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Black Caps quick returns after stint last summer was cut short following his wife’s cancer diagnosis

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2025

Blair Tickner will return to Derbyshire for the 2025 season on an all-format deal.The New Zealand fast bowler played seven matches for the county last summer across the Vitality County Championship and Vitality Blast, before returning home early after his wife Sarah was diagnosed with leukemia.Now with Sarah on the road to recovery, Tickner returns to Derby for the duration of the season, subject to international commitments. He has represented the Black Caps on 34 occasions, and made his Test debut against England in 2023.Tickner, 31, is currently enjoying a fine domestic summer in New Zealand and is among the leading wicket-takers in the country with 13 dismissals in the Plunket Shield (first-class), 11 in the Ford Trophy (List A) and nine in the Super Smash (T20) so far.Derbyshire’s head of cricket, Mickey Arthur, said: “We never got to see the best of Blair in his first spell with us, there was a lot going on off the field, but he was the consummate professional and we were always eager to bring him back for 2025.”His record deserved to be better last season, we dropped chances off his bowling and if we take those, his average comes right down. I’m confident we will be better in that regard in 2025, and Blair should reap the rewards, because he’s a very good bowler.”With the likes of Zak Chappell, Harry Moore, Pat Brown and Blair all vying to take the new ball, I’m very excited about our attack in 2025.”Tickner added: “Despite everything, I loved my first spell with Derbyshire and I’ve kept in touch with the players and coaches, the club have supported me massively and I’m looking forward to getting back to England and showing what I can do.”I think everyone would agree that I have unfinished business with Derbyshire, I couldn’t show my quality first time around and I’m coming back hungry to do just that and win games for the county.”Agar back at NorthantsAshton Agar was part of the Northants side that reached last year’s Blast quarter-finals•Andy Kearns/Getty Images

Northamptonshire, meanwhile, have confirmed that Australia allrounder Ashton Agar will be back for the entire Blast group stage in 2025. Agar made six appearances in the competition last season, helping Northants to reach the quarter-finals.Northants chief executive, Ray Payne, said: “Ashton is a brilliant individual who played a very important role in our good form at the backend of the T20 Blast last year. He is highly skilled, very experienced and has had success at the very highest level of the game.”We’re all very excited to him again in a Steelbacks shirt in 2025.”

Third team with IPL involvement, as Sunrisers Hyderabad owners make highest bid for Leeds franchise

Nagraj Gollapudi and Matt Roller05-Feb-2025A third IPL franchise owner has emerged victorious in the ongoing Hundred sale with the Sun Group, owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad, making the highest bid to buy a stake in Northern Superchargers, whose host county is Yorkshire.ESPNcricinfo understands that the Sun Group have agreed to buy 100% of the franchise: both the ECB’s 49% stake, and Yorkshire’s 51% share. The Superchargers are the first team to be sold outright, with host venues retaining a share in the first five franchises sold.The Sun Group’s valuation of Superchargers was £100 million, with two other parties understood to have been involved in the auction. Both Yorkshire and Sun Group have to finalise the agreement within eight weeks of the end of the Hundred sale.Yorkshire will keep 80% of the revenue from the sale of their 51% stake, which will provide the club with an injection of around £40m. Colin Graves, Yorkshire’s chairman, predicted last year that the club would soon be “fighting for its survival” due to debts of more than £20m, of which around £15m is owed to his family trust (which is managed by independent trustees).The Superchargers will be the third T20 franchise team in the Sun Group’s portfolio. They acquired Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2012, who went on to win the IPL in 2016 and finished as runners-up last year. In 2023, they added Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who have won the SA20 title in its first two editions.The Sun Group is owned by Kalanithi Maran, an Indian media baron, who successfully bid for the IPL franchise after the BCCI terminated the ownership contract of the previous Hyderabad-based team, Deccan Chargers, in 2012.Related

• Yorkshire to start clearing debts of £25 million as Hundred money lands

• Can Travishek, Klaasen, Reddy and Cummins push SRH to go one better?

• Ben Stokes to miss Hundred ahead of legacy-defining Ashes winter

• Surrey to retain majority stake in Oval Invincibles as negotiations with Reliance begin

• Ends justify the means for ECB as Hundred's millions prepare to roll in

Sanjay Patel, Yorkshire’s chief executive and the Hundred’s former managing director, said in a statement: “We are delighted to be entering into an exclusivity period with the Sun Group, and will be continuing our conversations with them in the coming weeks with a view to setting the Northern Superchargers up for long-term and sustained success.””Having been in consultation with them for some time now, it is clear that they are aligned to the values and future direction of the club and will play a huge part in ensuring we can go on to achieve great success in the coming years. Today is clearly a huge milestone for Yorkshire CCC, the Northern Superchargers and the Sun Group, but it is worth stressing that there is a lot of detail to be discussed alongside further due diligence and legal processes before a contract can be signed.”The Superchargers are yet to win the Hundred in either the men’s or the women’s competition, with both teams finishing fourth in 2024. Their men’s team is coached by Andrew Flintoff and captained by Harry Brook, while the women’s team recently appointed Lisa Keightley as Dani Hazell’s successor. Mickey Arthur has also taken over as their new director of cricket this year.Pat Cummins captained Sunrisers Hyderabad to the IPL final last year•BCCI

The Sun Group joins owners of two other IPL franchises – RPSG Group (owners of Lucknow Super Giants) and Reliance Industries Limited (owners of Mumbai Indians) – who made the highest bids to buy stakes in Manchester Originals and Oval Invincibles respectively.There could be at least one other IPL owner, the GMR Group, the co-owners of Delhi Capitals, who are also widely expected to buy a stake in Southern Brave after securing a deal to buy host county Hampshire last year.The other successful bidders to date are Cricket Investor Holdings Limited (a Silicon Valley tech consortium spearheaded by Nikesh Arora) at London Spirit; tech entrepreneur and Washington Freedom owner Sanjay Govil at Welsh Fire; and Knighthead Capital at Birmingham Phoenix.Warwickshire confirmed that Knighthead are their preferred investor on Wednesday. Chief executive Stuart Cain said: “We’d said at the start of this process that we wanted an investor committed to invest in the region and be with us for the long term, to make a real difference. I believe we’ve found that in Knighthead and we look forward to working with them during this exclusivity period.”The total valuation of the six franchises so far is close to £800m, with Trent Rockets and Southern Brave yet to be sold.Feb 5, 1800 GMT – This story was updated several times, including to add Yorkshire’s comments.

Former Chelsea and England defender John Terry has revealed he was turned down for manager roles for not having enough experience as a coach.

Terry not pursing manager careerStill works in Chelsea's academyPreviously had assistant rolesFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Terry says he has given up on trying to become a manager due to the rejections he has received when applying for roles. The former centre-back previously had coaching roles with Dean Smith at both Aston Villa and Leicester after calling time on his playing career in 2018, having won every trophy there is to win with Chelsea.

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Plenty of players from Terry's era have gone into coaching in recent years, with the likes of Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Mikel Arteta among others getting manager roles. However, Terry has admitted he is "baffled" by some of the jobs certain figures in football have managed to snare ahead of him. 

WHAT TERRY SAID

Terry told : “I’m done in terms of coaching. I’m enjoying my life, I’m working in the Chelsea academy.

“I went for a couple of jobs and those days are gone for me. I’m enjoying my life a little bit, I’ve got my time to myself, I play a bit of golf, I’m in the academy and I have some family time as well.

“I absolutely wanted it. When I went into Villa I got great experience under Dean Smith and we got promotion, which was incredible. 

“As an assistant coach in the Premier League and the experience I’ve had as a player and an individual captain in both Chelsea and England, I thought that would be enough to get me a job. 

“I’m not saying a job in the Premier League or the Championship – but a job at League One level. 

“I didn’t even get a sniff. I had interviews and it was just ‘you have no experience’. 

“When I see some people managing today, it baffles me, it really does. 

“In terms of ‘am I frustrated’, yes, absolutely because I have a lot of good attributes to be a really good coach or a really good manager but, unfortunately, that’s not happened.”

Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR TERRY?

Terry was recently spotted as a manager in the six-a-side Baller League competition but for now most of his coaching will continue at Chelsea on a part-time basis as he looks to mould the next generation of Blues stars.

Pedri admits he "found it hard to believe" that Lionel Messi was leaving Barcelona when news of a stunning exit broke in the summer of 2021.

All-time great left as a free agent in 2021Stunned the world with a switch to PSGPedri proud to have worked with legendFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi severed career-long ties with the Blaugrana when reaching the end of a lucrative contract in Catalunya. It emerged that La Liga's giants did not have the finances required to put fresh terms in place.

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An emotional goodbye was bid by Barcelona’s all-time leading goalscorer, with tears flowing before a move to Paris Saint-Germain was completed. It was only when Messi made his way to France that a switch nobody could have predicted became real to those that the Argentine icon was leaving behind.

WHAT PEDRI SAID

Pedri was just 12 months into his Barca career when Messi moved on, with the Spain international telling of how he initially refused to accept that the rumours of an impending departure were true: "It was a shock when Leo Messi left. I was playing in the Olympics, and I found it hard to believe."

GettyDID YOU KNOW?

Pedri did, however, get to experience life alongside the all-time great and quickly learned that it was always best to nudge the ball in that direction. He added on working with the GOAT: "I always passed the ball to Messi. Clearly, he was better than me. He was incredible in training; we were lucky to see him."

Red soil will become black. Bounce and carry will be fleeting. And don’t expect a rank turner.In a nutshell, that is likely to be the nature of the pitch at Green Park in Kanpur, where the second and final Test of the India-Bangladesh series starts on September 27.It is understood that unlike the true bounce that lasted across the four days in the first Test in Chennai last week, the Green Park pitch will be flatter in nature, with the bounce lower and the surface becoming increasingly slower as the Test grows old. This is because of the black-soil content in the pitch.That is in contrast to the Chepauk pitch, where both teams’ seamers and spinners fetched good bounce. That was a consequence of the pitch being made of the red soil that was imported from Mumbai two years ago. The bounce was a key factor in both teams playing three fast bowlers. While the degree of turn was not huge, allied with bounce, the Chepauk pitch had enough for spinners too, as shown by the Indian pair of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who took nine wickets between them in Bangladesh’s second innings.Related

• Shakib trials strap around neck as head-positioning tool in Chennai

• Ashwin knows Chepauk inside-out, turns Bangladesh inside-out

• Ashwin's double act of hundred and six-for secures 1-0 lead for India

The slower nature of the Kanpur pitch is bound to change both teams’ selection plans. It is likely that the third seamer could be replaced by a third spinner. That means one of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel could get a chance for India.Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s selector Hannan Sarkar said on Monday in Chennai that Shakib Al Hasan is an injury doubt after his already hurting left index finger suffered a blow while batting on the fourth day. Even if Shakib plays the Test as an allrounder, Bangladesh may bring in left-arm spinner Taijul Islam in Nahid Rana’s place. The visitors also have offspinner Nayeem Hasan in the squad. He only comes into the picture if Shakib becomes unavailable, and Bangladesh still want to have three spinners in their line-up.In the last Test played in Kanpur, against New Zealand in 2021, India played three spinners in Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar. That was the first Test played at the venue since 2016, which also was against New Zealand. One common thread running through those two Tests was both lasted five days. While in 2016 India won comfortably, New Zealand batters showed admirable resistance to draw the game in 2021.While it is likely to be a toil for bowlers, batters could breathe easy and potentially score big in the absence of any tricks from the surface. In the 2021 Test, Shreyas Iyer scored a century and a fifty on debut and Tom Latham put out a rare masterclass from an overseas batter in defence against Indian spinners, scoring two half-centuries.

Liverpool are gearing up for a busy summer indeed, with FSG moving swiftly to snap up the signing of Jeremie Frimpong, who is set to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back when his £30m release clause is activated.

Trent’s quality is such that Liverpool need to replace him with multiple players. That’s why plans are reportedly being drawn to sign Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, who is one of the most sought-after and talented playmakers in the world.

He’s outperformed Liverpool’s similarly fielded players this season and would likely be the star of the show under the Anfield lights next year.

Of course, this shouldn’t detract from Liverpool’s principal goal this summer: signing a new centre-forward.

Liverpool lining up new striker

Darwin Nunez is allegedly set to leave, and an upgrade is surely needed for Arne Slot’s side to do it all over again next year.

Transfer Focus

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

Well, according to GIVEMESPORT, Liverpool are ‘on course to up the ante’ in their bid to sign Hugo Ekitike having sent scouts over to Germany to watch the Frenchman in action this weekend, with Eintracht Frankfurt facing Freiburg in the culminating game of the Bundesliga season.

Frankfurt, third, have benefited immensely from Ekitike’s dynamic attacking play this season, and it’s not surprising that they are seeking an £84m payment to part with their pride and joy.

£84m is no small sum, but it’s more payable than Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, who has been named a £150m player to dissuade suitors from placing bids this summer.

Why Hugo Ekitike is perfect for Liverpool

Ekitike is a young and hungry centre-forward with an immense amount of ability. He scores goals, but he also knits attacking play together, makes intelligent passes, outfoxes his opponents with agile movements.

He made headway toward the end of the 2023/24 campaign. Signed for a reported €35m (£30m) fee last summer, Ekitike had already been playing for Die Roten as a loanee for five months, blanking across his first nine Bundesliga appearances before netting four from five to close the campaign.

Now, the signs of a first-class player have been found and fostered. Across all competitions, the 22-year-old has posted 22 goals and 11 assists this season, with his all-around game leading football legend Wesley Sneijder to claim he has “the grace of Neymar” while journalist Graeme Bailey has described him as the “next Mbappe”.

There’s no question that securing Ekitike’s services would be a more important deal than bagging Wirtz, and that’s saying something. Wirtz is a phenomenal player, already one of the best in his position at 22.

But Ekitike, his age-mate, has been described as “one of the best centre-forwards out there” by analyst Ben Mattinson, and he’s only just getting started.

As per FBref, the Frenchman ranks among the top 10% of forwards across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for assists, the top 7% for shot-creating actions and the top 5% for both progressive carries and successful take-ons per 90.

With an athletic and all-encompassing approach to the striker’s game, Ekitike is not just a fitting Nunez heir at number nine but indeed one of the most exciting profiles out there, with a completeness that Slot could use to fashion a new superstar.

Of course, in an ideal world, Liverpool would succeed in plucking both forwards from the German scene this summer, but it would seem prudent to address the Merseysiders’ glaring deficiency at centre-forward before turning toward the staggering sums required to win the Wirtz race.

A dream for Salah: Liverpool moving to sign "the world's best midfielder"

Liverpool boss Arne Slot’s season will be rewarded in the transfer market this summer.

2

By
Angus Sinclair

May 15, 2025

Arsenal are now in the race to sign an “entertaining” attacking midfielder who’s been likened to Eden Hazard, with Mikel Arteta believed to be a fan of the player, according to a report.

Gunners set sights on attacking midfielder

Injuries suffered by the likes of Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz have undoubtedly hindered the Gunners in their pursuit of the Premier League title, but questions also have to be asked about the performances of some of their other key players this season.

Martin Odegaard, for instance, has fallen short of his usual lofty standards, with the Norwegian on course for his worst full season, in terms of attacking contributions, since arriving at the Emirates Stadium, having picked up just two goals and seven assists in the league.

As such, Arteta may feel that new options are required in the attacking midfield area, and sporting director Andrea Berta is personally pushing for the signing of Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-In, with the French club now willing to sell the South Korean.

Arteta has also sanctioned a move for Leicester City’s Bilal El Khannouss, with a £22m offer for the 21-year-old now in the works, having been a bright spark in a very poor Foxes side this season, but another option is now emerging from further afield.

Like a younger Isak: Arsenal already doing work to sign "electric" £70m gem

It’s clear that Arsenal need to sign a striker and, given that they’re unlikely to land Alexander Isak, have they found an electric £70m alternative?

By
Ben Gray

May 10, 2025

According to a report from Spain, Arsenal are now pushing for the signing of Las Palmas maestro Alberto Moleiro, but there could be fierce competition for his signature, with Premier League rivals Aston Villa and Newcastle United also keen.

Moleiro has been closely monitored for months, and Arteta believes the 21-year-old could provide a fresh injection of quality, into an area of the pitch where a lack of depth has been an issue.

The starlet has a €60m (£51m) release clause included in his Las Palmas contract, but there is a feeling the Spanish side would be willing to sanction a departure for a lower price, given that his current deal is set to expire in the summer of 2026.

"Entertaining" Moleiro likened to Hazard

The Spaniard has caught the eye with some of his performances in La Liga this season, picking up six goals and one assist for Las Palmas, while football scout Ben Mattinson has claimed he is an exciting player to watch.

Not only that, but Mattinson has claimed the youngster reminds him of former Chelsea great Hazard, given the way he dribbles, and he ranks in the 84th percentile for successful take-ons per 90 over the past year, when compared to other attacking midfielders.

Of course, Arsenal should persist with Odegaard as their first choice attacking midfielder, despite the Norway international’s drop-off in form this season, but it would be useful to have a solid alternative option, and Moleiro could be an exciting long-term addition to the squad.

And who has the highest batting average at No. 4?

Steven Lynch02-Jun-2020Sachin Tendulkar had 194 when India declared in Multan in 2004. Has anyone else been stranded in the 190s by a declaration in a Test? asked Sarv Kothandaraman from the United States
There have so far been eight undefeated innings of between 190 and 199 in Tests, including two unlucky cases of 199 not out – by Andy Flower, for Zimbabwe against South Africa in Harare in 2001-02, and Kumar Sangakkara, for Sri Lanka v Pakistan in Galle in 2012.Sachin Tendulkar had 194 when Rahul Dravid declared at 675 for 5 against Pakistan in Multan in 2003-04. Dravid did it to have an hour’s bowling at Pakistan on the second evening – and although no wickets went down that night, India did win by an innings in the end. The only higher score in this bracket was achieved by Frank Worrell, against England in Bridgetown in 1959-60. He had scored 197 – in more than 11 hours – when his captain, Gerry Alexander, declared midway through the final day. There was little prospect of a result: England batted again and pottered to 71 without loss in 42 overs. The watching English journalist Alan Ross wrote: “Alexander several times signalled to Worrell for more action but Worrell, off on some pipedream of his own, chose to ignore him. Nelson at the Nile could not have been more disdainful.” And EW Swanton noted: “When Scarlett, by repute something of a hitter, was lbw, Alexander brought Worrell in, three short of his double hundred. It was significant that Alexander’s timing did not produce a dissenting voice.”It was Worrell’s second undefeated score in the 190s in Tests – against England at Trent Bridge in 1957 he had carried his bat for 191.Australia’s Brian Taber made eight dismissals on his Test debut – is that the record for a wicketkeeper? asked Ronald Garside from Australia
The New South Wales wicketkeeper Brian Taber collected seven catches and a stumping in his first Test, against South Africa in Johannesburg in 1966-67, and his mark was equalled by Chris Read, who made seven catches and a stumping too, on his debut, for England against New Zealand at Edgbaston in 1999.Eight remains the record for a player’s overall debut, but South Africa’s Quinton de Kock made nine dismissals – eight catches and a stumping – in his first match as the designated wicketkeeper, against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2014, having made his Test debut as a batsman earlier in the year. Some years ago I came across the comment that Graham Yallop had the highest average of any Australian batsman when batting in the No. 4 position. What is the highest average at No. 4 for other countries? asked Mike Larkin from Australia
I was always an admirer of Graham Yallop, who I thought was an underrated batsman. But this, for once, is overrating him: Yallop averaged 36.76 when batting at No. 4 in Tests, which is solid rather than spectacular. He did better at No. 3, where he averaged 52.42.Leading the way for No. 4s in Tests is none other than Frank Worrell, who by coincidence is mentioned in the question above. He averaged 76.22 in ten innings in this position (I imposed a qualification of ten innings, to exclude any anomalies). Next comes Steve Smith, who so far averages 74.02 from 57 innings at No. 4.Sachin Tendulkar made the most Test runs at No. 4 – 13,492 at 54.40) – while Mahela Jayawardene (9509 at 52.24) and Jacques Kallis (9033 at 61.86) both made more than 9000.Frank Worrell has the highest average for a minimum of 10 innings at No. 4 – 76.22•Getty ImagesWho scored two hundreds in a Test without being dismissed? asked Shanthy Noronha from New Zealand
There have now been 86 instances of a batsman scoring two hundreds in the same Test, 37 of them in the current century. But there remains only one case where the man concerned was not dismissed in either innings: Sri Lanka’s Aravinda de Silva followed 138 not out against Pakistan in Colombo in April 1997 with 103 not out in the second innings.The West Indian Krishmar Santokie has figured in 12 T20Is without scoring a run. Who holds the corresponding record in Tests and ODIs? asked Ricky Dooley from Scotland
The Jamaican left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie shares top spot on this list with Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has also played a dozen T20Is so far without troubling the scorers (both have batted once; Santokie did not receive a ball, but Afridi faced two without scoring). Three other current players have appeared in 11 T20Is without scoring a run: Ben Shikongo of Namibia, Hamza Tahir of Scotland, and Mohammed Shami of India. Shikongo was dismissed by the only ball he has faced, while the others have not made it to the crease.There’s a runaway leader in one-day internationals: the South African left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi has so far played no fewer than 22 ODIs without scoring a run (he’s faced two balls in three innings). Next is another current player, the Sri Lankan seamer Kasun Rajitha with nine matches – he’s actually faced ten deliveries without scoring a run. Next come the West Indian spinner Dave Mohammed and Indian seamer Jaydeep Unadkat, who both played seven matches without scoring.Three players have appeared in three Test matches without scoring a run. The old Worcestershire seamer Fred Root never even got to bat in his three Tests, while an even older fast bowler, Lancashire’s Arthur Mold, got in three times but failed to score. More recently, the South African fast bowler Mfuneko “Chewing” Ngam played three Tests in 2000-01 without getting off the mark.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Curran also became the youngest England player to win a Man of the Match award in Tests, while Virat Kohli outscored his team-mates by a phenomenal margin

Bharath Seervi04-Aug-20180 Tests won by Asian teams at Edgbaston. India haven’t found a win in seven Tests at the venue having lost six and drawn one. The other subcontinent teams, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, have played eight and two Tests respectively without any victory. Edgbaston has been England’s favourite venue – they have won 28 Tests and lost only eight here. Their win-loss ratio here is the third-best for any team at a venue in which they have played 25 or more Tests.ESPNcricinfo Ltd2 Instances of India losing while chasing smaller targets than the 194 at Edgbaston. They had lost chasing 120 in Bridgetown in 1996-97 and 176 in Galle in 2015. Three of the four smallest targets that India have failed to chase down have come in the last three years, including the Cape Town Test at start of 2018, when they lost chasing 204.11 Wickets shared by Ben Stokes and Sam Curran, at an average of 18.63. Stokes picked up six wickets and Curran four. They outbowled their senior colleagues James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who managed just six wickets between them at an average of 29.00. Curran and Stokes picked up a four-for each in the two innings.ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 India-England Tests to finish by a closer runs margin than this Test, which England won by 31 runs. The Eden Gardens Test of 1972-73 ended with India winning by 28 runs. The 31-run defeat is India’s fourth-closest defeat and closest since 2000.0 England players younger than Curran to win a Man of the Match award in Test cricket. He was 20 years and 60 days old at the start of this match. He is also the youngest to win the award against India since Umar Gul at 19 years, 357 days in Lahore in 2004. Curran took England’s first three wickets in the match and contributed with the bat in both the innings, scoring 24 and 63.77.66 The control percentage of England’s batsmen in this Test. India’s batsmen managed 75%. The close control percentage figures show that bowlers from both teams dominated the batsmen. This is only the second Test in England in the last 15 years in which all four innings produced totals of less than 300. The other Test was at Lord’s in 2013. when New Zealand toured.45.87 Percentage of India’s runs that came from Virat Kohli’s bat. He scored 200 runs out of the 436 made by India. The other 10 India players managed only 214 runs in their 20 innings and there were 22 extras. The second-highest scorer for India in the Test, Hardik Pandya, made 53 runs, or just over a quarter of Kohli’s runs. Kohli hit 27 boundaries while all the other India players combined for 28.

Can Celtic get back to winning ways?

Last Sunday, the Hoops were beaten by the side bottom of the Scottish Premiership for the first time since November 2005, shockingly defeated 1-0 by struggling St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.

Considering Rangers also lost a day earlier, Hibs claiming a 2-0 win at Ibrox, it mattered very little, and Celtic could be crowned champions as soon as this weekend.

If Brendan Rodgers’ team beat Kilmarnock on Saturday, and then their fierce rivals are defeated at Pittodrie a day later, a record-equalling 55th top division title will be rubber-stamped.

As the Hoops target victory over Derek McInnes’ Killie, Rodgers must drop his club-record signing and unleash a fit again star instead.

Arne Engels mixed first season at Celtic

Last summer, after selling Matt O’Riley to Brighton for a reported £25m fee, Celtic broke their club record to replace him, with Arne Engels arriving on deadline day from Augsburg at the cost of £11m.

Upon his arrival, Rodgers labeled the Belgian a “young player of real quality”, while Graeme McGarry of the Herland claims the 21-year-old has ‘huge potential’.

To date, Engels has scored ten goals and registered 12 assists across all competitions, with 32 of his 45 appearances coming from the start, underlining that he has been a mainstay.

However, in more recent times, Joe Donnelly of the Glasgow Times notes that Engels has regularly ‘failed to make a significant impact’ in many Celtic matches, scoring only once in his last 12 appearances, hooked after 66 minutes in Perth last Sunday.

Thus, Rodgers must, now, ruthlessly ditch the Belgium international from the starting line-up due to his recent lack of impact at the top end of the pitch, and his dull display last time out.

The Celtic star who should replace Arne Engels

Back in February, Paulo Bernardo suffered an ankle injury during a Scottish Cup tie against Raith Rovers that saw him sidelined for five weeks, heartbreakingly missing out on the two-legged Champions League clash with Bayern Munich.

Since then, the Portuguese U21 international has seen just 28 minutes of action, coming off the bench during the 3-0 rout of Hearts a fortnight ago, before remaining an unused substitute against St Johnstone last time out.

Bernardo himself said “I can play football again, so I’m really excited”, describing the injury he suffered as “bad” but stating he will do his best and give his all during the remainder of the campaign.

Bernardo initially joined Celtic on loan from Benfica, before making the move permanent for a reported £3.5m fee last summer.

So far, he’s scored just seven goals and registered only seven assists in 70 outings in hoops, but let’s take a deeper dive into his statistics when compared to Engels.

Appearances

37

45

Minutes

1,544

2,800

Goals

3

10

Assists

4

12

Chances created

30

64

Big chances created

5

14

Passing accuracy %

87.95%

84.64%

Through-balls

2

12

Ball recoveries

74

109

Touches per 90

79

72

The table shows that, throughout the season, Engels’ statistics are better, albeit he has played around 1,300 minutes more across all competitions, which certainly skews the data.

Bernardo meantime, boasts a higher pass completion percentage, more ball recoveries per 90 minutes, and registers marginally more touches per game.

Thus, the Portuguese midfielder definitely deserves a shot against Kilmarnock, building up his match-sharpness ahead of a Scottish Cup semi-final against the side who have just beaten Celtic, namely St Johnstone, at Hampden on Easter Sunday.

Rarely-seen Celtic flop is fast becoming their new James McCarthy

The rarely-seen Celtic flop could end up becoming the new James McCarthy at Parkhead.

ByDan Emery Apr 10, 2025