All posts by h716a5.icu

Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh have all been rested for the tri-series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand that kicks off on August 10

Cricinfo staff31-Jul-2010Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh have all been rested for the tri-series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand that kicks off on August 10. Yuvraj Singh makes a return to the 15-man squad after being dropped for the Asia Cup, the first time he had been omitted since cementing his place.Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan remains sidelined due to the shoulder injury which kept him out of the Tests against Sri Lanka. Ishant Sharma, out of favour when it comes to limited-overs sides after a prolonged fallow period, takes Zaheer’s place and gets in line to play his first one-dayer this year.Abhimanyu Mithun, who made his Test debut against Sri Lanka, returns to the one-day squad in place of Bengal quick bowler Ashok Dinda. Offspinner R Ashwin and Jharkhand batsman Saurabh Tiwary, who were both in India’s victorious Asia Cup team, also find a place.Dinda will now head to Australia, along with with Manish Pandey, to replace Ashwin and Tiwary in the Indian team participating in the Emerging Players tournament.Dinesh Karthik, who flew in as Virender Sehwag’s replacement midway through the Asia Cup before turning in a Man-of-the-Match performance in the final, keeps his spot and is likely to open the innings with Sehwag.The series which also involves Sri Lanka and New Zealand has a league phase in which each team plays the other twice before the top two advance to final on August 28.India squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ashish Nehra, Pragyan Ojha, Saurabh Tiwary

According to a report by L’Equipe (via Sport Witness), it ‘seems clear’ that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy ‘intends to separate’ from Tanguy Ndombele.

The Lowdown: A failed transfer

In the summer of 2019, Lyon playmaker Ndombele joined Spurs in a £55m deal, making him the North London club’s record signing. However, since his arrival, the midfielder has suffered a disappointing tenure under various managers.

When Antonio Conte joined the club, fans hoped that the Italian could revive the Frenchman’s Tottenham career. However, this has not been the case; the 52-year-old has given Ndombele just 80 minutes of Premier League football, using him as a substitute in two out of his three appearances.

The Latest: Levy wants Ndombele gone

According to a report by L’Equipe (translated by Sport Witness), Tottenham chief Levy has made his decision regarding Ndombele’s future: he wants him gone.

L’Equipe report that the Spurs’ ‘decision seems clear today’, as ‘Levy intends to separate’ the Frenchman from the club. As a result, Ndombele has even been made to train alone since last Wednesday.

The French outlet reveal AS Roma and Napoli have come forward in recent days, with former manager Jose Mourinho said to have maintained a ‘close relationship’ with the France international.

The Verdict: Difficult to find a solution

With the January transfer deadline looming, it is becoming worryingly possible that Ndombele will remain at Spurs for the rest of the season, soaking up wages without contributing on the pitch.

The report details how his salary has become a major stumbling block – his £120,000 per week would put him immediately at the top of Roma’s wage structure, for example.

Levy would surely jump at a loan-to-buy deal if one presented itself, but an official offer has yet to be made.

The Spurs chairman will be hoping that Mourinho ramps up his approach for the player, with the Roma boss having previously hailed the Frenchman as ‘magnificent’ – perhaps he will be Spurs’ saviour on this occasion.

Manchester United have now turned down an enquiry from Tottenham for midfielder Jesse Lingard, ESPN report.

And, as to be expected, a number of United fans have been reacting to the news on social media.

Lingard is out of contract at Old Trafford at the end of the season, with his immediate future seemingly up in the air after starting just two games in all competitions this season.

The midfielder, who Rio Ferdinand labelled as ‘amazing’, is in Dubai with some of his United teammates, with Newcastle reportedly offering £10m to take Lingard on loan until the end of the season.

According to ESPN’s Rob Dawson, both Spurs and West Ham have also made enquiries to sign Lingard this month, but they were turned down as United don’t want to ‘strengthen clubs also competing for a place in the top four.’

United fans react

@utdreport relayed Dawson’s claim regarding Lingard on Twitter. This is what these United supporters had to say in reply, with many not exactly thrilled at United’s reasoning.

“Nonsense surely?! The mighty Spurs and West Ham”

Credit: @Niall_UTD

“This club @ManUtd might actually be finished because what is this??”

Credit: @Doye_A_Doyen

“This is embarrassing beyond belief, how low we’ve fallen.”

Credit: @AdamManred

“Total madness”

Credit: @JohnK4nM

“Are we that finished? Wow”

Credit: @UtdJuice

“This tweet sums up the downfall of Manchester United”

Credit: @UTDFrankie

In other news: ‘Wow’ – Lots of Man United fans erupt as ‘ridiculous’ transfer news emerges

The three Pakistan players who are at the centre of the spot-fixing controversy have been dropped for the limited-overs leg of the England tour

Andrew Miller and Nagraj Gollapudi02-Sep-2010Pakistan’s high commissioner to the UK, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, has provided a new twist to the spot-fixing saga after suggesting in an interview with the BBC that Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, the three players at the centre of the controversy, may have been the victims of a “set-up”.Hasan was speaking after the confirmation that the three players would be playing no part in the limited-overs leg of the England tour, after extensive talks between officials from the ICC and PCB led to the announcement that they had pulled out of the squad due to “mental torture”.”The three players have said they are extremely disturbed with what has happened in the past one week, especially with regard to their alleged involvement in the crime,” Hasan said. “They have mentioned that they are entirely innocent of the whole episode and shall defend their innocence as such. They further maintain that on account of the mental torture that has deeply affected them, they are not in the right frame of mind to play the remaining matches, therefore they have requested the PCB not to consider them until their names are cleared.”They are innocent until proven guilty. They are under interrogation so they have to defend themselves. They are bright young men, one of them has just broken a world record, and we will go to a court of law to defend them.”However, speaking in a separate interview later in the day, the commissioner appeared to support the notion that the players had been set up. Asked specifically if he believed this was the case, he responded: “Yes, I would say that. Yes.” A spokesman for the News of the World later said the paper would “refuse to respond to such ludicrous allegations”.Cricinfo understands that the decision to omit the players only came about after extensive meetings between Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, and Haroon Lorgat, the chief executive of the ICC, which went on past midnight on Wednesday evening. The PCB’s position had been one of reluctance to act before the investigations had run their course, but with the integrity of the sport at stake, Ijaz was finally persuaded to back down.On a day of hectic developments, officials from the ACSU met officials from Scotland Yard in relation to the ongoing investigation, and the three players will be be questioned by Scotland Yard early Friday morning. In the meantime, a local legal firm has been appointed, with the PCB’s legal advisor, Taffazul Rizvi, also in London assisting the case.A source close to the investigation denied that any pressure had been applied from the Pakistan government, but added that the deputy attorney general of Pakistan was in London and had attended the meeting with the high commissioner. Later in the day, Lorgat and Ijaz Butt attended a separate meeting at the Pakistan High Commission.The players, who arrived at the high commission in a car with blacked-out windows, were escorted by 10 police officers past a media scrum, involving up to 20 photographers and reporters, as they entered the building.Earlier in the day team manager Yawar Saeed announced the players’ exclusion from the squad in Taunton, where the Pakistan team is playing a warm-up game. “The T20 squad will remain what it is here this morning, i.e. 13 people,” Saeed said. “When we play the one-day internationals we will be asking for replacements to make the squad up to 16.”The ECB, whose stance on the omission of the players has been clear from the start, estimates that an income of approximately £10 million hinges on the successful staging of this series and the chairman Giles Clarke said “he welcomed the decision”. He said he looked forward to the series being playing “in the spirit” that matches between England and Pakistan are always played in.”I look forward to working with Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, and Ijaz Butt, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and everyone involved in Pakistani cricket in taking forward cricket in Pakistan so that a proper plan exists for the whole of Pakistani cricket,” Clarke added.Alan Hamer, the chief executive of Glamorgan, also welcomed the news of the trio’s omission ahead of the county’s hosting of the two Twenty20 matches on Sunday and Tuesday.”This is definitely the right decision going forward into the series,” Hamer told Cricinfo. “The week leading up to the matches has felt like a department store in the lead-up to Christmas, with no-one coming through the doors. It has been clear from our initial market research that many people have been waiting for clarity on the allegations before committing to buying tickets, so hopefully with this decision, the emphasis will now shift back to the cricket, and a contest between the past and present World Twenty20 champions.”Additional reporting by Osman Samiuddin.

VVS Laxman, down with back spasms, is expected to bat on the final day of the Test should he be needed, Ishant Sharma said at the end of the fourth day’s play

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-2010VVS Laxman, down with back spasms, is expected to bat on the final day of the Test should he be needed, Ishant Sharma said at the end of the fourth day’s play. Laxman got the spasms before India’s first innings, and came out to bat with a runner, at No. 10. He didn’t field in Australia’s second innings but, because the No. 6 batsman is already in, Laxman can theoretically walk out at the fall of the next wicket.India are four down for 55, and need 161 more going into the final day. They will start the day with nightwatchman Zaheer Khan batting with Sachin Tendulkar, who is unbeaten on 10.This is the second time Laxman has had back spasms in two Tests. He batted in pain to score a match-winning century at the P Sara Oval. “It was painful,” Laxman had said then of that effort. “I started my innings well, but during the partnership [with Sachin Tendulkar] I had a lot of discomfort and the spasms didn’t allow me to move freely. Once I was into my 30s it became very painful… I was in such pain that I thought that the best decision in team’s interest was to have a runner instead of just giving away the wicket due to pain.”

Liverpool’s Takumi Minamino is ‘desperate’ to stay at Anfield beyond the January transfer deadline, as per Goal’s Neil Jones. 

Minamino’s prospects in L4 may have taken a further hit with the signing of £37m attacker Luis Diaz from FC Porto. The Japanese forward is yet to start a Premier League game this season, and now he faces more big-money competition.

Reports after Diaz’s arrival suggested that Liverpool would listen to offers for Minamino and Divock Origi in the final days of the window.

However, the former seems to have no interest in moving elsewhere, and Jones wrote on his Facebook page that the Reds have rebuffed ‘initial interest’ from AS Monaco and Leeds United in any case.

Minamino has played a key role in Liverpool’s run to the final of the Carabao Cup, scoring four goals in their five matches in the competition, including a late equaliser to force a penalty shoot-out against Leicester City in the quarter-finals.

Fan feed Anfield Watch relayed Jones’ claim, and here’s how these Reds supporters reacted.

These Liverpool fans delighted by Minamino news

“Yes Taki!”

Credit: @DJDazza84

“Yess”

Credit: @ai_leo_hi

“Carabao Salah, let’s go!!”

Credit: @phylosiothical

“Redemption season still on!!”

Credit: @hassan_ahmed99

“Yes my boi!!!!”

Credit: @zsangboi

“Yasss I was worried”

Credit: @TeslaP100D1

In other news, there’s been a big update on the future of this Reds youngster

Celtic have been rather active in the transfer market over the past few years in their constant search for silverware and success.

Throughout the past few transfer windows, the Hoops have spent a significant amount of money to bring new players to Celtic Park.

However, as happens with a lot of clubs, not every transfer deal that takes place ends up being successful.

One prime example of a player that the Hoops and Nick Hammond spent money on that ended up being a waste of time for all parties is Patryk Klimala.

Back in the 2020 January transfer window, the Bhoys secured a £3.5m deal to sign the striker from Jagiellonia Bialystok.

After making just 28 appearances for the Hoops across all competitions, the 23-year-old ended up getting moved onto New York Red Bulls in the previous summer transfer window.

In those 28 appearances, the Polish centre-forward could only find the back of the net on three occasions, meaning that he cost the club over £1.1m per goal.

As well as his lack of regular goals, the attacker’s overall performances in the league were rather uninspiring as well.

With 17 SPFL appearances to his name last season, the striker picked up an overall rating of 6.36/10 from WhoScored, making him the lowest-rated player to start more than one league game.

This shows just how unsuited he was at playing in Scotland.

To further highlight how disappointing the centre-forward was, he ended the 2020/21 campaign with the lowest average of passes per game (3.7) than any other player to feature for Celtic in that season.

Taking all of this into account, it’s hard to deny that Celtic’s move for Klimala was anything other than a mistake for all involved.

Speaking about the move, Hoops journalist Kieran Devlin had this to say on the matter.

He said: “Klimala was always a strange one from the start, underlying reports were never that impressive. Seemed a bizarre move to sanction for that money.”

Moving forward, with the way Ange Postecoglou’s side have been scoring goals for fun throughout this season, it’s safe to say that not many supporters will have been giving much thought to the former Hoops dud since he left.

In other news: “Understand that…”: Journalist drops big transfer update, it’s bad news for Celtic

Twenty20 was at its chaotic best – or worst, if you look at some of the shots played – in giving Champions League T20 its first Super Over, one that Victoria Bushrangers won emphatically

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga18-Sep-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outFour wickets for Suresh Raina but Victoria had the last laugh•Associated PressTwenty20 was at its chaotic best – or worst, looking at some of the shots played – in giving Champions League T20 its first Super Over, one that Victoria Bushrangers won emphatically to stay alive in the tournament.With 24 required off the last three overs, and David Hussey entrenched on 48, it looked like a cruise, but poor shot after poor shot gave Suresh Raina four wickets in the 18th and 20th overs. Hussey left the job unfinished, but came back to finish some with three sixes in the Super Over.Redemption seemed to be the theme of the night. R Ashwin, though, who bowled the Super Over for Chennai Super Kings, was left on his knees, all alone despite consolatory pats on his back. Doug Bollinger, not given the Super Over, was left an angry fast bowler, kicking the ground, mouthing off, sitting in the dressing room as opposed to the dugout. It was that kind of night.Emotions were completely in check, though, after Aaron Finch’s stunning 41 off 17 at the start of the chase. Victoria needed a straightforward 59 off 50 when Muttiah Muralitharan took two wickets in two balls. They were still in control with six wickets in hand when Raina began the 18th over. Madness was about to strike.Raina fielded the first ball, and went for a blind reverse-flick. Had he hit, he would have got Rob Quiney. Had he not tried, he wouldn’t have conceded the overthrow that brought Quiney on strike. Quiney, perhaps lured by the short leg-side boundary, went to pull a length ball, and lost his middle stump. John Hastings, hero of Victoria’s bowling effort, got stumped trying a massive slog as opposed to giving Hussey the strike. Twenty-one from 13. Still manageable.Bollinger, whom Finch had hit for 23 in his first two overs, bowled three perfect deliveries for three singles before getting Hussey to hit a slower ball straight to long-off. Game over? Peter Siddle didn’t think so. He backed away, and chipped Bollinger over extra cover, like a batsman would, to bring it down to 12 required off the last over.Raina was the man enjoying the tension. He was pulling out of deliveries and smiling, he was reverse-flicking and smiling, he was accepting gifts and smiling. He was the man to go to. Clint McKay, who had got Raina’s wicket with a superb slower ball earlier, dealt him another blow, nonchalantly swinging the first ball over long-off. Six off five, with three wickets in hand. Game over? Raina didn’t think so. The next ball stopped a touch, and Raina was smiling again after accepting a return catch.Dirk Nannes played along with the chaos theme, and hit the next ball straight down long-on’s lap. Siddle, who should have been given the strike, now made sure he crossed. He had earlier bowled an over of three waist-high full tosses, two of them deemed beamers, one of them hit way over third man. This was time for his redemption. Again, like a seasoned batsman, he made room and lofted the hat-trick ball over extra cover.Two off two. Last wicket standing. Mind games began. Raina pulled out of the next delivery. When he came into bowl again Siddle pulled out. Raina wasn’t blinking first, and refused to bowl the next time. Asad Rauf smiled, walked a few steps down the pitch, perhaps to move out of stumps mic’s range, and told Raina something.Raina let go this time, Siddle swung, got a bottom edge through to MS Dhoni, who saw Bryce McGain trying to steal one and lobbed the ball back to Raina. Raina had blinked. He wasn’t back at the stumps, and had to throw from halfway down the pitch. The overthrow cost the single that brought the scores level. One more mistake was to follow. McGain swung across the line of the last ball, and missed. Dhoni collected cleanly.Dhoni had earlier got Finch out by persisting with Ashwin, who was hit for 14 in the second over of the innings. He again went with Ashwin, ahead of Bollinger and Raina. Finch was there to face Ashwin, who bowled flat and fast, giving him little room. Hussey was brought on strike. This was time for the ultimate redemption. The captain should have finished it off earlier. He was going to do it now.Hussey just took half a step down the pitch and pulverised the first ball he faced out of St George’s Park. This six meant more than just six runs. The massiveness. The nonchalance. Ashwin knew Hussey could get him anytime. The carrom ball that had got Flinch was forgotten. The arm ball was forgotten. All that came out was flat and full, or flat and short, and went for 2, 2, 6, and 6.With 23 runs to defend in the Super Over, Victoria went to the master of slower balls, McKay, who didn’t need to do anything clever. McKay and Hastings, though, had to produce some of the best slower balls earlier in the night to keep the target to manageable proportions.M Vijay, with his 53-ball 73, had taken Chennai to 135 for 2 in 16 overs when Hastings and McKay intervened with three overs for 14 runs and the wickets of Vijay, Dhoni and S Anirudha. Both expertly bowled all three versions of the slower ball – offcutter, legcutter and bouncer – and Chennai and the shots, just like punctured balloons, went nowhere.If the slower ones had the sedative effect on Chennai, Finch shook them up harshly. McKay, Hastings and Finch would have thought they had done enough, but they were required again on a mad night.

Round-up of the second day’s action in the Faysal Bank T-20 Cup 2010-11

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2010Faisalabad Wolves thrashed Quetta Bears by 51 runs in their opening game at the Gaddafi Stadium. In a game they dominated from start to finish, the openers set the tone with a 70-run stand before Mohammad Hafeez was caught behind. The other opener, 30-year-old Asif Hussain, went on to complete his half-century, which earned him the Man-of-the-Match award, and set up Faisalabad for a competitive total of 147.Quetta’s chase never looked on track after fast bowler Samiullah Khan, who played two ODIs for Pakistan two years ago, nipped out their openers cheaply. The wickets continued to tumble for Quetta – six of their top seven falling in single digits to leave the side at a hopeless 56 for 6. Fast bowler Asad Ali was the most successful of the Faisalabad bowlers, finishing with three wickets including the final two as Quetta folded for 106.In another one-sided match, Gulraiz Sadaf’s unbeaten 71 steered Multan Tigers to a seven-wicket victory over Abbottabad Falcons. It was Multan’s second win in two days, and Abbottabad’s second loss in two days and put them out of the race for the semi-finals.Abbottabad’s trouble, after being put in to bat, was that their batsmen couldn’t score at a rate demanded by Twenty20s. Forties from opener Mir Azam and Adnan Raees pushed Abbottabad to 147, a total which proved too small to defend. Fast bowler Mohammad Irfan, who recently made his debut for Pakistan was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 4-1-11-2.Multan were in a bit of trouble at 23 for 2 after opener Imranullah Aslam’s blasted three fours and a six in his 21. Sadaf and Rameez Alam, though, added 84 for the third wicket to swing the match Multan’s way.Shahzaib Hasan struck a violent 76 off 38 balls, inclusive of 12 fours and a six, to launch Karachi Dolphins to 195, a total they defended easily against Hyderabad Hawks in Lahore.Shahzaib made light of opening partner Khalid Latif’s dismissal for a duck and waded into Hyderabad’s attack with a regal display. Asad Shafiq supported him with 31 off 25 balls in a stand of 106 that came in nine overs and took the game away. The innings lost momentum after Shahzaib’s effort, and a brief spark from Shahid Afridi was the only remaining highlight as Ghumman reined them in with 3 for 29 in four overs.Hyderabad lost Ghumman off the first ball of the chase, but their run-rate stayed within touching distance thanks to Karachi’s generosity with wides and no-balls – 19 in all. Faisal Athar struck 10 fours in his 67, but consumed too many dot balls as Karachi kept the pressure. Lal Kumar weighed in with 40 off 31 balls but it was not enough as Hyderabad fell 20 runs short.

After storming to the SPFL title last season, Rangers have not always had things go as smoothly as they would have liked this time around, having dropped points on eight occasions and seeing Steven Gerrard leave his position to take charge of Aston Villa earlier in the campaign.

27 games into the campaign, the reigning league champions have won 19, drawn six and lost two, scoring 56 and conceding 22 goals along the way.

Despite this, one figure at Ibrox that has undoubtedly been a standout figure for the club and their new manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst is right-back James Tavernier.

Since joining the Scottish club back in the 2015 summer transfer window from Wigan Athletic, the 30-year-old has racked up a total of 327 appearances across all competitions for the Gers, scoring 75 goals and providing 104 assists along the way.

With Connor Goldson being the only other Rangers player to have racked up more minutes in the league than the full-back, who has been described as “unstoppable” by Gerrard, this goes to show how important he is for the team.

In addition to this, the defender has also proved himself to be a real menace in front of goal by racking up six goals and 11 assists, which is more goal contributions than striker Alfredo Morelos has managed to have this season.

From a defensive point of view, Tavernier has also showed how vital he is to the team by making 52 tackles, 20 interceptions and 44 clearances, showing why he was labelled as a “powerhouse” in the past, also by Gerrard.

Taking all of this into account, it’s no surprise that the 30-year-old is currently listed as the highest-rated player at Ibrox with an overall performance rating of 7.75/10 from WhoScored, which also makes him the joint-highest rated player in the entire SPFL at this stage of the campaign.

This all shows how much of a crucial component the defender is for Rangers and Van Bronckhorst and why he will be a big factor in their hunt to secure the title again this season, especially if he can keep adding more goals and assists to his tally whilst staying strong at the back.

In other news: GvB drops teasing 12-word update ahead of Well clash, Rangers fans will be buzzing – opinion