SPORTS

Two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar might lose his annual contract with the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) when the governing body holds its long-awaited review meet next month.

Sushil Kumar, who was suspended as senior commercial manager by the Indian Railways on Tuesday, was arrested by the Delhi Police's Special Cell officers on May 23 for his involvement in the murder of 23-year-old wrestler Sagar Rana on May 4.

Sushil and his associated Ajay Kumar were nabbed in Mundka after being on the run since the Chhatrasal Stadium brawl. The 37-year-old was remanded to Delhi Police's custody for 6 days and was questioned for close to 4 hours on Monday.

Without a shred of a doubt, Kapil Dev is one of the best things that has happened to Indian cricket to date. The 1983 World Cup-winning captain's contributions to the country were so massive that even modern-day cricketers continue to reap the benefits of his hard work. The aggressive all-rounder's accolades have not been forgotten and will never be. Kapil Dev is a name that will remain immortal in the history books of Indian cricket.

International Cricket Council (ICC), on its social media handles, has been paying tributes to its Hall of Fame inductees this month. On Monday, they shared a video on Twitter which read: "Kapil Dev, India’s finest all-rounder, is considered as the true game-changer. We celebrate him on #ICCHallOfFame today."

Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, arrested in a murder case, had a video of the incident recorded to terrorise the wrestling circuit in the city, the police said on Sunday, as it received six days' custody of the wrestler at a Delhi court.

"Sushil had asked (his friend) Prince to make that video. He and his associates thrashed the victims like animals. He wanted to establish his fear in the wrestling community," the police told the court.

On the run for nearly three weeks, Sushil Kumar was arrested a day ago for his alleged involvement in the death of a 23-year-old wrestler at Chhatrasal Stadium, along with co-accused Ajay from outer Delhi's Mundka area.

The International Olympic Committee is keen on hosting the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics as scheduled despite the pandemic situation in the host country and the growing public opposition. IOC vice-president John Coates, who oversees the preparations for the Games, said on Friday that the governing body is confident of delivering safe and secure Games regardless of whether Japan is in a state of emergency due to Covid-19 infections or not.

With just nine weeks until the Games get underway, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sought to calm fears in Japan that the event would present a burden to a medical system already under strain from the pandemic at the end of a three-day virtual meeting to discuss preparations.

The BCCI has put in a late request to the ECB to bring forward the start of the five-Test series by a week, in a bid to complete the pandemic-interrupted 2021 IPL season. ESPNcricinfo has learned the request was put in this week and the ECB is yet to respond.

As things stand, the first Test is scheduled to begin on August 4 and the series ends on September 14. The move is aimed at having a longer window in September to finish the remainder of the IPL season, which was suspended midway due to a growing number of Covid-19 cases among players and staff.

The series opener in Trent Bridge from August 4-8 will, according to the current schedule, be followed by Tests at Lord's (August 12-16), Headingley (August 25-29), The Oval (September 2-6) and Old Trafford (September 10-14). The request from the BCCI considers starting each of the remaining Tests a week earlier too.