Sports

There have been several intense moments between India and England in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

However, India captain Shubman Gill made it clear that there was no animosity between the players off the field.

While Gill got into an argument with Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley at Lord’s, Ben Stokes extended a handshake to Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar to end the Old Trafford game in a draw when they were inching closer to their centuries.

Things spiced up further on Tuesday as India head coach Gautam Gambhir had a heated exchange with The Oval chief curator Lee Fortis.

While Gill supported Gambhir, he downplayed the other incidents. Gill’s comments came in the wake of Stokes’ statement that England had moved on from the handshake episode.

“These are three very separate moments, not correlated at all. I have already explained what happened at Lord’s and even regarding the last match. What happened yesterday [Tuesday] was absolutely unnecessary. It’s not the first time that we have had a look at the wicket. A coach has every right to be able to go close quarters and have a look at the square. And I didn’t think that there was anything wrong with that,” Gill said.

“I actually don’t know why the curator would not allow us to go examine the surface. A pitch creator asking to look at the wicket from three metres behind has not happened to us before.

“We have been playing cricket for such a long time, and as long as you are wearing rubber spikes or you are barefoot, you are allowed to look at the wicket from close quarters. And that is the job of the coach and the captain,” Gill added.

Rock Bank impressed when the horses were exercised here on Wednesday morning (July 30).

Inner sand:

600m: Skagen (Indrajeet), Larissa (Mark) 40. They moved well.

1000m: Lux Aeterna (Mark) 1-7.5, 600/39.5. Strode out well.

1200m: Grenoble (Hindu S) 1-20.5, 1,000/1-6, 600/40. Impressed.

Outer sand:

1200m: Golden Beast (Jagadeesh), Master Way (Afsar) 1-27, 1,000/1-13.5, 600/46. They moved impressively.

1400m: Rock Bank (Antony) 1-43.5, 1,200/1-27, 1,000/1-12.5, 600/43. Moved fluently.

There was no bigger advertisement for the Delhi Premier League (DPL) in its inaugural season than Priyansh Arya’s soaring success. The opening batter’s 608 runs in 10 innings for South Delhi Superstarz, including six sixes in an over, acted as the springboard for Punjab Kings to shell out ₹3.8 crore in the IPL auction for his services. The 23-year-old southpaw delivered a high return on investment in his maiden IPL season, scoring 475 runs in Punjab’s runner-up finish.

Having done all that, it is only natural that Priyansh’s return for the second season of the DPL, which gets underway on August 2, will garner a lot more eyeballs. He will feature for Outer Delhi Warriors, one of two new franchises in this year’s DPL.

Asked whether there is greater pressure to perform this season, Priyansh was just as uncluttered with his response as he is with the bat in hand. “The pressure is as much as I want to take on myself. If you can keep things simple, it will be beneficial,” Priyansh told The Hindu on Wednesday.

While Priyansh’s ability to back his naturally attacking instinct is one of his strengths, he believes there is more to his batting now than just aggression.

“You have to play according to the situation. I have learnt that from the IPL,” he said. “You can’t keep hitting, you have to play as per the match circumstances. There is more maturity in my game now because of the IPL.”

Parthiv roped in as mentor

Outer Delhi Warriors has roped in former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel as mentor. The 40-year-old, who retired from all formats in 2020, also serves as assistant coach for Gujarat Titans in the IPL.

Hailing from 2017 Miss World Manushi Chillar’s village Bamnoli in Jhajjar district of Haryana, teenager Hardeep was super proud after winning the Greco Roman 110kg World under-17 crown in Athens and putting his village on the global map once again.

The 16-year-old won the heaviest weight class Greco Roman gold medal for India at the under-17 level. Vinod Kumar (45kg, 1980), Pappu Yadav (51kg, 1992) and Suraj (55kg, 2022) were the previous champions.

“I am very happy to have achieved this,” a shy Hardeep told The Hindu.

Hardeep, a reigning Asian under-17 champion, defeated Kazakhstan’s Baktur Sovetkhan 2-0, Poland’s Mateusz Tomelka 4-2, Ukraine’s Anatolii Novachenko 9-0 and Turkey’s Emrullah Capkan 4-2 to reach the final. He rallied to beat Iranian Yazdan Reza Delrouz 3-3 via criteria in the summit clash to secure the lone Greco Roman medal for India.

“Even though he trains in freestyle and Greco Roman, Hardeep’s heavy upper body helps him in Greco Roman. One who never gives up, he fought some tough bouts. The final one was the toughest. He has a bright future,” said national team coach Ajay Singh.

Hardeep, who lost his parents at an early age, kept up his family tradition to take to wrestling and honed his skills under coach Dharmender Dalal at the Hind Kesari Sonu Akhada in Bahadurgarh.

“Without any sponsorship, we try our best to support him so that he can make the country proud,” said Hardeep’s uncle Jasveer.

India have refused to play against arch-rivals Pakistan in the semifinals of the World Championship of Legends in Birmingham on Thursday, citing the nation’s stand against any bilateral sporting ties with the neighbouring country after the gruesome Pahalagam terror attack.

The Indian team which includes legends like Shikhar Dhawan, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina among others have already expressed their unwillingness to play against Pakistan following the terror attack and the subsequent Operation Sindoor launched by India.

India took a similar stand like they did in the group-stage match against Pakistan earlier in the tournament.

In that game, several top former India cricketers had refused to play against Pakistan in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.

India were set to play Pakistan in the semi-final of the tournament on Thursday at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground.

EaseMyTrip, a top sponsor of the league, has already made it position clear on the Indo-Pak match.

“We applaud Team India @India_Champions for their outstanding performance in the World Championship of Legends, you’ve made the nation proud. However, the upcoming semi-final against Pakistan is not just another game, Terror and cricket cannot go hand in hand,” the travel-tech company’s co-founder Nishant Pitti wrote on his ‘X’ handle.

“@EaseMyTrip, we stand with India. We cannot support any event that attempts to normalise relations with a country that promotes terrorism. The people of India have spoken and we hear them. EaseMyTrip will not be associated with the India vs Pakistan match in WCL.

“Some things are bigger than sport. Nation first business later Always,” he added.

India Champions advanced to the semifinals of the ongoing World Championship of Legends after defeating West Indies Champions in just 13.2 overs in their last group match on Tuesday.

Qualifier Shanker Heisnam beat lucky-loser Arjun Rathi 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(6) in the men’s quarterfinals of the HPCL Mittal ₹200,000 AITA ranking tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Wednesday.

In the women’s section, Mahika Khanna outplayed third seed Jeetesh Kumari 6-2, 6-2.

The results (quarterfinals): Men: Sarthak Suden bt Svarmanyu Singh 6-2, 7-6(3); Parv Nage bt SM Aadhithya 7-6(4), 6-3; Jagmeet Singh bt Ricky Chaudhary 6-2, 4-6, 6-2; Shanker Heisnam bt Arjun Rathi 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(6).

Women: Sahira Singh bt Jaya Kapoor 6-2, 6-1; Mahika Khanna bt Jeetesh Kumari 6-2, 6-2; Rya Sachdeva bt Divya Bhardwaj 6-1, 7-5; Tejasvi Dabas bt Manshi Singh 6-3, 7-5.

Injured skipper Ben Stokes and lead pacer Jofra Archer will not be part of the fifth and final Test against India, starting here from Thursday (July 31, 2025), as England made three changes to their playing XI for the series-deciding game.

The hosts lead the series 2-1 after four intensely fought Test matches that has also had its fair share of controversies.

Ollie Pope will lead the side in Stokes’ absence.

Stokes, who has led the team from the front and has claimed 17 wickets while scoring some vital runs with bat, will miss out on the game at The Oval due to a shoulder injury, while Archer has been rested after having made his return to Test cricket following a long gap of four years.

Pacer Brydon Carse will also miss the final Test, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a press release on Wednesday (July 30, 2025).

“Captain Ben Stokes is unavailable due to a right shoulder injury. Also missing out are spinner Liam Dawson and pace bowlers Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse.

“England have included Jacob Bethell, who will bat at No.6. Surrey bowlers Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton come into the side, along with Nottinghamshire quick Josh Tongue,” the ECB said.

England playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue.

Bayern Munich signed Liverpool winger Luis Díaz to a four-year contract on Wednesday (July 30, 2025) in the German champion’s biggest deal of the offseason so far.

The move balances out Liverpool’s heavy spending with a fee reported at 75 million euros ($87 million) by German media, while Bayern dips into the millions it earned at the Club World Cup, a competition Liverpool didn’t qualify for.

Díaz had been with Liverpool since 2022 and scored 17 goals in 50 games across all competitions last season as the club won the Premier League title.

“From today on I’m part of this lovely family,” Diaz said in Spanish in a video message posted on Bayern’s social media accounts.

Díaz leaves amid Isak speculationLiverpool had dismissed talk of the 28-year-old Colombia winger leaving but its approach shifted when he was left out of the squad for a preseason friendly loss to AC Milan on Saturday.

Heavy spending for Liverpool

Diaz’s departure comes in an offseason where Liverpool has spent heavily strengthening a team that won a record-equaling 20th English league title last term.

Coach Arne Slot has focused on his attack with the signings of Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike. Liverpool’s total spend is around $342 million and there could be more arrivals before the transfer window shuts on Sept. 1.

Isak on Liverpool’s radar

Bayern’s offer appears to have been too good to refuse and could heighten speculation that the Premier League champion will move for Newcastle forward Alexandar Isak.

Diaz joined Liverpool from Porto for an initial 45 million euros ($50 million) in 2022 — replacing Sadio Mané, who went to Bayern — and won the Premier League, FA Cup and two English League Cups in his time at Anfield.

Liverpool’s German connectionGermany has loomed large in Liverpool’s recent transfer business as the club signed attacking midfielder Wirtz and right back Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen, plus striker Ekitiké from Eintracht Frankfurt. It also sold defender Jarell Quansah to Leverkusen.

It’s the first big transfer fee paid this offseason by Bayern, which raised money from selling striker Mathys Tel to Tottenham and cut its wage bill when forwards Thomas Müller and Leroy Sané both left the club.

Bayern’s signings of defender Jonathan Tah from Leverkusen and young midfielder Tom Bischof from Hoffenheim only involved small sums to make them eligible for the Club World Cup, weeks before they would have joined anyway as free agents.