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The day started in extraordinary fashion, before the teams fought hard on the best batting pitch of the series

Karthik Krishnaswamy09-Mar-2023On December 8, 1959, Ayub Khan and Dwight D Eisenhower, the presidents of Pakistan and the USA, attended the fourth day of a Test match in Karachi. Striving to save the Test against Australia, Pakistan scored 104 for 5 over that five-and-a-half-hour day. Only once have fewer runs been scored over a full day’s play in Test cricket.Sixty-three years and three months later, Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese, the prime ministers of India and Australia, were in attendance on day one of another Test match, at a stadium named after one of them. Runs came quicker in Ahmedabad than they did in Karachi, but there was a similar attrition to proceedings, and it felt especially so coming after the frenetic contests in Nagpur, Delhi and Indore.You could almost call it a day of normalcy after the frenzied action of those three Tests, but there was nothing normal about it in other respects. The players didn’t warm up on the field of play. Before the toss, the prime ministers went on a lap of honour around the outfield, on a buggy decked out with stumps and bats, to the accompaniment of patriotic Bollywood tunes composed by AR Rahman and Salim-Sulaiman.Related

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Tickets for days two, three, four and five of this match had gone on sale days before tickets for day one, as the organisers sought to balance the presence of the paying public and special invitees. There was talk before the match of record attendances, but the world’s highest-capacity cricket stadium was perhaps only 60% full through the first hour of play, which the prime ministers sat through. A curious thing happened once they left; the lower tiers, initially packed with men and women wearing badges around their necks with the word “volunteer” on them, began to clear out, while the upper tiers began filling up.All this was unusual, but the cricket was relentlessly old-school.It was the kind of day on which your attention could wander, but whenever you turned your eye back to the action, whether it was at 10am or 4pm, you were likely to find Usman Khawaja defending off the back foot, with his front pad pulled smartly away from the line of the ball.Khawaja’s timeless, unhurried grace was the one constant on a day of subtle shifts in mood and tempo. The new ball swung around corners, but India’s quicks took time to find their lines, and Travis Head, slashing at everything, rode his luck while scoring 32 off 44 balls. He played and missed constantly, survived a dropped chance, and achieved a control percentage of 77 on the flattest pitch of the series, but India could do little against him but wait for the next mistake. Once it came, a miscue to mid-on off R Ashwin, the bowlers got into their groove, and gained control over Australia’s run rate.A simplistic narrative has developed around this generation of India players, that they represent a new-age vision of India fuelled by a brook-no-questions aggression, but the cornerstone of their Test results both home and away has been the patience and control of their bowling attack. It was fully on display now, on this flat, first-day pitch. It took India 289 balls to pick up their next two wickets after they’d dismissed Head, but they only conceded 90 runs in that time.The pitch was slow and low with barely any turn on offer, and India met its challenge with time-tested methods. They tried to keep the stumps in play, and set fields for drives and flicks in the wide V from extra-cover to midwicket, primarily to protect runs against those shots, while also hoping for catches if the batters played too early.A frequent sight on day one in Ahmedabad: R Ashwin reacts after a close call•BCCIThe spinners looked to mix up their pace and angles and turn the batters’ muscle memory against them, hoping to get them playing for turn when there was barely any available. Steven Smith kept trying to clip Ashwin to mid-on, and kept playing the ball back to the bowler off the outside half of his bat. Ashwin’s hands kept going towards his head, but while he was troubling Smith with his drift and lack of turn, he wasn’t necessarily going to get him out with just those tools.India waited for mistakes, and kept the runs down while they waited. Marnus Labuschagne and Smith both looked good without managing to wriggle out of India’s stranglehold, and both were out in classic slow-pitch fashion, playing on with their bats drawn a mite too far from their bodies.So far, so attritional. It took until the 71st over of the day for an India bowler to do something spectacular at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Mohammed Shami produced that moment, as he somehow often seems to on seemingly lifeless pitches. He did it during a spell of reverse-swing, but he did it with a hint of seam movement, and in a manner that seemed almost inevitable.When he last came to India, Peter Handscomb had the reputation of being an lbw candidate; he’d stand deep in his crease, go back and across in his trigger movement, and often end up on the back foot against full deliveries with his pads in line with the stumps. On this trip, he’s changed his set-up slightly, at least when the ball has reversed. He still stands with both feet inside the crease, but he doesn’t go across his stumps quite so much, and stays leg-side of the ball.Watching this, you may have felt that a skiddy ball straightening to hit the top of off stump could get him in trouble. Umesh Yadav tried to bowl this for a while, before Shami took over. There’s probably no one in the world better at bowling that particular delivery, and Shami took exactly one ball to land it perfectly to Handscomb. Outside edge beaten, off stump cartwheeling, thank you very much.Mohammed Shami sent Peter Handscomb’s off stump cartwheeling in Ahmedabad•BCCIFor India in home Tests, this sort of moment has often opened the floodgates after hours and sessions of patient probing. For a while, Shami continued to threaten. Cameron Green shouldered arms to a ball he could have left on length in Perth or Brisbane, and was lucky to come away with his off stump intact.Shami then peppered Green with the short ball. As a towering man with a crouched stance, low hands, and a recently fractured finger, Green may well have expected to face this line of attack, particularly on this low-bounce pitch against skiddy fast bowling. He knew, however, that the bigger threat was the full ball at his stumps, and he was prepared to use methods to repel that mode of attack even if it left him looking awkward when it was up near his ribcage.Green got through the barrage, and India took the second new ball, an over after it became available. They may have hoped it would swing, while also giving their spinners a bit more purchase late in the day. It didn’t quite work that way, and from 201 for 4 in 81 overs, Australia sped to 255 for 4 in 90 with Khawaja bringing up his century, to pockets of warm applause, in the last over of the day.Australia had perhaps enjoyed the better of the day’s exchanges, but India had kept their scoring down for large periods. They will have had an anxious eye on the pitch throughout; it remains to be seen how long it will hold together under the harsh Ahmedabad sun.The turning pitches laid out for the first three Tests of this series were partly an effort to minimise the impact of the toss. Now, with a series win and a place in the World Test Championship final on the line, India had prepared – by design or otherwise – the flattest surface of the series. These pitches tend to stay flat through both teams’ first innings when India play Test matches in October and November; in the heat of March, there’s a chance they can start off flat and deteriorate rapidly.The course of the Test match may well hinge on how long it takes for this pitch to offer serious turn. Both teams can expect plenty more old-fashioned attrition until then, under the watchful eyes of a thousand larger-than-life likenesses of their respective prime ministers. They’ve left the stadium, but they’re still watching.

Also, should Ruturaj Gaikwad have played the full season?

Matt Roller29-Oct-2020Did MS Dhoni feed Nitish Rana’s strengths?The Knight Riders decided to bring in an extra batsman, Rinku Singh, and fielded him at No. 4 after Sunil Narine’s innings lasted only seven balls as a pinch-hitting No. 3. Both of those moves appeared to be a clear ploy to stack the batting line-up with left-handers against the Super Kings’ three spinners, all of whose stock balls turn into the left-handers: Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja.Rather than changing his plans by using seamers through the middle overs, Dhoni instead asked his bowlers to spear the balls in at the pads, with both left-arm spinners operating from round the wicket and bowling quickly.While that worked well enough against Narine and Singh, both of whom scored at a strike rate of 100, it fed Rana’s strengths: across this season, he has scored at a strike rate of 159.8 against spin, compared to 124.0 against seam, and has averaged almost twice as much. That was particularly apparent in the 16th over, when Dhoni gambled by giving Sharma his final over: Rana promptly struck each of his first three balls for six.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhy did Dinesh Karthik shift down the order?Karthik’s batting position has been a point of contention throughout this season, with plenty wondering why he had been coming in at No. 4. Tonight, he shifted down to No. 6 and the move paid off: he struck three boundaries in his new role, leading the Knight Riders to a competitive 172 with a late cameo of 21 off 10 balls.In fact, the better question may be why the Knight Riders persevered with Karthik so high up the order for so much of this tournament. When he has come in inside the first 14 overs this season, he has averaged 18.88 with a strike rate of 127.8; coming in during the final six, he has averaged 50.5 and struck at 183.6.Dinesh Karthik – better as a finisher?•ESPNcricinfo LtdWhy did Rana bowl?Singh’s inclusion at the expense of Prasidh Krishna meant that the Knight Riders had only five frontline bowlers in their XI, as they again struggled to find the right balance with Andre Russell unavailable through injury. With the Super Kings creeping to 58 for 1 after nine overs and both Varun Chakravarthy and Narine proving economical early on, Eoin Morgan threw the ball to Rana in the hope of squeezing in a cheap over and giving himself additional flexibility among his frontline bowlers.Ambati Rayudu was new to the crease, having scored four runs from his first five balls, but did what the best T20 batsmen do and decided to take on the part-time spinner. He struck him for three consecutive fours, injecting some impetus into the chase, and took the Super Kings’ win probability from 26.85% at the start of the over to 43.52% at its end, according to ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster.In fact, Russell’s absence was particularly apparent when compared this match to the Knight Riders’ first fixture against the Super Kings this season. On that occasion, Karthik held his spinners back in the absence of dew, and tied the Super Kings down in the second half of the innings before Russell bowled two crucial overs at the death; tonight, Morgan had to bowl his spinners earlier on with dew coming into play, and had to rely on his three main seamers to finish things off.What happened to Lockie Ferguson?After a return of 5 for 62 in 12 overs across his first three games of the tournament – plus a vital Super Over – Ferguson has tailed off since, recording 1 for 32 against Kings XI Punjab and then 0 for 54 in his spell tonight.Perhaps some of that change can be attributed to dew: Morgan said it was “extremely challenging” from the eighth over onwards, and Ferguson bowled three full tosses, including a no-ball. He also found himself having to bowl in the powerplay for the first time tonight, due to the Knight Riders’ decision to field only five frontline bowlers. Finally, the pitches have not suited his length balls: in his first three games, he conceded 21 runs from 22 length balls, compared to 26 from 9 in his last twoShould Ruturaj Gaikwad have played the full season?It is easy to be critical with the benefit of hindsight, but Gaikwad’s second consecutive match award made a mockery of Dhoni’s comments earlier in the tournament that the Super Kings’ young players hadn’t shown the “spark” they needed to. Indeed, it felt almost surreal to think that M Vijay and Kedar Jadhav had played eight and three games this season respectively, with Gaikwad playing only his fifth tonight.In fact, Dhoni said in the post-match presentation that Gaikwad had taken longer than expected to recover after testing positive with Covid-19 shortly before the tournament, which might be part of the reason behind his exclusion. Either way, he has shown plenty in his last two innings to suggest that he will be an excellent IPL batsman moving forwards; his checked punch for six off Chakravarthy in the sixth over was one of the shots of the tournament.

MatériaMais Notícias

Antes da bola rolar para Botafogo e Junior Barranquilla, John Textor, dono da SAF alvinegra, compareceu na Cidade da Polícia para prestar depoimento. O empresário ficou cerca de três horas com as autoridades.

continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasBotafogoLuiz Henrique analisa derrota do Botafogo na Libertadores: ‘Desatentos’Botafogo03/04/2024Fora de CampoFelipe Neto cita Textor e se revolta com derrota do Botafogo na Libertadores: ‘Vergonhosa’Fora de Campo03/04/2024BotafogoGols e melhores momentos da derrota do Botafogo para o Junior Barranquilla na LibertadoresBotafogo03/04/2024

➡️ Tudo sobre o Fogão agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso canal Lance! Botafogo

Eu fui à delegacia, comecei o processo, entreguei provas, dei meu depoimento. Eu tenho muito mais provas do que um relatório da Good Game!. É um dia maravilhoso. Falei com investigadores independentes e razoáveis que não pareceram estar torcendo por clube nenhum. É muita informação, são meses de coleta de dados. É muito o início de um processo muito saudável

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comentou John Textor com exclusividade à Globo

John Textor entrou no Estádio Nilton Santos afirmando que tem “provas completas” de manipulação de resultados no futebol brasileiro. Além disso, o empresário estdunidense criticou a atuação do Superior Tribunal de Justiça Desportiva (STJD).

– Estou tentando há muito tempo entregar provas para pessoas que se importam com isso. Eu mandei para o STJD, eles continuam falando que eu não entreguei provas. Eu entreguei há semanas provas completas de manipulação de resultados. Os nomes foram omitidos para proteger a identidade dos jogadores envolvidos. Eu me importo com a lei. Se alguém está envolvido num escândalo de manipulação, essa pessoa também tem direitos. Não consigo entender como o STJD, que tem processos não confidenciais, continua pedindo provas – criticou o empresário. E emendou:

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– Essa empresa (Good Game!) é uma das que têm maior credibilidade nessa área no mundo. Eles estavam aqui antes de eu chegar, olharam dois anos de dados antes de eu conhecê-los. (…) Vocês deveriam olhar o nome da minha empresa que se tornou Fubo, foi a empresa em que ganhei dinheiro para poder comprar um clube. O nome da empresa era Evolution AI Corporation (Evolução Inteligência Artifical). Se vocês não queriam mudança, não trouxessem um cara que fez seu dinheiro com inteligência artificial.

Textor ainda pontuou que não acusou Leila Pereira nem sobre o Palmeiras.

– Eu deixei muito claro que não fiz acusações sobre a Leila, ela deveria parar de se comportar como se estivesse sendo atacada. Eu não fiz acusações sobre o Palmeiras. Quando as pessoas manipulam esses jogos, pela visão do computador, eu posso provar como, mas eu não posso provar por quê. Eu não sei quem paga quem ou se estão fazendo isso de graça.

John Textor chegou ao Nilton Santos com a partida em andamento. O dono da SAF do Botafogo não gostou da atuação do time na estreia da fase de grupos da Libertadores.

continua após a publicidade

– Foi uma performance patética do time hoje. Nossos capitães sabem. Temos um novo treinador chegando. Abrimos uma competição maravilhosa, com uma performance horrorosa.

Tudo sobre

BotafogoFutebol NacionalJohn Textor

Bayern Munich are reportedly planning a very bold swoop for one of Enzo Maresca’s key Chelsea stars, with the Bavarians repeatedly talking about him in behind-the-scenes meetings.

Chelsea seek first December win against Everton

Chelsea host Everton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon, desperately searching for momentum after enduring their worst run of recent form under Maresca this season.

The Blues have gone four consecutive matches without victory across all competitions, slipping to fifth in the Premier League table and falling eight points behind leaders Arsenal.

Since their impressive 3-0 Champions League triumph over Barcelona last month, Maresca’s side have struggled to recapture that dominant form.

Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Atalanta also dealt a significant blow to Chelsea’s hopes of automatic qualification to the Champions League last 16, leaving them 11th in the league phase standings and two points outside the crucial top eight positions with just two games remaining.

Joao Pedro’s opener proved insufficient as the Italian side turned the contest around through second-half strikes from Gianluca Scamacca and Charles De Ketelaere.

Chelsea’s domestic struggles have been equally concerning.

Chelsea set to sign "next-gen Yaya Toure" after reaching "full agreement"

They’ve won the race for his signature.

By
Emilio Galantini

4 days ago

A 3-1 loss at Leeds United followed their hard-fought 1-1 draw with ten men against Arsenal, before a lifeless goalless stalemate at Bournemouth extended their winless streak.

Maresca’s side have dropped more points from winning positions at home than any other Premier League team this season, with eight points surrendered after taking leads at Stamford Bridge.

Everton arrive in buoyant spirits having won four of their last five Premier League matches, keeping clean sheets in all four victories.

David Moyes’ resurgent side currently sit seventh, just two points behind Chelsea and firmly in contention for European qualification.

Consecutive away wins at Man United and Bournemouth will have their tails firmly up, and the Toffees will draw more confidence from Chelsea’s vulnerability right now.

That being said, Everton haven’t won at Stamford Bridge since November 1994 and remain winless across their last 35 visits in all competitions.

Moyes has personally never won there in 20 attempts, so it’s been quite a sorry hunting ground for the Scotsman.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall returns to face his former club having flourished since his summer departure, scoring three goals in his last four appearances, and the midfielder will be determined to haunt his former employers.

For Chelsea, vice-captain and star engine room man Enzo Fernández will be tasked with containing him.

The Argentine has been key for Maresca ever since his appointment last year, bagging seven goal contributions in a more advanced midfield role this season alone.

Fernandez’s excellent form has attracted interest from Real Madrid, and now Bayern are among the elite European clubs circling for his signature.

Bayern Munich prepare £105m bid for Chelsea star Enzo Fernández

According to reports from Spain, Allianz Arena chiefs have been ‘constantly’ discussing the World Cup winner in recruitment meetings, with Vincent Kompany’s side planning to make a marquee bid.

Indeed, it is believed that Bayern are now preparing a £105 million offer to sign Fernandez from Chelsea, but the west Londoners’ stance on selling their star man is crystal clear.

While a bid that size could get Chelsea contemplating the 24-year-old’s future, the current noise is that they have absolutely no desire to part company.

Fernandez is tied down with a long-term contract until 2032 as well, meaning BlueCo have complete control over his future.

Kompany believes that Fernandez’s arrival would seriously upgrade the team and complement Joshua Kimmich in the middle of the park, so Bayern are the ‘most determined’ to open talks ahead of 2026.

However, Chelsea’s public stance is that he’s not for sale, even if Bayern are ready to make ‘initial contact’.

Regardless of the potential proposal on Maresca’s doorstep, Chelsea made over £314 million in player sales last summer and actually registered a net spend of just £18 million.

Financially, there is absolutely no pressure whatsoever to entertain any offer for Fernandez, so Bayern may need to look somewhere else.

Winter is here, and Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank knows he is staring down the barrel of a gun as he looks to find form and consistency after a tough start to his tenure.

That may be an understatement. Spurs have lost three on the trot, and Saturday’s home defeat against Fulham in the Premier League means the 3-0 victory over Burnley in August remains an outlier in regard to three points down N17 this season.

The fans are frustrated, no doubt about that. And they have a right to be. Tottenham have lacked sparkle in their attacking play this season, though Frank will feel that injuries to Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski have put him on the back foot.

Much has been made of the Londoners’ creativity (or lack thereof), but it’s also clear that the Lewis Family need to authorise the signing of a centre-forward.

Why Spurs need a striker

Harry Kane and Heung-min Son have both left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in recent years, and the superstars have not really been replaced with elite options.

Mathys Tel is young and talented, but he is also raw. Solanke is a proven Premier League star, but his entire stint in north London has been blighted by setbacks. Richarlison is in fine form, but probably not the long-term solution at number nine.

What Frank and the fanbase need is an up-and-coming superstar to spearhead this next era at the club.

That’s why Samu Agwehowa has been earmarked. According to TEAMtalk, Tottenham have joined the race for the 21-year-old Porto striker after his convincing performances in Portugal.

The Spanish international has a €100m (about £88m) release clause in his contract, though Fabio Paratici and Johan Lange would be certain to lodge an offer far south of that daunting figure.

What Samu would bring to north London

Richarlison is a curious striker. He is capable of so much, and yet he performs to his full capacity with consistent inconsistency.

Injuries have not helped the Brazil international, but it’s clear that he is not Kane. That said, Richarlison has been in moderately good form this season, essential in providing an outlet as Solanke founders in the infirmary.

But in Samu, Frank would land a goalscorer who has the potential to be “one of the best strikers in Europe”, according to journalist Zach Lowy, so powerful and potent in the final third.

Joining Porto from Atletico Madrid in 2024, Samu has chalked up 37 goals and four assists across just 62 appearances, including ten from 17 outings in all competitions this season.

He ranks among the top 8% of forwards in the Primeira Liga for progressive carries and the top 3% for successful take-ons, emphasising not only his pace but his control and force when on the ball and driving forward.

His athleticism and natural poaching instinct earn him a certain likeness to Richarlison, but given his age and the consistency of goalscoring, Samu might actually prove an upgrade on the South American.

Take, for example, his Europa League performances this year, winning 57% of his duels and averaging a tackle per game, as per Sofascore.

Combativeness forms a key part of Richarlison’s toolbox, and if Spurs are to upgrade on the 28-year-old, who has actually been linked with a move away from the club of late, they will want to sign someone who can emulate him while building up a skillset that transcends what Spurs have hosted in recent years.

Samu is all that and more, and he would be a fantastic signing for a Tottenham team in need of a new talisman.

Spurs star who was one of "the best" in the country is now as bad as Porro

Some of Tottenham’s star players have let Thomas Frank down this season.

By
Angus Sinclair

Dec 2, 2025

Fernando Tatis Jr. got the San Diego Padres off to a hot start in the opening inning against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday night, getting things going with a leadoff double.

Tatis didn't put the best swing on the ball––in fact, he barely put any swing on it whatsoever.

The Padres right fielder attempted to check his swing on an inside pitch but ended up making contact with the ball and sent it down the first base line into the outfield. After realizing the ball was in fair territory, Tatis quickly started sprinting down the line and ended up reaching second base with a leadoff double.

Have a look at the bizarre two-bagger from Tatis:

That certainly wasn't the outcome Tatis was expecting when he tried to check his swing, but it ended up working out quite nicely for the 26-year-old, who later came around to score after reaching second base on the unorthodox double.

While that hit won't show up among the Statcast leaders in terms of exit velocity, it got the job done as Tatis accounted for the game's opening run.

Remarkable 10-ball hitting barrage turns game after Joe Root’s 76 put Trent Rockets in control

ECB Media21-Aug-2025

Oval Invincibles 173 for 4 (Cox 58*, Curran 54) beat Trent Rockets 171 for 7 (Root 76) by six wicketsA remarkable 10-ball hitting barrage from Sam Curran and Jordan Cox turned the game on its head and drove Oval Invincibles towards a crucial win against table-topping rivals Trent Rockets in The Hundred.Chasing 171 to win, the Invincibles were just beginning to feel the pressure at 70 for 2 with 102 needed for victory from just 40 balls – ten legal balls, one strategic timeout and six sixes later they’d sailed to 121 for 1, with just 51 more required from the last 30.It was a scarcely believable spell of sustained hitting, from Curran in the main, that thrilled the Kia Oval crowd and more or less broke the back of a chase that leaves the home side sitting pretty at the top of the table with two games to go.Cox would end unbeaten on 58, to maintain his fantastic form, and for Curran it was 54 and the acclaim of his home crowd.Before the Curran and Cox show it was another England man who looked set to define the day, Joe Root showing all his usual brilliance to compile a 41-ball 76 in Rockets’ imposing total.Only Root made timing look easy, up to the point the game swung back to the hosts, although South African George Linde did give the fans some crowd-catching practice to preview the later entertainment with an eight-ball 25.It was a vital win for Invincibles in their pursuit of the crucial first place, a finish that would secure passage straight through to the final as they look to win their third title on the bounce.Meerkat Match Hero Sam Curran said: “When the strategic timeout happened, I was on seven off 12 or something like that, so the panic was in! I think the break came at the right time just to have a little sip of water and kind of restart again.”But it was a huge game and a huge win. We looked at the table before this game, and with two sides on 16 points we’re really pleased to get the points tonight.”I think it was 107 off 40 balls, and we knew in T20 or 100-ball cricket, you’re looking at hitting three or four sixes, and then before you know it we got six, seven, eight, and you’re like, ‘Wow, we’re nearly at 70 off 35 balls’.”It’s such a lovely place to bat and the crowd felt electric. It was almost like a game in India where every ball is cheered, it was like – how cool is this?”The schedule’s been pretty intense and that does help when you’re winning. You keep that momentum and you keep coming to the game, turning up to the stadium, full crowd, really high in confidence – but it can go the other way as well. We know we want to come top, but we’ve got two more games left, one away, one at home – and I think it is a big advantage, if you do come top.”