World’s top boxers set for World Boxing Cup Finals 2025 as India names strong 20-member squad

Dubai, Feb 23 (IANS) Imam-ul-Haq comes into Pakistan’s playing XI as captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and elected to bat first against India in a high-stakes Group A clash in the 2025 Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.

The two teams last met in an ODI game at the 2023 World Cup in Ahmedabad, with India winning by seven wickets. A win for India, who beat Bangladesh by six wickets, would put them on the cusp of entering the semi-finals.

Another loss for defending champions Pakistan, who faced a 60-run defeat to New Zealand, would lead them to an early exit from the eight-team competition.

After winning the toss, Rizwan said Imam comes in for Fakhar Zaman, who is ruled out of the competition due to an oblique injury. Imam, the left-handed opener, will be playing an ODI for the first time since the 2023 ODI World Cup.

“Looks like a good surface and doesn’t matter, so we want to bat first. If you play an ICC event, every game is important. The boys are familiar with the conditions and we’ve done well in this ground as well. Yeah, we lost the last game but it’s in the past for us,” he said.

India captain Rohit Sharma said they are retaining the same team, which played in their win over Bangladesh. “It’s not the same surface but looks similar to what we played on, in the last game. It could get slower. Great opportunity to come out and do what we do as a team. The way we played the last game, it wasn’t easy for us and we had to work our way. You want to test yourself and be under pressure.”

The pitch for Sunday’s game happening in front of a sell-out crowd has been used twice previously, with 70m being the size of square boundaries, while the down the ground boundary stands at 81m.

Playing XIs-

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, and Kuldeep Yadav

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (captain & wk), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Abrar Ahmed

–IANS

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Jaipur, Sep 6 (IANS) Promising youngster Yusha Nafees, who played a key role in helping the Indian boys’ team win bronze at the Asian Junior Team Championships earlier this year, underlined his growing potential by clinching the boys’ U-19 crown in the Indian Junior Open Squash Championships in Jaipur on Saturday.

Playing at the Rajasthan Squash Academy, Nafees showcased remarkable grit as he rallied from two games down to beat Rachit Shah in a five-game thriller. After conceding the opening two games 8-11, 5-11, Nafees bounced back strongly to win the next three 11-8, 11-5, 11-2 and seal the title in front of a packed home crowd.

The week-long premier competition, which attracted an impressive 520 entries across 12 events, witnessed high-quality squash from India’s brightest young talents. Adding to the host nation’s success, Rudra Singh clinched the girls’ U-19 title, overcoming Vyomika Khandelwal 11-7, 13-11, 11-2 in straight games. Singh’s dominance, particularly in the second game where she held her nerve in a tight finish, underlined her composure and maturity at the highest junior level.

In the other finals, Subhash Choudhary, the top seed in the boys’ U-17 category, defeated Raghav Vashishtha 11-8, 11-4, 10-12, 11-2, while Sehar Nayar, seeded 3/4, lived up to her billing with a 12-10, 11-1, 11-6 victory over Saanvi Kalanki in the girls’ U-17 event.

Top seed Shreyansh Jha continued his fine run by claiming the boys’ U-15 crown with a 14-12, 11-5, 11-8 win against Harshal Rana, while unseeded Aadya Budhia stunned top seed Vasundhara Nangare in the girls’ U-15 final, triumphing 12-10, 11-7, 10-12, 11-7.

There were more standout results in the younger age groups. Shayan Samtani dominated the boys’ U-13 final with an 11-5, 11-2, 12-10 win over Abhyuday Arora, while Shanaya Parasrampuria impressed in the girls’ U-13 final, defeating Nandikasree Kalaivanan 11-7, 11-7, 11-6.

In the boys’ U-11, K. Haribala held off top seed Tilakvir Kapoor 11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 6-11, 11-9 in a nail-biter, and Alia Kankaria edged past top seed Keerti Pradha Junivar Bala 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 16-14 in the girls’ U-11 division.

The youngest champions crowned were Amaay Mahajan in the boys’ U-9, who beat Darsh Mehrotra 13-11, 11-6, 11-6, and K Tulasi Mira in the girls’ U-9, who overcame Lakshanya Rajawat 12-10, 11-6, 11-4.

–IANS

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New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS) Seamer Ryana MacDonald-Gay, all-rounder Freya Kamp, spinner Linsey Smith and wicketkeeper-batter Linsey Smith have been named in England’s squad for the upcoming Women’s Ashes.

Ryana, who made her white-ball debut on England’s tour of Ireland earlier this year, took two wickets on her Test debut against South Africa and retains her place in the longer format team for the trip to Australia.

Freya and Linsey are in an Ashes squad for the first time and are a part of the T20I team only, while Bess is included in T20I and Test squads after suffering a fractured thumb, which kept her out of the South Africa tour.

Left-arm pacer Mahika Gaur will be with the group, continuing her return to bowling following the injury that made her unavailable for the recent South Africa tour. England travel to Sydney on January 2 and will play a warm-up match against a Governor General’s XI on January 9.

“We have named balanced squads for this Ashes series, with a good mix of youth and experience. Ashes series’ are always special. We want to go there, play our way, and are all excited about the challenges ahead,” said head coach Jon Lewis in a statement.

England begins their Women’s Ashes trip with three ODIs in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart from January 11-16. It is followed by three T20Is taking place in Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide from January 20-25.

The four-day Test, also the maiden day-night game, is set to be held from January 30 to February 2 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The game will also end the multi-format Women’s Ashes series for the first time since it was introduced in 2015.

During the last Ashes in England in 2023, Australia won the Test match at Trent Bridge but England triumphed in both white-ball formats, resulting in an eight-all draw of the multi-format series.

England ODI squad: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Danni Wyatt-Hodge

England T20I squad: Heather Knight (captain), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Linsey Smith, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Danni Wyatt-Hodge

England Test squad: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Danni Wyatt-Hodge

–IANS

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