Author: WebDesk

Indian senior men’s team head coach Igor Stimac, on Saturday, May 4, 2024, announced his first list of 26 probables for the Bhubaneswar camp in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 matches against Kuwait and Qatar. The second list of probables will be announced in a few days. Stimac hasn’t named any players from Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Mumbai City FC in the list as both teams will be engaged in the ISL Final on Saturday, and they will likely be given a short period of recovery time before joining the camp in…

‘Rains in Bengaluru’ – Somehow that line didn’t seem synonymous with the city for the last several months. So much so that there was a drought-like situation in Bengaluru. Finally, a couple of days ago, there was a short spell of rain showers. And that was followed by another, the very next day, which lasted for over an hour. Although Bengaluru was once more waterlogged, it gave city-dwellers some respite from the heat. So, will the Royal Challengers Bengaluru-Gujarat Titans match get affected by rain? For starters, the Chinnaswamy has a state-of-the-art SubAir drainage system, which in turn suctions water/moisture…

In a move welcomed by football managers and fans alike, UEFA has officially announced an increase in squad size for the upcoming European Championships, providing a much-needed boost for England manager Gareth Southgate and his counterparts. The decision, ratified after discussions among the 24 managers participating in Euro 2024, allows teams to register 26 players for the tournament, up from the initial quota of 23. This development comes amidst a backdrop of escalating injury concerns, particularly for Southgate’s England squad, prompting UEFA to reconsider their stance. A statement released by UEFA’s Executive Committee on Friday evening outlined the amendment, emphasising…

The young Indian women’s team, showed enough promise and prowess for the future as they finished their campaign against the former champions, Japan 0-3 despite a splendid effort by the singles players at the BWF Thomas and Uber Cup 2024 campaign in Chengdu, China, at the quarterfinal stage on Thursday. In the absence of all the experienced campaigners, yet making it to the last eight stage with two convincing wins over Canada and Singapore is a huge shot in the arm for this young girls contingent. In the opening singles, Ashmita Chaliha saved a match point against World no. 11…

-Jayanta Ghosal Mr Boria Majumdar is much younger than me. I am 61, Boria is 48. But he had to face the wrath of an established cricketer for allegedly ‘attacking’ him with a series of messages. So far the script seems simple. Many of us who ply their trade as journalists have had such an unpleasant experience. But then what happened in Boria’s life, I don’t know how many of us faced that. Boria faced ugly social media trolling that looked planned. Even his parents were dragged through the mire. He became a victim of ugly politics in the cricket…

-Shahid Hashmi افکار سے ہے انکی تباہی۔۔۔ رکھتے نہیں جو فکر و تدبر کا سلیقہ ۔۔۔ ہو فکر اگر خام توآزادی افکار ۔۔۔۔ انسان کو حیوان بنانے کا طریقہ اقبال “Freedom of thoughts is their destruction, those who do not have the manners of thought and prudence. If the thought is raw, freedom of thought is the way to turn a man into a beast.” – Allama Iqbal, renowned as one of the great poets of the 20th century. Nearly a hundred years ago, Iqbal described the value of thinking prudently before expressing your thoughts. Nowadays, people speak without deliberation, criticise…

Phil Salt (68 runs) and Varun Chakaravarthy (3/16) were the star performers for Kolkata Knight Riders as they crushed Delhi Capitals by seven wickets to get back to winning ways. KKR overhauled a modest target of 154 in 16.3 overs. They stay second on the points table, with 12 points from nine games. DC are sixth with 10 points from 11 matches. The Salt show The Lancashire and England cricketer has been one of the mainstays of the KKR unit, both with the bat and the big gloves. He once more put on an exhibition of his pyrotechnics. In…

Kolkata Knight Riders’ bowlers had a chastening experience in the IPL 2024 game against Punjab Kings as they couldn’t defend a massive target of 262 at Eden Gardens. From Dushmantha Chameera to Harshit Rana to Ankul Roy and Andre Russell, all the bowlers came a cropper in batting-friendly conditions. The only bowler who once again found a way to escape punishment was Sunil Narine, returning figures of 1 for 24 from four overs. The all-rounder has been in terrific form with both the bat and ball. The KKR franchise will once more depend on their talismanic all-rounder in their next…

Sukhwant Basra I distinctly remember the day Boria Majumdar was banned by the BCCI. Not for any other reason but for the fact that I was having my evening tipple when Twitter unrolled my opiate for the day, and this popped up. I laughed so hard that my wife came out of the bedroom to admonish my encroachment on our three-year-old’s peaceful sleep. I wasn’t amused at Boria’s discomfiture. Rather, it was that innocuous text message of his, which was painted as threatening, invasive, and coercive, which set me off. When the child was asleep, my wife asked me just…

Karan Singh Gurjar’s determined effort to become only the second fencer from India to compete in the Olympic Games ended in heartbreak, after a 2-15 loss to China’s Chengpeng Shen, in the men’s sabre final in the Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Qualifier in Fujariah in the UAE on Saturday. The World No. 72 notched up victories over No. 64 Voragun Srinualnad (Thailand) and No. 41 Musa Aymuratov (Uzbekistan) in the quarterfinals and semi-finals, respectively. However, the Indian was beaten by World No. 55 Shen in the clash that decided the Paris 2024 qualifier. The Chinese, who had beaten Gurjar in…