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A Swiss journalist has delivered a brutal verdict on Leeds United star Noah Okafor, claiming that the forward is “not a team player” and that he “prioritises his own interests”.

The £3.7m-a-year man arrived at Elland Road in the summer and has since settled in well, but couldn’t avoid the criticism from media in his home country. Daniel Farke will be hoping that Okafor is able to quiet any of the noise this Sunday when Leeds square off against Nottingham Forest in a crucial relegation six-pointer.

Speaking to the media in his pre-match press conference, Farke urged his players to “enjoy this challenge” at the City Ground this weekend.

It’s the type of challenge that Leeds have already overcome more than once this season. Since returning to the Premier League, those in Yorkshire have picked up 11 points and have done enough to avoid the bottom three at this stage.

Leeds told "dangerous" striker could be open to January move with 49ers keen on deal

Recent reports have indicated that the Whites hold an interest in this impressive Championship forward.

ByJames O'Reilly Nov 6, 2025

Having been eased aside by Brighton & Hove Albion last time out, however, the pressure is likely to increase with a similar defeat against a struggling Forest side. It’s an early relegation six-pointer and another chance for Okafor to prove any doubters wrong.

Swiss journalist slams selfish Noah Okafor

After the forward was left out of the latest Switzerland squad, Swiss journalist Tobias Wedermann has claimed that Okafor is “not a team player” and “prioritises his own interests” in a shock rant.

The Leeds star has been in an ongoing dispute with Switzerland manager Murat Yakin since Euro 2024 and was once again snubbed for an international call ahead of the November break.

With the 2026 World Cup on the horizon, Okafor hasn’t been called up since last November and recently had his say on the situation, saying: “Since then, I never spoke with the coach, not even a phone call or a message, also with the (Swiss Football Association’s) sporting director Pierluigi Tami.

“They don’t even call me or ask me. For me, it makes no sense. I can say it makes me sad because they don’t even text me or call me to see how I am. For example, when I moved to Leeds, ‘Congrats’ or something like that, because I play now in the best league in the world.”

With two goals in seven Premier League games as one of Farke’s starting attackers, Okafor’s absence for Switzerland continues to become more baffling, and he now faces the prospect of missing the World Cup.

Farke already has his answer to Gibbs-White in "underrated" Leeds star

Rahane, Sarfaraz and Suryakumar’s efforts go in vain; Shami picks up 4 for 13 against Services

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2025Samson, Sharafuddeen and Asif propel KeralaSanju Samson, Sharafuddeen and KM Asif were the stars as Kerala handed Mumbai their first loss of the season, beating them by 15 runs in Lucknow.Samson, who is back to opening the innings this season, laid the platform with 46 off 28 balls. Vishnu Vinod struggled in the middle and managed only 43 not out off 40 balls, but Sharafuddeen’s unbeaten 35 off 15 took the side to 178 for 5.Sharafuddeen then removed Ayush Mhatre in the first over of the chase but Ajinkya Rahane (32 off 18) and Sarfaraz Khan (52 off 40) kept Mumbai going. By the time Sarfaraz got out, Mumbai needed 80 from eight overs. Suryakumar Yadav brought it down to 31 required from three. But Asif’s three wickets – including Suryakumar’s for 32 off 25 – in the 18th over derailed Mumbai. They needed 18 from the final over with two wickets in hand. Asif took only four balls to wrap up the innings and complete his five-for.File photo: Ayush Badoni had a solid outing with both bat and ball•PTI Badoni seals Delhi’s win over KarnatakaAyush Badoni’s 35-ball 53 and 4 for 12, backed up by Priyansh Arya and Tejasvi Dahiya’s fifties, helped Delhi get the better of Karnataka by 45 runs in a high-scoring Group D contest in Ahmedabad. Batting first, Delhi thumped 232 for 3 in their 20 overs. Devdutt Padikkal then hit a 38-ball 62 while R Smaran struck 72 off 38 balls, but with little support from the others, Karnataka were bowled out for 187 in 19.3 overs.Delhi lost opener Yash Dhull in the second over to Vidyadhar Patil but Arya and Badoni forged a 110-run stand in 9.2 overs for the second wicket. Arya struck six sixes and two fours in his 33-ball 62 while Badoni hit four fours and two sixes.When both batters fell within two overs of each other, Karnataka may have sniffed a chance of a comeback, but Dahiya and Nitish Rana gave them none. They added 105 runs for the fifth wicket in just 41 balls. Dahiya hit five sixes and three fours in an unbeaten 19-ball 53 while Rana remained 46 not out.Karnataka lost wickets regularly in the chase. BR Sharath fell in the opening over to Ishant Sharma, while Mayank Agarwal was removed by Digvesh Rathi inside the powerplay. Rathi also picked up Karun Nair as Karnataka slipped to 48 for 3 in seven overs. Smaran and Padikkal gave Karnataka hope with a 76-run stand for the fourth wicket, but once Padikkal fell to Ishant, the end was nigh.Badoni then wrecked the Karnataka middle order, picking up four wickets in two overs. Prince Yadav closed the innings with two wickets, giving Delhi crucial points after their loss against Tripura.File photo: Raj Limbani picked up 3 for 5 in 2.1 overs•ICC/Getty ImagesLimbani, Sheth star as Baroda crush GujaratFast bowler Raj Limbani picked up 3 for 5 in 2.1 overs and allrounder Atit Sheth 2 for 14 in three as Baroda crushed Gujarat by eight wickets in Hyderabad. Hardik Pandya also had a decent outing a day after being named in India’s T20I squad to face South Africa, picking up 1 for 16 in four overs, which included a maiden, and scoring 10 off six from No. 3 in the small chase.The match, originally scheduled to take place at the Gymkhana Ground, was relocated to the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium. “Fan turnout, enquiries, and crowd movement exceeded our projections by a huge margin, “a senior organising official told PTI. “To ensure safety and smooth match operations, we decided to shift the match to the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.”Sent in, Urvil Patel and Aarya Desai added 29 runs for the opening wicket, but it all went downhill thereafter for Gujarat. Hardik removed Urvil for 7 with Desai falling the very next ball to Limbani. Dhrushant Soni was run out, Rasikh Salam removed Saurav Chauhan, and Krunal Pandya too picked up a wicket. Sheth then picked up two lower-order wickets before Limbani had Hemang Patel caught and bowled as Gujarat were bowled out in 14.1 overs.Shashwat Rawat and Vishnu Solanki were quick in the chase, adding 55 runs in just five overs. Hardik struck two fours in his innings, while Rawat remained unbeaten on 30 off 19 to seal Baroda’s chase in 6.4 overs. Legspinner Ravi Bishnoi was the only Gujarat bowler to take a wicket, returning 2 for 26 in 1.4 overs.File photo: Mohammed Shami was named the Player of the Match•Garima Agarwal/CABShami, Akash Deep headline Bengal’s winMohammed Shami picked up his second-best T20 haul of 4 for 13 in 3.2 overs, while Akash Deep returned 3 for 27 as Bengal defeated Services by seven wickets in Hyderabad. Sent in, Services were bowled out for 165 in 18.2 overs. Abishek Porel and Abhimanyu Easwaran then struck quick fifties as Bengal got over the line in 15.1 overs.Shami got Gaurav Kochar with the first ball of the game before dismissing Ravi Chauhan for a nine-ball 26 in the third. Akash Deep then got into the act, removing Nitin Tanwar inside the powerplay. Mohit Ahlawat and Vineet Dhankhar added 67 for the fourth wicket but both fell in back-to-back overs. Akash Deep then picked up Pulkit Narang and Sandeep Nishad before Shami ended the innings, adding two more wickets to his tally.Bengal lost opener Karan Lal in the second over, but Porel and Easwaran kept the chase going with a 93-run stand in 50 balls. Porel struck eight fours and two sixes in his 56 off 29 balls, while Easwaran scored 58 off 37. Yuvraj Keswani (36* off 19) and Akash Deep (14* off five) ensured Bengal got over the line with 29 balls to spare.R Sai Kishore steered TN’s innings with a half-century•TNPL/TNCASai Kishore, Jagadeesan wipe Tripura outNarayan Jagadeesan and R Sai Kishore dug Tamil Nadu out of a deep hole to eventually help them beat Tripura comfortably by 61 runs in a Group D game in Ahmedabad.Sent in, TN slipped to 26 for 4 in the sixth over, which included B Sai Sudharsan falling for just 5. But Jagadeesan and Sai Kishore added a 119-run stand for the fifth wicket in 11.1 overs to take them to safety. Jagadeesan smashed six fours and four sixes in his 49-ball 83 while Sai Kishore hit an unbeaten 39-ball 87 with three fours and eight sixes. He also added 59 runs in 20 balls with R Rajkumar as TN zoomed to 204 for 5.In reply, Tripura were never really in the chase, losing wickets at regular intervals. Vijay Shankar, playing against his former side, top-scored with 39, while Manisankar Murasingh struck a 23-ball 33 as Tripura were bowled out for 143 in 18.5 overs.

Bo Bichette is on the open market for the first time in his career, and it seems he’s attracting plenty of interest in the early stages of free agency.

There had been some speculation that the Blue Jays shortstop may fare better at a different infield position in free agency, but early indications are that he’s still garnering a lot of interest as a shortstop.

According to MLB insider Jon Morosi, the bulk of the interest in Bichette thus far this offseason has been with the intention of utilizing him at shortstop. However, Morosi also noted that teams with an established shortstop already on the roster have expressed interest in bringing Bichette on board at second base or even third base.

Although Bichette had a solid season at the plate in 2025, he struggled defensively. He ranked dead last among qualified shortstops in terms of outs above average at -13, and he had one of the weaker arms at the position, too.

Moving him to second base would potentially be a better fit for his arm, though there are seemingly still teams who are eyeing him at shortstop.

Bichette missed much of the postseason with a knee injury, but when he returned to the field for the World Series, he was inserted at second base instead of his usual spot at shortstop. Bichette hadn’t played second base since 2019 when he was still in the minor leagues, but he performed well defensively in the Fall Classic.

In 2025, Bichette slashed .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs and 94 RBIs. His .840 OPS was his best since 2020. He’s in the market for a long-term deal, and it seems his subpar defense at shortstop isn’t dissuading potential suitors thus far into the free agency period.

The England captain insisted it was not a “skill issue” that caused the meltdown in Perth as the tourists plot their fightback

Vithushan Ehantharajah29-Nov-20252:51

Ehantharajah: This defeat will hurt for England

One of the few success stories from Jon Ronson’s , a book that delves into the worryingly compelling world of online humiliation and real-world consequences, comes from Max Moseley.The ex-Formula One boss’, ermmm, extra-curricular peccadilloes were plastered all over the papers in 2008. And yet, not only did he manage to survive those stories – even retaining his position as FIA president – he emerged more popular than before simply because he refused to be shamed by them. Even considering the economic and social factors that allowed Moseley to emerge unscathed from such scandal, the underlying reason why, Ronson posits, was through owning the facts of his now public sexual proclivities.Related

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Stokes: Calling England arrogant is a step too far

England have not disgraced themselves to that degree on this Ashes tour. Entire universes separate a two-day defeat in the opening Test match and, say, a lifelong penchant for questionable dress-up and sadomasochism. But to go by the coverage here in Australia – and some back home – Bazball has bared its arse to the world.And so, on Saturday, not governed by shame but duty, Ben Stokes took the initiative. England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick had been pencilled in to address the media at the start of a training session at Allan Border Field, some 8km north of The Gabba, where England will be situated from Sunday. Stokes, however, decided the first official engagement since last Saturday, in the immediate aftermath of Australia’s eight-wicket win, should come from him.It was an opportunity for clarity amid what he perceives to be a sea of conjecture and unfair criticism. He disagreed with the notion his team were arrogant and gave context to their no-show for the Prime Minister’s XI fixture in Canberra. At the forefront, however, came home truths around a key position squandered – 105 in front after lunch on day two, with nine second-innings in hand, that eventuated in one of England’s most embarrassing Ashes defeats.Ben Stokes gets back into training ahead of the second Test•Getty Images”We had our foot on the throat of Australia at that time,” said Stokes, ruefully. “And I guess a good one [thought] is…you’ve never got enough when it comes to the bat and you’ve never got enough on the board when you’re trying to bowl a team out.”That’s a mentality thing. If you can think of it more like that, that will send guys out there with that real clear mind – not only about how we want to operate but where the game currently is sat. You’ve never won til you’ve won, and last week was a great example of that.”We were in such a commanding and controlling position in that Test, particularly after the first innings – being [effectively] 105 for 1, getting a lead and making them chase down 200 [205] there was still a lot of belief that we were going to do this. That doesn’t mean we don’t look back on important moments and know we could have been better, and in how we executed that.”You can all agree with me, it’s not a skill issue or a quality issue that we have with regard to that moment in that game happening. We’re all really, really good players. We’ve all shown that at different moments throughout our careers. It’s just having an understanding of where that was at that moment in time. Being 100 for 1 in the third innings was an unbelievably strong position to be in.”The introspection in the days since has come both as a team and individuals. Stokes revealed he has been wondering what he could have done differently in the field, particularly in the early stages of Head’s remarkable 123 from 83 deliveries. Stokes, shellshocked in the immediate aftermath, has since found faults in his own captaincy. He was perhaps guilty of sifting through plans too quickly, not letting them settle. Spamming the bumper ploy when England’s success had come through nailing a length. Not bowling Joe Root early enough to change the pace as Head – a leftie – began swinging for the fences.There will be much interest in England’s approach with the bat in Brisbane•Gareth Copley/Getty Images”We’ve used that time to reflect on all those kinds of things, not only from a team point of view but me as a captain – the job I have to do out there. The next time we’re potentially in a situation like that, I’ll be in a better place to handle something that happens so quickly.”I know there were areas in that fourth innings where I could have been a lot better as captain. I am the person who makes decisions about how we go out there and operate, and I am the one who gives the plans to the bowlers. On reflection of myself, I wasn’t as clear as I normally am in those moments.”That’s something I have thought about, what I can do better as a captain and a leader. Making sure wherever the game is, whatever the momentum is swinging or not, the key thing for me is to be completely crystal clear with my bowlers.”

That’s why it was such a strange feeling at the end of that game because it happened very, very quickly. We lost a game we were in control of and we all know thatBen Stokes

Clear messages, full hearts, can’t lose – therein lies the actual essence of what Stokes and Brendon McCullum have tried to instill since they joined forces in 2022. Stripping away the add-ons of Test cricket has always come with the ultimate goal of being better at Test cricket. And even in defeat, all Stokes and McCullum ask is whether you can be satisfied in having committed to your role in your own way.Self-flaggelation is discouraged – the final two sessions at Perth Stadium underlines cricket does a good enough job at promoting self-hatred – but honesty remains a vital tool. And it was instructive that Stokes decided to reiterate the blueprint here and now, when it is under its most intense scrutiny.”We keep it very simple, which is always looking to put the opposition under pressure, but then also understanding the moment we need to absorb the pressure that is being piled on to us from the opposition,” he said. “We know that we are very, very good at the first bit and we all know there are areas that we can be better doing the second bit. That is the key of it. We do that and understand that. We don’t take anything for granted around anything.Ben Stokes said England have taken time to reflect on what went wrong in the first Test•Getty Images”We’re not going ‘oh, well’, because we don’t do that. We don’t shrug it off and think ‘next time hopefully it will happen’. We are professional sportsmen, we pride ourselves on how we go about things and we pride ourselves on the results of the games we’re playing in.”We all know that we definitely could be better in those moments and I think it showed in that third innings. That doesn’t take away how well we played for the vast majority of that game, although it was quick. That’s why it was such a strange feeling at the end of that game because it happened very, very quickly. We lost a game we were in control of and we all know that.”It is likely the majority of the XI will get the chance to show they have learned from last week’s mistakes. Mark Wood is expected to miss out, but the 10 remaining could be rolled out again, each with their own shot of redemption.The second Test, ultimately, represents a do-over. The chance to shape the narrative, even if the odds are skewed very much in Australia’s favour given their dominant record in day-night cricket.Harnessing that energy and channeling it into squaring the series will not be easy. Even with the time that has passed since the opening defeat, there are still five days to go. Five more days of talking, five more days of wondering. England will be gagging for the pink-ball Test to begin.

Desire Doue, who bagged a brace for Paris Saint-Germain in their historic Champions League final victory over Inter, has collected his Golden Boy award for 2025. Tuttosport announced the winners of their prestigious prizes in November. England’s teenage striker Michelle Agyemang, who helped the Lionesses to European Championship glory, has landed the Golden Girl gong.

Golden Boy: Previous winners of U21 award

Golden Boy honours have been bestowed upon the best player under the age of 21 since 2003, with notable former winners including Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Pedri, Jude Bellingham and Lamine Yamal.

Doue has now added his name to that list, with the 20-year-old winger enjoying a memorable 2024-25 campaign. He took in 61 appearances for PSG last season, scoring 16 goals, and helped them to three major trophies.

After winning the Ligue 1 title and Coupe de France, the French giants made history when claiming the Champions League crown for the first time. Doue helped them to surge over that line in a 5-0 demolition of Serie A heavyweights Inter.

AdvertisementDoue dominates: PSG star tops 2025 poll

Doue is the fourth Frenchman to receive the award after Pogba, Mbappe and Anthony Martial. He collected 450 points out of a possible 500 in the 2025 vote, with rival contenders being left trailing in his wake.

Tuttosport handed over the Golden Boy award at a glittering ceremony in Turin. Nasser Al-Khelaifi was voted best president and Luis Campos best football executive, as PSG dominated proceedings.

Doue said of landing a top prize: “I am filled with a feeling of great pride and happiness. The teamwork has paid off, because it is thanks to this that Paris Saint-Germain has achieved its greatest goals this year, enjoying the best season in its history. It is the result of a collective effort.

“I am very happy to receive this award, which recognises the trophies won with the team and my positive contribution during important matches. I'm thinking first and foremost of my family. Then, of course, my team-mates, the coach, the staff, the managers and everyone who works for the club, with a special thought for our President, Nasser Al Khelaifi, who believed in me and brought me to Paris Saint-Germain. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to win the Golden Boy award.”

PSG proud of efforts in 2024-25 campaign

Al Khelaifi went on to say: “We've had a fantastic season and, as a club, we've reached an important milestone that crowns the work we've done over the last two or three years. It's the best season in the club's history, but even more important than the results is the way we achieved them. We're very proud of our approach and our victory. I think that was the most important thing for us: the way we won and transformed the club.

“We are very proud to be where we are today because it has been a difficult journey, but we are continuing on the same path without changing things. Our philosophy must be to win collectively, as a group, by developing our young players, thanks especially to the best manager in the world, Luis Enrique. We want to have the best players in the world, our young players, develop our youth teams and in this way guarantee the future of the club, not just today's results, which are certainly important, but also and above all the future of the club. That's why I really appreciate this recognition. It rewards my work and that of the club.”

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GettyGolden Girl: Lionesses star Agyemang lands prestigious prize

On the Golden Girl front, the top prize went to England star Agyemang. She scored two crucial goals for the Lionesses as they successfully defended their European Championship crown in 2025 – being named young player of the tournament in that event.

The 19-year-old, who has been taking in a second loan spell at Brighton from WSL giants Arsenal, is set to miss the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign after suffering knee ligament damage – with a long road to recovery currently being worked down.

This is a season of attrition for Liverpool, who must knuckle down and prove that they have absorbed the worst punches after a testing start to Arne Slot’s second term in charge.

Liverpool are in a rut, alright, and need to start stringing together consistent results in the Premier League if they are to steer away from a true crisis, missing out on Champions League qualification after a record-breaking summer of spending.

It’s clear that the sale of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich for £66.5m has contributed toward knocking the Anfield side out of kilter. The Colombian’s speed and combativeness have been sorely missed.

Stars such as Florian Wirtz have been added to the Liverpool ranks this summer, but sporting director Richard Hughes is already lining up another addition.

Liverpool searching for new attacking midfielders

Wirtz is only 22 years old, and though he joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen for £116m, there is an acceptance from the Reds hierarchy that the German’s integration will take a bit of time.

There’s a superstar in there, but he’s not been brought to the fore just yet. With this in mind, Liverpool might consider adding more talent to their ranks, someone who can jockey with Wirtz for a place out on the left wing.

Well, Juventus’ Kenan Yildiz could be the player for the job, with transfer insider Simon Phillips revealing that Liverpool have joined Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid in the race for the silky attacking midfielder.

It’s previously been understood that United have expressed a willingness to pay €90m (about £79m) for the 20-year-old, and Liverpool have now been name-checked as being among those to make calls for the player as he marks one side of a contractual stand-off in Turin.

However, Hughes will need to act speedily if he is to win Yildiz over, with Juventus pushing to renew their starboy’s terms.

What Kenan Yildiz would bring to Liverpool

Yildiz might be young, but he’s made quite the name for himself over the past few years in Italy, breaking into Juventus’ first team a few years ago after previously spending a decade of his youth in Bayern Munich’s academy system.

With flair and magical skills on the ball, this is a player who is destined for the top, and in Serie A this season, he is creating an average of 2.4 key passes per game, having posted two goals and three assists from only nine starts.

Yildiz might have “all the tools to be one of the best wingers in the world”, as has been said by one analyst, but he shares with Wirtz a focal kind of creativity and snappiness that lend themselves to a central berth.

In this, Yildiz could find himself becoming Liverpool’s next version of Wirtz, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Hughes should waive the idea of signing him.

There’s no question that the Turkish talent needs to work on his physicality. As per Sofascore, he has won only 44% of his ground duels in Serie A this season, and he ranks among the bottom 3% of positional peers in that division this season for tackles won per 90 (FBref).

But this is a kid, and one with so much potential. He’s tenacious. Talent scout Jacek Kulig has lauded his “bravery”, using his athleticism to “make spectacular solo runs”.

Indeed, the dynamic midfielder ranks among the top 11% of positional peers across Europe for both shot-creating actions and successful take-ons per 90, corroborating that claim.

Having split his time across attacking midfield and left wing roles, performing the latter consistently this season, Yildiz shares even more tactical similarities with Wirtz, though there is a case to be made that he’s more electric when running, and thus could be a more natural fit out wide.

Second striker

59

18 (13)

Left wing

50

10 (9)

Attacking midfield

18

9 (6)

Right wing

17

3 (1)

Centre-forward

4

0 (0)

Wirtz’s start to life in England would serve as a cautionary tale for those elite talents looking to make a name for themselves on English shores. It is no easy feat to marry all the facets together in the Premier League.

Still, there is a sense he will come good, and with Yildiz added into the mix to battle with him for a berth, there’s every chance that the Turkish prospect would prove a jackpot signing for Liverpool, perhaps even working in concert with Wirtz to dynamise and widen the scope of Slot’s attacking dimensions.

The playmaker wouldn’t come cheap, but it has become clear over the past several months that Liverpool miss a snappy wide profile, and Yildiz could find himself growing into a household name in the Premier League down Liverpool’s left.

Shaping into a silky and physical attacking midfielder with stunning creative skills, Yildiz could be a real superstar down the line, albeit one who would be tussling for a starting berth with Wirtz at Liverpool.

But as the Reds’ double signing of Isak and Ekitike has shown us this summer, FSG are not against packaging this side with the best of the best, enough to win silverware across every front and year on year.

Bigger mistake than Quansah: Liverpool sold their next Gravenberch for £15m

Liverpool made a bigger mistake than offloading Jarell Quansah when they got rid of their own Ryan Gravenberch for just £15m.

ByKelan Sarson Nov 20, 2025

The New York Yankees are mired in a prolonged skid and the losing ways are starting to put some serious stress on the team's quest to make the postseason. Aaron Boone's side had a golden opportunity to get a much-needed win Monday night in Texas against the Rangers go by the wayside after Devin Williams blew a save opportunity in the ninth, allowing a pinch-hit game-tying home run to Joc Pederson in the ninth inning. Jake Bird surrendered a game-winning blast to Josh Jung in extra innings to prolong the slide.

Every loss is tough when you're struggling and the regular season is rapidly shrinking in size but this one was particularly rough considering Pederson's lack of production this year. There's not much reason to fear a pinch hitter carrying a .126 batting average and .473 OPS to the dish with everything on the line.

Yankees announcers Ryan Ruocco and David Cone tried to convey how much Pederson, a two-time All Star, had fallen off. They also pointed out that his body looks a bit different than it did during his prime.

And a matter of seconds later the Rangers reserve delivered the biggest hit of the game.

Do the two events have anything to do with each other? A logical person would tell you they most certainly do not. But it does make for some compelling footage as a guy who didn't even know his body was being put up for regional discussion enacted some revenge.

Sans Naseem and Afridi, Pakistan’s pace attack failed to inspire on a surface where elite quicks will get wickets

Danyal Rasool04-Jan-2025It would not strictly be true to say no Pakistan bowler delivered a single ball over 140kph today. The broadcasters have recorded it as such, and it’s certainly a fact South Africa did not have to face a single delivery which challenged them at that pace. However, it probably wasn’t just Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, whose high pace was so potent it produced three wickets in under nine overs, who cranked it up to 140kph today.When tea had been taken and Pakistan were resting indoors, having been ground into the dust under a blistering Newlands sun, Naseem Shah was on a practice pitch a few strips over from the real thing, new ball in hand. There was no speed gun to monitor him, but it didn’t take one to know no Pakistan bowler who actually started this Test matched that speed. The action was regular, the follow-through earnest, the shape on the ball exquisite. One delivery landed on a length, moved late at speed and knocked back the solitary stump at the other end. Even if there was a batter stood there, it might have been tricky keeping that out.For a bowler who’s officially out with back stiffness and chest congestion, Naseem – who has also been out there as substitute fielder and helped Saim Ayub onto a stretcher yesterday – wouldn’t exactly have been a liability to this attack.Related

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But this is not an individual selection gripe. Naseem was, after all, part of the side for the first Test, and while he sent down a long, impressive spell in South Africa’s first innings, he never truly came close to matching Rabada or Jansen’s threat. As Shan Masood has said in the past, Pakistan don’t often take 20 wickets, and though they managed 18 in Centurion, it didn’t quite get them over the line.At the same time, though, when Pakistan selected this attack, it is difficult to imagine they truly believed they had a realistic shot of 20 wickets on this surface. For clarity, Pakistan were remarkably open about the tradeoffs they had to assess before naming a squad, which they waited right to the morning of the Test to do. Any XI they named, spinner or not, Naseem or not, will likely have found wicket-taking hard inserted in to bowl for two hot sunny days.And, in truth, each of Pakistan’s four seamers did what they had been asked to do. They bowled hard lengths; it was the most common delivery for every one of the four bowlers by some distance. They resisted the temptation to pitch it up, as they might have done in Pakistan. They picked up two early wickets with the new ball, and another one with the second new ball. South Africa may have taken them to the cleaners once the scorecard had soared into silly numbers by the afternoon of the second day, but it was a product of the lack of pressure and a flatness of the wicket rather than a drop in Pakistan’s efforts or quality. And Pakistan continued to take it seriously to the last, at no point did we see them go through the run order for who else could bowl; one over from Kamran Ghulam aside, every over was bowled by a specialist quick or their assigned spinner, Salman Agha.Pointing all that out doesn’t add to the mystery of how an under-scrutiny South African top six ended up with 615; it strips away the veneer, leaving you looking directly at the answer. A Pakistan attack that lacks high pace on a pitch that doesn’t offer the bowlers assistance will not get on top of an international batting line-up, no matter how well they might do whatever they can do. Much like expecting to win a marathon when you can’t afford running shoes, Pakistan found themselves compromised in fundamental non-negotiable ways, and no change in extraneous reality could have compensated for that.Shaheen Afridi, arguably Pakistan’s best bowler in the ODI series last month, was not selected for the Tests and allowed to go off to play the Bangladesh Premier League; he has played two games in Mirpur in the past week. Naseem, as we saw, couldn’t quite make the cut for this Test, and there are no other bowlers at high pace, in this squad or indeed in all of Pakistan, who the selection committee truly feel comfortable throwing into a Test match. There may very well be merit to that position, but it meant Pakistan had a bad hand, and South Africa were aware of it. What followed for over the last two days was merely an inevitable consequence of it all.Perhaps that was more instructively obvious in the 21 overs South Africa bowled than the more than 141 Pakistan did. The pitch was just as flat when Rabada and Jansen bowled but you might have been fooled over ten overs of high-class, high pace bowling. Pakistan had to battle to keep them at bay every delivery, without success; they were 20 for three on a surface where, just yesterday, South Africa were 307 for three at one point.But when Wiaan Mulder, operating around the high 120s, and debutant Kwena Maphaka, not quite at Rabada and Jansen’s level, entered the attack, this Newlands strip reverted to its bashful, docile self of the last two days. Babar Azam had done well to dig in, and for the last half hour, he and Mohammad Rizwan had little trouble keeping South Africa out, or scoring runs at a decent clip.But on a surface where elite, fast bowlers will get you out, South Africa have at least two of them, and Pakistan none. With Pakistan still 552 runs behind, this Test match hasn’t exactly kept its cards hidden.

Behind the wicket is this unorthodox India batter’s happy place

Deivarayan Muthu22-Oct-20241:37

Manjrekar: Sarfaraz should walk into India’s XI for the Australia tour

When Will O’Rourke, at 6’4″, the tallest bowler in the current New Zealand attack banged one into the pitch in Bengaluru, it seemed destined to smack Sarfaraz Khan on his head until an impish intervention from the batter. Sarfaraz had originally misjudged the bounce as he tried to avoid the bouncer. To make matters worse, it kept veering into him as well. The fates had decided he was going to end up on his backside. He said, ‘fine but I’m getting something out of it’ and somehow ramped a ball that was pushing him down into the floor for a boundary.Ramps are ostentatious shots for most batters but for Sarfaraz it is staple. It’s his signature. Like how the cover drive is Virat Kohli’s. Like how the pull is Rohit Sharma’s. Like how the one-handed loft is Rishabh Pant’s.Having been bred on the bouncy, red-soil pitches in Mumbai, Sarfaraz has developed various versions of this shot, from the delicate dab ramp over the cordon to the full-blooded scythe over deep third. And he can play these shots to balls ranging from just back-of-a-length to a bouncer by twisting his body like a contortionist to get underneath the ball.He even played the ramp off a full and wide one from Bhuvneshwar Kumar back in IPL 2016 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Having spotted Sarfaraz manufacture swinging room, Bhuvneshwar had shifted his lines wide of off stump, but the batter still caught up with the ball, got underneath it, and ramped it over the deep-third boundary. Sarfaraz was only 18 then. This ability to manipulate the “V” behind the wicket has been with him from day one of a professional cricket career that is now in its 10th year.Sarfaraz showed his full range behind square in the first Test against New Zealand at the same venue where he had bested Bhuvneshwar as a teenager. Look at his wagon wheel from the recent Bengaluru Test. He scored 96 of his 150 runs behind the wicket.Fourteen of Sarfaraz’s 21 boundaries in the first Test came behind the wicket•ESPNcricinfo LtdSarfaraz was dismissed for a duck in the first innings. When there was excessive seam movement for New Zealand’s seamers under overcast skies, he went hard at the ball and ended up playing well in front of the body, shanking a catch to mid-off. In the second innings, when the pitch had lost its early juice, and there wasn’t as much lateral movement, Sarfaraz allowed the ball to come onto him and kept directing it behind the wicket. Believe it or not, he had not scored a single run in the “V” in front of wicket until after his hundred.”I like playing the balls that rise high. I have a bouncy wicket back at home [Mumbai], and I play regularly there, and the bounce easily allows me to cut,” Sarfaraz said. “They [New Zealand] were trying to bowl short at me, and I simply played accordingly. It was fun.”Related

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It’s not always fun though. The same shot that left jaws on the floor in Bengaluru – the duck ramp – led to his downfall in Lucknow. It was IPL 2023. Mark Wood was the bowler and he was giving Sarfaraz a serious working over to the extent that he was caught off a bouncer that he had initially tried to avoid. That couldn’t have felt good. It certainly didn’t look good. That dismissal epitomised the risk that comes with unorthodox strokeplay; not so much that it could result in your downfall but more that it makes you look silly. Sarfaraz is happy to live with this risk. He trains to try and minimise this risk. When he met Wood again in the Dharamsala Test earlier this year, he ramped the fast bowler, nonchalantly, to the deep-third boundary.The pitch in Pune might not offer as much bounce for Sarfaraz to play his ramps, with a bald, back-soil surface set to negate the seamers and bring the spinners into play. Sarfaraz, though, can also disrupt spin, thanks to a number of sweeps, including the reverse. He crouches low for these sweeps and often crunches them flat and hard – both in front of and behind the wicket.Sarfaraz Khan countered the short balls with the ramp•BCCIWhen Ajaz Patel dangled a full ball up outside off in India’s second innings in Bengaluru, Sarfaraz stretched out, met the pitch of the ball, and swept so hard that it sounded like a thunderclap. Earlier, in the Irani Cup, when Saransh Jain, the emerging offspinner from Madhya Pradesh, blocked the sweep with a packed leg-side field, Sarfaraz unfurled the reverse-sweep and countered him.With Shubman Gill likely to be fit for the second Test, India will have to make a choice between Sarfaraz and KL Rahul. It will incredibly hard for the team management to ignore Sarfaraz, especially after he had scored his maiden Test hundred, which had them dreaming about a remarkable comeback win at one point, though Rahul has a case for himself: he was a bit unlucky in Bengaluru and has a strong body of work overseas.”Sarfaraz was obviously brilliant in the last Test,” Ryan ten Doeschate, India’s assistant coach, said on Tuesday. “I went to KL after the last Test and said: ‘how many balls did you play and miss at?’ He didn’t play and miss one ball and that’s what tends to happen when you’re not getting runs. He got the two balls in the game – one caught down the leg side and one that he managed to nick.”So there’s certainly no concerns about KL. He’s batting nicely, he’s in a good mental space, but yeah, we’re certainly going to have to fit seven pieces into six spots for this Test and look at the pitch now and decide what’s going to be best for the team.”For so long, Sarfaraz has been on the outside looking in on this Indian team. But bit by bit, day by day, shot by shot, his chances of making it to the first-choice XI are ramping up.

Sri Lanka have never beaten Australia in ODIs but they have the advantage of playing at home

Madushka Balasuriya03-Oct-20252:44

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Big picture: Sri Lanka need to up their gameIf there were even the faintest doubt about who the favourites for the 2025 Women’s World Cup were, they were put to bed as swiftly as an Ashleigh Gardner blade swing after Australia’s dominant win over New Zealand in their tournament opener.In Indore, Australia started fast and stumbled, but like an unrelenting force, they just kept coming. In the end, their victory was less about outplaying New Zealand and more about brute-forcing the result. As far as early tournament markers go, it was an impressive one.Against India in their opener, Sri Lanka too set an early marker of the sort of side they are. They had India reeling at 124 for 6 but then proceeded to drop each of the next four chances that came their way to let the hosts claw themselves back into the contest and register a fairly comprehensive win eventually. Discipline followed by indiscipline; bad undoing the good.Related

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Sri Lanka have not played an ODI against Australia since 2019, but they know what they need to do. Resilience has been a buzzword for Chamari Athapaththu, and in that sense it’s clear that any lingering hang-ups from that opening defeat will be well behind them come Saturday. But execution might be the more pertinent declaration if they’re to show their best selves against the defending champions.With free entry being granted to the stadium, Sri Lanka will also be hoping for substantial home support. They’re also very familiar with the Khettarama surface, as the high-performance centre where the national players train is located there. So while Sri Lanka have never beaten Australia in an ODI, the conditions for an upset are nevertheless in place.Form guideAustralia WWLWW (last five ODIs most recent first)
Sri Lanka LLLWWVishmi Gunaratne’s form is a concern for Sri Lanka•ACCIn the spotlight: Ashleigh Gardner and Vishmi GunaratneLike the surprise manifestation of a final boss’ second health bar after you think you’ve finally got them beat, Ashleigh Gardner sits spearheading Australia’s lower middle order. Her 115 off 83 against New Zealand served to highlight not just the resilience of this Australian outfit, but their entire aura. While her role is a challenging one, it’s invaluable in that it affords the licence for those above her to play with freedom, while allowing her to provide guidance to those below her. And it means that while she is at the crease, Australia are never beat.In August 2024, Vishmi Gunaratne struck her maiden ODI hundred against Ireland. Her three innings in the lead-up to that read 40, 50, 44. But in ten innings since then, she has not been able to cross 36. While Athapaththu would be the obvious pick for this section, if Sri Lanka are to challenge Australia, they need the rest of their batting to chip in in a big way. Gunaratne has been out of sorts, but Sri Lanka will be banking on her rediscovering her groove even though it’s her first ODI against Australia.Team news: Brown or Schutt?Australia are unlikely to make any changes to the batting, though it remains to be seen if Darcie Brown continues in place of Megan Schutt.Australia (probable): 1 Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), 2 Phoebe Litchfield, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Beth Mooney, 5 Annabel Sutherland, 6 Ashleigh Gardner, 7 Tahlia McGrath, 8 Sophie Molineux, 9 Kim Garth, 10 Alana King, 11 Darcie BrownSri Lanka played their first-choice XI against India, and it’s unlikely there will be any changes.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Hasini Perera, 2 Chamari Athapaththu (capt), 3 Harshitha Samarawickrama, 4 Vishmi Gunaratne, 5 Kavisha Dilhari, 6 Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), 7 Nilakshika Silva, 8 Sugandika Kumari, 9 Inoka Ranaweera, 10 Achini Kulasuriya, 11 Udeshika PrabodhaniAshleigh Gardner scored a brilliant hundred against New Zealand•Getty ImagesPitch and conditions: Rain could play spoilsportThe pitch at the R Premadasa Stadium has traditionally offered up an even contest between bat and ball. However, efforts have been made recently to make it more batting-friendly, so there may not be as much in it for the spinners as usual. As for the weather, there is a distinct chance of rain in Colombo throughout the afternoon.Stats and trivia: Australia 11-0 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka have lost each of their 11 ODIs against Australia. Athapaththu is 80 runs away from 4000 ODI runs. Gardner’s 51 wickets are the most by an Australian since the 2022 World Cup. They are the joint-third-most in that period among all players.Quotes”The beauty of a World Cup is you play every different side and you have to prepare. You don’t really get time to learn. You’ve got to come out firing. But I think our group’s got some awesome heads on our shoulders and we are able to assess conditions and adapt to whatever’s thrown at us.”
“We’re playing against the best team. The world champions. But if we can execute the right plan at the right time, I know we can beat any team. But execution is the most important thing, rather than the skill and the mindset. So we’ll have to play our best game tomorrow.”