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Ahead of the Oval Test, Gill reflected on his tactical choices, the team’s resilience, and the learning curve of leading in tough conditions

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Jul-20252:40

Gill: Levelling series with a young squad will be a big achievement

A captain who had led in just five first-class matches before taking charge of the Test team. His overseas form a subject of scrutiny. His best bowler available for only three out of five matches. A batting line-up thin on experience after the retirements of two stalwarts. India arrived in England in early June with several questions to answer.Two months on, Shubman Gill’s India enter the final Test of this highly compelling Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series with the chance to finish 2-2.”Very significant,” Gill said about what it would mean to his team to draw the series after losing the first Test in Leeds, then bouncing back to win in Birmingham without Jasprit Bumrah, nearly pulling off a pulling off a miracle at Lord’s, followed by a hard-fought draw in Manchester.Related

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Every Test going deep into the final day is rare in a five-match series. The hot weather and slow pitches have pushed the players’ limits and caused injuries – most significantly ruling Ben Stokes out of the fifth Test at The Oval.”If you look at the kind of cricket we have played, sometimes the scorecard of the series, as in where we are in the series, doesn’t determine that. Every match that we have played, it was very difficult to decide which team is going to win after four days of cricket,” Gill said. “If we are able to do that for every match for four matches coming outside of India with a relatively young team, it is going to be a big achievement for us if we are able to level the series.”This century, India had won the three-Test series in England 1-0 in 2007 and had drawn the series 2-2 in 2021-22. Both those teams went to England with plenty of senior players and leadership experience. That is not true for this side and, and yet, between June and July, Gill has shown he can compartmentalise captaincy and batting, and not let one impact the other.As batter, he is over 200 runs ahead of the next-most prolific scorer this series, and as captain, he has made debatable decisions on the field but has admitted his mistakes and come out wiser. “The series has been a great learning curve for me,” Gill said. “There are some things that you can only learn from experience, and I’ve learned so much from these four matches that we have played and hopefully we’re going to finish on a high.”One of those decisions was on the third morning at Old Trafford, when Gill delayed giving the ball to offspinner Washington Sundar, who had found sumptuous drift at Lord’s and taken a four-wicket haul in England’s first innings. The dry pitch was favourable for Washington but Gill brought him on only after lunch and the offspinner dismissed Ollie Pope and Harry Brook in quick succession.”It’s very difficult when you are playing six bowlers [because] then one or two bowlers are definitely going to be under-bowled,” he said, explaining that passage of play. “In the last match also, people felt that Washington could have come in earlier, which is a valid point, but sometimes when you are out in the middle you see with this ball [Dukes] when there are two spinners bowling early in the innings, it’s very hard to maintain the ball and the fast bowler goes out of the game for about eight-ten overs because then you need to maintain the ball.3:37

What attack should India pick at The Oval?

“So, in hindsight, there would always be opinions and there would always be thoughts, and you could have done this, would have done that. But what matters is when you are out there in the middle, you want to be able to make a decision that you think would suit the best for that moment. And when you are playing with six bowling options, there would definitely be some opinions where one bowler is going to go under-bowled, but it’s good to have more bowling options rather than not having bowling options for sure.”India will stick to the six-bowler strategy at The Oval too, with Akash Deep set to replace Bumrah and Shardul Thakur retained as bowling allrounder. Washington, Ravindra Jadeja and Dhruv Jurel, who replaces the injured Rishabh Pant, comprise the lower-middle order.While he had not seen the pitch before the media briefing, Gill, perhaps based on the inputs he got from the team management, said it was “good”. By that, he meant it was green and the forecast – overcast conditions – for all five days might bring the fast bowlers into play.Gill, however, did not reveal whether Arshdeep Singh, the solitary left-arm quick in the squad, would make his Test debut, or whether Prasidh Krishna, dropped after the victory at Edgbaston, would make a comeback at The Oval as the third fast bowler in the XI.

رد نادي ليفربول من جديد، على أزمة نجم الفريق محمد صلاح، وذلك قبل يوم واحد فقط من مواجهة إنتر ميلان في بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا.

ليفربول سوف يحل ضيفًا ثقيلًا على إنتر ميلان يوم غدًا الثلاثاء على ملعب جوزيبي مياتزا في إيطاليا، لحساب منافسات دوري أبطال أوروبا من مرحلة المجموعات الجولة السادسة.

ولا يدخل ليفربول كطرف مرشح للفوز على إنتر ميلان في لقاء الغد، وذلك في ظل مستوى الفريق السيء خلال الفترة الأخيرة من هذا الموسم.

ويعاني ليفربول من سوء النتائج خلال الفترة الأخيرة، وكان آخرها التعادل مع ليدز يونايتد بثلاثة أهداف لكل فريق في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز يوم السبت الماضي.

اقرأ أيضًا .. تقارير: سلوت يحسم موقف محمد صلاح من مباراة ليفربول وإنتر

وأشعل محمد صلاح الأمور في ليفربول، وذلك بعدما أشار إلى أن ما يحدث معه غير عادل، تعليقًا منه على بقائه على مقاعد بدلاء الريدز.

وبقى محمد صلاح على مقاعد بدلاء ليفربول خلال المباريات الأخيرة، مما جعل الدولي المصري يعلن على الملأ بأن علاقته مع المدرب آرني سلوت قد انتهت.

وفي هذا السياق، تجاهل نادي ليفربول أزمة محمد صلاح مع سلوت والإدارة كذلك، ونشر صورا للدولي المصري من التدريبات استعدادًا لمباراة إنتر ميلان بشكل طبيعي.

وظهر محمد صلاح في تدريبات ليفربول تزامنًا مع اتهام الدولي المصري لإدارة النادي الإنجليزي بعدم تنفيذ الوعود التي قدمت له.

وورد أن نادي ليفربول يفكر بشكل جدي في بيع محمد صلاح خلال الفترة المقبلة، في ظل اهتمام أندية الدوري السعودي والدوري الأمريكي بضم ابن الـ33 عامًا.

Under pressure, Bangladesh dropped three catches – two towards the end – to let South Africa escape to a win

Vishal Dikshit13-Oct-20253:33

Review: SA find ways to win under pressure

Seventy-eight for 5 in Guwahati and 78 for 5 in Visakhapatnam.These are not Bangladesh’s scores at the Women’s World Cup 2025 but the precarious positions they reduced two top oppositions in in their last three games and ended up on the losing side on both occasions. In the first, they were defending a modest 178 and gave England a scare, and on Monday against South Africa, they put up a much more competitive 232 with a bowling line-up that looked capable of defending it. However, they went down largely because of several fielding lapses that included three catches put down and South Africa clinched the thriller by three wickets.The Bangladesh bowlers were also not able to bowl accurately towards the end and bowled full tosses or in the range of the batters, which their captain Nigar Sultana said was because of dew. She also said that the result might have been different if the players had calmed their nerves.Related

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“Gripping the ball was quite difficult, there was dew around,” she said at the press conference. “The ball was wet. I tried to use our best bowlers at the death. Sometimes it is hard to hold on to the momentum, but our bowlers did well. But we learned a lot today, which we can use in the future.”It happens sometimes during the game,” she said of the fielding errors. “It was very difficult. Pressure is on and it was very difficult for the bowlers to grip the balls and for the fielders also. I don’t want to give any excuses. But still, in this sort of condition, you have to keep your nerves calm. We missed those chances, maybe if we could hold on to those catches, the result would be different.”Bangladesh spilled a few chances towards the end•ICC/Getty Images

Rabeya Khan missed a caught-and-bowled chance in the fifth over to reprieve South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt on 11, and she went onto score a steady 31. Bangladesh then dropped two chances towards the end with the chase getting tense. Substitute Sumaiya Akter couldn’t hold on to Chloe Tryon’s offering at wide long-on when on 46 when South Africa needed 53 off 42. And when Shorna Akter dropped a sitter at long-off with South Africa needing 9 off 8, it drew a dramatic reaction from the bowler Rabeya. The dangerous Nadine de Klerk was on 26 with No. 9 Masabata Klaas at the other end. In the next over, de Klerk smashed the remaining eight runs with a four and a match-winning six for the second game in a row.”I am not disappointed, I am proud,” Nigar said. “The way the girls fought for every ball. It wasn’t easy for us to keep a close game in control. I am happy as a captain seeing my team give 110%.”Certainly, there’ll be regret because if we would have won such close matches, it would have been a great moment for the team. We have a lot of room for improvement. We want to do better in the last three games.”There was dew from the start of South Africa’s chase when Bangladesh’s swing bowler Marufa Akter was seen frequently use the towel to wipe the ball dry. Since a fair bit of dew was expected later in the evening and Australia had shown against India on Sunday evening that batting second was not a bad idea even while going after a big total, it was a curious decision by Bangladesh to bat first after winning the toss.

“Chasing actually was not working for us,” Nigar said. “We saw that in the last game. Our batters couldn’t get runs in the powerplay. We lost also early wickets. Initially, it was our plan to bat first and give the bowlers something [to defend] because they have been doing well. This is the only department [bowling] I think we are in a very good control. That’s why we took the decision [to bat first].”We wanted to give our batters a pressure-free time. We wanted to put pressure on them [South Africa] with our bowling strength, with a bit of runs behind them.”Bangladesh were reeling at 33 for 6 and skittled for 128 in their 228-run chase against New Zealand in Guwahati, where none of their top five reached double-digits. Against South Africa, the Bangladesh top order started steady, even if slowly, to try and accelerate later, which they did with the help of 18-year-old Shorna’s 51 not out off 35 balls after she came out to bat in the 41st over. But even 232 wasn’t enough in the end.”We were 15-20 runs short [of] our target,” Nigar said. “We could have scored those runs had our top order rotated the strike more. We could have given better effort in the fielding. We shouldn’t be disappointed or heartbroken.”

Liverpool are waiting for this nightmare to end, rediscovering the form of last season under Arne Slot’s wing that led to the Premier League title and a summer of sweeping changes.

The signings made this summer were completed after meticulous research, but, nonetheless, the Reds have been dismal this year, lacking identity and inspiration. Even in victory have Liverpool given their opponents plenty of optimism.

It’s worth noting that Liverpool were far better defensively than has so often been the case this term, but this has done little to calm the anxieties of supporters who have been forced to accept a bleak new norm.

Among the bitter pills swallowed has been the form of captain Virgil van Dijk, the centre-back very much at the core of Liverpool’s problems this season and lacking solutions so often provided across his illustrious career at the club.

Virgil van Dijk's drop-off this season

Liverpool’s monster has been made mortal by the tailspin of Slot’s system this season. Ibrahima Konate’s struggles have no doubt been exacerbated by the slow recession of Van Dijk’s indomitability.

He is 34 years old, 35 at the end of the season. It is only natural that the Netherlands skipper should begin to wind down. However, it presents Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes with quite the conundrum as Konate edges toward the expiry of his £70k-per-week contract.

Liverpool signed Giovanni Leoni from Parma for about £27m this summer, but the 18-year-old Italian tore his ACL on his debut against Southampton and is not expected back until the start of next season.

The Italian would have offered a much-needed dimension over the past few months, allowing Slot to enforce more rotation, with Konate having started each of his side’s Premier League fixtures this season despite his rut. Van Dijk is now foundering beside him.

Change is needed, and with the winter transfer window approaching, it’s clear that Liverpool need a centre-back.

Liverpool targeting centre-back this January

As per TEAMtalk, Liverpool are set to table a bid for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi this winter, having reopened direct communications this week with the player’s agents after fumbling a deal to sign him in August.

Guehi is out of contract at Selhurst Park at the end of the season, and while Liverpool had a clean shot at the 25-year-old at the start of the season, notably even agreeing personal terms with the player, rival interest is now sure to be thick, with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid considered suitors.

Sources suggest FSG are willing to offer around £25m for Guehi’s signature in January, paying something of a premium for one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League.

What Guehi would bring to Liverpool

Guehi could well be plying his craft for Liverpool right now, but it wasn’t to be as sporting director Richard Hughes gambled and left it late, Palace barring the door at the eleventh hour after failing to find a replacement.

It’s a real shame. Guehi is a seasoned Premier League star who just keeps on evolving. He has been hailed as a “monster in defence” by Palace reporter Bobby Manzi, but he is so much more.

As per data-driven site FBref, Guehi ranks among the top 7% of central defenders across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for through balls, the top 6% for assists and shot-creating actions, and the top 15% for tackles won per 90.

If Liverpool succeed in completing a deal for the two-footed centre-half this winter, it could carry the weight of that one-time signing of Van Dijk, who joined from Southampton midway through the 2017/18 season for a £75m fee.

Van Dijk needs no introduction. He is one of the greatest defenders in Premier League history, a titan of the game.

He dovetailed into Jurgen Klopp’s exciting team and reinforced it with steel. He was the mortar which filled in the cracks and created a superteam.

Big boots to fill, but Guehi has been extensively profiled and could emulate the Netherlands man by arriving at the season’s midpoint, providing that dearly desired relief.

After such incredible success in recent years, it is staggering that Liverpool have plummeted so far beneath their expected level. This borders on a crisis, and one signing won’t stop the rot for good, but Guehi has the combative, confident defensive style to help put the Reds back on track, with his quality in the build-up something that Konate simply doesn’t possess.

It’s Van Dijk-esque, and given that Guehi would be arriving in January after previous attempts to sign him, this could have the much-needed echoes of that euphoric deal.

Fewer touches than Alisson & only 2 passes: Liverpool flop must be dropped

Arne Slot has a huge call to make about one player after his showing for Liverpool last night.

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By
Ethan Lamb

Dec 4, 2025

Arsenal were dealt another potential injury blow as goalscorer Leandro Trossard was forced off with a limp late on in the Gunners' 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the West Midlands. Trossard came on at half-time and drew his side level, only for Emiliano Buendia to strike deep in stoppage time to inflict just a second defeat on the Gunners in all competitions this season, amidst a growing list of injury concerns for Mikel Arteta.

Trossard forced off with limp late on in devastating Arsenal defeat

Trossard was taken off in the 86th minute at Villa Park, replaced by Gabriel Martinelli as Arsenal looked unsuccessfully to hold onto what would have been a precious point.

The Belgium international appeared to be limping prior to his departure, as confirmed in live reporting by BBC Sport, and Arteta made sure not to risk the 31-year-old by keeping him on the field for the tense final stages. Trossard had missed the previous two matches in the Premier League with an ankle problem, meaning he was a doubt to feature at Villa Park and was only considered fit enough for the bench.

He ultimately came on for Eberechi Eze at half-time and made a telling contribution during his 40 minutes on the field, finishing with a typically clinical touch at the far post after a Bukayo Saka centre before his afternoon was ultimately cut short late on. 

AdvertisementAFPTrossard injury lay-off would be added blow after last-gasp defeat

Trossard has defied the odds this season to remain a key part of Mikel Arteta’s attacking unit despite the marquee summer arrivals of Eze and Viktor Gyokeres, scoring crucial goals against the likes of Villa, Sunderland and Tottenham – all after Arteta made sure he stayed at the club in the summer.

The former Brighton forward is the Gunners’ joint-top scorer with six goals in all competitions, and has registered the highest number of goal contributions in the squad with 11. He would certainly be missed if he were to miss out on a portion of the crucial festive period through injury, amidst existing injuries for the likes of Gabriel, William Saliba and Kai Havertz.

Arteta said of Trossard’s injury concern after full-time: “He was really good. We knew he is another player coming back from injury and he started to feel it again so we had to take him off."

'Leo creates magic moments' – Arteta on Trossard's impact on his side

Trossard’s impact has been felt across his time at the Emirates, but has been particularly telling so far this season. Arteta was full of praise for the winger after he scored the winner at Fulham in October.

Arteta said: "Leo has this quality to create these magic moments when the team needs it the most, and that intuition that he's in the right place at the right moment is a huge quality for the team and a massive weapon for us.

"He's been very, very good in recent weeks and now we have a lot of players in a really high emotional state and performance level, which is really good to see." 

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Getty Images SportTrossard and Arsenal will look to bounce back after latest blow

Arsenal will have been hit hard by Buendia’s late winner for Aston Villa on Saturday, and could see their lead at the top of the Premier League table cut to just two points if results do not go their way.

But it is in moments of adversity such as these where the best sides react and rise to the occasion, and Arteta will look to make sure his side do so in the coming weeks. Rock-bottom Wolves are up next at the Emirates next Saturday, before clashes with Everton, Brighton and then Villa once again before the New Year.  

Arteta added at the final whistle: “Very painful, especially after all the effort in the match. It was an open game, congratulations to Villa they are a really good side. We conceded a big chance in the first half with Ollie Watkins' goal. We had some dominance in the second half and I had the feeling we were going to win the game so to lose it in the manner we did is painful. Eighteen games unbeaten, you lose a game and that's what it is, this is football.

“The level of consistency the boys have shown in this period is incredible so I only have thoughts to think we can do it again.”

Juan Soto has made joining rare statistical company a routine part of his impressive career in the majors.

But during Tuesday's 9-3 loss to the Phillies, the Mets star may have pulled off one of his most impressive achievements yet. In the top of the eighth inning, Soto, after collecting an RBI single and advancing to second base on a Pete Alonso single, stole third.

It wasn't just any stolen base, though, as it was Soto's 30th of the year, giving him 38 home runs and 30 swipes on the season. It's an amazing achievement, considering Soto has never been known for his speed. It also earns him a seat in the exclusive 30-30 club.

After the game, Soto was quick to credit Mets first base coach Antoan Richardson for helping him reach new heights as a base stealer.

"I mean it's good when you look at it that way," Soto said when asked about the achievement. "I think a lot of hard work we put in since the beginning of the season. Antoan did an unbelievable job. He's been helping me since day one. I give him all the credit. He's the one who put me in this situation and this spot to do what I've done."

Richardson, in his second season with the Mets, stole 331 bases in the minors and knows a thing or two about swiping bases. He's had a profound impact on the club's base-stealing success as a whole, so it was great to see Soto credit the former big-league outfielder as he reached a new statistical height on the base paths.

Soto is just the fifth Mets player to record 30 homers and 30 stolen bases in a single season.

The team management has already taken tough decisions in this Test series, but this one might be the toughest

Alagappan Muthu02-Dec-2024Rohit Sharma. Middle-order batter. Take two.Take one had its moments too. The 2018-19 tour of Australia, where he seemed to bat like a dream, getting in behind the line against the fast bowlers, rarely ever rushed. And then Nathan Lyon would show up and Rohit just wouldn’t be able to help himself. Big shot. Miscue. Gone.That used to be Rohit’s lot in Test cricket. Getting out after getting set. He left that series after the third match, where he made an unbeaten 63, which remains his highest score in this country, to be with his wife for the birth of his first child.That was the last anyone ever saw of Rohit Sharma, middle-order batter. Until maybe now.Related

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India arrived in Adelaide on Monday afternoon and have three days’ training to finalise the make-up of their XI for the day-night Test in Adelaide. The biggest call they have to make is whether to separate KL Rahul from Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top of the order. Under ordinary circumstances, there would be no need to even broach the subject after those two put on a 201-run partnership that was crucial in securing the victory in Perth. But this is their captain coming back and he has been opening the batting for the past five years.Rohit’s arrival strengthens India. His first bits of game time – the practice game in Canberra – painted the picture of a man in excellent spirit. He’s become a father again. A life-changing event like that tends to eclipse things like being unable to whack a piece of leather with a stick of wood. He was full of mischief for the little while he was fielding at Manuka Oval; a far cry from the man who was obliged to face the press after leading India to a 3-0 home defeat to New Zealand but maybe not too far off from the man who chose to face the press the day they were 46 all out in the same series with the words ” [get your knives out]”.

Rohit has been opening the batting for India in Test cricket for the last five years but for this tour – and this Test – he might just concede that there are better options up there and he can do more damage just by backing them up

Rohit has been a remarkably even-tempered person given the ups and downs he’s been through. His daughter put it best. Back when he had to isolate after testing positive for Covid-19, she said, “In one month he will laugh.” Very little keeps him down, just as very little slips past him, except he’s coming off a series where things did slip past him, a series where he admitted he was off the mark, a series that gave him pause to think about his batting and his leadership. It might be fair to assume that, whatever his temperament, he wouldn’t want to go through that again. So, from that point of view, if he comes to believe that the team is better off with other people opening the batting, he will make way for them. He did in Canberra.Rahul and Jaiswal continued to open for India and given that was the only pink-ball practice game they had before the Adelaide Test, there are at least some indications that Rohit will be dropping down to a support role at No. 5, which might be good for him too. He hasn’t been in form and he hasn’t been in Australia as long as the others have. It would be risky to expose him to the new pink ball. It decks around a lot more than the red one, but that is compensated by its going soft by around the 30-40 over mark. Rohit, with his range of shots, coming in when the ball isn’t doing as much, has often been a recipe for big scores.1:25

Pujara: ‘Nothing later than No. 3, KL has to bat in the top order’

India have had occasions in the past where their captain has had to bat in somewhat unfamiliar positions for the benefit of other people and also the team as a whole. Sourav Ganguly came up from No. 5 to No. 4 in the second innings of the Melbourne Test in 2003, which didn’t really make a dent in the scoreline, but it did give Sachin Tendulkar a better entry point and he used it to make 44 off 79, which then became a launch pad for his famous Sydney double-century.Adelaide is a very real shot for Australia to gain back the ground they lost in Perth. India might have to be better than they were last week to hold on to their 1-0 lead. Rahul and Jaiswal showed that they could rise to challenges like that. The selectors and the coaching staff showed they could cope with key players going missing and still put out a team capable of rolling over a well-rested, well-prepared opposition.Although it’s only been one match in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India have had to make some tough decisions; the kind that could have backfired on them. Going in with two debutants. Leaving out both their superstar spinners. They felt comfortable doing so because they felt it made the team more likely to win. It was contingent on a lot of their prep work paying off and it did. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana knew what their roles were and played them well. There has been flexibility about India recently; a willingness to go out of the comfort zone. It could be their captain’s turn to epitomise that over the coming days.

Just a few years ago, Alek Manoah was a legitimate Cy Young candidate and an All-Star for the Blue Jays. Now, he's been out of the league for the better part of two years, and is officially parting ways with Toronto.

Manoah was designated for assignment on Tuesday, per a team announcement, in what could very well signal the end of his tenure with the organization. Having risen to prominence as a breakout rookie in 2021, Manoah looked like one of the best pitchers in the sport in 2022, when he made the All-Star Game and had a 6.0 WAR with a 2.24 ERA across 31 starts.

He failed to replicate that season in 2023, when he had a -1.1 WAR, a 5.87 ERA and 1.740 WHIP. He last pitched for the Blue Jays in May of 2024, after which he was shelved as he underwent Tommy John surgery. Manoah was finally reinstated from the IL on Sept. 11 and was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo, but now looks destined to exit the organization following his latest designation.

Manoah was hopeful of competing for a spot in Toronto's starting rotation in 2026, but will now have a chance to latch on with another organization instead.

The Blue Jays also announced they have activated Anthony Santander from the 60-day IL and placed Ty France on the 10-day IL.