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Over the next two months, up until November 14, the different perspectives of T20 cricket will find dynamic expression upon the desert sands of the United Arab Emirates. First up is the remaining part of the IPL, then the T20 World Cup.

In this issue

02-10-202118 STORIES

On a high: NorthEast United players celebrate their title triumph after the Durand Cup final against Mohun Bagan in Kolkata on August 31, 2024.

Indian Football

NorthEast United FC’s Durand Cup title a product of long-term planning and investment

NorthEast United FC defeated 17-time winner Mohun Bagan Super Giant at Salt Lake Stadium to clinch its maiden Durand Cup in the season-opening tournam

Adding value: With Tabraiz Shamsi, the South African spinner, who has emerged as the top-ranked bowler in the T20Is joining the side, Rajasthan Royals’ spin department will be bolstered.

IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals (RR) team preview, new signings, withdrawals and all you need to know

Placed fifth in the table, Royals have plenty to catch up if it needs to make it to the knock-out stage, and the conditions in the UAE could be a hug

India's Sumit Antil sets a World Record of 68.55 meters and wins the gold medal during the Men's Javelin Throw F44 in the Athletics during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. (Joel Marklund for OIS via AP)

India’s medal rush in Paralympics

If India’s Olympians did the country proud by bringing home a record seven medals from Tokyo, the Paralympians did even better. They won 19 medals. Th

P. K. Ajith Kumar

The West Indies has recalled Ravi Rampaul for the ICC T20 World Cup starting in October in the UAE and Oman.

World of Cricket: WI announces gun squad for T20 WC defence

While West Indies sprung a surprise by including Ravi Rampaul in its squad and omitting Sunil Narine, Bangladesh registered its first bilateral series

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Lone bright spot: Only Rashid Khan (10 wickets in seven matches at 6.14) shone among the bowlers for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first leg of this season’s IPL.

Far from playoff spot

A playoff spot seems tough, as it would need to win at least six of its remaining seven games.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring the second goal with Jadon Sancho, Luke Shaw and Bruno Fernandes during the match against Newcastle United at Old Trafford stadium in Manchester.

Ronaldo scores brace in United homecoming, Juventus suffers second consecutive loss

The stage was set, Old Trafford was rocking with the ‘Viva Ronaldo’ chants and Ronaldo’s return was sweeter than ever. He scored a brace as Manchester

Doing it right: Any session begins with warm up and ends with cool down. It’s a significant aspect of the overall training process and is a necessity, it cannot be treated as a choice. We all know the benefits of warm up and cool down and its importance.

Importance of training programme

The concept of designing a training programme is a fine art and needs to done with utmost care, understanding the athlete’s needs at every stage of th

Ramji Srinivasan

Ramji Srinivasan

Home win: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen (C) sprays champagne on the podium next to Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton (l) and Valtteri Bottas after winning the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix at the Zandvoort racetrack, Netherlands.

Max Verstappen holds out for now

Max Verstappen has a slender five-point advantage over Lewis Hamilton going into the Russian Grand Prix. But also faces a three-place grid penalty for

Gearing up: “Last season was very difficult for everyone. From the middle of December until March, it was the toughest period in England and we won all the games, not just the Premier League, but across competitions. That shows how strong we were and that’s why we deserved to win the Premier League. We have to do something similar to retain the title, we know it,” says Manchester City manager Guardiola.

Pep Guardiola: ‘It’ll be another 90-plus points season’

Pep Guardiola is heading into his sixth season as Manchester City manager and the club has never slipped past the top-three positions in the League si

Shyam Vasudevan

Shyam Vasudevan

All in the mind: “For me recently, when I win I don’t feel happy,” tennis star Naomi Osaka said. “I feel more like relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad. I don’t think that’s normal.”

Success must inspire both happiness and relief

It is when the relief dominates that you suspect you are not enjoying what you are doing — whether in sport or novel-writing or any profession you hav

Suresh Menon

Going strong: Mumbai Indians players during a practice at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The defending champion will be eyeing yet another title.

T20’s desert safari

This may not exactly be a ‘1001 Arabian Nights’, but for sheer drama both the IPL and the T20 World Cup should offer some magic between the twilight a

K. C. Vijaya Kumar

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma in action.

IPL 2021: Mumbai Indians (MI) team preview, new signings, withdrawals and all you need to know

IPL 2021: Being one of the ﬁrst few teams to reach the UAE, Mumbai Indians had a long training session in the Emirates before beginning its campaign,

MS Dhoni-led CSK will eye a playoff berth this season.

IPL 2021: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) team preview, new signings, withdrawals and all you need to know

IPL 2021: Flexibility was the hallmark of the Super Kings’ campaign earlier this year. Here’s how they stack up ahead of the second leg of the tournam

Ayan Acharya

Needs consistency: Left-hander Nitish Rana has got starts, but he needs to be more responsible in shot-making.

IPL 2021: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team preview, new signings, withdrawals and all you need to know

IPL 2021: With four points after winning only two out of seven games, the Knight Riders need to clinch at least six games in the second leg to keep it

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Valuable player: Punjab should use leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi’s services a bit more in the second half of the tournament. The 21-year-old from Rajasthan made his debut in the 2020 edition in the UAE, where he picked up 12 wickets in 14 outings.

IPL 2021: Punjab Kings (PK) team preview, new signings, withdrawals and all you need to know

IPL 2021: Punjab has a mountain to climb to earn a spot in the playoffs. Will the new hirings — Adil Rashid and Nathan Ellis — change the side’s fortu

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

IPL 2021: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) team preview, new signings, withdrawals and all you need to know

IPL 2021: If Kohli, de Villiers and Maxwell play true to form and class, RCB could well go all the way this year. Here’s how they stack up ahead of th

Ayan Acharya

IPL 2021: Delhi Capitals (DC) team preview, new signings, withdrawals and all you need to know

IPL 2021: Delhi Capitals has been the team to beat this year in the IPL and will be confident of securing the top spot for a comfortable ride to the f

Abhishek Mukherjee

Medvedev and Raducanu in New York: History and Herstory made at U.S. Open

The technical and tactical brilliance of Daniil Medvedev thwarted Novak Djokovic’s quest to complete a rare Grand Slam at the U.S. Open. But for most

Paul Fein

Archive

+ READ THIS ISSUE 09-11-2024

+ READ THIS ISSUE 26-10-2024

+ READ THIS ISSUE 12-10-2024

+ READ THIS ISSUE 28-09-2024

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