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खेल डेस्क। पाकिस्तान क्रिकेट टीम के तेज गेंदबाज शाहीन अफरीदी इन दिनों सुर्खियों में बने हुए हैं। उन्होंने पाकिस्तान की टी20 टीम की कप्तानी छिनने के बाद अपने इंस्टाग्राम अकाउंट पर एक पोस्ट शेयर कर सुर्खियां बटौरी हैं।

बाबर आजम को व्हाइट बॉल क्रिकेट का फिर से कप्तान नियुक्त करने के बाद शाहीन अफरीदी ने अपनी इंस्टाग्राम स्टोरी पर एक 29 सेकंड का वीडियो शेयर किया है।

पाकिस्तान के इस स्टार क्रिकेटर ने सोशल मीडिया के माध्यम से बड़ी बात कही है। उन्होंने वीडिया के माध्यम से कर दिया कि मुझे कभी भी ऐसी स्थिति में न रखें, जहां मुझे आपको यह दिखाना पड़े कि मैं कितना कू्रर और निर्दयी हो सकता हूं, मेरे धैर्य की परीक्षा मत लो।

गौरतलब है कि शाहीन अफरीदी को आईसीसी वनडे विश्व कप में टीम के खराब प्रदर्शन के बाद पाकिस्तान टी20 टीम का कप्तान बनाया गया था। अब आईसीसी टी20 विश्व कप से पहले उनसे कप्तानी छीन ली गई है।

PC: twitter

At the stroke of the midnight hour on Thursday when India sleeps, five chess Grandmasters from the country will compete in their biggest assignment of their careers so far, when they play at the 2024 Candidates in Toronto, Canada.

While Koneru Humpy has handled the Candidates pressure before, having played in the previous edition, the remaining four – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Gukesh Dommaraju, Vidit Gujrathi, and Vaishali Rameshbabu – will make their debut in the prestigious tournament.

The Candidates is a gruelling competition, with the winner getting a spot at the World Championship match to go alongside a prize money of 48,000 euros. It is a high stakes tournament, one that can make or break players.

There’s bound to be pressure with so much on the line but Abhijit Kunte, one of earliest Grandmasters from India, believes it will differ from player to player.

“There will not be much pressure on Pragg and Gukesh,” asserted Kunte in a conversation with Scroll.

“They will have this advantage of no pressure because both of them are very young. They know that this will not be their last chance of competing in the Candidates.”

Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh, aged 18 and 17 respectively, are the two youngest players in fray in this edition of the Candidates. The latter, in fact, is the…

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Javi Siverio’s goal helped Jamshedpur FC secure a 1-1 draw against Kerala Blasters FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in the Indian Super League 2023-24 on Saturday.

Ahead of the match, Kerala Blasters required a victory to ensure that they booked a berth in the playoffs. Their march towards the same received a boost courtesy of an opening strike by Greek striker Dimitrios Diamantakos in the 23rd minute of the match.

However, Siverio, who had been a constant source of threat for the Kerala Blasters FC defence ensured that he struck the back of the net in the 45th minute.

Siverio kept hovering around the visiting team’s backline, poking their defensive line to find credible breakthroughs. He came close to doing so in the 12th minute, teaming with Rei Tachikawa before launching a fierce shot that landed off target.

Kerala Blasters then capitalised on this missed opportunity to Diamantakos’s strike.

Rahul KP steered the ball forward before playing it on the path of Emmanuel Justine Ojoka who was inside the box. The latter took a deft touch, before directing the ball towards Diamantakos, who deposited it into the net with little fuss.

Jamshedpur FC got their act together soon afterwards, with Tachikawa, Jeremy Manzorro, Imran Khan, and Mohammed Sanan taking turns…

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Bengaluru FC and Odisha FC played out a goalless draw in their Indian Super League 2023-24 encounter at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Saturday.

The result handed a big jolt to the Juggernauts and their hopes of clinching the League Winners Shield as they now have 36 points from 19 games, five behind what the top-placed Mumbai City FC (41) has accumulated from the same number of matches. On the other hand, Bengaluru FC is back in the top six courtesy of the outcome of this match.

It was a day where the backlines of both the teams were the saving graces, helping them keep a clean sheet each. Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was solid between the posts for the home side, making multiple decisive stops that denied Odisha FC the breakthrough until the end.

Ahmed Jahouh delivered a curling ball for Jerry Lalrinzuala inside the box on the left flank of the final third. Sandhu used his big frame to good effect to ensure that Jerry didn’t have too much space to attempt a shot in the 31st minute.

Fijian forward Roy Krishna had breached the home side’s defence to storm into their defensive half with a solo effort in the added time of the first…

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Raw pace is what best catches the attention of fans and experts alike when an unknown fast bowler rushes in to the bowling crease for the first time. Combine it with a good run-up, smooth action, accuracy, and cricketing smarts and you know the bowler would be a force to reckon with.

That’s exactly what Mayank Yadav displayed on his Indian Premier League debut for the Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium against the Punjab Kings on Saturday.

The 21-year-old pacer from Delhi finished with figures of 3-27 in his four overs as the Super Giants beat the Kings by 21 runs despite a fighting 50-ball 70 from the visiting skipper Shikhar Dhawan.

Earlier in the day, the Lucknow Super Giants posted a mammoth 199/8 after opting to bat first, riding on the back of a half-century from opener Quinton de Kock (54). Stand in skipper Nicholas Pooran (42) and Krunal Pandya (43*) also played vital knocks even as Sam Curran picked up three wickets for the Punjab Kings.

Turning point of the match

The Punjab Kings were cruising in the chase with openers Jonny Bairstow (42) and Dhawan finding boundaries at will. They duo added 61 runs in the batting powerplay and continued to motor along, bringing up a 100-run…

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This article originally appeared in The Field’s newsletter, Game Points, on March 20, 2024. Sign up here to get the newsletter directly delivered to your inbox every week.

On February 23, in the first match of the 2024 Women’s Premier League, Sajeevan Sajana strode out with the Mumbai Indians needing five off the final ball. One foot forward and she cleared the boundary with a power-packed six. As she roared in celebration, this single-ball effort was a sign of things to come for Indian players in the second edition of the cricket league.

In the next match between the UP Warriorz and Royal Challengers Bangalore the following day, veteran spinner Asha Sobhana became the first Indian bowler to pick up five wickets in an innings in the tournament, playing an instrumental role in Bangalore’s two-run win.

S Meghana, Richa Ghosh, Tanuja Kanwer, Shreyanka Patil and the familiar names of Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma…this year’s WPL was more than just the glitz and glamour of overseas stars and their experience. It was about witnessing the depth of women’s cricket in India.

Take the Orange Cap (awarded for the most runs scored in the tournament) and Purple Cap (most wickets taken) lists, for example.

In 2023, there were only two Indians…

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Gujarat Titans have named Indian fast bowler Sandeep Warrier as the replacement for Mohammed Shami ahead of the 2024 Indian Premier League, starting on Friday.

In a press release on the league website on Wednesday, Warrier will join the 2023 runners-up for his base price of Rs 5 Lakhs. The Tamil Nadu pacer has previously featured in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013 and Kolkata Knight Riders in 2019, having played a total of five matches.

Shami had previously sat out all of India’s matches since their loss to Australia in the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad back in November 2023. The 33-year-old then underwent surgery for his right heel and was confirmed to miss the entire tournament due to his recovery. Earlier, Shami was retained by the Gujarat franchise ahead of the auction in December 2023.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians have drafted uncapped South African bowler Kwena Maphaka at his base price of Rs 50 Lakh to replace injured Sri Lankan Dilshan Madushanka. The Sri Lankan pacer was picked up for Rs 4.6 Crore during the December auction on the back of his performance at the ODI World Cup, where he picked up 21 wickets in nine matches.

Maphaka rose to the spotlight after he was adjudged…

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The Reactions 👏

The Emotions ☺️

The Celebrations 🙌

They say what this triumph means for the Royal Challengers Bangalore 🏆

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/g011cfzcFp#TATAWPL | #DCvRCB | #Final | @RCBTweets pic.twitter.com/imJPUlpIPD

— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 17, 2024

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