SPORTS

Australia captain Pat Cummins empathised with his teammates who are set to return from India midway through a T20I series, saying that the players needed some time off the game after the grueling, yet rewarding World Cup campaign in India. 7 members of the World Cup-winning team stayed back in India for a 5-match T20I series against a second-string Indian side, led by Suryakumar Yadav. The T20I series began just 4 days after the World Cup final in Ahmedabad and it was understandable that Australia rested most of their World Cup stars for the series opener in Visakhapatnam. 

India may have missed out on the 2023 ODI World Cup triumph at home, but they will be "very serious challengers" to win the T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies in June next year, feels former India all-rounder turned commentator Ravi Shastri.

On November 19, India suffered a heart-breaking six-wicket defeat at the hands of Australia in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, after winning 10 games on the trot in the tournament.

The Pakistan Cricket Board urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to sign the Champions Trophy 2025 hosting rights agreements with it, stressing that the PCB should be compensated if India refuse to travel to the country citing political and security reasons. A highly reliable source in the PCB told PTI on Sunday that while the ICC has marked Pakistan as the host of the tournament, the global body is yet to sign the important hosting agreement with it.

The source disclosed that PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf and COO Salman Naseer had met the ICC executive board in Ahmedabad to discuss the hosting of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in February-March, 2025."Pakistani officials discussed the probability of the Indian board (BCCI) again refusing to send its team to Pakistan and made it clear that in any given situation the ICC must avoid taking unilateral decisions on the tournament," the source said.

Despite publicly stated support for Ukraine, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the United States President, Joe Biden, have developed a “secret plan” to “early end” the Russo-Ukraine war, a report by German newspaper Bild revealed.

As part of the plan, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky would be forced to join the negotiating table with Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin. According to a report by Bloomberg, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis confirmed the secret plan and warned of it in advance.

Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bowl first in the first of five match T20I series against Australia. Less than a week after India and Australia met in the final of the Cricket World Cup, in which Pat Cummins and Co helped the Aussies claim their sixth World Cup title, the two teams are back in action at Visakhapatnam.

Both teams will look much different than the World Cup sides, with many players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, David Warner and Josh Hazlewood. In the absence of injured Jasprit Bumrah, India will be led by Suryakumar Yadav, while Ruturaj Gaikwad will be his deputy for the first threw games.