India Aim for Strong Comeback Against England in Second Mixed Disabil…

After suffering a 29-run defeat in the opening game, the Indian men’s mixed disability cricket team will look to bounce back when they take on England in the second T20I of the seven-match series on Friday, August 7, at the OurCoop County Ground in Derby.

The second match, to be played at the same venue, is scheduled to begin at 5:00 pm IST.

In the series opener, England elected to bat first and posted 159/4 from their allotted 20 overs. Chasing 160, India were restricted to 130/9, handing the hosts a 1-0 lead in the series. biznow.biz

Despite the defeat, Differently Abled Cricket Council of India (DCCI) Secretary General Ravi Kant Chauhan remained optimistic about the team’s chances in the remaining matches.

“In the first match, the team got a good understanding of the conditions here. The biggest achievement is that these players have overcome the challenges of learning disabilities to represent the country. I am confident that in the next match, the Indian team will be seen in full rhythm,” Chauhan said in an exclusive conversation with RevSportz.

He acknowledged that adapting to English conditions had been a challenge after the team arrived from India’s summer conditions just a few days before the series.

“The weather, especially the wind during the first match, was quite different from what the players had prepared for in India. However, they are gradually adjusting to the conditions, and I believe they will perform much better in the remaining six matches,” he added.

Chauhan also highlighted the growing stature of mixed disability cricket globally, revealing that the format had received strong appreciation from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

“Both India and England are sending a strong message to the cricketing world that if more Full Member nations embrace this format, mixed disability cricket can soon find a place on the ICC platform,” Chauhan said.

In earlier conversations with the Indian team officials, it was learnt that there might be a possibility of an exhibition match of mixed disability cricket at the Los Angeles Paralympics in 2028.

With six matches still to be played after Friday’s encounter, India will be eager to level the series and build momentum in what promises to be a significant series for the future of the sport.

For more updates on the India vs England Mixed Disability T20I series, follow RevSportz

The post India Aim for Strong Comeback Against England in Second Mixed Disability T20I appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.

Darwin [Australia], August 7 (ANI): Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne finds himself extremely optimistic and well-prepared ahead of the two-match home Test series against Bangladesh and feels that runs will flow if he keeps trusting his game.

The two-match series against Bangladesh will start from August 13 onwards, with Tests scheduled at Darwin and Mackay. The tour will witness Labuschagne continue his hunt for a Test century, having not reached the triple figures in the last 20 Tests since his tonne against England in July 2023 at The Oval. Since then, he has made 905 runs in 38 innings at a sub-par average of 26.61, with nine half-centuries and a best score of 90.

The former world number one Test batter is looking to lock down on the number three spot again and believes he is not far away from regaining his touch and is targeting a strong showing during the upcoming home series with Bangladesh.

Speaking as quoted by ICC, Marnus admitted to having been on the “longest break he has had" and that while he has tried to get things in order, he has found himself running out of time to commit to those changes.

“It is certainly very important to start these two Tests well," Labuschagne said.

“When you are on the road playing for probably the last seven or eight years straight, this is the longest break I have had. There have been times where I’ve tried to get things in order, but I just run out of time to fully commit to those small changes."

“It has been really nice to go back and find my best form and what it looks like for me to play at my best. The preparation over the last few weeks here with Australia has been great for that. Hopefully we can see the results off the back of all the hard work," he continued.

While Labuschagne could not find runs in Test cricket, he was more free-flowing in the Sheffield Shield for Queensland, scoring 525 runs in 14 innings at an average of 37.50, with two centuries and a fifty.

He is heading into the series after a below-average ODI run against Pakistan and Bangladesh, managing just one fifty in six innings and overall just 109 runs.

Labuschagne admitted that in recent times, he worried about the volume of runs he would score, but now is more open minded about his game and believes the big scores will come if he trusts his preparation and feels that if he keeps trusting his game, runs will come.

“When you have missed out a few times, you get a little greedy and start searching for runs, and you are not letting the game come to you," Labuschagne added.

“It is really important for me to not get too invested in the runs. We want the runs, but we want the process and that is what I am looking for."

“The runs will come as the journey goes on if I keep trusting my game. I think that is what I did really well through that period that I went really well. I trusted my game, trusted how I went about batting, reading the game and understanding what the team needed from me in that moment. That’s what I’m looking forward to," he continued.

Australia currently sits on top of the World Test Championship standings, while Bangladesh is fourth.

Australia Test squad for Bangladesh: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

Series schedule:

First Test: August 13-17, Darwin

Second Test: August 22-26, Mackay. (ANI)

(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)

UEFA’s statement in the week of FIFA’s meeting in Morocco was not diplomacy. It was a declaration of war. Every sentence was crafted to leave Gianni Infantino with nowhere to hide and no room to negotiate. The message was unmistakable: UEFA no longer trusts the FIFA president, and it has no intention of pretending otherwise.

If this confrontation reaches its logical conclusion, there will be only one winner. It will not be FIFA. It will not be Infantino. It will be European football.

“UEFA’s associations were very clear about the conditions attached to the non-participation in FIFA competitions,” a UEFA spokesperson told The Athletic.

“First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and, secondly, assurances had to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way would never be made again.

“These conditions have not been met. In addition, UEFA made it abundantly clear in its statement on Saturday that it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s presidency. That position holds.

“Yesterday’s announcement that some people employed by the FIFA President (and whose careers depend on his favour) agree with him changes nothing.”

That is about as close to a vote of no confidence as football governance has ever seen.

Infantino can wrap himself in rhetoric about protecting FIFA’s integrity, but integrity exited the room a long time ago. It disappeared the moment football’s governing body became more obsessed with monetising every available asset than safeguarding the sport itself. The proposal to sell stakes in FIFA competitions was not viewed as innovation. It was seen as the commodification of football’s crown jewels.

Yes, Infantino can still point to overwhelming support among FIFA’s 211 member associations. He can parade votes from nations that depend heavily on FIFA funding. He can count political allies — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is certainly not one of them — across continents. But votes on paper and power in practice are two very different things.

The uncomfortable truth is that every confederation knows exactly where football’s centre of gravity lies. South America knows it. Asia knows it. Africa knows it. Strip Europe out of the World Cup and what remains is not the greatest sporting event on the planet. It is an imitation with a famous name.

The commercial consequences would be devastating. Sponsors do not invest billions because the tournament carries the FIFA logo. Broadcasters do not fight bidding wars because Zurich says so. They pay because the biggest clubs, the biggest stars and the biggest-spending audiences are overwhelmingly concentrated in Europe. Remove them and the financial model collapses overnight.

That is the leverage UEFA possesses, and everyone in football knows it.

This confrontation has not emerged overnight. UEFA has watched Infantino relentlessly expand competitions, stretch an already suffocating calendar and push the Club World Cup far beyond what many in the game believed was sustainable. Every new tournament, every extra match and every commercial venture has reinforced the belief that football is being governed not by sporting priorities but by financial ambition.

The proposal to bring external investment into FIFA’s competitions was simply the final provocation. For UEFA, it crossed a line that could not be uncrossed.

Infantino may believe he can outmanoeuvre Europe through politics, alliances and diplomacy. He may hope support from Saudi Arabia, Morocco and a majority of FIFA’s membership will carry him through. But this is one battle where arithmetic matters more than alliances.

Without Europe, there is no World Cup worthy of the name. There is no global spectacle capable of commanding the same audiences, attracting the same sponsors or generating the same prestige.

For years, Infantino has expanded FIFA’s reach without facing meaningful resistance. This time, however, he has picked a fight with the one power in football capable of bringing his project to a standstill.

And that is a fight he is unlikely to win.

Also Read: UEFA maintains World Cup boycott warning despite FIFA retreat

The post Infantino Has Finally Picked a Fight He Cannot Win appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.

Hoofddorp [Netherlands], August 7 (ANI): The players’ body, FIFPRO, has issued a statement against president Gianni Infantino, accusing him of “profound abuse of presidential power".

The statement from FIFPRO has insisted that the shelving of ‘FIFA Forward Enterprise’, which aimed to bring privatisation to the FIFA World Cup, does nothing to end the crisis, saying that it was “conceived in secrecy, negotiated behind closed doors and brought to the brink of agreement before the FIFA Council, the Member Associations, players and football’s recognised stakeholders even knew it existed."

The statement from FIFPRO said, “FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) is gone. The abuse of power that produced it is not. Governance reforms, not a cover-up, are urgently needed. The withdrawal of FFE was inevitable. But withdrawing the proposal does not erase what it revealed."

“A plan capable of permanently altering the ownership and governance of the FIFA World Cup, and commercialising the competitions built by generations of players, was conceived in secrecy, negotiated behind closed doors and brought to the brink of agreement before the FIFA Council, the Member Associations, players and football’s recognised stakeholders even knew it existed."

“That is not merely a governance failure. It is a profound abuse of presidential power," the statement continued.

FIFPRO said that they have noted the “FIFA’s internal update from its meeting in Rabat, Morocco with deep concern."

While apologising to the member associations for the way the FIFA Forward Enterprise matter was handled, FIFA also said that its leadership has unanimously reaffirmed support for President Gianni Infantino, while Infantino also reiterated his confidence in FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom and the administration for their role in delivering the organisation’s vision

“Following a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, the FIFA Secretary General and members of the FIFA Management Board in attendance reaffirmed their full support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, as the only official elected by the 211 FIFA Member Associations. In turn, the FIFA President reiterated his full support for the FIFA Secretary General and the FIFA Administration for their necessary and outstanding work in the delivery of his vision," FIFA had said.

FIFPRO said that rather than confronting what had happened, “FIFA had reaffirmed support for the organisation’s leadership while reducing a fundamental governance and constitutional failure to a matter of “processes and communications" to be “improved"."

The body also said that the fact that FIFA admitted its mistake and said that “everything they had done was in compliance with FIFA regulatory framework" is an “indictment of FIFA’s current governance framework".

“A framework that allows a project of this magnitude to be developed behind closed doors and hidden from those it affects until it leaks, is a framework that must be reformed, not defended," added FIFPRO.

FIFPRO also said that they had taken note of FIFA’s warning that “they will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity" and asserted that the “scrutiny of football’s governance is not an attack."

“It is the duty of everyone who sustains the game. Any attempt to portray legitimate, good-faith scrutiny as disloyalty will only deepen the concern this episode has caused. And an internal review that reports only to the very Council that was bypassed is no answer at all. Players, their representatives and the professional football stakeholders must be part of it," the statement said.

“No institution can restore confidence in a presidency that has itself dismantled the conditions upon which confidence depends. Trust cannot simply be demanded. Authority cannot merely be asserted. Legitimacy cannot be proclaimed. Each must be earned. Each can be lost," it added.

FIFPRO also said that regardless of how the present crisis surrounding FIFA Forward Enterprises is resolved, “football now requires structural safeguards to ensure these events can never be repeated" and placed the following demands:

-Embedding the Global Social Dialogue Platform as a real, permanent and structural part of FIFA’s governance, not a mechanism to be bypassed at will.

-Legally binding engagement with professional football’s stakeholders on decisions of major consequence, including the international match calendar, competition expansion and other matters that fundamentally affect the professional game.

-Voting rights for professional football’s stakeholders on the FIFA Council, together with a clear and formally recognised role for FIFPRO as the global representative of professional footballers.

-Governance and structural reforms that make it impossible for any individual, ever again, to drive unilateral decisions through the game.

FIFPRO also said that it had written to FIFA administration setting out the demands.

“The letter explains why this episode represents far more than an isolated governance failure. It concerns the exercise of the highest role and office in world football and the manner in which its authority has been used. The letter has been signed jointly by the FIFPRO President and the Presidents of all FIFPRO regional divisions: FIFPRO Africa, FIFPRO Asia/Oceania, FIFPRO Europe, FIFPRO South America and FIFPRO Central & North America," said FIFPRO.

“The withdrawal of FFE prevented an irreversible decision. It did not restore the confidence that made such a proposal possible in the first place. That confidence has now been fundamentally broken. It cannot be rebuilt through carefully drafted statements, internal reviews or promises to improve processes. Nor can it be restored simply by announcing governance and structural reforms that should always have existed."

“These reforms are now indispensable. But they are the responsibility of the future, not an absolution of the past. The players did not create this crisis. They will insist that football emerges from it with stronger institutions, stronger safeguards and leadership worthy of the trust the game demands," the statement concluded. (ANI)

(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)

The first ever Test match was played in 1877 at the MCG between England and Australia, the two oldest rivals in the game of cricket.

Many bowlers are remembered for their historic feats and memorable spells. The sport has seen only a handful of cricketers who have walked into the pantheon of celebrated bowlers by dominating the field for over a dozen years.

Over the almost 150 years’ history of Test cricket, only nine bowlers have picked up 500 or more wickets, only five have gone past 600 wickets, only three have collected 700 scalps, and only one touched the 800-wicket milestone.

On top of the list of wicket-takers in Test cricket is Sri Lankan legend Muthiah Muralidaran (Muttiah Muralitharan), who retired with 800 Test wickets and 67 five-wicket hauls, both records in the longest format. And following the Sri Lankan spinner is another spin wizard, Australia’s Shane Warne, who claimed 708 Test wickets in his illustrious career.

Which fast bowler has taken the most wickets in Test cricket?

Former England pacer James Anderson is the highest wicket-taker among pacers and third-highest after Muralidaran and Warner. The Englishman took 704 Test wickets, retiring as the only fast bowler with over 700 Test scalps.

Which Indian bowler took the highest number of Test wickets?

Anil Kumble is India’s highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 619 wickets. The former leg-spinner is the fourth-leading wicket-taker in Test matches. Kumble is one of the only three bowlers in the history of Test cricket to claim 10 wickets in an innings, a feat he achieved against Pakistan in 1999 in Delhi.

The next three men, following Kumble, are Ashes rivals: Stuart Broad (604 wickets), Nathan Lyon (567 wickets)*, and Glenn McGrath (563 wickets).

India’s R Ashwin, who retired in 2024, bagged 537 wickets and is 8th on the wicket-takers tally, followed by Courtney Walsh and Dale Steyn, who took 519 and 439 Test wickets, respectively.

How many wickets did Kapil Dev take in Tests?

Former India captain and all-rounder Kapil Dev claimed 434 Test wickets, the most by an Indian fast bowler.

How many wickets has Mitchell Starc taken in Test cricket?

Both Kapil and Steyn are set to be overtaken by Mitchell Starc, who, at the time of writing, has 433 Test wickets in his remarkable career. With seven more wickets, Starc will replace Steyn on the top 10 wicket-takers list.

Starc, though, played down this impending achievement.

“It is cool and very humbling to be spoken about it with those guys. But that stuff doesn’t mean a whole lot while you’re still playing. You don’t get too far ahead,” Starc said.

Top 10 Bowlers With Most Wickets In Test Cricket:

No.	Name	Wickets in Test cricket
1	Muthiah Muralidaran	800
2	Shane Warne	708
3	James Anderson	704
4	Anil Kumble	619
5	Stuart Broad	604
6	Nathan Lyon	567
7	Glenn McGrath	563
8	Ravichandran Ashwin	537
9	Courtney Walsh	519
10	Dale Steyn	439

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