New promise in Kiwi cricket Aditya Ashok: Excited to play against his birth country with Rajanikanth-inspired tattoo!
Aditya Ashok is the new-kid-on-the block in New Zealand cricket. Before his debut in the forthcoming ODI series against India, his birth country, the 23-year-old Tamil Nadu cricketer is being hailed as the future of New Zealand spin-attack. Ashoke was born in Vellore and brought up in Auckland. He got early training at the Chennai Super Kings Academy. Undoubtedly, he seems excited ahead of his debut against India. “I am very excited to potentially represent my country and also represent the people who have helped me along my journey,” Adithya commented on Thursday after New Zealand’s first training session ahead of Sunday’s ODI series opener against India at the Baroda Cricket Association Stadium. Significantly, Ashok is a fan of South Indian film star Rajinikanth. He has a tattoo on his right arm. A famous Rajinikanth dialogue, ‘En vazhi thani vazhi’(My way is a unique way) from the superstar’s film Padayappa. Adithya said the phrase holds personal meaning from a conversation with his late grandfather. “We discussed values and morals at home while a Rajini film played in the background,” he recalled. “That’s how it started. People ask, but it’s personal. That conversation meant much to me. My grandfather passed soon after, so it’s a lasting memory. I’m very grateful for that moment.” As he prepares for his first taste of international cricket in India, Adithya carries with him not just ambition, but a journey shaped across cultures, continents, and deeply held personal values.
Careless RFYS: Jangalmahal Academy forced to pull out in the midway!
Sudeep Pakrashi: Following utmost carelessness from the organisers of Reliance Foundation Youth Sports (RFYS), a debutant football academy from Jangalmahal, Purulia, has been forced to withdraw in the middle of the ongoing RFYS youth league across West Bengal. It is Manbazar Vibekananda Sports Academy, which has been running for the last five years at Bandowan, Purulia district. The academy returned to Bari village, Manbajar travelling for almost 7-8 hours after taking part in their last group league match on 7th January. The academy president, Prashanta Mahato, when asked about the issue, explained, “I received a WhatsApp message from the organisers on 7th late night and then around 11 in the morning on the 8th January afternoon, despite the fact that these boys had travelled almost eight hours by bus and returned home at around 11 in the night on the day before! So, how could it be possible? I requested them to spare at least a day for us. In reply, they asked me to give a walkover in our first group league match on 9th January!” More importantly, the academy had already spent nearly Rs 1 lakh to participate in their last round matches. According to Mahato, it would not have been easy to accommodate the hotels for around 25 boys within 24 hours. RFYS people were not available for their reaction. Signioficantly, Vibekananda Sports Academy had an excellent performance in their outing in the last group league matches. In their seven matches, the academy won in five, drew in one, and lost in one each.
Sabalenka raises voice against negligence on players’ protection!
World number one Aryna Sabalenka terms the tennis authorities ‘selfish’ by trying to follow their interest only, rather than caring about the players’ interest, considering the calendar. Players have been raising concerns about the schedule in recent months, saying it is too long and intense. Leading players on the women’s tour are expected to play at least 20 mandatory events – four Grand Slams, 10 WTA 1000s, and six 500s. Belarusian Sabalenka said she would skip some events this year to protect her body. “The season is definitely impractical, and you see so many players getting injured,” Sabalenka said after her 6-3, 6-3 victory over Sorana Cirstea at the Brisbane International. She added, “The balls are quite heavy, so it’s a lot of struggle for all of us.” Sabalenka and world number two Iga Swiatek were deducted ranking points for not playing enough WTA 500 events last season. “I am skipping a couple of events to protect my body because I struggled a lot last season,” the 27-year-old tennis star revealed. Sabalenka divulged that despite having participated in a few tournaments and being consistent in terms of performance, she was forced to play with sickness and exhaustion. The WTA Tour has said player welfare will ‘always remain a top priority’. Four-time major singles winner Sabalenka says she is ‘definitely not at her peak’ as she builds up to the Australian Open, where she is targeting a third title in four years. Sabalenka lost to Madison Keys in last year’s Melbourne final.
‘King Kev’ diagnosed with cancer!
Former England forward and manager Kevin Keegan has been diagnosed with cancer, as revealed by his old club Newcastle United on Wednesday. “Kevin Keegan was recently admitted to the hospital for further evaluation of ongoing abdominal symptoms. These investigations revealed a cancer diagnosis, and Kevin will undergo treatment,” the Premier League side, where Keegan both played and managed, said in a statement. Keegan, 74, enjoyed a stellar playing career with trophy-laden spells at Liverpool and Hamburg. As a manager, he narrowly missed out on the Premier League title with Newcastle before a challenging time in charge of England. As a player, he won three First Division titles at Liverpool as well as a European Cup, two UEFA Cups, and an FA Cup. He then moved to Germany and won the Bundesliga with Hamburg and was twice crowned European Footballer of the Year, before returning to England with Southampton and then Newcastle. Nicknamed “King Kev”, Keegan scored 204 goals in 592 league appearances during his club career. He earned 63 caps for England, netting 21 goals, and captained the national side on 31 occasions. As a manager, he had two spells in charge at Newcastle and finished Premier League runner-up in 1995-96 to Manchester United, having led the table for much of the campaign. He succeeded Glenn Hoddle as England manager in 1999 but could not lead it beyond the group stage at Euro 2000 and left the job later that year after losing to Germany in the final game ever played at the old Wembley Stadium.
Eyeing the T-20 World Cup, Tilak set to be rested for two T-20Is against the Kiwis after surgery
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) does not want Tilak Varma to participate in the T20 series from the beginning against New Zealand after Varma had to undergo emergency surgery in Rajkot. Varma, who is already in the Indian squad for the forthcoming T-20 international series, was diagnosed with testicular torsion. According to a new development, Tilak may miss the first half of the T20I series, which means the first two T20 Internationals. Still, the BCCI and its medical team, before including him in the squad for the last three matches of the five-match series, will assess his recovery progress. Tilak underwent a minor procedure at a private hospital in Rajkot after experiencing pain in the groin region while representing Hyderabad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy group stage. The initial reports of testicular torsion had raised doubts around both his immediate international commitments and his participation in the T20 World Cup beginning on 7th February. However, the latest update suggests the situation is far less difficult than first feared, providing major relief to the Indian camp. With nearly a month to go before the World Cup, Tilak is now on track to be fully fit in time for the marquee tournament. Tilak has been one of India’s most dependable T20 batters over the past year and was earmarked as the team’s designated No. 3 for the home World Cup. Even at the domestic level, he has continued his purple patch, scoring his sixth List A century in Hyderabad’s Group B clash earlier this week and finishing his short Vijay Hazare campaign with 143 runs from two innings at an average of 71.50. With Tilak missing at least the first two matches, the door opens for Ishan Kishan to slot in at No.3. Suryakumar Yadav, who is in awful form, can be a perfect number three, while adding Rinku Singh would be easier now.
Husband of Olympian shooter Anjum Moudgil, Ankush, accused of sexual assault!
Husband of two-time Olympian pistol shooter, Anjum Moudgil, Ankush Bharadwaj, has been accused of sexual assault of a 17-year-old female shooter at a Faridabad hotel. Ankush is also a pistol shooting national coach. The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has already suspended him. The female shooter alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Bharadwaj at a hotel in Surajkund, Faridabad. He was booked by the Haryana Police following an FIR lodged by the victim’s family. According to the FIR, the incident took place at a Faridabad hotel where Ankush summoned the female athlete for a discussion about her performance. Under the observation of the coach, the female athlete was one of the shooters who attended the national preparatory camp during the shooting nationals at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi. Bharadwaj hails from Ambala and started his shooting journey from an NCC (National Cadet Corps) camp in 2005. He went to the Jaspal Rana Institute of Shooting and Sports in Dehradun in order to hone his skills and was coached by Jaspal’s younger brother, Subhash Rana. He won three gold medals at the All-India GV Mavalankar Shooting competition, held in Agra in 2007. He went on to win the 50m pistol gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune in 2008. He kept winning medals at the international stage before he was banned by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for testing positive for a beta-blocker in 2010. He made his comeback in 2012 and helped India win gold in the 25m centre-fire pistol team event in the International Shooting Competition of Hannover in 2016. Bharadwaj is currently a national pistol coach, and he also runs the Salvo Shooting Range in Mohali. He provides private coaching to selected shooters. According to the victim’s family, this was not the first time Ankush has been accused of sexual assault.
Bengaluru FC owner urges ‘financial sacrifice’ from players to support ISL resumption!
Bengaluru FC owner has sought ‘sacrifice’ from Bengaluru FC footballers, including the iconic Sunil Chhetri! The club owner has mentioned that the resumption of the league will not be viable without “sacrifice” from the players. The Indian Super League is set to return to action next month, on 14th February, and it will be organised by the All India Football Federation. Parth Jindal, the club owner, has made a kind of dictum that players will need to “make sacrifices” in order to bear the “financial burden” that clubs will have to shoulder in order to get the Indian top-flight competition up and running next month. Jindal, however, did not specify what kind of sacrifice he was expecting from players for the upcoming season. It was implied that players – including iconic forward Sunil Chhetri and star goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu – would have to take a pay cut, the club would have to “shut shop for good. “Tremendous sacrifice from all clubs is being asked for to play the ISL in its current format. Repercussions if we don’t have a league are very worrying,” Jindal wrote on ‘X’. “Truly hope the players understand the additional financial burden on the clubs and agree to also sacrifice as we are all in this together. We are in this for the love of football and to see our country play the beautiful game and be good at it.” Meanwhile, it is learnt that East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting will be playing their home matches of the ISL this season in Kolkata. All the three Kolkata giants will be able to gather more revenue from gate-sale if their respective home-matches take place at Yuba Bharati Kriranghan. Significantly, the AIFF has also sent a letter to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), seeking slot for participation in the AFC Champions League qualifiers. The AIFF has reportedly mentioned that each team will get scope of taking part in 13 matches in the ISL and each of them has participated in three matches in the Super Cup this season already. So, AIFF wants AFC slots for the teams who all will be playing 16 matches this season.
‘Sisters’, ‘Almeida sir’ and ‘Chitra mam’: Anthony recalls the pillars of his coaching journey after completing the 50th match
Sudeep Pakrashi: His coaching journey never started with the women’s footballers. Even in his earlier days, his desire was not to settle into women’s football coaching. Rather Anthony Andrews’s journey began, guiding the toddlers and youth footballers in Maharashtra, first at PIFA and then Minerva FC academy. The first assignment of guiding women’s footballers came from Gokulam FC. He was asked to join as an assistant to the first-team coach, Priya PV. Today, Anthony Andrews, after completing his 50th match as a coach (on the day East Bengal won against SESA in the ongoing IWL), reveals he did not accept the Gokulam FC offer immediately. He took almost six months for research on women’s football. He spent hours in understanding the physiological and psychological aspects of women. He has seven sisters in his family. Interaction with them since childhood already helped him to understand women’s psychological aspects, the idea about their physical abilities. He spent hours talking to Chitra Gangadharan in Bengaluru to have a thorough idea about the women footballers’ psychology and how to deal with them. He is also indebted to Jeddy Almedia, one of the pioneers in the country’s women’s football development. He got a lot of advices from Almeida sir. Then only he accepted the Gokulam FC offer. Anthony feels his most memorable happenings in the coaching journey so far are Gokulam FC (two IWL titles) and his success with East Bengal (one IWL, the AFC Club Championship qualification and SAFF Club Cup title). But he still remembers his first win as the coach of Gokulam FC. and still dedicates it to his Praveen sir, the top-boss of Gokulam FC. Anthony believes that Praveen was the man who believed in his hard work and effort. Itr was Praveen’s contrbution which guided Anthony to continue coaching women footballers. While explaining the change in the country’s women’s football, the 30-year-old coach feels In the earlier days the women’s footballers the style of women’s football play was not progressive as they tried to depend on kick-and-run. Today, women footballers have also learnt how to take possession, how to dish out a passing game. They have also improved in technique and basic skills gradually. Still, the coach feels that women footballers should be more encouraged financially, especially at a time when in the Fifa-ranking country’s women’s football is at 67th! The 30-year-old coach wants more clubs across the country should come forward to build up women’s team. He also wants the women’s footballers as well as the coaching staff should earn more than their present condition. Anthony feels It is the first time the country’s women’s football have qualified for the women’s Asian Cup in senior, under-20 and under-17. So women’s football should be promoted more.
ICC rejects Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup plea, tells ‘travel to India or forfeit points!
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has reportedly cracked the whip on the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and has rejected their request to relocate their T20 World Cup games from India to Sri Lanka. This comes days after the BCB wrote an email to the global body seeking the relocation of their matches, citing security concerns for their players in India. While reports on Tuesday claimed that the ICC would try to convince Bangladesh to play all their matches in India, it has now come to light that the BCB has perhaps been served an ultimatum. According to an ESPNCricinfo report, the BCB was told by the ICC that its request had been rejected during a virtual call on Tuesday. The global body reportedly said that Bangladesh would have to travel to India to play their T20 World Cup matches or would have to risk forfeiting their points if they refuse to do so. The report claims that the BCB has denied any such communication from the ICC. Neither the BCCI nor the BCB has issued any official communication about the call with ICC officials on Tuesday. Bangladesh is scheduled to play three T20 WC 2026 matches in Kolkata and one game in Mumbai. The BCB’s plea to relocate their games to Sri Lanka will be a logistical nightmare for the organizers and the broadcaster, as hinted by a BCCI source earlier.
Interim boss Fletcher to start his coaching journey with Ferguson’s blessing!
Darren Fletcher says he sought the blessing of his former Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, before taking interim charge at Old Trafford. Fletcher will be in charge of Wednesday’s Premier League trip to Burnley following the removal of coach Ruben Amorim and is likely to remain in the dugout for Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie with Brighton. He took the role after speaking to Ferguson, 84, who was at Elland Road for Amorim’s final game in charge, the 1-1 draw at Leeds. “I don’t like to make any major decisions without speaking to Sir Alex,” said the 41-year-old. I have a really good relationship with Sir Alex, so I wanted to speak to him first and ultimately get his blessing, to be perfectly honest with you. I think he deserves that respect. I wanted to run it by him, and he echoed my thoughts. When you’re an employee of the club, it’s your job to do your best for Manchester United. It is something I try to live and believe every day, so it was comforting for me for him to say that,” revealed Fletcher. One of Amorim’s damning observations during his rant at Leeds was his belief that senior officials at Old Trafford pay too much attention to the observations of pundits, chief among them former captain Gary Neville. Fletcher shared a dressing room with most of them and still counts them as friends. “The outside noise is difficult to deal with because those players have won everything. They’ve got success behind them, and they’ve got trophies. It’s hard to criticise them back because they’ve got their medals on the table,” added Fletcher. Fletcher says that a lack of spare time since stepping in means he hasn’t had the chance to speak to his squad individually. Instead, he restricted his conversations to captain Bruno Fernandes and the new senior players. Fletcher has met with Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko this week, having spoken to goalkeeper Senne Lammens last week. Bryan Mbeumo, United’s other major summer signing, has not had a chance to speak to Fletcher as he is at the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon.
