Sports

Several reports suggested that Indian cricket team T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav was in talks with Goa for a possible switch from Mumbai in domestic cricket. India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal is all set to join and possibly captain Goa in the upcoming season and reports claimed that Suryakumar can also pull off a similar move. However, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has completely rubbished such rumours and said that Suryakumar remains committed to Mumbai.  “The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is aware of rumours circulating on social media regarding Suryakumar Yadav’s alleged decision to move players to Goa instead of playing for Mumbai,” said MCA secretary Abhay Hadap in a statement according to Hindustan Times.

“MCA officials have spoken with Surya this morning and can confirm that these rumours are completely baseless and untrue. Suryakumar Yadav remains committed for Mumbai and takes immense pride in playing for Mumbai. We urge everyone to refrain from spreading misinformation and to support our players as they continue to contribute to Mumbai Cricket Association,” he added.

Jaiswal has decided to make a shock switch to Goa from Mumbai due to personal reasons, leaving a domestic powerhouse that laid the foundation for the left-hander’s blossoming international career.

Jaiswal wrote to the Mumbai Cricket Association on Tuesday, expressing his wish to leave Mumbai for Goa, and the governing body swiftly accepted his request.

Jaiswal’s shock move will see the left-handed 23-year-old play for Goa from the 2025-26 season where he could be appointed captain, though it remains to be seen how much time he would be able to give to the state side given the packed international calendar.

“Yes, it is surprising. He must have thought of something to make such a move. He has requested us to relieve him and we have accepted his request,” a senior MCA official told PTI on Wednesday.

Jaiswal last played for Mumbai against Jammu and Kashmir in their Ranji Trophy Group A league round match from January 23-25 following the strict implementation of the BCCI directives that all India players should play domestic cricket if not on national duty.

In that game, Jaiswal had made his sole appearance in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season along with India captain Rohit Sharma.

The two India stars flopped on their domestic return, with Jaiswal scoring 4 and 26 as Mumbai lost by five wickets to Jammu and Kashmir for the second time in the tournament’s history.

(With PTI inputs)

The United States is the sole bidder for the 2031 Women’s World Cup, and the United Kingdom is set to host the 2035 tournament, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced on Thursday. Speaking at the UEFA Congress in Belgrade, Infantino said the only bid for 2031 was “from the USA and potentially some other CONCACAF members together, and 2035 is from Europe, from the home nations.” Infantino also said FIFA planned to increase the number of participating teams at the Women’s World Cup from 32 teams to 48 in time for the 2031 tournament.

Thursday’s announcement comes after the football associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland revealed last month that they would submit an expression of interest in staging the tournament.

World football’s governing body last month said it would only welcome bids for 2035 from Europe or Africa, saying that the identity of the hosts would be confirmed at a FIFA Congress in the second quarter of 2026.

The United States — who are co-hosting with Mexico and Canada the 2026 men’s World Cup — also confirmed in early March that it would push ahead with a bid for 2031.

South Africa and Morocco had also been in the running with African nations invited to bid too, but Infantino’s comments suggest they are now out of the running.

The next Women’s World Cup will take place in Brazil in 2027.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh bestowed praise upon Gujarat Titans’ pace spearhead Mohammed Siraj for his dazzling performance against his former franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Siraj brought thunder down the M Chinnaswamy Stadium with his economical yet fiery spell at his former home. He returned with figures of 3/19 after bowling a full quota of his four-over spell and was crowned Player of the Match for his searing performance.

Harbhajan outlined the reason behind Siraj’s influential performance and even saluted him for his valiant display with the ball. The former off-spinner was convinced that Siraj “deserved” the POTM award for the way he dictated the game.

“Siraj was enthusiastic because he had to prove a point. RCB, his former side, didn’t pick him; he played there for so many years. Siraj sank RCB’s ship. Salute to DSP Siraj. It is definitely a Man of the Match performance. Congratulations to Siraj. Rashid was too expensive. GT batted well. Buttler was impressive,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.

After a shambolic start to his stint with the Titans, Siraj has found the groove and rhythm he is highly regarded for. He opened his wicket’s account by sharply nipping the ball into Devdutt Padikkal and cleaned up his stumps. He unleashed the famous Cristiano Ronaldo celebration, marking the beginning of his dominance.

In his next over, he tested the speed gun, clicked 144kph and burst through Phil Salt’s stance to clean him up and add another name to his wickets column. He returned to attack in the death overs and got his third scalp of the day, forcing a top edge from Liam Livingstone (54), denting RCB’s hopes of crossing the 200-run mark.

GT gunned down the 170-run target courtesy of Jos Buttler’s belligerent 73* from 39 deliveries and finishing touches from in-form Sherfane Rutherford (30* from 18 deliveries).

Even the RCB head coach, Andy Flower, felt that Siraj was head and shoulders above the rest. He wished him all the “success” in the world while affirming that the franchise is “happy” with the current squad.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Former Indian player Aakash Chopra has shared his views on home teams’ right to dictate the pitch conditions in the Indian Premier League (IPL). While speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s IPL show, Time Out, Aakash Chopra said that home teams should have the right to dictate the pitch conditions they want, arguing that this is a crucial part of home advantage. He feels that home advantage is derived from two factors: the pitch and the crowd support. “I feel every home team should have the right to decide the kind of surface that they want they should demand the surface, and they should get it, is what I feel, because home advantage is real, and that comes in only two forms: one is the surface that you choose and the second is the crowd support that is there. Other than that, it’s an away game.” Aakash Chopra said on ESPNcricinfo’s IPL show, Time Out.

He also believed that the pitch is the most critical factor for a team’s performance, even more so than crowd support. They argue that if the pitch conditions are unfavourable, a team’s entire game plan can be disrupted.

“The paramount thing is the surface they are going to play on – crowd might still be secondary. If you take away the pitch, I think whole plans completely derail,” he added.

These have been key discussion points during the initial weeks of IPL 2025. Kolkata Knight Riders’ head coach Chandrakant Pandit has stated that his team has minimal or no influence over pitch preparation at Eden Gardens.

Chennai Super Kings’ head coach Stephen Fleming has rejected the notion that his team has a considerable home advantage at Chepauk, noting that they have had difficulties interpreting their home pitches in recent seasons.

Following his team’s loss to Punjab Kings, Lucknow Super Giants mentor Zaheer Khan indicated that the Ekana pitch appeared as though it had been prepared by the curator from the opposing team.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar believed that while franchises should have some say in pitch preparation, the BCCI should maintain a degree of control in the Indian Premier League to ensure fairness and prevent extreme imbalances in the game. While speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s IPL show, Time Out, he said that while allowing for variations based on regional soil types, some uniformity is necessary to prevent home teams from having too much advantage. “I think BCCI would still like to have a little bit of control over it and maintain the characteristics of a particular surface. If you totally give it to the hands of the franchise, you do not really want the game to be too lopsided as well, so I’m of the opinion [of having] a little bit of uniformity wherein not having too much of a say for the home side, still there is enough variety in terms of the vast nature of our country wherein cricket is played all across the nation, in itself has variations in terms of red soil, black soil and all of that. I’m of the opinion that a little bit of direction or guideline is always better.” Sanjay Bangar said while speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s IPL show, Time Out.

Bangar proposed that it could be more challenging for teams to develop pitches with diverse characteristics at smaller venues like the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, where only the center two pitches are used for IPL matches.

“In RCB, Chinnaswamy, there are only two pitches on which you can play games because of the size of the ground, and generally, you can’t have a lot of variation [between] those two surfaces because it is practically impossible to do that,” he added.

These have been key discussion points during the initial weeks of IPL 2025. Kolkata Knight Riders’ head coach Chandrakant Pandit has stated that his team has minimal or no influence over pitch preparation at Eden Gardens.

Chennai Super Kings’ head coach Stephen Fleming has rejected the idea that his team has a considerable home advantage at Chepauk, noting that they have had difficulties interpreting their home pitches in recent seasons. Following his team’s loss to Punjab Kings, Lucknow Super Giants mentor Zaheer Khan indicated that the Ekana pitch appeared as though it had been prepared by the curator from the opposing team.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Virat Kohli suffered an injury scare during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL 2025 match against Gujarat Titans. RCB lost the match by eight wickets. The incident happened during the 12th over of the GT innings with Sai Sudharshan facing Krunal Pandya. Sudharsan swept the ball hard and the ball raced towards deep mid-wicket. Kohli looked like misfielding and then was down on his knees. He was seen holding his right hand. It seemed like the ball had hit his fingers.

KOHLI INJURY CONCERN!

– virat kohli suffers finger injury, fans send wishes for a speedy recovery. pic.twitter.com/XBjpaS7KQR

— (@Worshipcric) April 2, 2025

As of April 2 2025 there are no recent reports indicating that Virat Kohli has sustained a finger injury the most recent concern was during the ICC Champions trophy in March 2025 when Kohli suffered a minor injury during a practice session before the final against New Zealand. pic.twitter.com/rppnttR93A

— Ashnaa Chand (@Ashnaa_Chand) April 2, 2025

Virat Kohli needs to skip IPL in the second half to avoid any injury before the important England tour. pic.twitter.com/kKfcoFxhg3

— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) April 2, 2025

Virat Kohli May got injury on his finger.#ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/Jle2bgfOVW

— GullyCricket25 (@Royal_KingSahab) April 2, 2025

Meanwhile, a lot of talk in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 was around the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium turning out to be a batting paradise yet again. But on Wednesday, it was far from that, and the Gujarat Titans put on a masterclass in seizing control at the right moments to outclass Royal Challengers Bengaluru by eight wickets for their second win of the season.

Electing to bowl first, GT seized control from the word go – ex-RCB lad Mohammed Siraj brought the heat on with his pace and attacked stumps consistently to pick a superb 3-19 in his four overs. The effect of his early burst, later fetching him the Player of the Match Award, was such that RCB were reduced to 42/4, and the packed crowd fell silent.

It took Liam Livingstone‘s 40-ball 54, along with Jitesh Sharma and Tim David hitting 33 and 32 to bring the crowd back to life as RCB posted 169/8. But the raucous crowd was silenced again as Jos Buttler used his experience well to assess the conditions well and targeted bowlers astutely to hit five fours and six sixes in his unbeaten 39-ball 72.

The former England captain shared partnerships of 75 and 63 with B. Sai Sudharsan and Sherfane Rutherford, who hit 49 and 30 not out respectively, as GT remained in control all the time to complete their chase with 13 balls to spare.