Author: WebDesk

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…

In yet another high-scoring game in IPL 2024, Delhi Capitals held their nerve to usurp Mumbai Indians by 10 runs. The visitors finished with 247 in a chase of 258. Jake Fraser-McGurk (84 off 27 deliveries) once more sparkled with the willow and the bowlers chipped in with wickets at regular intervals. DC have won four of their last five games. The Fraser-McGurk six-hitting exhibition ‘You bowl, I hit’. Fraser-McGurk seems to have taken that phrase very seriously. In the PowerPlay, his only mantra is to hit through the line every single delivery. In the first over itself, Luke Wood…

One of the main talking points of IPL 2024 has been Hardik Pandya’s rather modest season. The Mumbai Indians skipper is currently averaging 21.57 with the bat and has taken a mere four wickets with the ball. More importantly, for someone whose job is to press the accelerator pedal in the slog overs, his strike-rate of 142.45 is below par. In MI’s last game, too, Hardik could only score 10 off 10 deliveries. With the T20 World Cup on the horizon, there would be even more pressure on Hardik to return to form. So, what could have gone wrong for…