Pithungo Ezung

New Delhi, Jul 5

(iANS): The Indian cricket board’s plan to accommodate two more franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) from 2022 season is likely to leave cricket boards around the world worried as an increase in number of teams will mean the tournament will be extended by 10-15 days to accommodate more matches. The extended phase will overlap with Future Tours Programme (FTP).

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has no official window for the IPL which means that teams playing series during IPL dates either have to make do without their IPL-bound players or they have to plan their series outside the IPL schedule.

“A lot of series are lined up in March and June 2022, the months in which the tournament (normally played across April and May) could be extended to in case of increase in the number of matches. That has to be taken into consideration,” said a former member of the IPL Governing Council to IANS.

The ICC, which has no dedicated window for the IPL since it is a domestic event, confirmed to IANS on Monday that the upcoming meeting of its Board on July 15 will not have the extended IPL on its agenda.

It means that the boards will have to sort it out on their own.

India and eight other countries, that send players to IPL, will be playing in the months of March, May and June next year as per the ICC’s 2018-2023 FTP.

Australia, Bangladesh, South Africa, India, New Zealand and Afghanistan are scheduled to play international cricket in March 2022 while England and New Zealand are expected to play cricket in May, 2022.

Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, India and England are scheduled to play in June and July.

Although Pakistan, Netherlands, Ireland and Zimbabwe are also scheduled to play international cricket during the phase, their players don’t feature in IPL. Pakistan players are barred while other three teams’ players don’t generally find takers from IPL franchises.

The current FTP schedule has been made till March, 2023. The 50-over World Cup will be held in India in the months of February-March. It means that the IPL 2023 may have to leave out March start and may have to extend the IPL 2023 to June. As of now Ahmedabad looks to be certain to get a new franchise.

On Monday, a report in the Times of India said that the BCCI has already prepared a blueprint for accommodating two new teams. It said that the tender documents for new franchises will be out in mid-August, the new franchises will be introduced in mid-October, mega auction will be held in December while tender document for media rights sale will be brought out in mid-January.

RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group as well as Adani Group are expected to be frontrunners to buy the two new franchises.

List of tours as per ICC FTP for 2022 & 2023 that may overlap with IPL

2022:

February-March: Australia’s tour of Pakistan (2 Tests, 3 ODIs & 3 T20Is) March: Bangladesh tour of South Africa (2 Tests, 3 ODIs); India’s tour of New Zealand (3 ODIs); Afghanistan vs Australia in India (3 ODIs) April-May: Ireland tour of Zimbabwe (1 Test, 5 ODIs, 3 T20Is) May: England tour of Netherlands (3 ODIs) May-June: New Zealand tour of England (3 Tests) June-July: Australia tour or SL (2 Tests & 5 ODIs); Bangladesh tour of West Indies (2 Tests, 3 ODIs & 3 T20Is), NZ tour of Ireland (1 Test & 3 ODIs), India tour of England (3 ODIs & 3 T20Is)

2023:

Feb-March: ICC World Cup

MADRiD, Jul 5 (iANS):

Spain’s football team flew to London on Monday ahead of their European Championship semifinal against Italy on Tuesday night.

The need to protect the playing surface at Wembley Stadium meant the Spanish, who enjoyed a day off on Sunday, held their final training session ahead of the game at the familiar headquarters of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in Madrid, reports Xinhua.

Spain have reached the last-four after testing the nerves of their fans (and no doubt coach Luis Enrique) as they needed extra-time to beat Croatia 5-3 in the last 16, while their quarterfinal against Switzerland went to a penalty shootout in which goalkeeper Unai Simon was the hero.

Consecutive extratimes mean Spain have played an hour more than Italy over their last two games and the general feeling is that Luis Enrique’s players will need a good night in front of the goal if they are to get past the Italians.

Nevertheless, Spain have lost just two of their last 14 meetings against Italy and they still remember their quarterfinal win against Italy on way to the 2008 European Championship title, which truly marked their arrival as a top team and started a run of success which saw them win the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, where they thrashed Italy 4-0 in the final.

However, the current Italian side is very different from the ultra-defensive teams of the past, with Roberto Mancini building a team based on pace in attack and drive in midfield.

He has lost left-back Leonardo Spinazzola to injury, whose pace down the flank will be missed, although Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne and Nicola Barella all pose massive threats to a Spain side that always look as if they have a defensive error in them.

Pablo Sarabia is likely to miss out for Spain with a muscle problem, with Dani Olmo or Thiago Alcantara stepping in for a game where Spain will hope their control of midfield, rather than tired legs, will be the key factor.

Spain players arrive for practice session.

Mary Kom, Manpreet picked flag bearers for Tokyo Olympics

New Delhi, Jul 5

(PTi): Celebrated boxer M C Mary Kom and men’s hockey team skipper Manpreet Singh will be the country’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympics, the Indian Olympic Association announced on Monday.

One of India’s biggest medal hopes, wrestler Bajrang Punia, will be the flag bearer at the closing ceremony on August 8.

The IOA has communicated the decision in this regard to the organising committee of the Tokyo Games.

In a first, India is having two flag-bearers -- one male and one female -- at the upcoming Tokyo Games to ensure “gender parity”. This was recently informed by IOA chief chief Narinder Batra.

“It would be a huge huge moment for me given that it is my last Olympics. Who knows I might even get emotionally overwhelmed,” Mary Kokm told PTI after being named as one of the flag bearers.

“I am truly honoured to get this opportunity of leading the team out during the opening ceremony and I thank the sports ministry and IOA for naming me. It would be added motivation for me. I promise to do my best for a medal,” the six-time world champion added.

The country’s lone individual Olympic goldmedallist Abhinav Bindra was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

“This is amazing, and I am speechless. I think it’s a huge honour to be named the Flag Bearer for the opening ceremony alongside the incredible Mary Kom,” Manpreet was quoted as saying in a Hockey India release.

“I have always been inspired by her journey in boxing and personally for me, this is a big moment in my career, and it is also a huge moment for hockey.

MC Mary Kom (PTI) Manpreet Singh (PTI)

Will be fit in time for IPL but unsure about captaincy: Iyer

MuMBAi, Jul 5 (PTi):

Shreyas Iyer reckons he will be fit to return for the second part of the Indian Premier League but the India batsman is not sure about getting his captaincy back, saying that decision lies in the hands of Delhi Capitals owners. The 26-year-old was ruled out of the IPL following a left shoulder injury he sustained during the series against England.

In Iyer’s absence, flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant led the Capitals, who were perched atop the points table when the league was suspended due to multiple COVID-19 cases in its bio-bubble.

“My shoulder, I think the healing process is done. Now it’s the last stage of achieving strength and range. “So that’s going to take about a month, and the training is obviously going on. Other than that, I feel, I will be there in the IPL,” Iyer said while speaking on ‘The Grade Cricketer’ Podcast.

Verstappen in dominant F1 Austrian GP win

SPielBeRG (AuSTRiA),

Jul 5 (iANS): Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took a firm grip on the 2021 Formula One world championship with a dominant win in the Austrian Grand Prix, as title rival Lewis Hamilton could only finish fourth after struggling with a damaged car.

In F1’s second successive Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, Verstappen lived up to his pre-race billing as the hot favorite, leading all the way from pole position and collecting the fastest lap on way to his third victory in succession on Sunday, reports Xinhua.

“Incredible, to be honest. The car was on rails,” said Verstappen, who now has a championship lead of 32 points over Hamilton. “Every tyre set we put on it was really enjoyable to drive. I’m a bit amazed how today went; I didn’t expect it to be like this.”

Verstappen’s main title rival Hamilton had been running second but dropped to fourth by the end after complaining of damage to his Mercedes, likely caused by riding his car up onto the Red Bull Ring’s sausage kerbs.

Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas took second place ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris, who had an excellent weekend and might have finished second had he not been harshly given a five-second penalty for forcing Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez off track early in the race.

Carlos Sainz took a solid fifth for Ferrari ahead of Perez, who had a scrappy race in which he himself was slapped with two fivesecond penalties for his involvement in separate incidents with Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc.

Norris’ teammate Daniel Ricciardo recovered from a poor qualifying session to take seventh, just ahead of an unhappy Leclerc and the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly, while Fernando Alonso rounded out the points’ positions in his Alpine.

The only driver to fail to see the chequered flag was Alonso’s teammate Esteban Ocon, who retired on lap 1 after contact with Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo to compound a miserable weekend for the Frenchman.

Verstappen’s fifth win of the season sees him extend his lead in the drivers’ championship with 182 points. Hamilton remains second on 150 points, with Perez third on 104.

In the constructors’ standings, Red Bull stay top with 286 points. Mercedes stay second with 242, and McLaren are third on 141 points.

The 10th round of the 2021 F1 season is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 18.

Max Verstappen

Wimbledon: Djokovic rolls into quarterfinals

Novak Djokovic l ONDON, J ul 5

(AGeNCieS/iANS): It was business as usual for top seed Novak Djokovic as the Serbian dismantled the challenge of Chile’s Cristian Garin with a 6-2 6-4 6-2 victory to advance to the last eight of Wimbledon and keep his title defence intact at the grasscourt major.

The world number one, who won the last two men’s singles titles on the manicured grass at the All England Club, will play his 50th Grand Slam quarterfinal when he next faces either Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev or Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics.

The 25-year-old Garin, seeded 17th, had never played Djokovic on grass before and soon realised he did not have the resources to trouble the Serbian on a sun-baked Centre Court. Djokovic won the first eight points of the match and never took his foot off the pedal during the one hour 48 minutes, dominating from the baseline and the net against the Chilean. He lost only 13 points on his own serve and broke his opponent five times to stay on course for a 20th Grand Slam title that would tie him with great rivals Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal for the most major men’s titles. Meanwhile, Matteo Berrettini stepped up his bid to join a select band of players to complete the Queen’s Club-Wimbledon double in the same year with a fluent 6-4 6-3 6-1 fourth round win over All England Club debutant Ilya Ivashka on Monday.

Barty survives Krejcikova test to reach quarters

Ash Barty

The serve was not at full throttle and the strokes were often rather wayward, but that did not stop Ash Barty from reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time with a 7-5 6-3 win over French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova on Monday.

Long tipped as a future Wimbledon champion, the Australian world No. 1 has had to wait nine long years since making her main draw debut in 2012 to finally put herself in the last-eight mix at the grasscourt major.

Facing an opponent who until last Tuesday had never played a main draw singles match on turf, Barty had been expected to easily make her greater grasscourt pedigree count.

She will next face either British wildcard Emma Raducanu or fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic for a place in the semi-finals. Second seed Aryna Sabalenka battled past a determined Elena Rybakina 6-3 4-6 6-3 in the Wimbledon fourth round on Monday to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career. Meanwjile, Tunisian 21st seed Ons Jabeur produced a stunning display to overcome Polish seventh seed Iga Swiatek and secure her first Wimbledon quarter-final. The victory sees Jabeur, 26, become the first Arab woman to reach the last eight at the All England Club. Jabeur will meet second seed Aryna Sabalenka next after the Belarusian beat Kazakh 18th seed Elena Rybakina.

Stafanie hattrick in big WI win over Pak

NORTh SOuND (ANTiGuA), Jul 5 (iANS):

West Indies women’s team skipper Stafanie Taylor gave a commanding performance as she led her team to a sixwicket win over Pakistan women in the third T20 International to make a clean sweep of the series at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground here.

Stafanie took a hattrick in the final over to end with 4/17 as Pakistan were bundled out for 102 in 19.4 overs. She then top-scored with 43 not out on Sunday as the home team strolled to 106/4 off 19.1 overs to make it three wins in a row.

Stafanie became the second West Indian woman to take a hattrick at the international level when she removed tailenders Fatima Sana (1), Diana Baig (5) and Anam Amin (0).

The previous hattrick for West Indies was by Anisa Mohammed against South Africa in 2018. Anisa also bowled well to end with figures of 3/24 off her four overs.

When the West Indies batted, Stafanie added 41 for the fourth wicket with Chadean Nation (20) and then had an unbroken fifthwicket stand of 48 with lefthander Kycia Knight, who ended on 24 not out.

Spurs want captain Kane to stay, says director Paratici

l ONDON, J ul 5

(AGeNCieS): Tottenham Hotspur want captain Harry Kane to stay at the club, their new managing director of football Fabio Paratici said, as speculation about the striker’s future continues.

Kane, who is valued at over 100 million pounds ($138.26 million), is currently at the European Championship with England, having scored three goals to lead them to the semi-finals where they will play Denmark at Wembley on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old has a contract with Spurs until 2024, but British media said he is keen to leave in order to win major trophies and there are no shortage of interested parties.

“Keeping him is not just my goal, it’s our goal as a club,” Paratici, who joined Tottenham last month, told Sky Sports.

“I can’t wait to watch him play live. .. Right now, he’s one of the best strikers in the world. He’s a complete player, really special”.

“I haven’t heard from him yet because I don’t want to bother the players who are busy at the Euros, it doesn’t seem fair to me. They’re focused on their own goals with their national teams.”

Tottenham finished seventh in the Premier League last season under interim manager Ryan Mason after Jose Mourinho was sacked. They will host champions Manchester City in their opening game of the 2021-22 campaign on Aug. 15.

They have hired former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Nuno Espirito Santo as their new manager. Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy said last month that while he shared Kane’s frustration over the lack of trophies he would do what is right for the club in the transfer market.

“There is a market out there. What we want and what somebody else wants isn’t always possible to achieve,” he said. “We’ll do whatever is right for the club.”

Harry Kane