With the summer transfer window fast approaching, Manchester City are now reportedly readying a formal proposal to sign a talented South American defender for Pep Guardiola.

Pep reveals Man City's FA Cup pride

Whilst it’s been a fairly disappointing season in the Premier League and arguably Guardiola’s toughest, Manchester City still have the FA Cup final to look forward to this weekend. In what is the third year in a row that the Citizens have reached the final at Wembley, they will be desperate to avoid an upset against Crystal Palace and fall at the final hurdle for the second consecutive year.

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Guardiola knows exactly what the occasion means and spoke about how proud he and his side are of their FA Cup achievements in recent years. The Spaniard told reporters earlier this week: “I say it every time we are in this position, but I will say it again: it is such a privilege to be able to play in this incredible stadium and have a chance to win this beautiful trophy,” said Guardiola, ahead of his squad’s trip to north-west London.

“This is our third year in a row in the FA Cup Final, which is something we are very, very proud of. In the FA Cup, you play all the top teams from the Premier League and the Championship and always there are times when it is difficult.

“To have made three Finals in a row shows how consistent we have been. It says everything about this generation of players and the club itself. The FA Cup is the most challenging and beautiful domestic cup competition in the world, there is no doubt about that.”

Away from their potential Wembley success this weekend, meanwhile, those at The Etihad have already reportedly set their sights on welcoming a defensive reinforcement when the summer transfer window arrives.

Man City readying Wesley proposal

According to Coluna do Fla, as relayed by Sport Witness, Manchester City are now readying a formal proposal worth €35m (£29m) to sign Wesley Franca from Flamengo this summer. The Brazilian right-back is reportedly keen on a move to Man City, but has also attracted interest from Manchester United and Liverpool as a result of his impressive campaign.

Their £29m proposal will reportedly fall short of Flamengo’s valuation, however, with the Brazilian club demanding as much as €45m (£38m) to sell Wesley before the Club World Cup begins.

Dubbed “pacy” by South American football expert Nathan Joyes, Wesley looks set to have quite a decision to make this summer. With a whole host of Premier League clubs chasing his signature, the 21-year-old looks destined for England and may well end up in a Manchester City side who desperately need a right-back.

Gujarat Titans are in sixth place with eight points, while Delhi Capitals are in eighth place with six points

Shashank Kishore23-Apr-20241:29

Should Titans go with Williamson or Omarzai?

Match DetailsDelhi Capitals (eighth) vs Gujarat Titans (sixth)
New Delhi, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)Big picture – Axar, Kuldeep vs Rashid, NoorThere’s only so much wriggle room in the mid-table, with Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans desperately needing winning momentum in the second half of the league phase.The Capitals have swung from sublime to ridiculous. They have four of the best powerplay performances by a bowling team this season, but they also have the second highest economy rate in the first six overs, after conceding 125 and 88 against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders.The Capitals had nearly taken their net run rate positive after dismissing Gujarat Titans for the season’s lowest total last week in Ahmedabad, but that high was short lived as Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma fired Sunrisers to 266 for 7 at the Kotla.While they lost that chase against SRH, the Capitals provided a peek into what their future could look like, with Jake Fraser-McGurk, Tristan Stubbs and Abishek Porel batting like daredevils. But the youngsters are likely to be tested by the Titans, who have a spin attack comprising Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad and R Sai Kishore.Capitals also have the spinners to match the Titans. Axar Patel had dream figures of 4-0-29-1 in a game where over 450 runs were scored, while Kuldeep Yadav bounced back after a first-over shellacking from Abhishek to take four wickets. They could capitalise against one of the slowest top orders this season and a middle order that has lacked the role-clarity that was so crucial to their success in the previous two years. The spinners on both sides, however, will have to contend with a venue that has traditionally been a nightmare to bowl on with its short square boundaries.Related

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Form GuideCapitals LWWLL (last five matches, most recent first)
Titans WLWLLPrevious meetingTitans were bowled out for 89, a total that the Capitals chased down in 8.5 overs. The fast bowlers Mukesh Kumar, Ishant Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed made the difference for DC that evening in Ahmedabad.Team news and impact player strategy – A game for Kushagra?Delhi Capitals
Mitchell Marsh is unavailable for the remainder of their campaign due to a hamstring strain. Ishant is also a doubtful starter as he continues to manage back spasms.Prithvi Shaw is likely to be subbed in or out for one of Khaleel Ahmed or Mukesh Kumar depending on whether Capitals bat or bowl first. If they are in trouble batting first and need an extra batter as an impact player, they could consider bringing in Jharkhand’s Kumar Kushagra.Probable XII: 1 David Warner, 2 , 3 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Abishek Porel, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Sumit Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Mukesh Kumar, 12 Gujarat Titans
Titans are likely to swap Sai Sudharsan and Mohit Sharma as the Impact Player, depending on whether they bat or bowl first. While Sudharsan’s performances have been middling, Mohit has the fifth-best economy rate in the death overs among those who have bowled at least 10 overs since IPL 2023.Probable XII: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Wriddhiman Saha, 3 , 4 Azmatullah Omarzai, 5 David Miller, 6 Shahrukh Khan, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 R Sai Kishore, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Noor Ahmad, 12 David Warner has scored 37 runs in his last four innings•BCCIIn the Spotlight – Warner and GillDavid Warner has scores of 1, 8, 10 and 18 in his last four innings. He has played the last two games with a finger injury he picked up while attempting a lap sweep on April 12. Jake Fraser-McGurk is making heads turn with his powerplay hitting – a strike rate of 236 off his first 10 deliveries – and presenting a case to be considered for the opening slot. While there’s no imminent threat to Warner’s place, another low score could give Capitals something to think about.Shubman Gill was outstanding in IPL 2023, where he had a strike rate of more than 160 in six of his seven fifty-plus scores. This season, he has managed only one half-century in eight games, with his total tally at 289 runs. His form has somewhat mirrored his team’s batting fortunes and a big second half for Gill could be the boost Titans need to make a pitch for the playoffs for the third successive season.Stats that matter The head-to-head between Anrich Nortje and Shubman Gill reads: three dismissals in six innings at an average of 11.30. The Capitals’ powerplay economy of 10.37 is the second highest among all teams this season. Umesh Yadav has a favourable match-up against Warner, with five dismissals in 11 innings.Rishabh Pant has fallen three times to legspin this season.Pitch and conditions – Rain on the radar?Last year, the re-laid pitches at the Kotla offered lateral movement and bounce for the seamers. This season, the Capitals played their first few home games in Vishakapatnam to give the pitches in Delhi time to recover after hosting the WPL. On their return to Delhi last week, records tumbled when Sunrisers smashed 266, and the curator expects another run-fest. There was a thunderstorm that forced both teams to abort their training sessions on match-eve.Quotes”There are still a lot of things to learn for Jake Fraser-McGurk. He isn’t a finished product and there is no better place to learn than the IPL. He needs to make it big like [Yashasvi] Jaiswal last night. He is a terrific kid; I like the way he is learning. We aren’t stopping him from doing the things he wants to do but we are also trying to make him learn a few things on the run.”

It’s been an unusual season for Arsenal this year.

On the domestic front, injuries and some lacklustre form in periods have cost them any real chance of lifting the Premier League title at the third time of asking.

However, in Europe, there is now a real feeling that Mikel Arteta’s side could go all the way in the Champions League after dismantling Real Madrid in the first leg of their quarter-final earlier this week.

Yet, as well as the team played on Tuesday, there was still one starter who was a little underwhelming and even received a 6/10 match rating from the Express’ Charlie Parker-Turner: Martin Odegaard.

It’s been a campaign to forget for the Gunners’ captain and two-time Player of the Season, but based on recent reports, the club could sign someone in the summer who may well get him back to his very best next season.

Arsenal transfer news

Surprisingly, given their immense record at the back and need for attacking reinforcements, one of the players most recently touted for a move to the Emirates this summer has been Dean Huijsen.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

The Bournemouth star, whom FBref has places in the top 1% of centre-backs across Europe’s top five leagues for interceptions and the top 2% for non-penalty expected goals plus assists per 90, reportedly has a £50m release clause in his contract.

However, fans shouldn’t worry as the North Londoners also seem hell-bent on signing a new striker as well, with Benjamin Sesko reportedly still on their list of targets, per David Ornstein.

Yet it appears that another striker from the continent has now jumped ahead of the Slovenian on the Gunners’ list of transfer targets, someone who could get Odegaard back to his best: Viktor Gyokeres.

Yes, according to a recent report from the Portuguese outlet A Bola, Arsenal have maintained their intense interest in the Sporting CP star.

In fact, the report goes a step further, revealing that the Premier League side have now prepared an offer for the player, who could leave the Lisbon outfit for anything from €70m – £61m – to €100m – £87m.

So, it would require an extraordinary amount of money to sign Gyokeres this summer, but given his immense ability, it would be worth it, especially as he could get the best out of Odegaard again.

Why Gyokeres would revive Odegaard

So, it’s no secret that Odegaard has struggled somewhat this season. Compared to his 23 goal involvements in 48 games last year, he currently has just 13 in 35 games.

So, with that said, how would Gyokeres help him get back to his best, if not beyond it? Well, the simple answer is his output.

Since moving to Portugal in the summer of 2023, the former Coventry City star has been a lean, mean goalscoring machine, and even when Ruben Amorim left earlier this season, he’s continued to be simply unstoppable.

Gyokeres since 23/24
Appearances	94
Minutes	7689′
Goals	87
Assists	26
Goal Involvements per Match	1.20
Minutes per Goal Involvement	68.04′
All Stats via Transfermarkt

For example, since the start of last season, the “ball-striking monster,” as dubbed by respected analyst Ben Mattinson, has scored a simply staggering 87 goals and provided 26 assists in 94 appearances, totalling 7689 minutes.

In other words, the Stockholm-born “powerhouse,” as dubbed by Mattinson, has maintained an average of 1.2 goal involvements every game, or one every 68.04 minutes, since moving to Lisbon.

Moreover, he’s also been incredible in Europe’s top competition, the Champions League, and has a tally of six goals in just eight appearances, including a hat trick against Manchester City.

So, just imagine a striker as deadly and powerful as the Swede starting ahead of Odegaard next season, the Norwegian’s assist numbers would go through the roof.

Moreover, if the Gunners had a more clinical frontline this year, he’d already have more, as, according to Understat, his four league assists this term have come from an expected assists figure of 6.16.

Ultimately, Odegaard is an incredibly talented player who has not enjoyed a particularly good season, but with someone like Gyokeres in the team next year, he could bounce back and remind everyone why he’s the club’s captain.

White repeat: Arsenal in the leading pack to sign "dominant" £50m phenom

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Jack Salveson Holmes

Apr 11, 2025

Preparing to spend this time around following a year long frustration courtesy of PSR constraints, Newcastle United are now reportedly ready to launch their move for a top defensive target.

All focus on Brighton for Newcastle

With four games remaining in the Premier League, Newcastle need no reminding about just how important each game will be. They have their fate in their own hands and could yet finish as high as second to cap off an excellent campaign. Whether it’s second or fifth, however, Eddie Howe and the rest of those at St James’ Park will care most about sealing Champions League football.

With the European race only set to heat up, Howe recently told reporters upon his return from suffering Pneumonia: “It will go down to the wire. The important thing today was that we bounced back from last week. We have been very consistent, and now we have four huge games.”

The first of those “four huge games” will see the Magpies travel to The Amex where they will square off against a Brighton & Hove Albion side who have won just once in their last five games. Newcastle will still be well aware of the quality that the Seagulls possess though, given that they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Fabian Hurzeler’s side in March.

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Fail to slip-up and Champions League football will be well within Newcastle’s reach and it’s then that they may just turn towards the summer transfer window and a long-awaited defensive addition.

Newcastle ready to launch Schlotterbeck move

According to TeamTalk, Newcastle are now ready to launch a summer move to sign Nico Schlotterbeck from Borussia Dortmund after ending a year-long scouting mission. The central defender is currently sidelined with a torn meniscus which will see him miss up to six months of action, but that is yet to deter the Magpies, who will assess his return date before potentially making their move.

When fit and firing this season, Schlotterbeck was one of few standouts in a disappointing campaign for Dortmund and having watched on for as long as a year, Newcastle should feel satisfied that the defender would hand Howe an instant upgrade.

Minutes

1,982

2,575

2,970

Progressive Passes

8.86

3.32

1.70

Tackles Won

1.09

0.66

0.58

Ball Recoveries

7.14

4.30

2.76

What instantly stands out when looking at this season’s numbers is just how well Schlotterbeck progresses play – completing over double the amount of progressive passes that Fabian Schar and Dan Burn have managed per 90.

The 25-year-old’s quality is clear and is something that former Newcastle defender Dietmar Hamann noted when Schlotterbeck came up against the Magpies last season. The German said: “He is a great player, very good in tackling and strong in heading.

“He’s probably one of the best centre-backs in terms of ball-playing skills, not just in Germany, but in all of Europe. I really hope he can finally take the next step now.”

da bet vitoria： Leeds United are currently preparing for a huge summer transfer window as they look ahead to trying to avoid instant relegation from the Premier League.

da poker： The Whites won the Championship title, with a staggering 100 points, with their win over Plymouth Argyle on the final day, and now have a top-flight season to look forward to.

Daniel Farke and his staff must recruit players who they feel can bolster the squad to improve their chances of survival, and the West Yorkshire outfit are reportedly looking to bring a former star back to Elland Road.

Leeds considering move for Premier League midfielder

According to journalist Graeme Bailey, Leeds United are “considering” a deal to sign Manchester City defensive midfielder Kalvin Phillips in the upcoming summer transfer window.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

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The reporter claims that the England international would be “ready” to return to West Yorkshire ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, having left the club to join the Cityzens in the summer of 2022.

Bailey’s report on The Boot Room adds that a permanent deal would be difficult for the Whites to do, because the midfielder has three years left on his contract at The Etihad, and that they are currently eyeing up a loan move for their former academy graduate.

Phillips has spent the current season on loan with Ipswich Town, who have already been relegated from the Premier League, but his previous form for Leeds in the top-flight suggests that he could star alongside Ao Tanaka at Elland Road.

Why Kalvin Phillips could thrive with Ao Tanaka

The Japanese midfielder enjoyed a fantastic season in the Championship with the Whites and showed potential to make the step up to the Premier League, with his passing and defensive qualities.

Tanaka ended the 2024/25 campaign with a pass completion rate of 90% and a duel success rate of 55% across 43 appearances, which shows that he was efficient in and out of possession in the middle of the park.

Leeds will need their midfielders to be reliable on the ball and strong off it in the top-flight, as they will be battling against relegation, and that is also why Tanaka could thrive alongside a physical operator like Phillips, who was once dubbed “exceptional” by U23 scout Antonio Mango.

Stats

Phillips (20/21 Premier League)

Tanaka (24/25 Championship)

Appearances

29

43

Pass accuracy

85%

90%

Tackles per game

2.6

2.2

Interceptions per game

1.6

1.3

Duels won per game

5.3

4.5

Duel success rate

52%

55%

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, the English maestro’s defensive form for Marcelo Bielsa in the Premier League during the 2020/21 campaign was even more impressive than the current Leeds star’s in the second tier this term.

This suggests that the potential is there for them to be a robust midfield pairing who can provide protection in front of the back four, whilst also being reliable with their passing into the front players, which could be needed as they battle it out for vital points.

Of course, there are question marks over whether or not Phillips can get back to that level, having struggled of late in loans with Ipswich and West Ham, losing 57% of his duels in the top-flight for the former and 52% of his battles for the latter.

Perhaps a return to familiar surroundings at Elland Road, where he has been successful at the top level in the past, could help him to return to form.

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Signing him on loan, therefore, could be a worthwhile gamble and one that could pay off for Leeds and Farke as it could result in him and Tanaka forming an impressive midfield partnership.

The wristspinner has barely played any first-class cricket since his Test debut, and he’s looking to make up for it now, playing for India A

Varun Shetty at the Chinnaswamy04-Sep-2018It is the third day of India A’s first unofficial Test against Australia A, and Kuldeep Yadav goes round the wicket to Marnus Labuschagne. He pushes cover a few yards back, to where the 30-yard circle would be in limited-overs cricket, and pushes long-off back onto the boundary. Labuschagne, Australia A’s No. 6, has been driving freely all through his innings of 37.Now, Kuldeep’s loopy trajectory brings Labuschagne forward, looking to pick up a single into the open straight field on the off side. The ball dips and lands half a yard short of the batsman’s stride, and spins through the gate to knock back his stumps.In that moment is contained all the skill and nous Sachin Tendulkar might have been referring to around a month ago when he said Kuldeep was ready for Test cricket.But how often does Kuldeep get the chance to engineer a wicket like that? The answer? Not much at all.When Kuldeep played the Lord’s Test a couple of weeks ago, it wasn’t just his first Test since August 2017, but also his his first red-ball match in that period. India got through an entire domestic season between those two Test matches. Kuldeep’s previous first-class match before that August 2017 Test in Pallekele, meanwhile, was his Test debut against Australia in Dharamsala, in March 2017.To put it simply, before this unofficial Test in Bengaluru, Kuldeep’s last three first-class games were all Tests, spread over nearly a year-and-a-half. It was the period in which he became a regular in the India limited-overs teams, when he was involved in series against Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Africa and England. With that packed schedule, he might well not have had the chance to join his state side in the Ranji Trophy. It shouldn’t be a surprise at all, then, that Kuldeep with the red ball isn’t yet as threatening as Kuldeep with the white ball.By his own admission, Kuldeep thinks he needs more game time in this format.”You have to change your mindset when you come to play with the red ball,” he said at the end of the day’s play. “You need to be very patient. You’re not going to take wickets every time you come up to bowl. For me it’s very important to be patient and not to try too much.”And that was the brief given to him when he was released from the Test squad before the fourth Test in England.”I spoke to MSK [Prasad, chief selector] sir and Ravi [Shastri] sir. They wanted me to play a lot of cricket. I went there [England] and played one Test match. It was likely that only one spinner would be able to play over there so there wasn’t much of an opportunity there. Here I had the opportunity to play. There was no advantage to sitting on the sidlelines.”I was itching to go out and play because you only improve when you have match time. The growth is much slower when you’re sitting on the sidelines. So this game and the next one are really important to me. This is all adding to my experience. The more I bowl with the red ball, the quicker I get used to it. And West Indies is going to come over to play as well. So if I find my rhythm here, it’ll be easier for me to perform in that series. This is a good step for me. Personally, I’m very happy with the move of playing here. “The return to India hadn’t begun too well. On the first day of the match, when Mohammed Siraj picked up an eight-wicket haul, Kuldeep had struggled to hit consistent lengths and trouble the visitors’ top three, which consisted entirely of left-handers. He had come on first change that day, and was largely ineffective even with the older ball, often dropping the ball too short or pushing it through too quickly. Though he was the only other bowler apart from Siraj to pick up wickets, he was the most expensive of India A’s five frontline bowlers.”For me it’s very challenging to transform to red-ball cricket,” Kuldeep said after the third day’s play. He had taken two late wickets, including the one of Labuschagne, as Australia A pushed to set a fourth-innings target.Associated Press”Mentally you’ve to adjust a little – the conditions were very different in England. It was a Duke’s ball. The wickets are quicker,” Kuldeep said. “Back here in India, the SG ball gets much softer and tougher to bowl with. So those are the challenges. But after practising for a couple of days, I got used to it. I wasn’t that comfortable in the first innings, but with every over, it got better.”If you’re playing white-ball regularly and suddenly you’re selected for Test team and start bowling with the red ball, then it’s challenging. In this match, I bowled around 30-plus overs, and now I’m feeling much better. I’m getting in the rhythm and really enjoying bowling right now.”Kuldeep career is somewhat peculiar in that he has, in a short span of time, oscillated between being the big hope for the future and a work in progress. Before Tendulkar’s comments, Ravi Shastri had proclaimed that Kuldeep, the “tough little nut”, had arrived as a player. After a string of impressive limited-overs performances, so much was expected from India’s left-arm wristspinner that Virat Kohli, long before the start of the Test series in England, had said Kuldeep was making a case for red-ball selection.It might have put Kuldeep in a bit of a spot, then, all these expectations, when he did make it into the XI for the Lord’s Test. Not only had he pipped Ravindra Jadeja to the role of second spinner, but he’d also replaced a seamer in the most seam-friendly conditions of the series. Having not played any red-ball cricket in nearly a year, Kuldeep stood little chance of shining in gloomy London. He ended up with three significant zeroes in that match, two with the bat, and one in the wickets column.There’s no doubt Kuldeep has the ability to bowl well in the longest format, as he showed on his debut in Dharamsala. But he needs regular exposure to red-ball cricket, and bowl a lot of overs, to find his rhythm and maintain it.In the second innings against Australia A, Kuldeep started off tight, then grew a little wayward, and then regained his control. In contrast to the first innings, he appeared to have a plan at all times on the third day. Early on, he eased nicely into a containing role, which his older team-mate K Gowtham had been trusted with in the first innings. Kuldeep hit a good length more often than in the first innings and appeared, overall, to be bowling a lot slower as well. As he grew more confident through the day, he even began going round the wicket to the right-handers. From that angle came the beautifully set up wicket of Labuschagne.The 36.5 overs he has sent down in the first unofficial Test should hold Kuldeep in good stead when he bowls in the second game against Australia A. By the time that match is done, he should be fairly well prepared for West Indies’ arrival. This is how India should nurture their most promising wristspinner. He cannot be learning the craft sporadically and directly at Test level. Few have survived trying to do that.

“My family actually doesn’t get to travel the world and watch me play a lot of international cricket. So to do it in front of them definitely is right up there”

Sidharth Monga23-Jun-20241:15

Has Chris Jordan made himself undroppable?

Perhaps because he has been around for longer, Chris Jordan doesn’t quite get remembered as an England cricketer of Bajan origin as Jofra Archer does. The Kensington Oval was where Jordan first saw a cricket match, incidentally between West Indies and England, and fell in love with the game. He vaguely remembers watching it from the old press box. Perhaps he means the stand and not the actual press box.There is nothing vague about having created a pretty special memory here by taking a hat-trick to end USA’s innings prematurely in a collapse that took out five wickets for no runs, before England eventually won the Super Eight match by ten wickets to seal a semi-final spot. It is naturally special having done it at “home”; those in attendance made it more special for Jordan, because he has never had so many of his family watching him play. It ranks “right up there” with his best days in an England shirt.”Yeah, it’s a good day,” Jordan said. “I think because my family actually doesn’t get to travel the world and watch me play a lot of international cricket. So to do it in front of them definitely is right up there. And then also in a World Cup, in a game to make sure that we can qualify, it’s definitely up there for sure. Ranks high.”Related

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Who all were there then? “Yeah, everyone. The list goes on. My mum, my dad, my sister, brother-in-law, nephew. My nephew’s the one because he called me this morning and said, ‘Make sure you take three wickets today if you’re playing’. And yeah, so I looked up and he’s jumping up, because one day he might be out there trying to do the same thing. So yeah, you end up trying to be a role model and stuff like that. So yeah, it was a nice day.”It was fitting then that the England leadership brought Jordan in for a homecoming, along with Archer. After the defeat to Australia, Jordan missed the Oman game, but was brought back for the rain-shortened crunch match against Namibia. Then he missed games against West Indies and South Africa. It can be challenging for a player to not be sure of a place in the starting XI, but Jordan hasn’t let it affect him.”Not too much of a challenge because I [have] played a lot of cricket now, and I think the communication has been really good from the hierarchy as well,” he said. “I try to control the things that I can control – because even when I’m not playing, I’m trying to be there for guys and help guys with their planning, and make sure that guys are well motivated as well going into the game.”So we don’t really have too much time to even think about being in and out. All I can do is kind of keep training hard and just keep preparing as [though] I’m going to play every game anyway, whichever way the coin falls on the day. So yeah, not too much of a bother for me.”

Guy Whittall, the former Zimbabwe allrounder, has undergone emergency surgery in Harare after being mauled by a leopard while on a hunting expedition.The incident, which occurred earlier this week, comes several years after Whittall survived another brush with the local wildlife, when an eight-foot crocodile was found to have been under his bed while he slept.Whittall, who played 46 Tests and 147 ODIs for Zimbabwe between 1993 and 2003, now runs a safari business with his family in Humani, in the South East of the country, where it is understood he was tracking a leopard that had previously been wounded by a client.His wife, Hannah Stooks-Whittall, confirmed the incident in a Facebook post, accompanied by graphic pictures of Whittall being treated in the bush after sustaining cuts to his arms and legs, as well as a 5-inch gash to his head.A later picture showed Whittall in hospital with his head heavily bandaged, but giving a thumbs-up to the camera. He lost “a lot of blood” in the attack, Hannah added, but his injuries might have been even more severe had it not been for his “faithful K9″, Chikara, who helped to wrestle the leopard off him.”Chikara [is] coming up tomorrow to the vet after being mauled by the leopard and getting the cat off Guy!” she wrote. “Very special boy.Look what’s under the bed: Guy Whittall had an unexpected guest in 2013•Twitter/Guy Whittall

“Guy and I are overwhelmed by the hundreds of messages of well-wishers after Guy’s run in with a wounded leopard earlier today,” she added. “We are very fortunate that he was stabilized at Hippo Clinic by wonderful staff. He was then Airlifted from Buffalo Range by Ace Ambulance to Harare, then transferred to Milton Park Hospital for treatment.”Whittall’s post-cricket career hit the headlines again in 2013 after he discovered an eight-foot, 165kg Nile crocodile had made its way from the nearby Turgwe river into his bedroom at the game reserve and spent the night there.Speaking at the time, Whittall recalled how he had dangled his feet over the side of the bed before leaving the room, and had only been alerted to the intruder by the terrified screams of the housemaid.”He really is one lucky man,” Hannah told MailOnline. “First he had the crocodile and now the leopard, he really is the cat with nine lives.”

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India vice-captain looking forward to forging opening partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-20241:05

Gill: We’re the world champions and we have to play like that

Shubman Gill, India’s vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is, has said he aims to improve his performance in the shortest format, as the team begins to build towards defending their T20 World Cup title in 2026.”My performance in T20Is before the World Cup this year wasn’t how I had expected it to be,” Gill said ahead of the series opener against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. “Hopefully, going forward, in the upcoming cycle – I think we play 30-40 T20Is [before the next T20 World Cup] – I can improve my performance when it comes to batting, and also [we can improve] as a team.”Gill was a reserve player and not part of the squad that just won the T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies, where India opened with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. With both senior batters now retired from T20Is, Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was the back-up opener at the World Cup, are now first choice for India at the top of the order”We really enjoy batting with each other. Especially the kind of shots we play, we kind of complement each other,” Gill said of his partnership with Jaiswal. “Being a right-left combination, we have had good partnerships in whatever T20Is we have played before; two partnerships have been 150-plus [too]. So we have a great understanding and communication between us, and I have fun batting with him.”Related

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Gill and Jaiswal strung a couple of big partnerships in the T20Is in Zimbabwe after the T20 World Cup 2024 ended. Gill, who was India’s stand-in captain that series, top-scored with 170 runs at a strike rate of 125.92 in five innings. He was then appointed vice-captain for the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka, selected ahead of other opening contenders like Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhishek Sharma, who had scored a hundred in Zimbabwe.The series in Sri Lanka is also Gautam Gambhir’s first assignment as India coach after he succeeded Rahul Dravid, whose coaching tenure ended after the T20 World Cup triumph.”We have had just two net sessions together, and this is the first time I am working with him,” Gill said about Gambhir the coach. “But whatever he has told me during these two sessions, his intent and communication have been very clear – he knows what he wants from which player, and what he thinks will work for each player.”India play three T20Is against Sri Lanka in Pallekele on July 27, 28 and 30, followed by three ODIs in Colombo on August 2, 4 and 7.