Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) wicket-keeper batter Jitesh Sharma was pursuing a life in the forces and perhaps he would have succeeded had it not been for his attempts to secure an extra four percent in 10th standard.

In Maharashtra, extra marks are awarded to students excelling in sports and Jitesh, along with his friends, decided to go for the trials where his life changed completely.

“I was in 10th standard that year. I wanted to go for NDA. I was interested in the Air Force and Defence. In Maharashtra, if you represent in 10th or 12th standard, you get 25 marks, 4 percent extra.

“One day, my friend said, ‘Let’s do a cricket trial. We’ll get 4 percent extra.’ I said, okay. We went there and they were writing names on the register — who is a batsman, who is a bowler. The one with the least number of names was ‘wicketkeeper.’

RAIA Sports Ground played host to the grand finale of the Dream Sports Championship Football 2025 National Final. The tournament saw Jharkhand FA triumph in the girls' category while Punjab FC successfully defended their title in the boys' category.

The Girls National Finals produced a thrilling contest between Jharkhand FA and Odisha FA, with Jharkhand emerging victorious after securing a narrow 1-0 win. Anamika Sanga proved to be the hero for Jharkhand, scoring the match's only goal in the 20th minute. Despite Odisha's best efforts to equalise, Jharkhand's defence, led by skipper Chandani Kumari, held firm till the end.

"Winning the championship was crucial for our team. Our strategy to keep the ball forward protected our narrow lead," said Chandani, skipper of Jharkhand, after her team's victory.

Jasmine Paolini and Emma Navarro lived up to their seeded billing at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Tuesday evening, quickly picking up first-round wins at the WTA 500 indoor-clay event in Stuttgart, Germany.

No. 5 seed Paolini of Italy needed only 1 hour and 4 minutes to dismiss Eva Lys 6-2, 6-1 amd moved a a step closer to matching her quarterfinal run from last year, WTA reports.

Paolini won a whopping 73 percent of points returning the Lys first serve, and the Italian was rewarded with a 6-for-8 break point conversion success rate. She improved to 2-0 against Lys (4-0 in sets).

World No. 6 Paolini will take on a German wild card for a second match in a row when she meets Jule Niemeier in the second round.

The Jhajjar girls Suruchi and Manu Bhaker, were on the rampage at the Las Palmas shooting range, the former picking up back-to-back World Cup golds stunning the double Olympic medallist pistol shooter Manu, who took the silver.

Taking aim on competition day one of the year’s second International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun stage, Suruchi tallied 243.6 in the 24-shot 10m air pistol women’s final, to leave her senior double Olympic medal-winning compatriot 1.3 behind in the chase. China’s Yao Qianxun took bronze.

Suruchi and Manu’s 1-2 finish in the women’s air pistol meant that India collected one medal of each colour on the day, with Saurabh Chaudhary earlier winning a bronze in the men’s event. That took them on top of the standings for now, with China, which had won the men’s air pistol gold, in second.

Harshit Rana claimed three wickets while the spin duo of Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine bagged two scalps each as Kolkata Knight Riders bundled out Punjab Kings for 111 in 15.3 overs in the IPL 2025 fixture at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Opted to bat first, Punjab Kings had a flying start with openers Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya pressing on throttle against Anrich Nortje and Vaibhav Arora in the powerplay. It was Arya who took the charge on speedster Nortje, who was making his KKR debut, and slammed two fours in his first over.

Punjab Kings have won the toss and elected to bat first against Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2025 clash here at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

The home side made two changes as Josh Inglis and Australia batter Xavier Bartlett were both handed handed their tournament debuts.

"We are going to bat first. Feel the wicket has been really well for the last couple of matches, the dew comes in but the outfield doesn't skid through. Don't remember the team changes, I will tell later. We need to take as many catches in the fielding and create some sort of brilliance," said Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer at the toss.

Mark Boucher, the former head coach of Mumbai Indians, believes the Hardik Pandya-led will approach Thursday’s IPL 2025 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at their home turf Wankhede Stadium with a big boost in confidence following their come-from-behind 12-run win over Delhi Capitals.

At the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday, DC were cruising in their chase of 206 by reaching 113/1 at the half-way mark. But after that, a spirited comeback from MI’s bowlers, led by leg-spinner Karn Sharma’s 3-36, along with a tactical ball change after the 13th over, helped them trigger DC’s batting implosion and register just the second win of the ongoing season.

MI are now back home to take on SRH, who are arriving after chasing 245 against Punjab Kings, with left-handed opener Abhishek Sharma slamming a blazing 141. “Mumbai Indians will be in a good space at the moment, especially after winning a close game. Sometimes in the competition, they have been on the losing end of the close games – I mean, the games they have lost have gone down the wire.”

“That’s why Hardik said if they had hit some (more runs), they would have been on the winning side and the result would have changed. So, it was nice for them to come from a situation where halfway, they would have struggled to get a positive result in this game.”

As the race for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 intensifies through the ongoing Qualifier, several standout performers have been rewarded with significant leaps in the latest ICC Women’s ODI Rankings — a testament to their match-winning contributions on the big stage.

Leading the pack is West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews, who continues to stake a strong claim for the No.1 all-rounder spot currently held by Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner. Matthews has been in imperious form in Pakistan, smashing an unbeaten century and picking up 10 wickets in her first three games.

Her all-round brilliance has elevated her to 432 rating points, narrowing the gap on South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp (444) and Gardner (470), and firmly placing her ahead of England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt (375), who sits fourth.

The Indian Supercross Racing League (ISRL), the world’s first franchise-based Supercross league, Season 2 kicks off with the opening of rider registration on April 24, promising new international faces, and the return of celebrated talent from across the globe.

The rider registration process covers four competitive categories: 450cc International Riders, 250cc International Riders, 250cc India-Asia Mix and 85cc Junior Class.

Riders can register to be part of the mega auction, where teams will build their dream squads for the 2025 season. Registration does not guarantee participation, it is the first step in joining the official rider pool for team selection during the auction process.

After an inaugural run that brought together over 100 elite riders from nine countries and electrified fans across Indian cities, season 2 is poised to reach greater heights with enhanced ambition, a bigger format, and added star power.

India will tour Bangladesh for a white-ball series comprising three ODIs and as many T20Is, scheduled from August 17 to 31 in Mirpur and Chattogram, as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the schedule on Tuesday.

The Indian team will arrive in Dhaka on August 13 ahead of the ODI series opener on August 17 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. The third and final ODI will be played in Chattogram, which will also host the first game of the three-match T20I series on August 26. The action will head back to Mirpur for the second and third T20Is.