Sports

MUMBAI: Batting great Sunil Gavaskar has backed teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to make his India debut in the opening T20I against England in Durham on Wednesday, saying the 15-year-old could provide the spark India desperately needs after their disappointing 0-2 series defeat to Ireland.India’s batting unit struggled throughout the Ireland series under new T20I captain…

Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, Divya Deshmukh, and Koneru Humpy The player draft for Season 4 of the Global Chess League (GCL) produced plenty of excitement on Monday, with Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin emerging as one of the most sought-after players. After a bidding battle, Sarin was signed by American Gambits, adding further strength to a…

England captain Ben Stokes during day four of the 3rd Test match between England and New Zealand at Trent Bridge on June 28, 2026 in Nottingham, England. (Photo/Getty Images) England’s hopes of ending Ben Stokes’ captaincy on a winning note faded on the fifth morning at Trent Bridge as New Zealand completed a 160-run victory…

R-L: Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer (PTI Photo) India’s disappointing 2-0 T20I series defeat against Ireland has sparked criticism from former batter Manoj Tiwary, who questioned who would take responsibility for the team’s poor performance. Despite entering the series as two-time defending T20 champions, India struggled with the conditions and failed to deliver with the…

Hello and welcome to Offside: your daily recap and look forward to the World Cup. The strangest thing about day 18 was that it had only one game and it was one that would have made cricket fans feel like they were watching the first round of an ICC tournament if Cricket Canada wasn’t disbanded…

England’s Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes (AFP Photo) Former England fast bowler and Ashes winner Steve Harmison has strongly criticised England’s current Test setup, saying head coach Brendon McCullum should step down following Ben Stokes’ international retirement announcement during the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.Harmison, who played 63 Tests and took 226…

Kidambi Srikanth (AFP Photo) NEW DELHI: India’s Kidambi Srikanth finished runner-up at the US Open Super 300 badminton tournament after losing a hard-fought men’s singles final to Chinese Taipei’s Su Li-yang. The 33-year-old former world No. 1 showed great fighting spirit by recovering after losing the opening game, but eventually went down 15-21, 21-16, 9-21…

West Indies are two-time Men’s T20 World Cup champions with their last triumph in 2016. New Delhi: Two-time Men’s T20 World Cup champions West Indies could miss cricket’s return to the Olympics in 2028 after the qualification process was revealed on Monday (June 29). Six teams each will play in the men’s and women’s T20…

Ireland stun India to win the series 2-0. (Pic credit: Cricket Ireland) NEW DELHI: Former India batter Ambati Rayudu has admitted he was “not really surprised” by India’s stunning 0-2 T20I series defeat to Ireland, saying the reigning world champions were simply not prepared for the vastly different conditions after the high-scoring Indian Premier League…

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (ANI Photo) NEW DELHI: India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has expressed surprise over Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s omission from the T20I series against Ireland, saying the teenage batting sensation should have been handed his international debut before the tougher assignment in England.The 15-year-old, who enjoyed a sensational IPL 2026 campaign, remained on the bench throughout…