India’s left-arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed has signed a deal with Essex to play County Championship and One-Day Cup games until the end of the 2025 season. Ahmed, 27, has been in England since the end of May as a member of the India A squad facing England Lions in red-ball games.

He dismissed James Rew, George Hill, Chris Woakes, and Jordan Cox, his teammate at Essex, in the first game at Northampton. Ahmed has played eleven ODIs and eighteen T20Is for India since 2018 and has picked 15 and 16 scalps in both respective formats

Regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has been rested from India’s first T20I against England at Trent Bridge as a precautionary measure after suffering a head injury. In her absence, vice-captain and left-handed opener Smriti Mandhana will be leading the side.

“Captain Harmanpreet Kaur has been rested for the first T20I against England Women in Nottingham as a precautionary measure following a head injury sustained during the T20 Warm-up match against ECB Select XI.”

“She's being closely monitored by the medical team and is recovering well. Smriti Mandhana is leading the side in her absence,” said a statement from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday. Notably, Smriti had addressed the pre-series press conference on Friday due to Harmanpreet being unwell.

The revamped FIFA Club World Cup is all set to enter its knockout phase on June 28 as the Round of 16 will kick off with Brazilian teams Palmeiras and Botafogo taking the field at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Lionel Messi's first meeting with Paris Saint-Germain since leaving in 2023 is arguably the headline of the last 16. The Inter Miami CF marvel shook planet football when he departed Barcelona in 2021 for the Parisian giants, where he went on to play 75 matches. Messi could meet old foe Real Madrid for the 48th time in the semifinal if the Los Blancos manage to emerge victorious against Italian giants Juventus.

Al-Hilal captain Salem Al-Dawsari has been ruled out of the ongoing FIFA Club World Cup due to a hamstring injury, the Saudi club announced on Saturday.

He scored the opening goal of Al-Hilal's 2-0 victory over Pahuca on Friday to seal the round of 16 spot in the 32-team competition. The four-time Asian champions finished second behind Real Madrid in Group H.

“Medical tests have confirmed that Salem Al-Dawsari has suffered from a hamstring injury. He will be undergoing a treatment and rehabilitation program that will last between four to six weeks,” Al-Hilal said in a statement on X.

Al-Hilal will now take on defending champions Manchester City in round of 16 on Monday.

India’s struggles in Test cricket are piling the pressure on head coach Gautam Gambhir, according to former opener Aakash Chopra, as the team reels from a five-wicket defeat to England in the first Test at Headingley.

Despite solid contributions from the top order, India’s lower-order batting collapsed on both occasions, leaving the side with sub-par totals and enabling England to chase down a mammoth 371 in the final innings.

Chopra, analysing the loss on his YouTube channel, pointed to a glaring lack of balance in the Indian lineup. “Our tail doesn’t bat and our top order doesn’t bowl. They should bowl a little at least. I am not saying that you need to give 15-odd overs, that you should have a player like Jacques Kallis, or like they (South Africa) are playing Wiaan Mulder at No. 3, or Aiden Markram is bowling a lot,” Chopra said.

Hosts India and arch-rivals Pakistan have been drawn in Pool B for the FIH Hockey Men's Junior World Cup scheduled to be held in Tamil Nadu from November 28 to December 10.

On the occasion of the draw ceremony held in Lausanne, Switzerland the six Pools of the expanded tournament which will feature 24 teams for the very first time, have been determined. Alongside, the men in blue will take on Chile and Switzerland in Pool B.

Josh Hazlewood led the charge for Australia with figures of 5 for 43 as West Indies suffered a dramatic collapse, losing all 10 wickets in the final session on Day 3 to hand Australia a 159-run victory in the first Test. Nathan Lyon claimed the final two wickets off successive deliveries in what turned out to be the day’s last over, sealing a dominant win with two days to spare and giving Australia a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Chasing a target of 301, West Indies showed some early resistance despite losing Kraigg Brathwaite in the first over, caught at backward square leg off Mitchell Starc. John Campbell and Keacy Carty steadied things briefly with some attacking strokes, taking the score to 47 for 1. Carty was given an early life on 1 when Cameron Green dropped him, but the West Indies soon unraveled.

Campbell gloved a scoop attempt off Hazlewood to Alex Carey, and Carty fell the very next ball, inside-edging onto his pad for a sharp catch at gully. Hazlewood continued to make inroads, dismissing captain Roston Chase similarly before bowling Carty with a full delivery, reducing the visitors to 56 for 5.

The Indian women wrestlers continue to demonstrate their dominance on the international wrestling stage. At the prestigious Yasar Dogu International Wrestling Tournament currently being held in Turkey, India sent a contingent of six women wrestlers and delivered a remarkable performance.

Out of the six participants, five Indian women wrestlers clinched medals, securing an outstanding four gold and one bronze, which led India to finish as the runner-up in the overall team rankings.

Despite entering only six wrestlers, India made a powerful impact. Host nation Turkey secured the first position while Kazakhstan stood third.

Pushpa clinched the gold medal in the 55 kg category while Neha secured top honours in the 57 kg division. Manisha dominated the 62 kg category to win gold and Harshita added another gold to the tally in the 72 kg class. Neelam contributed to the medal count as well, earning a bronze in the 50 kg category, rounding off a successful outing for the Indian contingent.

Ahead of playing the T20I series opener against England, India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said her opening partner Shafali Verma is deserving of making a comeback into the setup after eight months, adding that she is excited to open again with the explosive right-handed batter.

Shafali had been out of the national set-up after last year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, where India failed to enter the semi-finals. After strong showings in the domestic 20-over and 50-over matches, Shafali amassed 304 runs from nine innings with a strike rate of 152.76 for Delhi Capitals (DC) in WPL 2025, and finished at fourth place in the run-scorers’ charts.

That was enough for her to make a comeback in the India T20I team for the series against England, starting in Nottingham on Saturday. “She's had an amazing year. Once the setback had come, she went into domestic, scored bucket loads of runs, and had an amazing WPL.”

The 21-year-old batting prodigy Dewald Brevis gears up for his long-awaited Test debut against Zimbabwe, with the first Test set to begin on June 28 at the Queen’s Sports Club in Bulawayo.

Known for his fearless stroke-play and explosive performances in white-ball cricket, Brevis will now have the chance to showcase his talent in the red-ball format, as the Proteas field a youthful, reshaped XI in the absence of several senior stars.

The spotlight falls on Brevis at a time of transition for South Africa. Their regular Test captain, Temba Bavuma — fresh from leading the Proteas to their historic ICC World Test Championship title triumph over Australia — has been ruled out of the series due to a left hamstring injury.