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Deepti Sharma was one of India’s stars throughout the World Cup, and upped her game in the final with a run-a-ball 58 and then a five-wicket haul

Vishal Dikshit03-Nov-2025

Deepti Sharma derailed South Africa’s chase in the death overs•ICC/Getty Images

Deepti Sharma. South Africa. World Cup.Till Sunday night, even Deepti would have thought of that World Cup night in Christchurch, back in 2022, if those words had been put to her together. India were on the verge of progressing to the semi-finals then, they had to go past South Africa in a must-win game, and Deepti had the task of defending six runs in the last over with the set Mignon du Preez in front of her.When South Africa needed three from two, Deepti had du Preez caught at long-on to spark wild celebrations before realising that the umpires were checking for a no-ball and Deepti had no part of her heel inside the crease. Two balls later, du Preez hit the winning runs. The abiding memory from that moment is of Jhulan Goswami, out of that match with a niggle, her mouth covered with her hands as she saw her last World Cup dream shattered.Related

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It’s hard to know how Deepti would have slept that night. Or how she dealt with that in the days and years to come. In fact, Deepti might have gone into the 2022 World Cup with baggage already, having not been able to see India through in the 2017 final when she was the second-last wicket to fall and India fell short by just nine runs against England.The nature of sport is such that sportspersons often feel redeemed by shining in similar situations, often against the same team, and even more when there’s a lot at stake.Harmanpreet Kaur and India have often fallen back on Deepti as the partnership-breaker in recent times, and Sunday night was no different. But it was the World Cup final, so there was the added pressure. Deepti was first bowler Harmanpreet turned to after the opening quicks didn’t get a wicket in the first eight overs. But the nature of the pitch and the way the South Africa batters manoeuvred her, that Deepti only got the one wicket, of Sinalo Jafta, in her first seven overs. Wickets had been falling at the other end, though, and South Africa needed 92 from 66 with five wickets in hand when Deepti began her eighth.Deepti is known for her variations and her deception, gained from over 250 international games and two overseas T20 leagues. She sent down a yorker that Annerie Dercksen, whom she had dropped on 24, couldn’t pick and was bowled for 35. The cross-seam delivery was a reminder of how Deepti thought on her feet when the conditions were not in her favour or if the batters were going after her, just like in India’s opening game, when Chamari Athapaththu was taking her down. She nailed this one. Just like when Tammy Beaumont were looking to accelerate after a half-century opening stand before Deepti darted a quicker one that bowled her around her legs.8:05

‘What dream? We’re living it’

Deepti has been a consistent death-overs bowler this tournament and that responsibility could have felt heavier in front of a packed stadium. It didn’t show when she got the biggest one of them: Laura Wolvaardt. Deepti fired one in flat to the century-maker with the field spread out and the miscued slog sweep went to Amanjot Kaur at deep midwicket, and the crowd caught its collective breath as Amanjot juggled the ball before completing the catch on the third attempt. Three balls later came another pace variation and when Chloe Tryon missed a flatter one to be given lbw.”I’ve always like challenges so I was confident going into my second and third spells,” Deepti told the host broadcaster after the game. “When we got the momentum with Dercksen’s wicket and then Laura’s wicket, I had this belief that as a senior player I have to pick up my performance and back the others.”I always look to use variations along with my stock ball and I know when to use which one, like against a set batter or a new batter. I’ve also practiced for them a lot in the WPL and other series, so all those games helped me. That season of the WPL when I was the MVP (2024) it really helped me.”Deepti Sharma made good use of the sweep in the final•AFP/Getty Images

Emergence of the quick-scoring lower-order batter

Deepti has rescued India on several occasions with the bat in this World Cup, too, while also scoring runs quickly. It was the lift in her strike rate in 2025 that added a new dimension to her game. When India were 121 for 5 against Sri Lanka, Deepti steered the ship with a run-a-ball 53 that gave them a competitive score.As much as the thought lingered after the England loss that she should have carried the team through in the chase, Deepti had scored 50 off 57 and kept India going till the 47th over. And then in the finale, she again produced a gritty run-a-ball 58 when the two batters before her – Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet – had fallen with strike rates of under 70. Her expansive slog sweeps in search of boundaries, her six off Marizanne Kapp, her singles and doubles in the end when South Africa’s quicks took the pace off the ball to stem the flow of runs helped India inch closer and closer to the 300 mark that they wanted to get.Deepti Sharma took two wickets in the same over•ICC/Getty ImagesDeepti’s knocks this World Cup combined for 215 runs at a strike rate of 90.33, not far behind her strike rate of 103.25 this year until the World Cup had started, a remarkable improvement from 71.38 in the last two years.”My batting used to come mainly in the last 15 overs so I worked on it with Bala (her brother Sumit) in recent times,” Deepti said. “I worked on the shots that I would have to play in the slog overs. So I improved accordingly and tried to stay positive.”It was fitting that it was Deepti who sealed India’s maiden World Cup triumph when she had Nadine de Klerk caught by a leaping Harmanpreet to get the party started, for her team, the near-40,000 crowd at the ground, and millions of Indian watching from around the world.And the next time someone says Deepti Sharma, South Africa and World Cup together, the night that will be remembered is the one on November 2, 2025, Navi Mumbai. Capped off with Deepti proudly holding the Player-of-the-Tournament trophy, big smile on her face.

There was music, fireworks and top-notch on-field action as a sell-out crowd braved the searing heat, with MLC making a grand debut

Peter Della Penna14-Jul-2023The sun began to set behind the luxury suites on the west side of the Grand Prairie Stadium on Thursday night, to the sound of 2000 yellow whistles handed out to fans coming through the gates. Members of the Grand Prairie fire and police departments began to take the south side of the field, opposite the Texas Super Kings (TSK) and LA Knight Riders (LAKR) squads lined up on the north.Moments later, a Texas-sized American flag was unfurled by Grand Prairie’s first responders ahead of a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, as the sound of cricket married the sights of American sporting pageantry. The first night of Major League Cricket (MLC) was here.”The American flag, I think was massive. It was half the field,” said TSK’s David Miller in the post-match press conference, when asked what he’ll remember most on a night where he was named Player of the Match for a 42-ball 61 in his team’s 69-run win over LAKR. “We’ll look back on this day one day and there was a lot to it. Just taking in everything and being really welcomed and really loved. Probably the win was to top it off.”Related

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As the first responders and colour guard left the field before the first ball, there was still a bit of uncertainty as to how the night would unfold. In terms of on-the-field historic firsts, USA star and Texas local Ali Khan had the distinction of bowling the MLC’s first ball. It was something that team-mate Andre Russell said afterward was a conscious decision by a team leadership cognizant of the historical significance of the moment.But as Ali charged in from the southern end, the stadium was half empty. On a night billed as a sellout for the last week, there was a slightly peculiar vibe. That got slightly more awkward when the very partisan Texas crowd saw their captain and birthday boy Faf du Plessis caught driving the first ball of the second over from Lockie Ferguson straight to extra cover, a moment that silenced most of the whistles temporarily.”Oh, my God! Faf got out first ball?!” shouted Ruhaan Oberoi, a 12-year-old from Dallas who is part of the MLC-affiliated Mustangs Academy. Oberoi was there with his sister Alisha, 15, as well as mom Jess and dad Ankit. He was decked out in a new TSK “Whistle for Texas” t-shirt, one among a number of promo giveaways on the night, along with yellow flags as well as TSK bucket hats emblazoned with “GO. BIG. TEXAS.””Some guy I’ve never heard of is coming in,” Oberoi said of Texas No. 3 Lahiru Milantha, who was one of the highest domestic scorers in the 2022 Minor League Cricket tournament, the local feeder competition for MLC. “So… that’s good… I’m supporting CSK today.” A few seconds later, someone nearby reminded him that it was TSK on the field, not CSK. Most of the fans interviewed at the final training day in Grand Prairie who came for a glimpse of du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo identified themselves as fans of the Chennai parent franchise. Autograph and selfie seekers of the local American players were in far less demand.It was fitting that Ali Khan, a USA star and Texas local, bowled the first ball in MLC history•SportzpicsSoon after du Plessis got out, Milantha gave Oberoi and others a reason to follow him a bit more closely as he flicked the first six of the tournament into the stands. The moment popped literally and figuratively as fireworks burst into the sky behind the Race Track End, as fans continued to steadily trickle in.At this stage, a few thousand were still stuck in a bottleneck at the lone entrance gate on the west side of the ground. It wasn’t just that fans were desperate to get in to watch the cricket; the temperatures near the entrance gate, with the sun bouncing off the concrete, touched 103F (39.45 degree Celcius) and felt like 115F (46.1 degree Celcius). MLC organisers and Grand Prairie Fire and Police collaborated and made the call to stop scanning ticket barcodes and let everyone inside.”Today’s experience on match day is probably the most intense, draining and fulfilling but certainly full-on day I’ve had in nearly 100 matches I’ve done,” MLC Tournament Director Justin Geale told ESPNcricinfo at the end of the night. Geale arrived in the USA three years ago, hired by MLC with a track record of operations experience at the IPL from his eight years at IMG. “We were out here until 4am last night. We had an emergency alarm drill at 5:30am. The stadium was just in time delivery and we were still bolting down seats at 3:30 in the morning.””I think from a broadcast perspective, everyone is relatively happy. It is really hot here. Logistically, we probably need to look at our entry. The lines to get in today were a bit too long and we acknowledge that. I will say the local police have been fantastic here in Grand Prairie. We can adjust. Ultimately, a good problem to have is too many people. But we don’t want too many people having a bad experience. I think overall, the feedback I’ve had has been fantastic. I think it’s a fantastic base. I pinch myself a little that we’re sitting in a ground here in Texas, in a baseball stadium, watching cricket. We’ve dressed it like you would anywhere else in the world.”Fans line up to enter the Grand Prairie Stadium•SportzpicsOnce all of the fans in the 7200-capacity venue jammed in, the noise was immense. And not just from the yellow whistles. The fans were jumping out of their seats early and often at the boundaries coming off the bats of Miller, Devon Conway and Mitchell Santner. A pair of sixes were flicked high over cow corner that landed within 20 feet of each other in the same section. A mad scramble for the ball from fans ensued, including first-time cricket watcher Jason Adams from Thibodeaux, Louisiana, a small town of 15000 people located 500 miles southeast of Grand Prairie.”I’m gettin’ that ball!” Adams replied in a thick Cajun accent when asked what was going through his mind as the first six in the sequence in the 17th over came screaming toward him off Miller’s bat. “It’s exciting for the amount of fans that they have. It reminds me of… what we used to is college football.”Adams is a season ticket-holder for LSU college football, who play at 102,000 capacity Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge and won the CFP National Championship in 2019. Like most fans to his left and right, Adams was enjoying a few beers with the action, and the only thing that could make the night better in his eyes would be Mike the Tiger, a real-life Bengal that lives in a habitat on the LSU campus as their official mascot, and of course, “we need some cheerleaders. That’s what we need!””I’m Indian-American and I never thought I’d see a Major League Cricket match in my lifetime here,” said Ashish Cheerath, from Houston, Texas, who was sitting next to Adams along with a group of friends who flew in from southern California. “It’s awesome to see the Commonwealth community in the USA – the UK community, Indians, Brits, Aussies, all together here. It reminds me of the same kind of crowd feeling of the Houston Rodeo. Everyone’s happy to be here. Everyone’s excited.”MLC Tournament Director Justin Geale (middle) mingles with some new fans in Texas•Peter Della PennaThat excitement in the first innings was capped off by a six from Dwayne Bravo, a moment which might have been almost too on the nose for any scriptwriter. It sent the fans into the biggest frenzy of the night. While the night was a special occasion for all fans, it took on special significance for coaches and players who are embedded in American cricket culture. Numerous former USA players were in attendance, such as Houston resident and former USA captain Sushil Nadkarni as well as Amer Afzaluddin and Abhimanyu Rajp, who flew in from Michigan and Los Angeles respectively, to take in the festivities.Out of all of them though, former USA captain and current USA men’s national team selector Orlando Baker, a longtime resident of Fort Worth – the sister city of Dallas in the metroplex – had a bigger grin than usual. A former Jamaica player before migrating to the USA in the early 2000s, Baker’s appreciation for everything unfolding in front of him took on greater value, knowing the struggles that players like himself have had to deal with in the USA cricket ecosystem, whether playing in front of a handful of fans or struggling to get support from the home board to fund tours. There was deep inspiration to be drawn from the way Baker, and several other USA players and local officials, continuously talked about the occasion.”Everything is big in Texas and it’s a big thing happening tonight,” Baker said. “This opens doors for a lot of kids. Kids who are in the academies, they could see where they can play at the highest level without going outside of America. I’m really happy to see something new. I just want people to come out and enjoy it and I want kids to come out and take a look and see what it’s like to play at a high level.”

Newlands ball-tampering scandal: “We forget the lessons of that time at our peril”

Andrew McGlashan22-Jun-2021What were your thoughts when you arrived in the midst of a once-in-a-hundred-year crisis?
I didn’t have too much time to think about it, if truth be told. At the time, I’d been dealing with the situation around the men’s T20 World Cup, so I was certainly right across all of the Covid-related issues. As I said at the time, it was a complete surprise, quite a shock. Not sure if we spoke too much but I was probably a bit like a rabbit in the headlights. The situation we found ourselves in certainly focused the mind. Very quickly, we established four priorities: get the CA team back to work, to deliver to the summer safely, deliver for our partners, and then bring the game together, whether that was the states and territories or the players’ association. Think a feature of the last summer is that we have all pulled together, everyone has had a hand in delivering the season and, hopefully, that puts us on firm footing as we come out of this situation.There was uncertainty and tension throughout the season, perhaps one of the more visible moments was how the India Test series would finish in terms of venues. Was there ever a moment where you had to be strong on how it would play out?
It was a very uncertain time. What we did very well was bide our time in terms of decision-making. It was a case of every single day; I remember tuning into New South Wales press conferences at 11am [to see the latest Covid-19 numbers]. It was always our intent through the whole summer to play the series as scheduled and that was really because from the outset the lens we looked through was the cricketing public. There were times when there were calls to stay in Melbourne but we couldn’t deprive the public of NSW who were suffering through the Northern Beaches situation through no fault of their own. Similarly, this notion that we wouldn’t carry on to Brisbane, we couldn’t deprive that public. But, by that stage of the season, what was most pleasing was we had relationships with all the jurisdictions, we had very solid bio-security plans, and everyone came together – including the BCCI. What wasn’t so pleasing was the result, but for a Test series to come down to the last 20 minutes is pretty epic.

“It brought back a lot of pain, but it also caused us to reflect that it’s always going to be there. We forget the lessons of that time at our peril”Nick Hockley on the return of the Newlands scandal to the headlines

You have put a figure of A$ 50 million on the cost of Covid-19 last summer. The hopes are the 2021-22 season will be smoother, but how much can the game absorb?
At the moment, we are hoping for the best but planning for the worst. Planning for a continuation of border closures but we are hopeful come the summer, providing there are no cases in the community, that we will be able to have freedom of movement and players will have more freedom. Equally, we now have the intellectual property and the relationships if we need to move quickly to enact contingency plans. I certainly feel for the winter codes; the disruption is extremely costly. Probably the big difference for cricket compared to the winter domestic competitions is the number of international teams coming. Last year, we had two teams, this year we are bringing six teams in. The two weeks’ mandatory quarantine and setting up training facilities so players can train to come out in a fit condition to play, that comes at a cost and is extremely complicated. It requires support of government at every level. It’s probably the biggest summer in the game’s history here; in a normal course, an Ashes is a high-revenue year so that goes some way to offsetting the costs, but the range of cost outcomes is very much dependent on the situation as it unfolds.Now that you no longer have “interim” next to your name, are there any areas you particularly want to focus on?
What Covid has done is shine a light on where capability lies across the whole sport. We were restricted from traveling, so a large proportion of our workforce had to stay at home for the season and that showed that we can work remotely, we can work as a collective across state and territory associations, so certainly look to take that agility and efficiency. And something I’ve spoken very passionately about over time is making sure we are the most inclusive sport we can be, that we continue to invest and aren’t taking backward steps. I’m excited that we have two multi-format series for the women’s team leading into a World Cup and a Commonwealth Games. Think we’ve seen a really rich talent pipeline coming through the WBBL, but it’s making sure we are being very inclusive in the whole pathway and whole sport to make sure it’s really representative of contemporary multicultural Australia. We are also really gearing up around the postponed men’s T20 World Cup in 2022, which I think is a really important event. A bit like the women’s World Cup was a great opportunity to change the game from a gender perspective, the men’s World Cup is a great opportunity to build relationships with the expat communities across Australia.”What wasn’t so pleasing was the result, but for a Test series to come down to the last 20 minutes is pretty epic”•Bradley Kanaris/Getty ImagesHow to do you think Australian cricket has dealt with the broader social issues – racism, diversity, inclusion – that have been at the forefront around the world in the last year?
We’ve made great strides. Our vision is to be a sport for all Australians. If you take, for example, our Reconciliation Action Plan, we’ve grown indigenous participation tenfold in eight years, we’ve got some fantastic role models. We do great work in the all-abilities space, but are we as a sport truly representative of the community we serve? Not yet. And we won’t rest until we are. We’ve made massive strides from a gender perspective. The events particularly in England over the last few weeks [around historic tweets] only serve to emphasize the role sport plays and that the public holds sport to a very high account and we have a real leadership role to play. We must continue to work on ensuring that the game represents the very best of community. That means having respect for everyone and making sure they feel like they belong.One of the key things on the horizon is the next MoU about how the players are paid. Are you hopeful it will be smoother than last time?
Absolutely. When you step back, the entire sport is aligned in wanting cricket to be as strong as possible and to have sustained growth. Both the players and administration have a really big hand in that. While we haven’t been able to spend too much time face-to-face because people have been in bubbles, we have had to work more closely than ever. We are having constructive discussions around what’s important, what are the things that are really going to grow the game and how does the playing group contribute to that, but also how can we support the players throughout their careers. The other thing I would say is I think the MoU has stood up well during Covid because it is in essence self-correcting if we have a revenue impact.

“I’m a great believer that more people playing cricket at the elite level can only be good for the health of the game. It’s exciting that we’ve got an expanded T20 World Cup but equally there are more opportunities to play [the one-day] World Cup”Nick Hockley

Can you update us on the situation with Channel Seven?
We are deep in dialogue for planning for the upcoming season. The discussions that we have had have been really constructive. We’ve had some very honest conversations about the challenges of last 12 months, which were quite publicly documented, but certainly the latest meetings have been all about how we work together to deliver what is going to be a massive summer. We’ve been working through some innovations and ensure how the WBBL and BBL is really relevant to the contemporary youth audience and delivers on its promise to attract a new audience to the game.What do you make of the next ICC calendar with global events now set to be played every year?
I think it’s really exciting that there are more World Cup opportunities for more countries. I’m a great believer that more people playing cricket at the elite level can only be good for the health of the game. It’s exciting that we’ve got an expanded T20 World Cup but equally there are more opportunities to play [the one-day] World Cup. I believe the formats do have a relationship with each other and think if countries can only play T20 at the world level, they are missing out on core skills for the longer formats. What is exciting is the potential to host some of those major world events in emerging markets; they just won’t be limited to the traditional countries.Related

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The health of the game in Australia is about much more than just the two main national teams, but they are the most visible part of the sport. How would you judge where they stand?
The Australia women’s team are remarkable. This summer they’ll be targeting getting a monkey off their back – I was there in Derby for the [50-over World Cup] semi-final against India in 2017 and I know from speaking to the captain and the coach how much that hurt. Think they are as hungry as ever and they are also very excited about the Commonwealth Games. What is particularly exciting is the young talent, some great young leaders, coming through and challenging what is a very settled side.On the men’s side, this is a really big moment. By their own admission, they were extremely disappointed about the last home summer particularly coming off the back of a previous home defeat against India. I know first-hand when we were unable to tour South Africa just how devastated the players were. It was reassuring for to see that disappointment, they just wanted to get back on the horse so there’s a huge amount of hunger. There’s no better opportunity than this upcoming summer to fulfil their potential as a side.How is the relationship now with Cricket South Africa?
We’ve had lots of constructive discussions around how we schedule moving forward and how we make up for those postponed tours. South Africa were due to tour here as per the FTP this summer [for white-ball matches] but due to logistics around quarantine they are unable to do. All the latest discussions have been entirely constructive and, as we said, we are committed to rescheduling that tour as soon as it’s safe to do so as it fits into the future schedule.Did the return of the Newlands scandal to the headlines recently surprise you?
It really did surprise me. What it did, it brought back a real strength of feeling. It brought back a lot of pain, but it also caused us to reflect that it’s always going to be there. We forget the lessons of that time at our peril. The progress the team under new leadership over the time has been phenomenal, they have really put culture and how they play absolutely at the core. Particularly going into the home summer that we’ve got, think it is better to acknowledge it is there and think about how the group comes together and what they want to be remembered for than forgetting about it. I had many conversations on the subject and went back and restudied the events of the time. We must never forget those learnings.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Palmeiras enfrenta o Liverpool-URU na próxima quinta-feira no Estadio Centenário, em Montevidéu, e o jogo pode ser muito especial para o lateral Marcos Rocha.

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Com 299 jogos com a camisa do Palmeiras, se entrar em campo neste meio de semana, o camisa 2 vai completar 300 partidas pelo Verdão e vai alcançar um número que apenas Weverton e Dudu bateram no clube deste atual elenco.

Rocha chegou no Palmeiras em 2018 e já é ao lado de Weverton, Mayke, Gustavo Gómez, Dudu, Junqueira e Ademir da Guia, o maior vencedor da história do clube, com 12 taças.

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Rocha tem contrato até o final desta temporada e pode estar fazendo o seu ano de despedida pelo atual bicampeão brasileiro. Mesmo com algumas críticas de parte da torcida, o camisa 2 é o líder de assistências do time no ano, com cinco passes para gol.

+ A boa do Lance! Betting: vamos dobrar seu primeiro depósito, até R$200! Basta abrir sua conta e tá na mão!

Mais três jogadores históricos desse elenco de Abel Ferreira também estão próximos de alcançar a marca de 300 jogos com a camisa do Palmeiras. Gustavo Gómez (295), Raphael Veiga (290) e Zé Rafael (289) também devem bater a marca ainda nesta temporada.

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Two-fors from Heather Graham and Linsey Smith restricted Perth to 137, which Hurricanes chased down with eight wickets to spare

AAP13-Dec-2025

Hobart Hurricanes won their maiden WBBL title with a comprehensive win over Perth Scorchers, thanks to an unbeaten 77 off 44 balls by Lizelle Lee.Hurricanes, who topped the table at the end of the regular season, grassed half a dozen chances in the field but were still able to restrict their opposition to 137 for 5.Lee then turned on the fireworks in the chase as her side reeled off the target with eight wickets in hand and 30 balls to spare on Saturday night in front of a delighted home crowd. Hurricanes’ first trophy in the 11th edition of the WBBL came after their male counterparts broke through to win the BBL crown last season.Lee whacked three consecutive boundaries in the opening over, which included a drop that was parried across the rope. In scenes reminiscent of Mitchell Owen’s stunning hundred for Hurricanes in the January BBL decider, Lee turned up the heat and finished with 10 fours and four sixes.Lee’s knock was the highest score in a WBBL final and her best score of the season. She shared a 77-run partnership with Nat Sciver-Brunt (35 to 27) to iron out the majority of the chase.Scorchers legspinner Alana King, who was in good form heading into the contest, copped some punishment and went for 0 for 25 off two overs.Earlier, Scorchers won the bat flip and opted to bat but struggled to get their innings going, despite Hurricanes missing chances in the field. In-form opener Beth Mooney (33 from 26) was dropped three times in the powerplay before being bowled by Heather Graham in the 11th over. Graham (2-26) also picked up the big scalp of Scorchers’ skipper Sophie Devine.New Zealand international Devine, who was dropped on 27, was circumspect early but came to life with two sixes, before getting stumped in the 17th over. Hobart’s English spinner Linsey Smith bowled just two overs but finished with a valuable 2 for 8.Hurricanes had earned a direct passage to the final after ending the season atop the table, while Scorchers, who were gunning for their second title, won two finals games to qualify. On the big day, Scorchers came up short while Hurricanes cruised home.

Mohit Sharma is also being released, while T Natarajan is being retained by Delhi Capitals

Nagraj Gollapudi15-Nov-2025

Delhi Capitals (DC) are set to release their overseas opening pair of Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk, along with former India fast bowler Mohit Sharma. After a lot of deliberation, the owners has decided to retain T Natarajan, a capped India pacer and yorker specialist who was signed for INR 10.75 crore at last year’s mega auction.Signed in 2024 for his base price of INR 2 crore, du Plessis, 41, had underwhelming returns in IPL 2025, hitting 202 runs in nine games at a strike rate of 123.92. These numbers were in stark contrast to his impact for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), for whom he made 438 runs in 15 innings at 161.62 as they rose from the bottom to the playoffs the previous season.Mohit too was below par, picking two wickets in eight games while going at 10.28.Fraser Mc-Gurk, however, will be the most high-profile release, considering hat the franchise had labelled him a player for the future when they signed him in 2024. His intent-laden batting that yielded 222 runs off just 81 deliveries were the highlight for DC during the fag end of their campaign that season.He was subsequently bought back via the right-to-match card ahead of IPL 2025, where he returned five single-digit scores in six matches. His overall tally of 55 runs included a best of 38 before he was benched.Having returned home when the IPL season was paused owing to cross-border tensions with Pakistan, Fraser-McGurk opted to stay back when the season resumed, with the franchise signing Bangladesh left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman as a temporary replacement. At the time, the IPL had stated temporary replacements would not be retained, which means Mustafizur, too, will need to go to the auction.Fraser-McGurk’s recent form has been poor across formats. He had a highest of 36 in three List A games against India A, and has managed scores of 34, 27 and 4 in the three list A games for South Australia since. Post the IPL, Fraser-McGurk also had a lukewarm Major League Cricket stint with San Francisco Unicorns.

Liverpool haven’t been at their best this season, though there is an expectation and anticipation across the red Merseyside streets that Arne Slot has what it takes to turn things around.

The Dutch coach won the Premier League in his first year at the helm, after all, and he achieved this having spent very little last summer, welcoming Federico Chiesa from Juventus for a cut-price £12.5m fee and then using the Italian sparingly across the campaign.

It didn’t matter, though. Liverpool were spearheaded by Mohamed Salah’s jaw-dropping season, the Egyptian breaking any number of records as he claimed his second Premier League title. He won a gamut of individual accolades too.

But Salah is 33 years old, and it was clear to Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes that the Reds needed sweeping changes across the final third, with no guarantees that Salah would replicate such a one-of-a-kind campaign.

It was clear, indeed, that Darwin Nunez needed to be sold after three seasons on Merseyside that left plenty to be desired.

Why Liverpool sold Darwin Nunez

Liverpool signed Nunez from Benfica for an initial £64m fee in 2022. That figure would have risen to a club-record £85m mark, but for the Uruguayan’s struggles across his three years in England, that meant targets were left unhit.

Across three seasons, he only scored 25 times in the Premier League. This statistic is aggravated by Sofascore data revealing that the 25-year-old missed 53 big chances during that timeframe.

Nunez’s plight at number nine, first across two years in Jurgen Klopp’s system and then under Slot’s wing, was played out against the backdrop of a trophy-rich period at Anfield, and he did depart this summer as a Premier League champion.

Premier League

95

25 (16)

Champions League

17

5 (1)

Carabao Cup

13

2 (6)

Europa League

10

5 (1)

FA Cup

7

2 (2)

Community Shield

1

1 (0)

But Nunez, now plying his trade with Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, never failed to shake off the wasteful tag that chased him through his English career.

It was crucial that he was replaced, and replaced he was this summer.

Liverpool first wrapped up a £69m move for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike, and the French forward already looks levels above Nunez at the Liverpool spearhead.

However, another Redman has been criticised for offering less than Nunez did last season, with the South American posting seven goals and seven assists across 47 matches in Slot’s system.

Liverpool forward is 'offering less than Nunez'

Liverpool ‘won’ the transfer window. So many exciting signings were welcomed down Anfield Road, but the club have found it tough across the opening months of the season, and club-record signing Alexander Isak is the perfect example of that.

Isak, 26, is one of the finest goalscorers in world football, and Liverpool ended a highly-charged transfer saga this summer by completing the British-record £125m addition of Newcastle United’s talisman.

However, Isak went on strike in the build-up to his big move, and this has left him scrambling for form across his opening matches, lacking match fitness and fluency.

More is expected at this stage, and Liverpool correspondent David Lynch has even gone as far as to suggest that the 6 foot 3 striker is “offering Liverpool less than Darwin Nunez did” at the moment, with just one goal and one assist across eight appearances this term.

Isak gave his new club a flavour of his skill when netting against Southampton in the Carabao Cup at the start of October, but it’s been a transitional period for him, to be sure.

And Lynch is right. Nunez had offered Liverpool more at this stage last season, but that does not mean that Isak will continue to struggle.

This is all to be taken with a pinch of salt, of course. Only in January did pundit Jamie Carragher hail Isak as “the best striker in the Premier League”.

Last season, the Sweden star ranked among the top 3% of Premier League forwards for goal involvements, the top 12% for goal-creating actions and the top 14% for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref. He scored 27 goals across all competitions, including the decisive strike against Liverpool to lift the Carabao Cup at Wembley.

His all-encompassing attacking style has even seen comparisons drawn with former Liverpool superstar Luis Suarez, who was as prolific as they come in England and played his football was such gusto and personality.

Suarez was a one-of-a-kind centre-forward, but then so is Isak. Liverpool just haven’t been treated to his finest skills yet. However, it is on Isak to get himself up to speed and prove he is anything but Nunez-esque.

Whereas Nunez fell by the wayside after completing his big-money move from overseas, Isak has proven himself and then some on English shores since joining Newcastle from Real Sociedad for £63m in 2022. His time on Tyneside was no joke, and Liverpool would bear testament to their record-signing’s might after his string of brilliant performances against the Anfield side in the past.

Now that autumn is deepening, Liverpool must ensure that Isak is nursed toward full health, though Slot will be cautious after the £280k-per-week superstar was kept on the fringe across the recent international break by Sweden boss Graham Potter.

Ekitike has proved he is every bit the elite rival to thrive at number nine when Isak is injured or merely rested, but Liverpool will expect their British-record addition to start proving they have received bang for their buck soon, especially given the need to ease the weight of the club’s current crisis.

For a respected reporter to be observing that Isak is currently pulling less weight than Nunez was, a highly polarising former Red, that is evidence that it hasn’t been good enough, and needs to be quickly changed.

Better signing than Semenyo: Liverpool enter race for £100m "superstar"

Liverpool are weighing up a 2026 bid for one of the Premier League’s best midfielders.

ByAngus Sinclair Nov 21, 2025

In the end, India got everything they could have wanted out of the opening match of the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025. While the result will no doubt be the most important factor – a comfortable 59-run, DLS-adjusted win – they will be pleased that every member of their batting unit was tested and that most of them were up for it. So a middle-order collapse of 4 for 4 became a footnote and questions about their intent without a meaningful contribution from Smriti Mandhana were left for another day.One area India won’t have any qualms with is their allrounders department. Deepti Sharma was the star in Guwahati as her run-a-ball 53 clawed them out of a considerable hole, before her 3 for 54 helped stifle Sri Lanka’s chase.Amanjot Kaur, who shared the new ball, struck a 56-ball 57 in a 103-run seventh-wicket partnership alongside Deepti, which revived India from 124 for 6 at the end of the 27th over.Sneh Rana, meanwhile, showcased her power hitting in a 15-ball 28, before producing the most economical spell of the day, one that was rewarded with a wicket towards the end of the game.It meant that India’s seventh and eighth wickets accounted for 145 runs, collectively more than the six wickets that preceded them. The hosts ended on a fairly imposing 269 for 8 in a rain-reduced 47-over innings.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

And with the ball, the same players involved in those crucial partnerships strangled Sri Lanka’s chase. Chamari Athapaththu looked to be closing in on some of her best form, but Deepti removed her with a yorker for a 47-ball 43. Vishmi Gunaratne has been a reliable run-getter for Sri Lanka, but Amanjot trapped her leg before after a pained 28-ball 11. All the while, Rana was as miserly as ever at the other end, before belatedly halting Nilakshika Silva’s threatening cameo of 35 from 29. At 140 for 6 in the 29th over, Sri Lanka’s task seemed a stretch too far.Wickets were spread around each of India’s five frontline bowling options, with Kranti Goud and Shree Charani also getting in on the action. India will be extremely pleased at having so many players who could impact the game with both bat and ball.Sri Lanka, in their revised chase of 271, kept a steady scoring rate of about five an over, though once Athapaththu fell it seemed fanciful to imagine they would be able to up the scoring to consistently above six an over, let alone the eight per over required-rate that was needed as the game went along.That Sri Lanka had to chase so much from how well-placed they had been midway through India’s innings was largely of their own making, having dropped Amanjot on four different occasions – 18, 37, 50 and 53. Even if a wet ball courtesy the intermittent rains could be cited as a mitigating factor, it was just the sort of fortune India needed after their innings had gone off the rails near the halfway point.Losing Mandhana early is never ideal, after she sliced one to deep point, but the lack of intent shown by the rest of the batting order against a disciplined, but not exactly threatening Sri Lankan seam contingent, might have been alarming. Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol put on 67 but it came off 96 deliveries.Rawal fell just as she was beginning to accelerate, Inoka Ranaweera breaking the stand with the second delivery of her opening spell. The left-arm spinner was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka, ending with figures of 4 for 46 in nine overs – though she could have had a five-for, if not for being one of the players to drop Amanjot. Ranaweera though is the oldest bowler, at 39, to pick up a four-wicket haul in a Women’s ODI World Cup. Until India’s late onslaught, her intervention had been poised to be the defining moment of the innings.Inoka Ranaweera strruck thrice in an over in the Women’s World Cup opening game•ICC/Getty Images

That intervention occurred in her third over and the 26th of the innings. Harmanpreet Kaur and Deol were in the midst of a momentum-shifting 39-run stand when Deol chipped one gently to extra cover. Ranaweera then spun the next one down the line past Jemimah Rodrigues’ forward defence to peg back the off stump before having having Harmanpreet caught behind. India had gone from 120 for 2 to 121 for 5 in the space of five deliveries. Seven deliveries later, they were 124 for 6 as Richa Ghosh slapped a veritable gimme ball, straight to cover point off Athapaththu.At that point India would have been grateful to reach 200, but such was the quality of the counterattack and Sri Lanka’s lack of quality in the fielding department, that India ended up close to what they might have been aiming for initially, having been put in to bat.Rana’s belligerence at the death will rightly take many of the plaudits. Her 15-ball cameo brought two fours and two sixes, helping India score 34 runs off the final two overs. But it was the sometimes fortune-laden partnership between Amanjot and Deepti that truly changed the complexion of the game.The pair did well to keep the scoreboard ticking at around a run-a-ball, ensuring that a defendable total was first secured before launching into a late assault that pushed the team into imposing territory. Their ability to do so was, however, aided by Sri Lanka’s poor catching, which let them down at crucial moments.Of the many chances Amanjot provided, the first was a skier dropped by Achini Kulasuriya, who never quite settled under it at deep square leg. Had that been taken, India would have been seven down for 162. The second was a slightly tougher opportunity – spilled on the run at long-off by Silva. The third, and arguably the easiest, was a return catch off a leading edge put down by Ranaweera.Only the final missed chance could be classified as genuinely difficult: Gunaratne couldn’t hold on after a desperate forward dive at deep midwicket. The irony was that Gunaratne eventually took a spectacular diving catch at square leg – sprinting to her right – to finally dismiss Amanjot for 57.It was a display in sharp contrast to the discipline Sri Lanka had shown in the first half of the innings, when India’s top order was stifled by tight bowling and sharp fielding. For India, they will be pleased with how they responded in the face of adversity, but will know they have vast space for improvement going forward.

After the dramatics of the first game of the World Series, Saturday’s contest was far more straightforward—that is, until the top of the ninth inning (more on that in a bit). Los Angeles Dodgers hitters jumped on New York Yankees starter Carlos Rodón. The lefty gave up three home runs—including back-to-back jacks to Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman—and he was chased out of the game in the fourth inning. Meanwhile, Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto had one of his best outings of the year, and the final score was Los Angeles 4, New York 2. The win puts the Dodgers up 2–0 in the series.

The Yankees did not go out without a fight, though. After Giancarlo Stanton drove in Juan Soto with an RBI single that struck the third base bag, the next two hitters reached to load the bases with one out. Dodgers closer Blake Treinen struck out Anthony Volpe, then Alex Vesia came in and retired Jose Trevino on one pitch to escape the jam and secure the win.

But the Dodgers’ joy was tempered. In the bottom of the seventh, Shohei Ohtani drew a walk to get on base and attempted to steal second. He was thrown out—and was then slow to get up, finally leaving with a trainer, moving his left arm gingerly. He was seen leaving the dugout between innings; Ohtani’s spot in the lineup did not come up again. The broadcast reported that it was a shoulder injury but did not say anything regarding the severity. It leaves a tense situation for the Dodgers: There is no player on either of these rosters whose star power is so bright or whose ability to change a game is so profound. If Ohtani is indeed injured, the rest of this series might look meaningfully different, and that attempted steal may ultimately turn out to be the most important play of this game. 

Sanju Samson’s controversial omission from last season’s Vijay Hazare Trophy has had no impact on his standing within the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) or the state’s cricketing circles. On Saturday, the India and Rajasthan Royals batter reaffirmed his popularity by becoming the most expensive signing at the Kerala Cricket League (KCL) auction. He was picked up by Kochi Blue Tigers for a record INR 26.60 lakh.This will mark Samson’s first competitive appearance since the conclusion of IPL 2025, where he played nine matches for Rajasthan Royals. The team endured a disappointing campaign, finishing ninth with just four wins and ten losses. Samson missed a significant portion of the season’s middle phase due to a side strain.The KCL will also mark Samson’s first appearance under the KCA’s ambit since his omission from the Vijay Hazare squad. At the time, Samson had been left out for not attending a preparatory camp in the lead-up to the tournament. While the KCA stated they wanted to set a precedent, the India batter claimed he had written to the association seeking permission to miss the camp.Named brand ambassador of the league, Samson had missed the inaugural edition of the KCL to prioritise international commitments. He was subsequently given a break, and his name was withdrawn from the auctions. Since then, Samson has strengthened his position as a regular T20I opener for India, most notably hitting three centuries against Bangladesh and South Africa.Vishnu Vinod, the wicketkeeper-batter who was part of Mumbai Indians, was the second-costliest pick at INR 13.8 lakh, while allrounder Jalaj Saxena was picked for INR 12.6 lakh.The inaugural edition of the KCL was sharply in focus during the IPL this year after teenage left-arm wrist spinner Vignesh Puthur was signed by Mumbai Indians for INR 30 lakh after impressing in the trials. He was also taken to South Africa, where he served as a net bowler for MI Cape Town.Signed for INR 3.75 lakh during the inaugural edition, Puthur was retained by Alleppey Ripples for the second edition. This will be his first competitive outing since being injured midway through IPL 2025, where he picked up six wicket in five matches for MI.