala in Tripura and coached by Bishweshwar Nandi, a former international gymnast, Dipa joined Vivekananda Sports Academy at around five years of age. In a couple of years, she started showing her immense talent. In 2004, she was refused admission in the SAI as she was flat-footed. Three years later, she took part in the junior national level games in Jalpaiguri and won three gold and two silver. There was no looking back after that.

She went on to win gold in all five individual events at the 2011 National Games, and clinched the bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. She finished fourth in the vault final at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, despite suffering a hairline ankle fracture.

Dipa once again swept all individual events in the 2015 National Games, and won the bronze at the Asian Championships in Hiroshima, Japan, the same year.

But injuries hampered her career after the 2016 Rio Olympics, as she was out of action for almost two years because of the knee injury. She missed the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, but clinched the gold at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup at Mersin, Turkey, and the bronze in the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Cottbus, Germany, the same year.

But, Dipa aggravated her knee injury during the vault final at the Baku Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in 2019 and had to skip the Doha World Cup. She had planned to make a comeback at the Asian and World Championships but failed to recover in time. She could not qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, partly because of the injuries and also due to the cancellation of tournaments because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2023, despite topping the Asian Games trials in her event, she was left out of the Indian squad for the Hangzhou Games as she did not fulfil the criteria of a top-eight finish in the last 12 months. She failed to meet the criteria as she was serving a ban due to anti-doping violation.

Dipa returned to the national championships earlier this year, and went on to win the gold in the Asian Senior Championships in Tashkent. But, Dipa, who returned to action in 2023, failed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics—she finished 16th in the all-round category. The Asian Championship was the final Olympic qualifier. She had finished fourth in the vault final at the FIG Apparatus World Cup in Doha in April. Earlier, she had skipped the World Cup in Cottbus, Germany after finishing fifth in Cairo World Cup.

football-transfer-news-real-madrid-want-liverpool-trent-alexander-arnold-in-january-to-cover-for-dani-carvajal-report

Sun Oct 06 20:29:42 IST 2024

Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are among Liverpool players whose contract extensions are the need of the hour. Many clubs are watching the situation closely as the Premier League side is yet to start contract talks with the two regular starters.

Meanwhile, reports claim that Dani Carvajal suffering a horror injury during Saturday's La Liga game against Villareal would pressure Real Madrid to go after Trent Alexander-Arnold in the January transfer window. While Carvajal's contract was renewed until 2026 by the defending European champions, it was also confirmed that the Spanish right-back would not be available for the rest of the season.

ALSO READ | Real Madrid determined to sign this Aston Villa striker in January window: Report | Football transfers

25-year-old "TAA" has been linked to Real Madrid for some time now. News reports had claimed that the English right-back may not extend his stay at Anfield as part of his plan to join Real as a free transfer in the summer of 2025. However, Carvajal's injury may persuade Real to speed things up as they are locked in a tight league contest with a rejuvenated Barcelona under Hansi Flick.

Lucas Vazquez is the only right-back option available for Carlo Ancelotti at the moment. There are only five other defenders at his disposal -- Eder Militao, Jesus Vallejo and Antonio Rudiger in the centre-back positions and Fran Garcia and Ferland Mendy on the left flank.

ALSO READ | Real Madrid want former player to become manager if Carlo Ancelotti leaves for Saudi: Report

According to Spanish media Sports, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is convinced that he will have to rope in a new right-back in January, although he didn't want to spend in the market this season. An attacking right-back who is often used in the midfield by his national team, Trent is highly rated for his setpiece prowess as well.

cricket-live-women-s-t20-world-cup-india-beat-pakistan-but-all-is-not-well-here-s-why

Sun Oct 06 19:53:15 IST 2024

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur's years of experience helped India register a six wicket win over arch rivals Pakistan on Sunday to keep their semi-final hopes alive in the Women's T20 World Cup.

Indian batters made heavy weather of a paltry 106-run target as it required a 24-ball-29 from their experienced skipper to ensure there were no further hiccups.

Harmanpreet retired hurt when two runs were required for victory. Sajana Sajeevan finished it off with a boundary.

The defensive approach by opener Shafali Verma (32 off 35 balls) and new No. 3 Jemimah Rodrigues (23 off 28 balls) meant that India could not boost their Net Run Rate which could prove very costly in the larger context of making it to the last-four stage.

Despite the victory, India's NRR is currently -1.217 and they remain below Pakistan, who are in third place with NRR of -0.555.

India would need to beat both Australia and Sri Lanka by comfortable margins to harbour any hopes of a semi-final berth.

The entire Indian innings had only five boundaries and none of the top three looked like getting a move on.

The chase was not exactly a cakewalk as Smriti Mandhana (7 off 16 balls) was out early while Shafali and Jemimah concentrated on taking singles.

The running between the wickets wasn't impressive as some easy doubles and a sure triple was not even tried, probably due to sapping heat. Even as Jemimah showed some interest in pushing fielders, Shafali's poor fitness came in the way.

Despite a negative net run-rate of -2.90, there was no intent shown by the Indian batters to surpass the paltry target in a good time.

Shafali could hit only three shots to the fence in her 35-ball knock and she increased the pressure on the batting unit with the below-par effort.

As far as Jemimah was concerned, power isn't diminutive Mumbaikar's forte as she is more of a batter who relies on timing and ability to find gaps.

Once Fatima removed both Jemimah and Richa Ghosh (0) off successive deliveries, the onus was on Harmanpreet to take the team past home.

Earlier, the Indian bowling unit fired in unison against a clueless Pakistan, restricting the arch-rivals to a lowly 105 for 8.

Having conceded 160 against New Zealand on a slow track under lights in their opener, the Indian bowlers read the pitch well, and more importantly, took the pace off deliveries to make stroke-making all the more difficult.

Such was their control that Indian bowlers were able to deliver 58 dot balls.

Seamers Renuka Singh Thakur (1/23) and Arundhati Reddy (3/19) neither erred in line nor in length while off-spinners Deepti Sharma (1/24) and Shreyanka Patil (2/12) got enough grip and bounce to keep the Pakistani batters on tenterhooks.

Leg-spinner Asha Sobhana (1/24) went for a few boundaries but got rival skipper Fatima with a big leg-break after the batter was brilliantly snapped by Richa Ghosh behind the stumps.

Renuka bowled a tight first over and her inswinger had Gull Feroza (0) bowled through the gate.

Deepti, who gave a much better account of herself, albeit against an inferior batting lineup, decreased the pace of her deliveries and also flighted a few.

Pakistan managed only 29 for 2 in the powerplay and the Indian bowlers increased their stranglehold on the opposition batters with only Nida Dar's 28 providing some resistance to take the team past 100-run mark.

football-transfer-news-real-madrid-determined-to-sign-this-aston-villa-striker-in-january-window-report-jhon-duran

Sat Oct 05 22:49:45 IST 2024

After Jude Bellingham, Endrick and Adra Guler, La Liga giants Real Madrid have set their sights on another promising youngster. If reports are true the Carlo Ancelotti-managed Los Blancos are closely monitoring Aston Villa's Jhon Duran with a solid interest to sign him in January.

ALSO READ | EU's top court says some FIFA rules on international transfers are contrary to the bloc's law

Meet Jhon Duran: Unai's Weapon X

Jhon Duran had made the headlines recently by scoring Aston Villa's winner against the mighty Bayern Munich in the Champions League. The 20-year-old Colombian forward, whose current contract would keep him at Villa Park until 2028, has scored six goals all season. Intrestingly, the attacker only made one start in his nine appearances.

Duran joined Aston Villa in January 2023, completing a move from MLS side Chicago Fire. His football journey began with the Colombian side Envigado. Duran scored eight times for Fire in 28 appearances ahead of reaching the English shores.

Real Madrid's recruitment team has been highly impressed by Duran, Football Insider said in a report. They are likely to keep a close eye on his progress under Unai Emery ahead of the January transfer window, the report added.

ALSO READ | Football transfers: Biggest flops in the last 20 years

Real Madrid, who are second in the Spanish top-tier, had further strengthened their attacking department with the arrival of French superstar Kylian Mbappe from PSG. Brazilian trio Endrick, Rodrygo Goes and Vinicius Jr are supported by Brahim Diaz and Turkish wonderboy Guler, while Jude Bellingham operates from the heart of the pitch.

Aston Villa, who stunned Bayern Munich in their recent UCL outing, stands fifth in the Premier League with four wins and one defeat. Duran was introduced as a second-half substitute by Unai Emery and he lived up to the expectations of the gaffer by scoring the game's only goal in the 79th minute.

cricket-live-gwalior-t20i-debutant-mayank-yadav-shines-as-india-restrict-bangladesh-to-127

Sun Oct 06 22:27:27 IST 2024

India bowled out Bangladesh for 127 in the first T20 International of the three-match series in Gwalior on Sunday.

Asked to bat first, Bangladesh were in early trouble at 14 for two with left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh (3/14) removing both openers Litton Das and Parvez Hossain Emon cheaply.

Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto made 27 off 25 balls and Mehidy Hasan Miraz contributed 35 in 32 deliveries.

Varun Chakravarthy (3/31), Mayank Yadav (1/21) and Washington Sundar (1/12) picked up wickets in the middle overs to keep India in total control of the game.

Having attracted global eyeballs for consistently bowling in the 150kmph range during the IPL, Mayank was able to generate serious pace in his opening spell of 2-1-3-1. Having suffered a side strain shortly after a sensational IPL debut, there were question marks over his fitness in the long term but he dispelled some of those doubts on Sunday.

At 64 for five in 10 overs, Bangladesh's innings was going nowhere and India were able to press on the advantage thereafter.

Hardik Pandya too chipped in with a wicket towards the end.

Brief scores: Bangladesh: 127 all out in 19.5 overs (Najmul Hossain Shanto 27, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 35 not out; Arshdeep Singh 3/14, Varun Chakravarthy 3/31)

cricket-latest-score-australia-beat-sri-lanka-by-six-wickets-in-women-s-t20-world-cup

Sat Oct 05 21:51:09 IST 2024

Defending champions Australia overcame a mighty scare to eventually beat Sri Lanka by six wickets after pacer Megan Schutt's probing spell set them up for a small winning target in their Women's T20 World Cup campaign opener in Sharjah Saturday.

Set a paltry target of 94, Australia were 35/3 at the end of power play, losing captain Alyssa Healy (4), Georgia Wareham (3) and Ellyse Perry (17) early in their run chase.

But, a 43-run partnership between Beth Mooney (43 not out) and Ashleigh Gardner (12) helped Australia go past the target with 34 balls to spare, as they made 94/4 in 14.2 overs.

Opting to bat, Sri Lanka struggled big time with Nilakshika Silva top-scoring with 29 not out as they huffed and puffed their way to 93 for 7.

Sri Lanka could hit just four boundaries in the whole innings.

Schutt (3/12) also equalled South Africa's Shabnim Ismail's record scalp of 43 wickets across all editions of T20 World Cup.

The Sri Lankans were 25/3 in the seventh over and 43/3 at the halfway stage, and they never recovered from there.

Interestingly, the Australians also bowled 13 extras, including five no-balls.

This was Sri Lanka's second loss of the tournament, having lost to Pakistan on Thursday.

football-premier-league-analysis-aston-villa-vs-manchester-united-erik-ten-hag-misfortunes-and-unai-emery-s-dream-run-the-story-so-far

Sat Oct 05 22:21:20 IST 2024

It is going to be a Herculean task for Manchester United to get a result against the mighty Aston Villa on Sunday. But, as the mid-table club takes on Bayern Munich-conquering Villa in the Premier League, that is exactly what is needed to save United manager Erik ten Hag. At least, that is what the British press would have you believe.

They may be catering to furious online fans who rant about “standards” at United, which last won a Premier League in 2013. But, it has been well-established that negativity can prompt nervous executives at football clubs to act.

As Erik ten Hag sweats under the spotlight, a few feet away from him will be a man who is basking in the glory of his success. Unai Emery’s stock could not be higher. Since taking over Villa in November 2022, he has transformed the club. Villa were languishing near the relegation zone when Emery arrived. He has taken them to the Champions League and the team is looking good to once again challenge for a top-four finish in the Premier League to retain its place in Europe’s premier competition for next season.

Emery’s tactics, based on defensive organisation, quick transitions and the effective use of wingers, have given Villa a clear identity. On the other hand, ten Hag, who is known for his tactical acumen and ability to develop young players, has been unable to extract from his United side what he needs from them. Admittedly, the culture of incompetence at the club, which survives despite the administrative changes in the summer, has made things more difficult for him. More often than not in the last two seasons, United have looked like they are unfamiliar with a round thing called the football.

So, on the face of it, the current situations of these two managers reflect the state of their teams. But, the numbers tell a slightly more complex story. For instance, given that ETH has been in his current job longer, it seems inconceivable that he could have a higher success rate than Emery. Across the last two seasons and this season so far, United’s average league position is eighth. Villa’s is fifth. Emery had overseen a radical transformation of the club’s fortunes in 2022-2023 and has not really suffered a bad spell at the club. Also, United had comically exited the Champions League last season, winning only one out of six matches, while Villa had reached the semifinals of Europe’s third tier competition, the Conference League.

Despite all this, ten Hag has a better record in all competitions compared with Emery. The Dutchman has overseen 124 matches for United, being successful in 71—57.26 per cent. The Spaniard has 51 wins from 92 matches—55.43 per cent. It is abundantly clear where the difference is.

Emery has only won two out of his seven cup matches, while ten Hag has only lost two out of his 21 matches. As a result, while Villa has not won a major trophy since winning the League Cup in 1996, United under ten Hag, as he so often reminds us, has won two trophies in two seasons.

Perhaps more interestingly, ten Hag has won the Premier League’s manager of the month award three times—September 2022, February 2023 and November 2023—while Emery has only won it twice—April 2023 and December 2023.

When you consider the problems, there is perhaps merit to his desperate pleas for more time.