Sports

India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has opened up about his struggles with mental health issues following his divorce from Dhanashree Verma, revealing that he was wrongly labelled as a “cheater” and battled suicidal thoughts during the tumultuous period.

Speaking on the Raj Shamani Podcast, Chahal addressed the public scrutiny surrounding his personal life and emphasised that the decision to separate was not sudden but had been under consideration for some time.

“After my divorce, I was called a cheater. But I have never cheated in my life. I’m extremely loyal — probably more than most. For my loved ones, I’ve always thought from the heart,” he said.

The 34-year-old cricketer said he was emotionally distressed following the separation.

“I had suicidal thoughts. I was tired of my life. I would cry for two hours a day, sleep just two hours. This went on for over 40 days. I had anxiety attacks, depression. Only those close to me knew what I was going through,” Chahal said.

Chahal also shared that he considered taking a break from cricket, as he found it difficult to focus amid the mental strain.

Reflecting on his marriage, Chahal said the growing professional commitments on both sides played a role in the eventual separation.

“It was going on for a while. We decided we wouldn’t go public until we were sure. On social media, we looked like a normal couple, but the issues had started to build up. A relationship requires compromise — if both people are always busy, there’s bound to be distance,” he added.

Chahal denied rumours that emerged during that period and said the negativity affected him deeply.

“Just because you are seen with someone, people link you up. I have two sisters. I know how to respect women,” he said.

The leg-spinner also addressed the viral moment when he wore a T-shirt that read “Be your own sugar daddy” during a court appearance, suggesting it was a symbolic response to events on the other side.

“I didn’t want drama, but something happened from the other side. So, I gave my message through the T-shirt. I didn’t abuse anyone,” he clarified.

Despite the challenges, Chahal said the separation was handled maturely and mutually.

“If things happen between two people, they can still happen peacefully,” he said.

Chahal is currently playing county cricket for Northamptonshire. He has taken a six-wicket haul (6/118 in 33.2 overs) in the first innings against Derbyshire in the ongoing County Championship Division Two.

China’s Yu Zidi said she felt “quite emotional” after the 12-year-old became the youngest swimmer in history to win a world championships medal.

Yu swam in the heats of the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay but missed Thursday’s (July 31, 2025) final as China claimed bronze behind Australia and the United States in Singapore.

Yu, who was competing in the women’s 200m butterfly final on Thursday (July 31, 2025) — finishing fourth — received a medal as a member of the Chinese relay team.

“It feels quite emotional, it’s a nice feeling,” she said.

Yu has turned heads with her performances in Singapore.

She qualified for Monday’s 200m individual medley final and finished fourth, missing out on a medal by just 0.06sec in what is not considered her strongest event.

She followed that up with another fourth in the 200m butterfly final and will also compete in the 400m individual medley.

Yu, who turns 13 in October, discovered swimming at age six as a way to cool off during China’s roasting summers.

She has drawn historical comparisons to Denmark’s Inge Sorensen, who at 12 was the youngest-ever winner of an Olympic swimming medal with bronze at the Berlin Games of 1936.

But not everyone thinks Yu should be competing in Singapore.

Some in the sport have raised questions about the mental and physical impacts of high-level training and competing at an age when she is still developing as a person.

Under current World Aquatics rules, the minimum age is 14 but younger swimmers can compete at the championships if — like Yu — they are fast enough.

Jasprit Bumrah had made himself available for three of the five Tests in England and the Indian team management felt it was right to honour the star pacer’s call considering his workload, said assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate.

With the series on the line, Indian captain Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir waited till the last minute to take a call on Bumrah, who played the first Test at Headingley, skipped the second match at Edgbaston, and featured in the games at Lord’s and Old Trafford.

Speaking to reporters after day one of the series deciding fifth Test against England here, Doeschate said it is always a tough call leaving a player like Bumrah on the bench.

“It’s quite a complex issue around Bumrah, you know, we obviously want to wheel him in, but we also want to respect where his body’s at, and on the basis of that, we just felt that it wasn’t worth including him in the squad,” said the assistant coach on Thursday.

Ten Doeschate added, “He has bowled a large number of overs, I know it doesn’t always seem like that because he’s only played three Tests and he only bowled in one innings in Manchester.

“But if you look at the loads, he’s bowled a lot of overs, and like he did say coming into the tour, he was going to be available for three games, and we just felt it was right to honour that call.” The Oval surface is the greenest of the series and Bumrah would have been lethal in the prevailing conditions.

Is he picking and choosing games considering his injury prone past and back surgeries? “I don’t think picking and choosing is a fair comment to Bumrah, he did say he was going to play three games, he left it up to us which three he played, we’ve tried to manage the situation, it’s not ideal, I guess giving those guys attention, the guys who aren’t playing particularly when you’re carrying 18 is important.

“… Make them know that you’re making all the decisions in good faith, in the best interest of the team, and just on that, all the guys who haven’t played, they’ve been fantastic, they’ve trained the house down, they’re disappointed when they get left out.

“They don’t let it show when they’re around the group and that’s very important to creating a good culture for the guys who are playing to perform.” Doeschate added that it made sense to play Bumrah in Manchester than keeping him for the final Test.

“Every time I’ve answered this question I’ve spoken about like putting the pieces of the puzzles together and guys were baffled when we didn’t play him in the third Test, and our thinking yeah was that the Oval, yes it’s got bounce but it’s normally a fairly good wicket for batting on, and we thought we’d roll the dice and if we’d won the toss we would have bowled.

“In hindsight you would have loved to have him here, but you would also have said if we come here 3-1 down that we didn’t use him there, so it’s trying to not guess but trying to look into the future and then see how we can manage him, and maybe England have got it spot on leaving the best bowling wicket for the last Test after he’s played three,” Doeschate said.

It doesn’t look good: Atkinson on Chris Woakes’ injury ================================== Gus Atkinson, the pick of England’s bowlers on the day, felt bad for Chris Woakes who injured his shoulder while trying to save a boundary.

“I don’t know too much about it but it doesn’t look great. It’s a big shame when anyone gets injured. It’s the last game of the series. I’m hoping it’s not too bad and whatever it is he’ll get the full support from everyone,” he said.

Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh has said she was not under any kind of pressure while playing the FIDE Women’s World Cup final against compatriot Koneru Humpy as she had “nothing to lose”.

Divya arrived in Nagpur on Wednesday from Batumi, Georgia to a reception befitting a world champion, with the young achiever overwhelmed by the affection shown by the the people at the airport.

The 19-year-old overcame the 38-year-old Humpy, a two-time World Rapid champion, in the time-controlled tie-break after the two classical rounds ended in draws. This was Divya’s biggest success in her career and came after Humpy blundered in the second tie-breaker under time pressure.

“I never thought I was in any danger. I guess that the last blunder which she [Humpy] made, handed me the win,” Divya told PTI Videos, when asked if she was under pressure in the final.

“Since I had no results in my hand, so I was just trying to focus on my performance and wasn’t thinking about anything else,” said Divya, who entered the event as an underdog aiming to win a Grandmaster norm and ended up becoming a GM.

Divya not just won the tournament and earned the GM title, she also secured a spot in next year’s Candidates and became richer by $50,000.

Divya is hoping women’s chess will take off in a big way in India following her success.

“I am hoping that women will take up the sport in a big way after this success, especially youngsters, and they start dreaming that nothing is impossible.

“I don’t have a message for the young generation but for their parents and that is they should wholeheartedly support their children because they need them more during their failures, not so much in success,” added Divya.

On her arrival at the airport on Wednesday night, Divya had credited her success to her parents.

“My parents have played the biggest role in my career. Without them I would not have reached here. Credit to my family, my parents, my sister, and my first coach, Rahul Joshi sir. He always wanted me to become the Grandmaster, and this is for him,” said Divya, about Joshi, who died in 2020 at just 40 years of age.

“My mother and father had a bigger role to play but definitely my whole family, my sister Arya Deshmukh, my grandmother, grandfather…I don’t think whatever I will say will be enough [for my parents].”

India’s Tharun Mannepalli shocked top seed Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong to enter the quarterfinals of the Macau Open along with compatriot Lakshya Sen here on Thursday (July 31, 2025).

Tharun rallied splendidly to outwit Lee, a world No. 15, 19-21, 21-14, 22-20 in a match that went past the hour-mark.

The 23-year-old, holder of world No. 47 ranking, now has reached his second quarterfinals of a Super 300 tournament after entering the last eight at the German Open in February.

In the quarterfinals, Tharun will face world No. 87 Hu Zhe An of China.

Later, Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen fought past Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia 21-14, 14-21, 21-17 to enter the last-eight stage.

However, Ayush Shetty was ousted after a 18-21, 16-21 loss to Malaysia’s Justin Hoh.

In the women’s singles India’s Rakshitha Ramraj went down against Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand 21-14, 10-21, 11-21 in a match that lasted 51 minutes.

In the mixed doubles, fifth-seeded Indian duo of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto lost to Malaysia’s Jimmy Wong and Lai Pei Jing 21-19, 13-21, 18-21.

In the men’s doubles, Pruthvi Roy and K. Sai Pratheek lost to fourth-seeded Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap of Malaysia 18-21, 18-21.

In later matches, ace second seeded men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will meet Japan’s Kakeru Kumagai and Hiroki Nishi.

In the women’s doubles, Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra will tussle against the eighth-seeded Meilysa Puspitasari and Rachel Rose of Indonesia.

A 10-man Mohun Bagan Super Giant downed city rival Mohammedan Sporting 3-1 in a Group-B match to start its campaign in the 134th Durand Cup on a good note at the Salt Lake Stadium on Thursday.

Needing a win to survive in the tournament, Sporting struggled against an efficient Bagan, which found the lead in the 23rd minute when Liston Colaco scored from a free-kick.

A red card to its midfield mainstay Apuia in the 43rd minute put the ISL champion on the back foot and Sporting utilised the numerical advantage to find the equaliser through Ashley Koli in the 50th minute.

Bagan , fielding an all-Indian side, restored the lead in the 63rd minute through Suhail Bhat before Colaco scored a penalty in the final minute of added time to complete a facile win.

Earlier in Kokrajhar, local side Bodoland FC (BDFC) registered its first win with a 2-1 victory over debutant Karbi Anglong Morning Star FC (KAMSFC) in a tightly contested Group-D match at the SAI Stadium.

Karbi Anglong found the lead through Nigerian forward Joseph Mayowa Olaleye before Gwgwmsar Gayary found equaliser for Bodoland. Colombian striker Robinson struck near the hour mark to give Bodoland full points.

The results: Group-B (Kolkata): Mohun Bagan Super Giant 3 (Liston Colaco 23, 90+6-pen, Suhail Bhat 63) bt Mohd. Sporting 1 (Ashley Koli 50). Group-D (Kokrajhar): Bodoland FC 2 (Gayary 37, Robinson 60) bt Karbi Anglong MS 1 (Olaleye 25).

The Apex Council of the Hyderabad Cricket Association, following an emergency meeting, announced on Thursday that president A. Jagan Mohan Rao has been suspended with immediate effect.

Along with him, R. Devraj (secretary) and C.J. Srinivas Rao (treasurer) have also been suspended as per Rules 41(6) and 15(4)(d) of the HCA’s Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations (2018) following charges of fraud, cheating and misappropriation of funds.

Earlier this month, the Crime Investigation Department arrested five people, including Jagan Mohan, Srinivas and CEO Suneel Kante, and a case was registered against them under Sections 465 (punishment for forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent), 420 (cheating) read with 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

Swimmer Benedicton Rohit realised his childhood dream and fulfilled his coach Nihar Ameen’s wish when he became the first Indian to clock sub-24 seconds (23.96s) in the 50m butterfly at the World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr (Germany) on July 17.

“Sub-24 was the aim. My coach always used to tell me that I should be the first Indian to achieve it. I came very close (towards achieving it) and missed in the (senior) Nationals (in June). I so wanted it there (in Odisha), especially since I had set a record in the 100m butterfly (52.57s) on the first day itself. But I missed the best Indian time (24.09s) by two microseconds (24.11s).

Also Read | Swimmers Srihari, Rohit set new marks in World University Games

“As far as I can remember, ever since I had come to know of the concept of the ‘Best Indian Time,’ I’ve always wanted to set that record in the 50m butterfly. I only recently began doing the 100m butterfly, but 50m butterfly is something I like very much and have been doing from a young age,” he said on Saturday (July 26, 2025), speaking over a phone call from the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

Setting the record helped Rohit finish only sixth in his leg of the semifinals. Asked for his takeaway from his feat, he said: “Being ‘India’s fastest’ gives confidence. But I couldn’t even qualify for the finals (even with that record). I have to set my standards high. In the International stage, the range is very different.”

He admitted that this year has been the best of his career so far, having made it to the World Championships (with B-time finishes in the 100m and 50m butterfly events at the senior Nationals) and the Asian swimming championships to be held in October in Ahmedabad.

“From the National Games at the beginning of the year, my performances have been getting better. I won the 100m butterfly gold for the first time at the National level in the National Games, then clinched gold in the 100m and 50m butterfly at the senior Nationals,” he said.

Speaking of his experience at his maiden World Championships, he said: “I’m getting to know what it is like to experience a meet of this scale. Even in the World University Games, you wouldn’t get all the top-most players. But World Championships is the highest level of swimming. All over the world, the highest level is the World Aquatics Championships and the Olympics. All top swimmers will come. I’m getting to see in person the world record-holders I had been watching on TV for a long time. It’s a good feeling.”

The 21-year-old, who took up swimming as a form of exercise for his birth defect (a fractured right thigh bone), had almost quit in 2019. Rohit, who identifies himself as a sprinter (specialising in the 50m and 100m events), was frustrated that he couldn’t break through the stiff competition in the sprint events and decided to participate in one last tournament before giving up swimming altogether. It was his mother’s idea to try for one last time before giving up. Having tasted success with a 100m breaststroke gold in the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) swimming Nationals, he stayed on.

In his desperation for success, he had shifted his focus from butterfly and tried his luck in various other strokes. “I tried backstroke and breaststroke sprint, 200m backstroke and breaststroke, and 400m individual medley, and at one time began despising all the events since I couldn’t find success,” he said.

It was his current coach Nihar Ameen, who asked him to focus on butterfly again when he began training under him during the lockdown.

“He said my fly stroke is good and unique. He changed me completely with customised training. He knows my capacity, and my strengths and weaknesses when compared with the other swimmers. Now, my main events are 50m and 100m butterfly.”

He aims to qualify for the 2028 LA Olympics in those two events.

But before that, he has a point to prove at the Asian championships. “Already, many of them have started saying that I was able to set the record because of pure luck. That I can’t sustain and all. I need to prove myself there,” he said.