The Argentina striker has often been linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu and recent reports have suggested Madrid will try to sign him when the transfer window opens in January. Icardi, though, insists he is not thinking about leaving San Siro. “I don’t think this is the right time, given the results,” he told Corriere dello Sport when asked about Madrid’s reported interest. “And I’m fine where I am....
Stats show only Ronaldo compares to Zlatan The captain and Ivan Perisic are suspended for two matches after the controversial defeat to Juventus last weekend – punishments the club are appealing against – while Marcelo Brozovic is injured. The loss of Icardi, who has started all 23 of Inter’s Serie A matches, leaves coach Pioli with a selection dilemma in attack. He would not reveal his decision, but did say Gabigol who is still waiting for his first league start having joined in a deal reportedly worth €29....
The ever-excellent Andy Zaltzman’s Twitter account threw at me this astonishing statistic which vigorously shook my head to put things into perspective. “Shikhar Dhawan‘s first 6 international innings: 74 for 6 off 134 balls. His last 3 international innings: 403 for 2 off 375 balls.” Few months ago, when India’s squad to face Australia at home was announced, I was lamenting the fact that the selectors had chosen to ignore Wasim Jaffer and pick Shikhar Dhawan ahead of him....
Just over two years ago England suffered the embarrassment of crashing out of the World Cup without getting out of their group after losing to Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval. Peter Moores was sacked as head coach soon after and the appointment of Trevor Bayliss has transformed England’s fortunes in white-ball cricket, so much so that they will start the Champions Trophy among the favourites. Bayliss has given an exciting crop of players a licence to express themselves, honing their undoubted natural talents to make England a force to be reckoned with....
In its official website, ACB affirmed the development by stating, “The correspondence received from ICC confirms the approval of the league by cricket’s global governing body. This would enable member boards to issue No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to players associated with the respective boards who may be included in the five different participating teams.” Earlier this year, the ACB unveiled plans for a franchise-based T20 tournament of their own. The inaugural edition of the APL is likely to take place in October....
Twenty-two people were killed and 59 injured, including children, in an explosion at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at the venue at around 22:33 local time, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have confirmed. The incident is being treated by police as a terror attack, with GMP Chief Constable Ian Hopkins later confirming that the suspect died at the scene after allegedly detonating an “improvised explosive device”. The Champions Trophy runs from June 1-18, with matches set to be played at Edgbaston, Cardiff and The Oval, while England will also host the Women’s World Cup from June 24 to July 23....
A win would have meant a maiden appearance in the final of the ICC World T20 for New Zealand. After contesting the summit clash against Australia in the 50-overs World Cup, the Blackcaps were reasonably confident of their chances. Apart from their title-winning run in 2010, England have been unable to reach the knockout stages of the T20 extravaganza. A strong showing in the semi-finals would have been befitting of their recent resurgence in limited-overs cricket....
Initially, India was supposed to host the competition. However, the BCCI moved the tournament to the United Arab Emirates and Oman because of the COVID-19 situation in India. The tournament will have 16 participants. An official from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) informed PTI today that the ICC has given permission to the international boards to carry extra players with the squad because of the quarantine rules. However, the international cricket governing body will bear the expenses of only 15 players and eight officials....
Choosing to bowl first, Australia restricted India to just 226 on the board despite a century from Punam Raut. India have a tough road ahead with Mithali Raj and her troops now facing a do or die game against New Zealand on Saturday. The winner of that game will be guaranteed a place in the semis. Two losses on a trot have put India’s entire campaign in jeopardy. Without further ado, here are the five things that went wrong for India in their defeat against the Aussies....
A Jason Roy special ensured that England were in control of the chase all throughout their innings and won with nearly three overs left to spare. English captain, Eoin Morgan’s dismal form continued, although his top-order continued their good run with the bat. Here are the major stats from the game: 0 – Eoin Morgan’s second duck of the World T20 made him the second captain after William Porterfield to be dismissed for a duck in a World T20....
Yet, on that afternoon, a certain Ben Stokes, akin to his recent heroics, stood up to be counted, meaning that he conjured perhaps the greatest Test knock ever. Consequently, England emerged from that rubble with their pride intact and a realistic chance of reclaiming the coveted urn, an opportunity many felt they’d passed up through the course of the first couple of matches. And, though the all-rounder’s scintillating innings enabled the Three Lions to venture into the fantasy world that comprised a World Cup triumph and Ashes conquest in the same cricketing season, it also ended up masking a rather worrying trend regarding their fortunes in red-ball cricket....
Bagan, who take on second-placed Aizawl FC in a crucial Hero I-League tie at the Rabindra Sarovar Stadium, are coming off an AFC Cup preliminary stage win against Colombo FC. But in their last league engagement, the former champions were held to a goalless stalemate by DSK Shivajians. Kingfisher East Bengal, on the other hand, won handsomely both against first-timers Minerva Punjab FC and Mumbai FC and sit pretty on top of the heap three points clear of both Bagan and Aizawl....
Speaking on the result, NEROCA’s gaffer Gift Raikhan stated that his troops were aware of Reds and Golds’ strategy. Further, he explained his tactics which led to the equalizing goal and praised his goal-scorer. ‘’This was all about the plan because we knew East Bengal was going to score against us. After East Bengal scored, we had a plan with what to do, so I put Gouramangi (Singh) in defense and (Aryn Glen) Williams up-front in order to have more strength in the attack....
The Mariners have beaten Churchill Brothers, Shillong Lajong and Minerva Punjab to currently see themselves level on points (9) with Bengaluru FC on top of the standings. Preview: Shillong Lajong v Minerva Punjab “The title race is not going to be Bagan vs Bengaluru. Lots of teams are yet to settle. There’s going to be competition. Teams like Chennai and Churchill are improving. They will only get better. If we’re going to win, we should treat every match as important....
It was NEROCA who began well, testing the Lajong defence in the initial 10 minutes. However, the first solid chance of the game went to Lajong in the 16th minute when Laurence Doe found Kynsai inside the box but the latter failed to control the pass, allowing the keeper to collect. 11 minutes later, Samuel Lalmuanpuia sent Aiman Al-Hagri clear on goal with an inch-perfect through-ball but his shot went whiskers wide of the post....
Though Lajong lost three games in a row, their opponents in the first two ties were defending champions Bengaluru FC and Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan, who hammered the young Reds . But, their loss against North-Eastern rivals Aizawl FC definitely showed the team in poor light. Lajong’s game plan against Aizawl didn’t seem to work at all, compounded by Fabio Pena’s missed penalty. Thangboi Singto’s side has been characterised by a sloppy defence which has gifted away easy goals....
In case you didn’t know… Moghrabi has had an experience of playing in Indian football as he had featured for Churchill Brothers in the 2012-13 I-League season. He had scored 10 goals in 18 outings in the I-League. He came to India after putting in back to back brilliant performances for his native club Nejmej SC. After the Churchill stint was over, Moghrabi went back to play for Nejmej again and then had a spell with Tripoli SC....
East Bengal are riding high on confidence after two back to back away wins against NEROCA FC and Shillong Lajong. Chennai City are also confident especially after their solid performance in the Southern Derby against Gokulam Kerala FC. Asked whether Chennai will be a tough opponent to beat, East Bengal coach Alejandro Menendez said, “Not only this one, but all the matches will be difficult. We have won two matches, so expectation will be bigger from the supporters....
Gokulam pulled off a slew of high-profile signings in the pre-season, including those of Ghanaian duo of Mohamed Awal and Dennis Antwi. They also secured the services of highly-rated frontman Philip Adjah on the eve of their I-League season opener. The newly-promoted Mohammedan SC are placed second. The historic Kolkata club has a market value of ₹19.78 crore. The Black Panthers added Mohammed Fatau, Raphael Onwrebe, and Willis Plaza to their ranks ahead of the new season....
