The final day of the league stage in the Madhya Pradesh League 2025 concluded with Bhopal Leopards and Chambal Ghariyals joining Rewa Jaguars and Gwalior Cheetahs as the four semi-finalists. The last two matches, played at the Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, brought the group phase to an exciting close.

In the day’s first fixture, Bhopal Leopards were scheduled to face Indore Pink Panthers, but persistent rain led to the match being abandoned without a ball being bowled. As a result, both teams shared a point each. With this outcome, Bhopal Leopards moved to six points, ensuring qualification to the knockouts, while Indore Pink Panthers, with only four points from six matches, exited the tournament.

Hockey India on Monday extended heartfelt congratulations to veteran forward Lalit Kumar Upadhyay as he announced his retirement from international hockey, bringing the curtains down on a remarkable career that spanned over a decade—from 2014 to 2025.

Lalit, who hails from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, announced his decision through a heartfelt social media post shortly after India’s final match of the European leg of the FIH Pro League 2024-25 season against Belgium. Though he featured in four matches during the tour, his final appearance in the Indian jersey came against Australia on June 15.

Lalit played 183 matches for India at the senior level, scoring 67 goals. Over the years, he became a trusted name in India’s forward line, known for his versatility, on-field intelligence, and calm demeanour in high-pressure situations.

From making his debut at the 2014 Hockey World Cup to standing tall on the Olympic podium twice, Lalit’s career is a timeline of some of Indian hockey’s biggest milestones in the modern era.

Manchester City are through to the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Round of 16 with a game to spare after a resounding 6-0 win over Al Ain on Monday (IST), that also confirms Juventus’ qualification.

Ilkay Gundogan (2), Claudio Echeverri, Erling Haaland, Oscar Bobb and Rayan Cherki all opened their FIFA Club World Cup 2025 accounts as hopes of knockout-stage football were extinguished for both their outplayed Emirati opponents and City’s opening-game victims, Wydad AC.

Pep Guardiola’s side weren’t always at their sparkling best, but the outcome was never really in doubt from the moment Gundogan gave them an eighth-minute lead. Only the German will know for sure whether the goal was a perfectly judged chip, an attempted cross or, quite possibly, a little of both.

Ten-man Real Madrid defeated Mexico's Pachuca 3-1 in their Group H clash at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup on Monday (IST).

Madrid entered the match at Bank of America Stadium sitting second in the group behind FC Salzburg, following a 1-1 draw against Al Hilal in their opener. The Spanish giant was without star striker Kylian Mbappe, who is recovering from gastroenteritis.

Center back Raul Asencio was shown a straight red card just seven minutes into the match for fouling Venezuelan striker Salomon Rondon as the last defender outside the box, reports.

Despite being down a man, Vinicius Jr. nearly capitalised on a defensive error a few minutes later. Pachuca goalkeeper Carlos Moreno miscontrolled a soft back pass but managed to poke the ball away just before Vinicius could reach it.

Veteran forward Neymar is close to extending his contract with Santos, the Brazilian Serie A club's president Marcelo Teixeira said.

The 33-year-old's current deal is set to expire on June 30 and local media have linked him with a possible move to Major League Soccer.

But Santos has intensified efforts to retain the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star in recent days and is confident a deal will be finalised soon.

"We are talking to Neymar's representatives," club president Teixeira told Radio Bandeirantes, reports. "We are making great progress with our negotiations and are very close to a new agreement that would allow Neymar to stay for a new period."

A double from Kenan Yildiz - including a sensational strike - inspired Juventus to 4-1 win despite Wydad AC netting their first goal.

For the second game in a row, Wydad got off to the worst possible start when Juventus scored with their very first attack in the sixth minute. A patient build-up saw Kephren Thuram thread a clever reverse pass to Yildiz. The Turkish star's shot took a nick off Abdelmounaim Boutouil and the ball squeezed in at the near post.

If he was unlucky not to get the credit for the opener, there was no doubting where the credit belonged ten minutes later when Yildiz produced an early goal of the tournament contender, FIFA reports.

Good work from Andrea Cambiaso created the chance, and the Juve youngster absolutely fizzed an unstoppable effort into the top-right corner to give keeper Mehdi Benabid no chance.

Former England fast-bowler Stuart Broad believes the hosts will find batting considerably more challenging as compared to India in the ongoing first Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at Headingley. Rain and gloomy weather meant that England’s first innings would now begin at 7:25 pm IST. Previously, India were bowled out for 471 in 113 overs, with captain Shubman Gill (147), vice-captain Rishabh Pant (134), and Yashasvi Jaiswal (101).

For England, captain Ben Stokes (4-66) and Josh Tongue (4-86) were the standout bowlers, especially in ensuring India lost their last seven wickets for 41 runs.

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has declared that Rishabh Pant, who hit an entertaining 134 on day two of the first Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at Headingley, is the greatest wicketkeeper-batter India has ever seen in longer format.

On Saturday, Pant hit his seventh Test century off 146 and now holds the record for most Test hundreds as a wicketkeeper for India, going past the legendary MS Dhoni's tally of six centuries. It was also Pant’s third Test hundred in England – which is huge considering no other visiting wicketkeeper has more than one Test century in the country.

The opening Test of the 2025–27 World Test Championship cycle between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at Galle ended in a tense draw, with Sri Lanka managing to bat out 32 overs in the final session and finish at 72/4.

Though the result may seem straightforward on paper, it was far from uneventful, as Bangladesh pushed hard with the ball, and Sri Lanka weathered the storm just in time.

Chasing a theoretical target of 296 from 37 overs, Sri Lanka never seriously looked to go after the runs, but their path to safety wasn’t smooth either. They lost four wickets in the final session, with Taijul Islam and Nayeem Hasan exploiting the sharply turning surface expertly. Taijul was Bangladesh’s standout bowler, finishing with 3 for 23, including the key scalps of Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal in quick succession.

Captain Shubman Gill’s career-best 147 and vice-captain Rishabh Pant’s astonishing 134 propelled India to 454/7 in 108.4 overs at lunch on day two of the first Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at Headingley on Saturday. Resuming from 359/3, India had a session of two halves – 53/0 before the drinks break was taken. By then, Pant hit his seventh Test century and went past MS Dhoni (six) for the most Test centuries hit by an Indian wicketkeeper.

The flamboyant Pant’s third Test hundred in England, laced with magnificence and madness in stroke-play in equal measure, is a feat no other visiting keeper has achieved before. But after the drinks break, India lost four wickets, including both centurions Gill and Pant, for 42 runs, giving England a chance of bowling out India below 500.