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KKR and PBKS can reach upto 15 points. (PC: BCCI) The league stage is nearing its end, and the final playoff spot is still up for grabs. Five teams remain in contention. However, Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) victory in their last game has significantly dented Delhi Capitals’ (DC) chances of progressing to the next stage. DC are still mathematically alive, but in reality, it has now become a four-way race. The battle for the top-two spots is also heating up, but all eyes are on these five teams and which one among them can book a place in the knockouts. RR: RR are currently the best-placed side to qualify. Last night’s win in Jaipur would have given them plenty of confidence heading into their final game against Mumbai Indians (MI). If they win that match, they will qualify directly, regardless of the margin of victory. However, if RR lose their final game against MI, they will remain stuck on 14 points. That would leave them vulnerable to being overtaken by Punjab Kings (PBKS), who can mo...

    Varun Chakravarthy at Eden Gardens. Image: Debasis Sen Debasis Sen at Eden Gardens Kolkata Knight Riders’ ace spinner Varun Chakravarthy is doubtful for the must-win IPL 2026 clash against Mumbai Indians at Eden Gardens on Wednesday. The mystery spinner suffered a hairline fracture to his toe and had to miss the game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Although he returned for the match against Gujarat Titans despite not being fully fit, his availability for the MI fixture remains uncertain. On Tuesday, Varun was seen bowling a few deliveries behind the sight-screen but appeared uncomfortable, raising serious concerns about whether he will play. Meanwhile, Matheesha Pathirana is also likely to miss the game after suffering a hamstring injury during his debut appearance for KKR against GT. The Sri Lankan pacer did not take part in either of the training sessions ahead of Wednesday’s match. Pathirana walked off the field after bowling just eight deliveries on Sunday ni...

  Image :X What is sport without its fans? They are the ones who deify a human being and give him god-like status. They push the bar and make superheroes out of mortals. In the ultimate analysis, there is no sport without them. It is to them that MS Dhoni owes one final goodbye. They want him out there one final time at the Chepauk, to celebrate their Thala and the bond they share with him. Yes, it could well be that he is past his prime and isn’t really ready to play a full game. But the fact that he has trained all season does mean he nurtured ambitions of playing. So, it would not be a bad idea to push the tired body one final time for the legion of men and women who have travelled the journey with him and made him Thala . I am conscious that it could well be emotion speaking here more than reason. But then, what is sport without emotion? Neymar Jr has been picked in the Brazil team for the FIFA World Cup more on the basis of emotion than reason. And here, we are talking abo...

Mitchell Marsh (PC: IPL/BCCI) Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium witnessed a fantastic innings from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) batter Mitchell Marsh. Against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), Marsh smashed 96 off 57 balls at an impressive strike rate of 168.42. The LSG opener began his innings by scoring ten runs off just three balls, including two consecutive boundaries off Jofra Archer’s bowling. However, he slowed down in the third over against the same bowler’s deliveries. He regained his rhythm in the fifth over against Brijesh Sharma, smashing three boundaries — two fours and a six. By the eighth over, he was just four runs short of a half-century, and he brought it up by dispatching a back-of-a-length delivery from Brijesh for a six. Then came the 10.2-over mark, where Marsh reached his fifty off just 25 balls against Dasun Shanaka’s bowling. In the twelfth over, a misfield resulted in a boundary for the LSG batter, followed by two consecutive boundaries in the same over. By then, Mars...

Images ;X A couple of days ago, I came across a social media post where Arshdeep Singh made fun of Tilak Varma’s skin colour. Tilak seemed to brush it off, and it was all normalised on social media. But that is precisely the problem. We normalise such talk because we are not sensitive enough. Arshdeep perhaps does not have the understanding of what he can say and what he cannot, and this issue is not limited to him alone. It is a deeply Indian problem, and we have all come to terms with it and accepted it as “ eta ar ki emon byapar (this is no big deal).” Take the case of Dhanraj Pillay, for example. When he first burst onto the scene, he dazzled everyone with his brilliance. It was almost impossible to stop him, and the common refrain during hockey matches was “ kale ko pakad, kale ko pakad (catch the dark one)”. While narrating this to me, Pillay too did not think it was anything out of the ordinary. Rather, it was considered the norm and there was supposedly nothing wrong with i...

Saudi Cricket (PC: X) The announcement of the Dunes T20 League, scheduled to launch in Saudi Arabia in October 2026, represents another significant step in the Kingdom’s rapidly expanding sports ecosystem. Backed by the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation along with partners like South Asian Network Ltd, Unique Sports Group and Prolithic Talent Agency, the six-team competition aims to combine global cricketing stars with emerging regional talent. Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has already been unveiled as league ambassador. What makes this particularly interesting is the broader context. Saudi Arabia is not merely trying to host another T20 tournament. It is attempting to position itself as a serious long-term player in the global cricket economy, much like it has done across football, golf, Formula 1 and boxing under Vision 2030. The league is expected to be staged in Taif near Jeddah and could eventually become part of a larger Gulf cricket ecosystem that already includes ILT20...