Veteran top-order batter Cheteshwar Pujara believes that the upcoming five-match Test tour of England marks a crucial turning point for Indian cricket, citing the young group of players selected for the series starting on June 20 in Headingley.

India has a new skipper and vice-captain in Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, respectively, as the youthful side looks to step into a new era of playing Tests after the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Historically, India has won only three out of 19 series in England, with the last one coming in 2007 when Rahul Dravid was the side’s captain.

“The India-England Test series has always been a true measure of a team’s grit and adaptability. In the last 100 years, India has managed to win only 3 out of 19 series played on English soil, which highlights just how challenging this contest has been for us.

“With a young and dynamic squad, this tour represents a significant turning point for Indian cricket. I look forward to witnessing how this group rises to the occasion and sets new benchmarks for future generations,” said Pujara in a statement by Sony Sports Network, where he will be seen as a panelist for the broadcasters’ coverage of the five-game series.

Former Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody has declared Jitesh Sharma’s unbeaten 85, giving Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) a top-two finish with a six-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), as the best innings of the ongoing IPL 2025 season.

At the BRSABV Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, Jitesh’s breathtaking knock, laced with six sixes and eight fours, ensured RCB chased down 228, the third-highest successful run chase in their IPL history. The win helped RCB set up a date with Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1 on Thursday, it also made them the first-ever IPL team to win all seven away matches in an IPL season.

"The innings is, for me, the innings of the IPL this season by a stretch. We've seen some great knocks from young and old, but this one, wow, quite remarkable! "The team was totally against it - backs against the wall, Kohli in the sheds, (Phil) Salt in the sheds.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru stand-in skipper Jitesh Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first against Lucknow Super Giants in Match 70 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday.

RCB have made two changes in their playing XI even as regular skipper Rajat Patidar continues to start on the substitute bench and is likely to come in as Impact Sub. With Josh Hazlewood left out despite recovering from his injury, Liam Livingstone replaces Tim David, while Nuwan Thushara comes in for Lungi Ngidi.

The opening day of Norway Chess kicked off with a thrilling first round as the year’s most anticipated chess showdown kept the packed crowd at the Sparebank 1 Sor-Norge headquarters on the edge of their seats.

The face-off between World No. 1, Magnus Carlsen and reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, lived up to the billing with the game going down to the wire. Magnus Carlsen, playing with the white pieces, showed his endgame expertise. Under time pressure, Gukesh made a losing mistake, and Carlsen accurately finished the game in his favour.

In the all-American matchup, Hikaru Nakamura said that he offered a draw to Fabiano Caruana during the game, but Caruana did not accept it. Nakamura eventually secured a crucial victory in the endgame with the black pieces.

The first game of the evening to conclude was Wei Yi against Arjun Erigaisi, which ended in a draw. In the exciting following Armageddon game Erigaisi defended excellently against the pressure put up by Wei, winning the Armageddon game.

Carlo Ancelotti said Monday that his sole aim as Brazil's new head coach is to lead the team to its sixth World Cup title, ending a 24-year wait to return to football's summit.

Ancelotti was officially unveiled at a news conference in Rio de Janeiro, two days after ending his tenure at Real Madrid, where he won 15 trophies across two spells, reports.

"It's an honor to be manager of the best national team in the world," the 65-year-old said.

"I don't have any doubt about what is expected of me. The goal is to win the World Cup next year, to help Brazil get back to the top. I'm excited about the opportunity."

Ahead of a high stakes IPL 2025 clash between Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes the Shreyas Iyer-led side has to really work hard on sorting their death bowling issues.

PBKS find themselves in an IPL playoffs after 11 years and a win over MI at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Monday will make them the first team to secure a top-two finish in the points table. But Iyer & Co. are coming after failing to defend 206 against Delhi Capitals on Saturday.

What will also keep PBKS worried is that leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal hasn’t been available due to a small niggle. “Punjab Kings’ batting looks good — that’s one area that’s fairly organised. Bowling is the worry.”

FC Barcelona ended the season with a 3-0 win away to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday in a game where neither side had anything significant at stake.

The match began after both teams gave a guard of honour to Athletic Bilbao defender Oscar de Marcos, who was making his 573rd and final appearance after 16 years with the club.

Two goals in just three minutes from Robert Lewandowski put Barca 2-0 ahead in the first half, with the third coming from Dani Olmo's penalty, moments after De Marcos received an emotional send-off as he left the pitch at San Mames for the last time, reports.

Alexander Sorloth ended the season with a hat trick to take his tally of league goals to 20 as Atletico Madrid won 4-0 away to Girona, while Yeremy Pino, Pape Gueye (twice) and Alex Baena scored in Villarreal's 4-2 victory at home to Sevilla.

"Dear cricket, give me one more chance": On December 10, 2022, Karun Nair pleaded with the cricketing gods for him to get one more opportunity to play in the Indian national team. Over two-and-a-half years later, he has been recalled into the Test setup for a date with destiny, after being out of the Test squad for nearly 3000 days, and that too for India's tour of England, the toughest challenge for any overseas batter.

The 33-year-old batter, however, is not one to stand down in the face of adversity.

Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth advanced to his first men’s singles final at a BWF event in six years with a straight-game victory over Japan’s Yushi Tanaka at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament on Saturday.

The 32-year-old, a silver medallist at the 2023 World Championships, produced a stellar performance, displaying flashes of his vintage form with sharp net play and aggressive shot-making to overcome world No. 23 Tanaka 21-18, 24-22 in a gripping encounter.

This marks Srikanth’s first BWF World Tour final appearance since he finished runner-up at the 2019 India Open. His last title came in 2017, a year which saw him lift four silverwares.

Right-handed batter Shubman Gill has been appointed as India’s 37th Test captain as chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the 18-member squad on Saturday for the crucial five-match tour of England, starting on June 20.

Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been named as the vice-captain. The Agarkar-led selection committee, along with BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia as the meeting convener, picked the squad in a meeting at the BCCI HQ in Mumbai, before announcing it in a formal press conference addressed by him and Shiv Sunder Das.

"We discussed every option that's there, over the last year or so, we've looked at Shubman at various times. Taken a lot of feedback from the dressing room. Very young, but there's been improvement.”