Sports

Abrar Ahmed gestures after dismissing Shubman Gill in the India vs Pakistan match in the Champions Trophy. (AP Photo)

NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed has found himself in the spotlight once again — this time not for his bowling but for a light-hearted confrontation with a fan following a controversial send-off to India’s Shubman Gill during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
In a viral video circulating on social media, a passionate fan confronted Abrar during Pakistan’s series against New Zealand, questioning his antics against Gill.
Watch:
The incident occurred when Pakistan was facing New Zealand in the second ODI at Seddon Park.
Also See: IPL Live Score, RCB vs GT
A female fan confronted Abrar Ahmed — who was not in the playing XI — on the sidelines of the match, questioning his controversial send-off to Shubman Gill. “What were you signaling to Shubman Gill?” she demanded.
Though the words weren’t clearly audible in the clip, Abrar’s awkward reaction and nervous smile indicated he was caught off guard.
This confrontation stemmed from an intense moment in the India vs Pakistan clash in the Champions Trophy group stage.
During that match, Abrar produced a stunning leg-break to castle a well-set Shubman Gill for 46. However, it was his animated send-off, gesturing Gill to walk off that sparked controversy among Indian fans.
Virat Kohli, at the non-striker’s end, was visibly surprised by the dismissal and the send-off.
While Abrar celebrated, social media erupted, with memes and jokes mocking the Pakistani spinner for his over-the-top reaction.
Many fans felt his behavior was unnecessary, especially since India comfortably chased down Pakistan’s 241-run total, thanks to Kohli’s brilliant unbeaten century (100 not out off 111 balls).

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s form in ODIs hasn’t been promising. Against New Zealand, they suffered an 84-run defeat, handing the Kiwis an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
Pakistan’s top order collapsed, with Babar Azam (1), Abdullah Shafique (1), and Imam-ul-Haq (3) falling inside six overs.
A valiant half-century from Naseem Shah and a fighting knock from Faheem Ashraf weren’t enough to save them from yet another defeat.

The Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati will become the newest Test venue in India when it hosts South Africa (second and final Test, Nov. 22 to 26) later this year.

It was confirmed when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday announced the fixtures for the India men’s home season from October till December.

Besides these two Tests, India will also host SA for three ODIs and five T20Is. The home turf of BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia is also likely to stage the opening ceremony of the Women’s World Cup in September.

Before the South Africa series, the West Indies will tour India for two Tests in October as part of the World Test Championship cycle. Between the two-Test series, the Men in Blue will tour Australia for a limited-overs assignment.

The season will start in Ahmedabad with a Test match against WI from October 2 and culminate in the same city with a T20I against SA on December 19.

The fixtures: West Indies in India: Tests: October 2-6 (Ahmedabad), October 10-14 (Kolkata).

South Africa in India: Tests: November 14-18 (New Delhi); November 22-26 (Guwahati).

ODIs: November 30 (Ranchi), December 3 (Raipur), December 6 (Visakhapatnam).

T20Is: December 9 (Cuttack), December 11 (New Chandigarh), December 14 (Dharamshala), December 17 (Lucknow), December 19 (Ahmedabad).

National champion M. Jadumani Singh pipped Great Britain’s 2024 World Boxing Cup Finals silver medallist Ellis Trowbridge 3-2 to move into the men’s 50kg semifinals at the World Boxing Cup Brazil 2025 in Foz do Iguacu. He will face former Asian under-22 champion Asilbek Jalilov for a place in the final.

However, three Indians, Nikhil Dubey (75kg), Jugnoo (85kg) and Narender Berwal (+90kg), lost their respective matches. Dubey was beaten 5-0 by Brazil’s Kaue Belini, Jugnoo was defeated by France’s Abdoulaye Traore 4-1 and Narender was ousted by Kazakhstan’s Daniyal Saparbay 3-2.

Shubman Gill and Rajat Patidar (BCCI/IPL Photo)

NEW DELHI: Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to field first against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their IPL clash on Wednesday.
Gujarat Titans, the 2022 champions, made a single change, bringing in Arshad Khan in place of their pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada, who was unavailable due to personal reasons.
“We’ll bowl first. Looks like a good wicket. We’ve seen that conditions don’t change much here. Our focus is on minimizing unforced errors and fine-tuning key areas. Kagiso misses out due to personal reasons, so we’ve brought Arshad Khan in,” Gill said at the toss.

Rabada consistently delivers at speeds between 140-150 kmph, and his quickest recorded ball reached 155.28 kmph whilst playing against Punjab Kings during the 2024 IPL season.
RCB, playing their first home game of the season, retained the same playing XI. Captain Rajat Patidar admitted he would have preferred to bowl first but remained confident in his team’s balance.

“Would’ve bowled first as well because it’s a new surface. It looks pretty hard and shouldn’t change much. The way the boys are stepping up gives me a lot of confidence as a captain. We love this crowd—their support has always been incredible. Same team for us,” Patidar said.
Impact Substitutes
Gujarat Titans: Sherfane Rutherford, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Washington Sundar.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh.
Playing XIs
Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Jos Buttler (WK), Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Arshad Khan, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (C), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ mentor Dwayne Bravo.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Dawyne Bravo thinks a combination of smart bowling and reckless batting has resulted in a drop in high-scoring aggregates in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

Analysing the trend of less number of 200-plus totals, Bravo said, “You have to try to out-think the batter and be brave. You will see that with our bowling group. The batters are not having that value on the wicket any more. They’re a bit reckless because they think as though it’s a flat pitch. The impact player is there. A lot of teams have batted longer, so the value for batsmanship is no longer there…I guess it’s a combination of both.”

About KKR’s batting, which has not realised its potential, Bravo said, “We have an aggressive batting line-up, but that’s not cricket. My message to the batters is that the basics of the game are still required. These guys need to apply themselves a bit more, and I think they understand that.”

Bravo expected KKR to fight back against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens here on Thursday. “We’re not the only team that has two losses and one win. It’s important for us to bounce back and that is our main focus right now,” said Bravo on Wednesday.

SRH fielding coach Ryan Cook said his team’s morale was high despite two consecutive defeats. “Everyone’s staying in good spirits. We’ve got a team that’s very well bonded. The morale is good, looking forward to getting a win tomorrow,” said Cook.

Yuvraj Sandhu shot into the lead with a second round score of five-under 67 in the Rs. 1.5 crore Adani invitational golf championship at the Jaypee Greens Golf and Spa Resort on Wednesday.

Two-time champion this season, 28-year-old Yuvraj was joined in the lead at seven-under 137 by Arjun Prasad who had a three-under 69 this day.

Yuvraj was on song, converting seven birdies on the first 10, and narrowly missed a hole-in-one on the third.

“As there was no wind in the morning, I took advantage of the conditions. I lost a shot or two to the wind in the afternoon,” said Yuvraj.

Playing his fourth successive tournament, Yuvraj thanked the tournament physio for helping him get rid of the shoulder pain.

“I have had two solid days so far. I am looking forward to be in the leader group with Yuvraj for the second time this season,” said Arjun Prasad.

The overnight leaders Saptak Talwar and N. Thangaraja were not as good in the second round. Saptak had a par round and slipped to the fifth spot with five-under 139. Sri Lankan Thangaraja, another champion this season, had two-over 74 and placed joint seventh with Om Prakash Chouhan and Shaurya Bhattacharya at three-under 141.

The cut fell at three-over 147. It meant 60 professionals and one amateur, 19-year-old Sukhman Singh, making it to the third round.

The leading scores: 1T. Yuvraj Sandhu (70, 67), Arjun Prasad (68, 69) 137; 3T. Harendra Gupta (72, 66), Honey Baisoya (70, 68) 138; 5. Saptak Talwar (67, 72) 139; 6. Aryan Anand (70, 70) 140; 7T. Om Prakash Chouhan (68, 73), N Thangaraja (67, 74), Shaurya Bhattacharya (70, 71) 141; 10T. Gaurav Pratap Singh (72, 70), Ajeetesh Sandhu (71, 71), Aman Raj (72, 70), Tapendra Ghai (73, 69), Dhruv Sheoran (70, 72) 142.

Riya Bhatia beat Chelsea Fontenel of Switzerland 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Bujumbura, Burundi.

The results: $680,140 ATP, Houston, USA: Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Federico Gomez (Arg) & Santiago Gonzalez (Mex) bt Sriram Balaji & Miguel Reyes-Varela (Mex) 7-6(3), 6-3.

€145,250 Challenger, Menorca, Spain: Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Daniel Cukierman (Isr) & Joshua Paris (GBR) bt Anirudh Chandrasekar & David Hernandez (Esp) 7-6(4), 5-7, [10-5].

$40,000 ITF women, Bujumbura, Burundi: Singles (first round): Riya Bhatia bt Chelsea Fontenel (Sui) 6-1, 6-4; Alyssa Reguer (Fra) bt Pooja Ingale 6-3, 6-4; Darja Suvirdjonkova (Srb) bt Laalitya Kalluri 6-2, 6-1.

$15,000 ITF women, Sharm ElSheikh, Egypt: Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Barbara Dessolis & Marcella Dessolis (Ita) bt Lakshmi Gowda & Basant Kaur (USA) 7-5, 6-1.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Suryakumar Yadav

There seems to be a coup underway in Mumbai cricket as hours after Yashasvi Jaiswal sent an email seeking a No Objection Certificate (NOC), another star India batter is learnt to be on his way out too.
While no final decision has been taken, there is a possibility of India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav following his Mumbai teammate to Goa. Sources close to the star batter, however, have denied this move at the moment.

The Goa Cricket Association (GCA) is currently reaching out to players across the country after they were promoted to the Elite Group in the Ranji Trophy. While the talks with Jaiswal materialised a few days back, it is also learnt that Hyderabad captain Tilak Varma has also been approached. When contacted, GCA secretary Shambha Desai didn’t give any details but said they will be finalising their remaining professional players shortly.
“We are currently in talks with many players from the country. I can’t give you a name right now. We will be finalising other professional players soon,” Desai tells TimesofIndia.com.
Also See: GT vs RCB Live Score, IPL 2025
Jaiswal has already sought a NOC from the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and Desai reveals they reached out to the youngster over a week back.
“We reached out to Jaiswal some 8-10 days back, he got back to us after thinking over it and now that he has asked for a NOC, the formalities and the required paperwork will be completed,” adds Desai.
The move has raised plenty of eyebrows but those tracking developments feel some incidents could have contributed to the move. Jaiswal was sent off the field by Ajinkya Rahane, the current Mumbai red-ball captain, during a 2022 Duleep Trophy fixture between West Zone and South Zone and there have been strong murmurs of unrest in the Mumbai dressing room since that incident.
Even in the last domestic season, Jaiswal, who was set to play the Ranji Trophy semi-final vs Vidarbha complained of pain in the ankle and returned home from Nagpur. He had earlier played vs J&K at home when he opened the innings with Rohit Sharma and returned with scores of 4 & 26.
It is further understood that Jaiswal did consult with his senior Mumbai teammates before making the move and captaincy ambition could have also played a role in him sending that email on Wednesday. The timing, however, seems a bit off as the Indian Premier League (IPL) is underway and he had a travel day with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) unit who are set to play Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Chandigarh on April 5.
The team managing his commitments maintained silence over the development and even his family members are surprised.
(The story was updated after an input from sources close to Suryakumar Yadav)

Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders’ Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy during their practice session ahead of an IPL 2025 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on April 2, 2025
| Photo Credit: PTI

Previous year’s finalists Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, lying low this time with just a win apiece, will look to regain momentum when they meet in the Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday (April 3, 2025).

Title holder KKR will have a dual challenge of containing SRH’s explosive batters and realising its own batting potential. KKR has struggled as only three of its batters, Quinton de Kock, captain Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi, have gathered nearly 60% of its runs.

KKR’s below-par total (116), resulting in a humiliating loss, against Mumbai Indians warrants a few measures to revive its batting, also including Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh and Andre Russell, on a run-getters’ paradise.

The fact that SRH’s Travis Head, Aniket Verma, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen have scored more runs than KKR’s aggregate (443) in three matches shows the stark difference in firepower so far in both camps.

However, KKR can take a cue from Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals, which earned early breakthroughs, and restrict SRH batters. Its opening bowlers, such as Spencer Johnson and Harshit Rana, should strike in Powerplay and set the stage for the spinners, including Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy.

Following two defeats, SRH, which began by threatening the highest IPL total, will aspire to erect another massive one. The Pat Cummins-led attack, comprising Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel and Adam Zampa, has enough ammunition to tackle any opposition.

Its better head-to-head record (19-9) and home environment should comfort KKR in this crucial test.