Category: Sports

Rajkot, Jan 14 (IANS) India batter Shreyas Iyer said he only realised the severity of his spleen injury picked up during the third ODI against Australia after being admitted to hospital, describing the ordeal as ‘excruciatingly painful’.

After that injury, Iyer made a successful return to action by making 49 in India’s ODI series opening win over New Zealand in Vadodara. “It was painful, excruciatingly painful. I didn’t realise how tough that injury was until I got to know that spleen is an important part of our body and it’s an organ and I didn’t even know about the word.

“Then the next day when I was admitted to the hospital, after that I realised, ‘Wow, okay, this was a severe injury.’ Yes, it was (spleen was learnt as a new word that day),” said Iyer in a chat with broadcasters ahead of the second ODI at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot.

Iyer also said the recovery process forced him to slow down and reflect. “This process, I felt that I had to give myself a little bit of time not to over-exert myself because I’m someone who can’t sit in one place. I want to keep doing one thing or another.

“But this injury especially gave me time to reflect upon myself, rejuvenate and also relax as much as possible because it’s not that you can get up and start working out straight away.”

“You need to give yourself a lot of time and I was told that within six to eight weeks, you will be back to normal and then you can start training. So I just followed the proper guidelines, which I was provided with and then after that it was a smooth sailing ride,” he elaborated.

Asked if he was going harder for big shots since his return, Iyer said it was instinct rather than design. “Honestly speaking, I’m not trying to do anything. It’s just the instincts. The more I practice in the nets, the easier it gets in the match. Even the nets, I don’t decide that I would be targeting a specific area or taking on the bowlers. I like to be in the moment and I’ve decided that if the ball is in my area, I’m going to take on.

“There’s no two decisions at a time. I think in the previous game, I was under that impression that I’m going to take singles now. In that process, my body also reacted a bit slow. So I just don’t want to be in that frame of mind going forward and this is my mindset currently as of now.”

On his communication with the talismanic Virat Kohli, Iyer said their approach was about staying present and building totals that gave bowlers confidence. “See, the communication has always been funny. We just talk about how we would be going against the bowlers and try to be in the present as much as possible.

“So it’s not something that we would be going harder from ball one. We have decided that we would be giving ourselves a little bit of time. But also, it’s important, especially in 50 overs right now, when you see 300, it’s also easily chaseable.

“So you got to reach a total where you can say to the bowlers, ‘Okay, this is a safe total and we got to win the match as early as possible.’ So it’s just to be in that positive frame of mind and see to it that you give a lot of confidence to the bowlers, especially when they’re coming to bowl,” he concluded.

–IANS

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Sydney, Jan 14 (IANS) Australia’s leading fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has provided an update on his recovery, aiming to return ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, which is scheduled to take place in the subcontinent starting February 7.

Hazlewood, one of the key members of the Australian squad in recent years, has been under scrutiny because of injury concerns. The right-arm pacer was sidelined at the start of the Ashes series with a hamstring strain and later sustained an Achilles injury during his rehabilitation.

He will miss the latter stages of the Big Bash League and the late January T20I series against Pakistan. However, he aims to return in a warm-up match ahead of the World Cup early next month.

Hazlewood said the extended recovery period has helped him progress steadily, allowing him to resume light bowling and running while continuing his strength programme.

“Everything is going to plan. We took a few extra weeks once we could not make the Tests. I had a couple of bowls off the half run last week. Running is going well, all the strength stuff is going well, so yeah, on track,” the fast bowler told ESPNcricinfo.

Hazlewood was in prime form during the white-ball series against India in October last year. He took three wickets in three ODI matches, conceding just 72 runs across his spells. The Australian pacer also played in three T20 matches, conceding only 37 runs in 12 overs and taking three wickets.

Australia remain one of the favourites to win the T20 World Cup, having lifted the trophy in 2021 under Aaron Finch’s captaincy. They failed to reach the semi-finals of the 2024 edition after losing to Afghanistan in the quarter-final.

The Mitchell Marsh-led side has been placed in Group B alongside Ireland, Oman, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. They will play their group-stage matches in Sri Lanka, beginning their campaign against Ireland on February 11 in Colombo.

–IANS

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Dubai, Jan 14 (IANS) India batter Virat Kohli regained the No. 1 position, dethroning his teammate Rohit Sharma, who slipped to the No. 3 spot in the latest men’s rankings, following India’s four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first ODI.

Kohli’s score of 93 off 91 balls helped the hosts complete the chase, bringing him closer to India legend Sachin Tendulkar and moving him into second place on the all-time men’s international run-scoring list. He has been in excellent form since the 50-over series in Australia, scoring 74 not out, 135, 102, 65 not out, and 93 in his last five matches.

The 37-year-old batting stalwart has returned to the top of the batting charts for the first time since July 2021, after his performance helped India chase down New Zealand’s 300-run target in Vadodara.

Kohli first reached the top ranking in October 2013, marking his 11th stint at the top. To date, he has held the position for a total of 825 days, making it the 10th longest overall and the longest for any Indian.

New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell moved up in the ODI rankings after scoring a powerful 84 off 71 in the first ODI, achieving his highest rating with only one point behind Kohli.

The Black Caps player has been in impressive form, having held the No.1 spot, with three half-centuries in his last five ODIs and a century against the West Indies.

Mitchell’s teammate Devon Conway moved up three spots to reach 29th position as he maintains his run-scoring at the top.

In the ODI bowlers ranking update, Mohammed Siraj’s excellent performance helped him ascend five spots to reach 15th place, tying with Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

Pacer Kyle Jamieson also benefited after achieving his career-best bowling performance, taking four wickets against India. This performance moved him up 27 spots to share the 69th position with India bowler Arshdeep Singh.

Several Australian players improved their positions in the latest Test rankings after the conclusion of the Ashes series, with Travis Head climbing seven spots to reach third place after becoming the top scorer in the high-profile Test series against England, where he scored 629 runs with an average of 62.90, including three centuries.

Other Test gainers include Jacob Bethell, who advanced 25 spots to share the 52nd position with Tom Blundell, thanks to his impressive maiden Test century in the final Ashes Test, and Michael Neser, who moved up seven spots to 47th following a strong performance in Sydney.

Beau Webster experienced a rise in rankings across all three departments following an outstanding all-round performance in the Ashes finale. His batting ranking improved six places to 58th, his bowling ranking jumped 29 places to 80th—alongside Justin Greaves—and he climbed 22 places to 26th in the all-rounder rankings, where Simon Harmer is also listed.

Wanindu Hasaranga’s performance in the series-drawing T20I against Pakistan helped him move up three spots to second place in the latest T20I bowler rankings.

Pakistan pacer Salman Mirza also made a leap, climbing 16 spots to 19th after taking three wickets in the first T20I against Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, Sahibzada Farhan’s key contributions with the bat elevated him to fifth position, an increase of one spot, and captain Salman Agha advanced 13 spots to reach 41st.

In the all-rounders list, Saim Ayub dropped one position, allowing Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza to reclaim the top spot in the latest rankings update.

–IANS

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Lahore, Jan 14 (IANS) Pakistan will host Australia for three T20Is from January 29 to February, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Wednesday, with the series slated to be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Australia’s T20I squad will arrive in Lahore on Wednesday, 28 January. The series provides crucial game time for both sides ahead of the all-important ICC Men’s T20I World Cup 2026.

“The tour marks a blockbuster beginning of the year for Pakistan Cricket fans, and I urge them to turn out in numbers during the series to support both the teams as they put final touches to their T20 World Cup preparations,” PCB COO Sumair Ahmed Syed said.

This will also be Australia’s third visit to Pakistan since March-April 2022, when they played a three-match Test and ODI series, followed by a solitary T20I. They also played three of their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 matches in the country.

Australia secured a close three-wicket win in the only T20I they played at Gaddafi Stadium in 2022.

“I’m sure the Gaddafi Stadium has become a familiar sight for the Australian cricket team, as they have played a Test, five ODIs and a T20I here since March 2022,” he added.

Pakistan are placed in Group A of the T20 World Cup alongside India, Namibia, the Netherlands and the United States. They will face the Netherlands in their opening fixture on February 7 in Colombo.

The 2009 T20 World Cup winners had a disappointing showing in the previous edition, being knocked out in the group stage. In the 2022 edition of the tournament, Pakistan finished runner-up.

Meanwhile, Australia are placed in Group B along with co-hosts Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Oman.

–IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS) Four-time world championship medallist shuttler Anders Antonsen of Denmark revealed that his withdrawal from the BWF India Open for the third year in a row is due to Delhi’s “extreme pollution”.

“Many are curious as to why I have pulled out of the India Open for the third consecutive year. Due to the extreme pollution in Delhi at the moment, I don’t think it’s a place to host a badminton tournament,” Antonsen shared on Instagram.

The 28-year-old further expressed his hopes for improved conditions when the venue hosts the BWF Badminton World Championships in August. He stated, “Crossing my fingers that it will be better in the summer when the World Championship takes place in Delhi.”

Antonsen, who last competed at the India Open in 2023, where he was eliminated in the second round, also said his withdrawal has resulted in a USD 5,000 fine imposed by the Badminton World Federation. “As a result, BWF once again has fined me USD 5000,” he concluded.

Antonsen’s withdrawal came less than a day after his compatriot, Mia Blichfeldt, complained about hygiene conditions at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. BAI, however, rejected the allegations by the World No. 20 Dane, stating that her comments concerned general playing conditions and were not related to the playing arena for the BWF World Tour Super 750 event.

This year, the India Open, a BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament, moved from the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall to the much larger multi-purpose hall in the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.

The tournament serves as a dress rehearsal for the prestigious BWF World Championships 2026. It will be India’s second hosting of the Badminton World Championships, following 2009, when it was held at Hyderabad’s Gachibowli Indoor Stadium.

Notably, Blichfeldt had also made similar allegations about the India Open last year, blaming the dense smog in India and bird droppings inside the stadium for the illness she developed after the event.

–IANS

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Melbourne, Jan 14 (IANS) Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka are the top seeds for the Australian Open 2026, headlining the men’s and women’s singles draws to be revealed on Thursday, with the main draw action commencing on Sunday.

In men’s singles, Alcaraz heads the seedings following a strong 2025 season. Two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner of Italy is seeded second. A seeding position ensures that, should Sinner and Alcaraz keep winning, they can only meet in the final.

Should Alcaraz and Sinner meet in the summit clash, it would be the fourth consecutive Grand Slam final featuring the Italian and the Spaniard and their first meet at the Australian Open.

Germany’s Alexander Zverev is the third seed, marking the second straight year he, Alcaraz and Sinner have made up the top three seeds, while 10-time champion Novak Djokovic begins his 21st Australian Open campaign as the No. 4 seed.

Newly minted top-five player Lorenzo Musetti of Italy rounds out the top five men’s seeds.

In the women’s draw, Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff are the top three seeds for the second consecutive year. Last year at Melbourne Park, Sabalenka and Swiatek were one point away from facing off in a No.1 and No.2 final, a match-up that remains a possibility in 2026 given their top two seeding positions.

American Amanda Anisimova is seeded fourth, with Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan fifth and Jessica Pegula sixth. Italy’s Jasmine Paolini and teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva. Defending champion Madison Keys is back as the ninth seed and is one of four American women in the top 10, along with Gauff, Anisimova, and Pegula.

Moreover, 30th seed Maya Joint becomes the first Australian woman to be seeded since Ash Barty won the 2022 Australian Open as the top seed.

The women’s draw also features former champions and notable players such as Naomi Osaka, Emma Raducanu, Sofia Kenin, and Marketa Vondrousova, among the 32 seeded players.

–IANS

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Rajkot, Jan 14 (IANS) India have brought in seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy as New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl in the second ODI here at the Niranjan Shah Stadium on Wednesday.

India are leading the three-match series 1-0, after winning the series opener in Vadodara. Nitish slots into the playing eleven after off-spin bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar was ruled out of the series due to a left rib injury and will be assessed by the BCCI medical team.

“We would actually have preferred to bat first, based on the last few games here. Even yesterday there wasn’t much dew, and the players feel the surface tends to slow down as the innings goes on, so batting first looked the better option. Personally, I felt really good in the last game – the rhythm and fluency were there, and it’s always nice to contribute. Hopefully I can build on that and produce a big one today.

“The middle overs were crucial for us last time. They got off to a decent start, but the way we pulled things back – especially with the fast bowlers picking up wickets in those overs – made a big difference. It’s not always easy in these conditions, but they mixed up their pace and variations really well,” said India skipper Shubman Gill.

New Zealand, meanwhile, have handed a debut to left-arm spinner Jayden Lennox, who replaces leg-spinner Adithya Ashok in the playing eleven. “It looks like a really good surface, and hopefully the dew comes into play later in the evening, which should make things a bit nicer for batting under lights.

“The last game was a tight one and I was proud of how the boys fought right till the end. We gave ourselves a chance with a couple of late wickets, and today we’re looking to keep taking wickets through the middle and build that pressure.

“We’ve got a lot of young players in this side, and playing in front of big crowds and all that noise is a great learning experience for them. It’s different conditions for us here, especially with 40,000 people backing the home side, but it’s a challenge we’re really excited about,” said New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell.

Playing XIs

India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna

New Zealand: Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay (wk), Michael Bracewell (captain), Zakary Foulkes, Jayden Lennox, Kyle Jamieson, and Kristian Clarke

–IANS

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Lahore, Jan 14 (IANS) The Pakistan Cricket Board on Wednesday announced the ODI and T20I squads for the women’s team for the upcoming South Africa tour, which begins on February 10 in Potchefstroom.

Fatima Sana will remain the captain in both formats as Pakistan prepares for the ICC Women’s T20I World Cup 2026 in June.

Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Rameen Shamim, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, and Tasmia Rubab are included in both squads. Meanwhile, uncapped batter Saira Jabeen and right-arm fast bowler Humna Bilal have received their first T20I call-ups.

Ayesha and Gull, the opening batters, along with left-arm pacer Tasmia and wicketkeeper-batter Najiha Alvi, have been included in the 15-member ODI squad after not being selected for the ODI World Cup.

Diana Baig, Najiha, Sadaf Shamas, and Syeda Aroob Shah are included in the 50-over squad, while Humna, Saira, Tuba Hassan, and Eyman Fatima are part of the T20I squad exclusively.

The pre-series training camp will start on Sunday, February 1, at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi.

The T20I matches are scheduled to take place in Potchefstroom, Benoni, and Kimberley from February 10 to 16, with all games played as day-night fixtures. Pakistan’s preparations for the ODI series will include a warm-up 50-over match at Kimberley, followed by three ODIs scheduled in Bloemfontein, Centurion, and Durban from February 22 to March 1.

The second ODI is scheduled to start in the afternoon and will be played under lights. In contrast, the warm-up, first, and third ODIS will be day games.

The Pakistan Women’s team will be visiting South Africa again for a bilateral series, their first since January 2021, when they played a three-match ODI series in Durban. In February 2023, they participated in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup held in South Africa, playing matches in Cape Town and Paarl.

T20I squad:

Fatima Sana (c), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Eyman Fatima, Gull Feroza (wk), Humna Bilal, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Rameen Shamim, Sadia Iqbal, Saira Jabeen, Sidra Amin, Tasmia Rubab, and Tuba Hassan

ODI Squad:

Fatima Sana (c), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali (wk), Najiha Alvi (wk), Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Rameen Shamim, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah and Tasmia Rubab

–IANS

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Reflecting on Harmanpreet’s innings, Karim described the Mumbai Indians captain as one of the most adaptable and difficult batters to contain in modern women’s cricket.

“It’s always a pleasure to watch Harmanpreet bat like this. The secret to her success, longevity and consistency is her ability to adapt very quickly. That comes from her awareness of the match situation and her early assessment of conditions,” he told Jiostar.

“She plays the field extremely well. It’s not easy to set a field for Harmanpreet. She exploits the offside with ease and is equally strong on the leg side. Her ability to coil and uncoil at the right moment, combined with her back lift and downswing, makes it very difficult for bowlers to contain her,” he added.

Karim acknowledged that although the innings had imperfections, the 36-year-old captain’s clarity and understanding of the game once again distinguished him.

“She finds gaps against both pace and spin and reads the game exceptionally well. Her WPL record speaks for itself. More than 1,000 runs batting at number four, along with several fifties, shows the immense value she brings every time she walks out to bat,” Karim said.

Former New Zealand cricketer Katey Martin also shared similar views, emphasising the Indian batter’s skill in managing the pace of a chase and leveraging her strengths at key moments.

“I think Harmanpreet never wants to leave this ground. She turned up here on the first day with a massive smile on her face. Before that, she had taken the World Cup home as well, and she continues,” said Martin.

“She commits to her strengths, but the way she paces her innings is so crucial. She started off slowly, eight off eight, looked for her match up, which was Ashleigh Gardner, and then went after her. When you see shots like her drives over extra cover and mid-wicket, you wonder how someone can hit all around the ground with such power and precision. You want your best player to stand up in chases, and Harmanpreet did exactly that,” she added.

Martin also commended Amanjot Kaur’s role and her partnership with Harmanpreet, which was crucial in turning the momentum back in the Mumbai Indians’ favour.

“Amanjot is a real competitor and always wants to be in the fight. Batting at number three was a different role for her, but she understood the situation perfectly. Around the ninth over, when they went for back-to-back big overs, that was the momentum shift. In T20 cricket, momentum is everything. That partnership took pressure off Harmanpreet and allowed her to finish the job calmly,” she observed.

Harmanpreet’s unbeaten 71-run knock and Amanjot’s crucial contribution in the middle led the Mumbai Indians to their second consecutive win in the ongoing WPL edition.

–IANS

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Adelaide, Jan 14 (IANS) Defending champion Madison Keys registered a 6-4, 6-1 win over Tereza Valentova to reach the Adelaide International quarter-finals for the second consecutive year on Wednesday.

Keys overcame seven double faults and saved five break points to secure the first set in 49 minutes. Valentova pushed to stay in it, but Keys ripped a forehand return winner off the 18-year-old’s second serve to break for a 2-0 lead in the second set. From there, she won four of the final five games to close out a hard-earned victory, according to WTA.

“They’re just so young, and they have so much energy, and they’re so excited to be out here. And they’re just so good. So you definitely have to just expect them to play some really great tennis, and like I said, try to lean on experience in those big moments and just kind of hope that that gets you across the finish line,” said Keys.

Keys will face another teen sensation, Victoria Mboko, in their first meeting on the WTA Tour. The No. 8 seed Mboko saved two match points against Anna Kalinskaya to reach the second round of the Adelaide International in two hours and 22 minutes.

Earlier, Jaqueline Cristian defeated Daria Kasatkina for the first time, with a second-set bagel. Cristian survived a chaotic first set before running away with a 6-4, 6-0 win in 1 hour and 31 minutes.

This was Cristian’s second straight-sets win of the week, following her upset of No. 4 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round.

She’ll face another Australian, Kimerly Birrell, in the quarter-finals, who advanced after Marketa Vondrousova withdrew due to injury ahead of their second-round match.

Cristian and Birrell have split their two previous meetings, with the Romanian winning a dominant 6-0, 6-1 last year at Roland Garros.

–IANS

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