SPORTS

India defeated New Zealand by 90 runs in the third and final ODI match at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore on Tuesday. With the victory, India clean swept the guests in the three-match series and also took the number one spot in ODI rankings, replacing England. Talking about the match, Rohit Sharma (101 off 85 balls) and Shubman Gill (112 off 78 balls) starred with their respective centuries as India posted 385 for 9 after New Zealand skipper Tom Latham had won the toss and opted to field. 

The BCCI is all set to get richer by up to Rs 4000 crore with some of the top business houses set to bid aggressively for the five Women’s IPL (WIPL) teams that would be auctioned on Wednesday.

According to market experts, the buyers are expected to shell out in the “range of 500 to 600 crore INR” per team in the closed-bid auction.

The decision to get Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to step aside Friday night in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment by the nation’s top wrestlers came after hectic behind-the-scenes initiatives to break the deadlock with the protesting wrestlers.

In the absence of “specific, written complaints,” sources said, the Sports Ministry first proposed setting up a panel to probe the allegations but the wrestlers were determined they wouldn’t accept anything short of Singh’s exit.

With Republic Day five days away, there was pressure from the leadership not to prolong the impasse. “This is also India’s G-20 presidency year. Everyone, right from the PM, is conscious about the country’s image,” said a party source. “The top leadership didn’t want the protests to continue. Given that these are sexual harassment allegations, there is also not much scope to give a long rope to the accused.”

India kicked off the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series against New Zealand with a 12-run triumph. After the win in the first ODI in Hyderabad, India will now look to beat the Black Caps in Raipur and take an unassailable lead of 2-0. In the previous game, the visitors displayed spunk while chasing a colossal target of 350.

While the bowling attack of the hosts came across as frail, to compete well in the second ODI, India will endeavour to improve their bowling as they avoided a close scare in the last fixture.

The Sports ministry on Thursday delivered an ultimatum to the Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and has given him 24 hours to resign from his post, according to sources.

The development comes after Sports Minister Anurag Thakur met with the protesting wrestlers at his residence. Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Ravi Dahiya were among the wrestlers who met with the minister on Thursday. 

Earlier in the day, it was reported that Brij Bhushan may offer his resignation from the post of President at the Emergent General Council meeting on January 22.