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Just how far can Rangers go in this season’s Europa League?

On Thursday night, the Light Blues took a gigantic step towards the quarter-finals, thanks to a famous 3-1 victory over Fenerbahçe at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium.

So, assuming Barry Ferguson’s side can complete the job back at Ibrox next Thursday, they’ll face either Roma or Athletic Club in the last eight in April; that tie is perfectly poised following I Giallorossi’s 2-1 victory in the Italian capital.

This would be the Gers’ 13th appearance in a major European quarter-final, memorably getting all the way to the Europa League Final just three seasons ago, and if they’re to repeat those exploits, they’ll need one rising star in particular to be at his best.

Rangers' Thursday night heroes

Rangers’ stars of the victory in İstanbul were, unquestionably, the two scorers: Václav Černý and Cyriel Dessers.

The Czech winger netted twice, on target at the end of both halves, taking his tally to six in the Europa League this season, second only to Ayoub El Kaabi of Olympiacos, who scored when the Gers visited Piraeus in November, one of his seven strikes in the tournament.

Meantime, Dessers actually had the ball in the net on three occasions, albeit both of his second-half goals were disallowed for very marginal offsides.

The Nigerian’s goal that did count came after just six minutes, rounding goalkeeper İrfan Can Eğribayat before his shot made it over the line by mere picometres, despite Çağlar Söyüncü’s best efforts to clear.

Scottish Football analyst John Walker stated that this was Dessers’ “best match for Rangers”, with Gavin Berry of the Daily Record describing his performance as ‘superb’, while Fenerbahçe boss José Mourinho claimed “today, Dessers looked like the best player in the world”, which is high praise indeed.

While this attacking duo are getting all the plaudits, and deservedly so, could another Rangers forward, who was reduced to a late cameo on the Asian side of the Bosporus Strait, be their key man for the remainder of this European escapade?

Rangers' highest-value attacker

Many were surprised that Hamza Igamane was only named on the bench in Turkey on Thursday, but one cannot argue with Ferguson, considering the end result.

Market Movers

The 22-year-old Moroccan has exceeded all expectations since arriving in Glasgow from Botola side Association sportive des Forces armées royales, or AS FAR for short, in the summer for a reported fee of £2.5m, having been lauded as “outstanding” by data analyst Ben Mattinson.

The striker has 13 goals to his name this season, four of which have come in the Europa League, while he also bagged a perfect hat-trick at Hibernian in January, during a time he was, as Anthony Evans of the Daily Record puts it, in ‘red-hot form’.

Meantime, Matthew Elder of the Scotsman believes him to be the Scottish Premiership’s ‘signing of the season’, while Keith Jackson of the Daily Record labels him a ‘superstar’, so let’s assess how Igamane compares to Rangers’ other attackers.

Players

Goals

Assists

Cyriel Dessers

22

7

Václav Černý

17

7

Hamza Igamane

13

3

Danilo

6

3

Mohamed Diomandé

5

7

Nedim Bajrami

5

4

Tom Lawrence

5

2

As alluded to earlier, Rangers paid just £2.5m for Igamane last summer, described as a “jackpot transfer” by Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout.

Indeed, in January, amidst interest from Everton, the club reportedly placed a £25m price tag on Igamane’s head, with that figure far exceeding the current valuations of both Dessers and Cerny.

Reports during the winter window claimed that Dessers could depart for a fee of around £6m, while in the case of Cerny, it has been reported that a permanent deal could be struck for £6.75m.

Should Igamane depart for that amount, it would make him the club’s record sale, currently held by Calvin Bassey’s £19.6m move to Ajax in 2022. For Rangers’ sake, however, they’ll be hoping he sticks around for a little while longer yet.

5 players who could shine under the next Rangers manager at Ibrox

With Philippe Clement booted out of Ibrox, a new incoming manager could provide some players with an opportunity to transform their Rangers careers.

ByRoss Kilvington Mar 7, 2025

She has just under a week to be fit for the Test against Australia

S Sudarshanan16-Dec-20231:15

Satheesh Shubha: ‘Getting India call-up was like living a dream’

Shubha Satheesh has fractured and dislocated her left ring finger, which forced her to miss the second and third days of the one-off women’s Test against England in Navi Mumbai, Harmanpreet Kaur confirmed after India wrapped up a massive 347-run win.Harmanpreet also said that Shubha had picked up the injury while warming up prior to the start of play on Friday’s second day. She was seen with the ring finger of her left hand in a splint in the dugout when India bowled on Friday.She now faces a race to be fit for the Australia Test match starting at the Wankhede Stadium next Thursday.Related

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Shubha scored 69 in India’s first innings – the top score in India’s 428 all out – in what was her international debut, but didn’t bat in India’s 186 for 6 declared in the second innings or field in either of England’s innings.”Shubha gave us a very good start. [Sending her at No. 3] was our coach’s decision. He saw how she was batting and how she was taking the game ahead,” Harmanpreet said. “So he said if we can send her one down, she can give us a solid start, the way we expected.”It has been an eventful few weeks for 24-year-old Shubha. Days after receiving her maiden India call-up for the Tests against England and Australia, she was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the auction for WPL 2024.”I can call it as just my time,” she said on Thursday. “I see only good side of it right now and it feels amazing – one after another good news coming up. Feels amazing to be part of.”

After opting to bat first, South Africa were 24 for 4 in the 12th over, and then allowed Australia to score 74 for 2 in the first ten overs of the chase

Vishal Dikshit16-Nov-20232:11

Where did South Africa fall short?

It was the first ten or so overs in either innings that decided the semi-final in Kolkata on Thursday. Being 24 for 4 in under 12 overs after opting to bat and then letting Australia race away to 74 for 2 in ten overs in a chase of just 213 decided, or turned, the game away from South Africa, in Temba Bavuma’s opinion. Bavuma lauded Australia’s “outstanding” performance in their tense three-wicket win in the World Cup semi-final, and conceded that South Africa fluffed their lines “quite badly” in those few overs.”Quite hard to put into words,” Bavuma said on the official broadcast after the game. “They were outstanding for a large part of the game and thoroughly deserved victory. Looking at the result, I think the way we started with the bat and the ball was probably the turning point. We lost it quite badly there and we always had to play catch-up to get ourselves back into the game.”Was it the conditions? Nerves? The quality of Australia’s attack? Bavuma said, “The conditions, combined with the quality of the attack. I thought [Josh] Hazlewood as well as [Mitchell] Starc upfront were ruthless. They exploited every bit of advantage that was presented to them with the conditions and they really put us under pressure. When you’re 4 for 24, you’re always going to struggle to get a competitive total.”Related

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South Africa had opted to bat at Eden Gardens in pretty overcast conditions following a light drizzle. Australia’s quicks found some swing and bounce along with seam movement that helped them strike early, and keep striking. South Africa’s white-ball coach Rob Walter, however, said it wasn’t easy to predict how the pitch would play out in the first hour or so of the game, and they were planning to put up a score much higher than 212.”To be honest, even the commentators that I’ve spoken to, no one could predict the pitch would play like that for the first 12 overs,” Walter said at the post-match press conference. “And had it played as we expected it to, then we would have backed ourselves to get 270. And once we got 270, because it was turning – you saw how much it spun in the evening – we knew that that was going to be our in into the game. And ultimately it was really, so we just didn’t have enough runs to work with so… Had those first ten overs looked a little bit different – it’s easy to say at the back end of losing – but I think the contest would have been a touch closer than it already was.”Even though South Africa were defending a modest total, they ran Australia close when their frontline spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj dismissed Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell in a spell of high-class bowling that featured considerable turn. In that phase, Bavuma himself moved in as a close-in fielder under the helmet, and the ball flew off the edges at times.But before that, substitute fielder Reeza Hendricks had dropped Head on 40 in the 12th over and Quinton de Kock had nearly held on to a very tough chance off Steven Smith’s bat off Shamsi in the 18th over. There were two half-chances in the dying moments of the chase, too, off Aiden Markram’s bowling, when Australia were seven down. The first was when a push from Mitchell Starc landed short of Markram and the second was when Pat Cummins chipped the ball to midwicket and it landed just short of a diving David Miller.1:43

Steyn on Coetzee’s lion-hearted performance

“Definitely, we had chances, tough chances that we put down,” Bavuma said. “There were half-chances as well, but [they] bounced in front of us, maybe we could have been more proactive, getting guys in a bit closer, but I guess when the margins are like that, you need things to go your way. But it doesn’t take away from the fact that Australia put a good display of cricket out there.”While batting, South Africa were lifted by Miller after a wobbly start, as he carried them from 24 for 4 to 203 for 9 with a fighting 101 off 116 balls in which he sent Adam Zampa for four sixes. While lauding Miller’s effort, Bavuma also said he would have liked Heinrich Klaasen to get a bigger score than his 47 – Klaasen had a fifth-wicket stand of 95 with Miller and gave South Africa hopes of a more competitive total.”We were gaining some momentum with that partnership between David Miller and Klaasy,” Bavuma said. “We would have liked Klaasen to go on longer and we’ve seen how destructive he can be when he gets to the latter part of the innings. David Miller’s innings was superb, really captures the character of our team and for him to go and play like that in that pressure situation in a World Cup speaks about the player, not just his talent but his mental capacity.”Bavuma also saved special praise for 23-year-old fast bowler Gerald Coetzee, South Africa’s top wicket-taker in this World Cup with a tally of 20 at an average of 19.80. Coetzee had leaked 15 in his first over but his second spell saw a different side to the bowler, as he sent down eight overs for just 32 runs and picked up the wickets of Smith and Josh Inglis. That second spell showed that he could be a frontline bowler for South Africa in the coming years. He breached the 150kph barrier consistently, bowled variations with slower balls and sharp yorkers, and troubled batters with the around-the-wicket angle, and banged in some bouncers too.1:43

Moody: ‘Bavuma’s form a big hole in South Africa’s campaign’

“As a young guy, he really was the warrior for us,” Bavuma said of Coetzee. “I think at that time for the seamers there wasn’t much happening for him to be able to come around the wicket and bowl with the intensity and pressure that he did, and obviously get the big wicket of Steve Smith, get us back into the game, and him not wanting to let go off the ball. He kept on going, he was cramping but he kept going. He’ll be a big asset for South African cricket going forward.”There have been question marks around Bavuma – the batter, mainly, and the captain too – and they may not stop after he averaged just 18.12 in this World Cup while scoring 145 runs, that too with a strike rate of just 73.60. His top score was just 35 in eight innings and his four-ball duck in the semi-final won’t work in his favour. But he has the backing of Walter for the way he led South Africa.”I just told him how proud I am of him. You know, he marshalled the troops this evening unbelievably well. To get the game close, I thought strategically the way he operated along with obviously the sort of the senior heads around him on the field, the different pressures created through the field positions, I thought it was an excellent effort to defend that score,” Walter said. “But, beyond that, you know, sometimes [it’s] not easy to walk through a tournament when you aren’t delivering yourself but the batters around you are, but the important thing is that we operate as a unit. He was the lead man that got us into this tournament in the first place, I think people forget that, so I just wanted to make sure that he was aware of how important he is in this team and how proud I am of his efforts and the way he led throughout the tournament.South Africa still haven’t reached an ODI World Cup final despite reaching the semi-finals in 1992, 1999, 2007, 2015 and now, in 2023.

England captain “very frustrated” with his own form after averaging 13.87 at World Cup

Matt Roller08-Nov-2023Jos Buttler will tell Rob Key this week that he wants to continue in his role as England’s captain in both ODI and T20I cricket, starting with their tour to the Caribbean in December.Buttler’s England side ended a five-match losing streak on Wednesday evening when they beat Netherlands by 160 runs in Pune, a result which leaves them seventh in the World Cup’s group stage heading into the final round of fixtures.The margin of victory was enough for England to move from the foot of the table, leapfrogging the Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on Net Run Rate (NRR). They may now qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy even if they are beaten by Pakistan at Eden Gardens on Sunday, an outcome which would alleviate the pressure on both Buttler and coach Matthew Mott.Related

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Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket, spent two weeks with the team earlier in the tournament and has now returned to India. He will meet with both Buttler and Mott in Kolkata, where selection for three ODIs and five T20Is against West Indies next month will be on the agenda.Buttler has been unable to pin down the causes of England’s struggles at this World Cup and has taken significant responsibility himself, having endured an abject tournament with the bat. He has managed 111 runs at an average of just 13.87 in eight innings, a sequence extended on Wednesday by a tame chip to mid-off for 5 off 11 balls.But he confirmed his intention to continue as captain in both white-ball formats after England’s win. “I’d like to [lead in the Caribbean],” Buttler said. “I know Rob Key arrives in India today. We can have some good conversations with him and the coach and everyone, and make a plan for that tour. But yeah, I’d like to.”Buttler conceded that he was “very frustrated” with his own form. “You want to lead from the front and do that in your own performance,” he said. “I’ll stick to the stuff that’s served me well over a long period of time when I’ve had these little runs of form and hopefully I’ll come out the other side of it very soon.”England are likely to make several changes to their ODI side for the Caribbean tour. Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed are among the young players expected to feature in a squad that will bear close resemblance to the one that beat Ireland 1-0 in late September.The T20I squad will be stronger, with England only due to play four further matches in the format before the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the US next June, where they will attempt to defend the title that they won – under Buttler and Mott’s leadership – in Australia last year.Eoin Morgan, Buttler’s predecessor, described England as “a sinking ship” on Wednesday afternoon but Buttler insisted that the squad have “stayed really close”. He said: “If you watched training yesterday, the guys probably trained as hard as they have trained all trip, which shows the level of commitment and desire to put things right.”It would be easy for us to tail off… credit to everyone for still putting [effort] in and showing how much it means to play for England and the pride in our performance. Of course, the Champions Trophy is something we’re very focused on and determined to make sure we’re there.”

MatériaMais Notícias

da bet nacional： Através de seus canais oficiais, o Coritiba anunciou a chegada do lateral-esquerdo Victor Luis em acordo que tem validade até dezembro de 2024. O jogador foi contratado sem custos após o término de seu acordo com o Palmeiras.

Extraoficialmente, a negociação entre as partes já estava apalavrada desde o fim de 2022, período onde Victor chegou a se mudar para Curitiba e realizar treinos de preparação usando as instalações do CT Bayard Osna. Porém, restava findar o acordo junto ao clube paulista para que ele pudesser ser oficialmente vinculado ao Coxa.

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Para o site oficial do Coritiba, o jogador de 32 anos demonstrou a felicidade na celebração do acordo e sua expectativa para atuar no Verdão:

-Estou muito feliz em vestir a camisa do Coritiba. Já me sinto acolhido por todos aqui no clube e espero retribuir todo este carinho com bons resultados dentro de campo.

Esta será a primeira experiência do atleta jogando em outra equipe sem estar contratualmente ligado ao Palmeiras, clube onde se formou e conquistou títulos como Copa do Brasil (2015), Brasileirão (2018), Campeonato Paulista (2020) e a Libertadores de 2021. Isso porque, nas passagens por Porto-POR, Botafogo e Ceará, os acordos sempre foram costurados em regime de empréstimo.

The general mood around the Spitfire Ground was one of contentment heading into the visit of Hampshire, if only because it was Friday night and the sun was shining. Five defeats on the bounce, most recently here against Essex three days ago, had created a palpable apathy around a Kent white-ball team who, on paper at least, spark joy.Within six balls, apathy had turned to hope. James Vince, one of the tournament’s form players with 406 runs from seven innings coming into tonight, had been seen off for a golden duck, off stump taken for a walk by Fred Klassen. A few hours later, they were celebrating a first win in six, toppling a target of 177 with three deliveries to spare. Somehow, they’re still fighting for this Vitality Blast.For that, they owe thanks to Daniel Bell-Drummond and an 89 off 55 deliveries that got the run chase off to fine start, then assumed the responsibility to take it close enough to the end to walk off satisfied. Dismayed, too, as he chipped Nathan Ellis to Vince at mid off. But the remaining 18 runs had 20 deliveries to work with. Skipper Sam Billings whittled that down with a brace of reverse sweeps for four, before Jack Leaning rolled his wrists on a short ball from Chris Wood to send the crowd into raptures.The vibe of Canterbury, even the expectation, dialled up with Vince’s dismissal. The Hampshire captain sold it well, staring in the vague area Klassen’s delivery had pitched and deviated enough to leave him totally flummoxed. When Klassen repeated the trick to leave Toby Albert off-stump-less in his next over, making it 17 for 2, the crowd were locked in. Kent had decided to bowl first this time, and things were beginning to go their way.A stand of 85 between Ben McDermott and Joe Weatherley, ultimately, provided the meat on the bones of Hampshire’s innings. The end of the Power Play – 43 for 2 – merely heightened their intent, particularly McDermott, who needed just 13 deliveries to take his score from 19 (where it was at the end of six overs) to a 27-ball half-century.The aggression was solely on the Australian, though he quickly gave up a run to the striker’s end when Weatherley called late after flicking straight to Klassen inside the circle at fine leg. This time, the Dutchman missed the stumps, and McDermott then lifted Grant Stewart over square leg to rub it in a little. An attempt to carve the next delivery over cover found Tawanda Mueyeye lurking in the deep.It was from that point the visitors spluttered. Considering they were 102 for 2 midway through the 11th over, only adding 75 off the remaining 57 deliveries on a quick-scoring ground was an error from an experienced batting line-up, against an attack shorn of confidence.There was willing, of course. Ross Whiteley and James Fuller, two middle-order bruisers who would not look out of place manning the doors at the rowdier establishments on Canterbury high street, failed to impose themselves, with 11 off 12 and 4 off 5 respectively.Weatherley was willing, his own half-century (a second of the season) taking 35 deliveries, though found himself wallowing at the non-striker’s end while the big hitters failed to find their feet. Weatherley’s attempt to manufacture a six led to a steepling catch brilliantly taken by Stewart running around from short fine leg to square leg for Richardson’s only wicket, returning the favour after the reverse had ended Whiteley’s stay. Liam Dawson’s 25 lifted Hampshire to par, but the fact he struck the last three boundaries of the innings across the final 19 deliveries of the innings – the last of which, a six carved over point, came second ball of the final over – spoke of misjudgements of sorts.Kent’s openers have been beacons amid the gloom, and they skipped to an opening stand of 59. That it ended in the final over of the powerplay looked a point of contention. Tawanda Muyeye looked bemused at being given leg before to the precocious John Turner, though the batter might not have been the best judge considering he was rolling over following an attempted lap.The 22-year-old was lucky to have made it that far. Who knows what might have happened had James Fuller held onto a relatively simple chase to remove the opener on 5 and in turn, have Kent 9 for 1. That error was compounded when Fuller’s first over was blitzed for 21, courtesy of a brace of sixes sandwiching a four from Bell-Drummond.That Bell-Drummond was Kent’s leading run-scorer with just 158 from six innings going into this match was as much an indication of the lack of support down the order as his own profligacy. Even though he has stayed true to a domineering approach, standing a little squarer in this format and chocking the handle a little lower to flick and whip a little easier, there was a sense he might need to do things differently. Perhaps turn the attacking dial down a notch and spend a little longer at the crease as one of the few in nick.As it turns out, there was no compromise to be made. Why not both? He rocked back and forth, carving boundaries on both sides of the wicket, before standing firm and crunching the usually unhittable Dawson over wide mid on for his fourth six to take the rate under a run a ball (28 off 30).There was scope for a cock-up. When Billings lost his off stump to Ellis in the penultimate over, which reaped just two runs for Kent, Hampshire figured they would prey on a team who haven’t closed well. Vince ramped up the anxiety with as many as three fielding changes before Chris Wood ran in for the first delivery of the final over.It almost – almost – produced, with Mason Crane narrowly missing a run out of Leaning after Jordan Cox had tipped and run to midwicket. Alas, Kent held their nerve for a first win in six to hand Hampshire their first loss in as many.

“Everything should be on a reciprocal basis,” says Najam Sethi, suggesting that Pakistan’s ODI World Cup matches be held outside India too

PTI21-Apr-2023The PCB has proposed a “hybrid model” for the upcoming Asia Cup to the Asian Cricket Council, where “Pakistan plays its Asia Cup matches at home and India their matches at a neutral venue,” board chairman Najam Sethi said on Friday.The BCCI has refused to allow the India team to travel to Pakistan for the tournament because of the ongoing political differences between the two nations and demanded the continental tournament be shifted from Pakistan to a neutral venue.But, with Pakistan hoping to host as much of the tournament within the country, Sethi hoped that the visit of his country’s foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, next month to Goa for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council meeting will help find a solution.Related

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“We have been told that, maybe, the ice will keep on melting – if this happens when the Champions Trophy is held in Pakistan in 2025, India would consider playing in Pakistan,” Sethi said at a press interaction. “We have been advised to play the Asia Cup at a neutral venue and also go to India for the World Cup.” He didn’t specify who the suggestion had come from.Sethi indicated that the public mood in his country was that Pakistan should play cricket with India on level terms.”Our government has imposed no restrictions about playing against India,” Sethi said. “But I can say right now that public mood is: we are not needy and we can stand on our own feet financially and we want to play cricket with India honourably. We are also negotiating with the ACC.”Sethi: ‘Everything should be on a reciprocal basis’Sethi said that if Pakistan decided to shift all India matches in the Asia Cup to a neutral venue, India should also use the same hybrid experiment during the 50-over World Cup, to be held in India in October-November this year.”We feel this hybrid experiment can also be applied when it is time for the World Cup,” Sethi said. “Our stance is that everything should be on a reciprocal basis. In the old times, yes, there were security issues in Pakistan. But now there are no issues, so what is India’s excuse for not playing in Pakistan?”The ACC, led by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, is yet to respond to the PCB about the proposed hybrid model. Reports say that the other ACC members also want the Asia Cup to be held at a neutral venue to cut costs even though Pakistan will remain the tournament host.The Asia Cup will feature six teams, including Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and one team that will be identified after the qualifiers, which is currently underway in Nepal.

The attention on Rahul Dravid the coach has reached parody levels, but on the field not much changed, which means India hold a dominant position again

Sidharth Monga25-Nov-20213:03

Jaffer: Shreyas Iyer has taken ‘opportunity with both hands’ after ‘hard grind in first-class cricket’

With Virat Kohli resting post T20 World Cup, the marketing of Indian cricket for the casual fan has centred on #newera in reference to the new coach Rahul Dravid, which is a disfavour to the cricket and also to Dravid himself, who is the last person to crave attention. No press conference, no spot interview, no special programming has gone without trying to look for the Dravid impact in even the most trivial things.

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Those trying to bring Dravid down have been complaining about no experimentation in the T20 XI without paying any mind to the fact that the series was still alive. They’ve been questioning why the team isn’t batting first to get better at setting totals, even though as ODI captain he made them bat second to get better at chasing. There’s even some mumbling over how often the cameras pan to him. On the charitable side of things, his humility has come up, as has his invitation to legends of the game to hand out caps to debutants. His offspin in the nets has been played on loop.It is fitting then that on the first day of Test cricket with Dravid as coach, we learnt nothing new about Test cricket. On his first day of Test cricket in Asia, Kyle Jamieson showed he is a phenomenal Test bowler, which we knew. Tim Southee surprised nobody with his wily use of angles and various kinds of grips. Shreyas Iyer demonstrated the well-known depth of batting talent in India. Ravindra Jadeja showed why he has been the most important member of this Test side since his comeback as an allrounder.Related

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• From Green Park to Green Park: The making of Shreyas Iyer

• Rahul injury shifts focus on to Pujara and Rahane

Most importantly, the first day reiterated that you need deep attacks to compete away from home. There’s probably no bigger challenge for a Test team today than to travel to India and lose the toss. The last time India lost a home Test after winning the toss was nine years ago. Of 18 such matches since that defeat to England, two have been drawn because of weather and only one of the 16 wins has been by a margin of under 100 runs.Jamieson and Southee made the most of the situation after being asked to bowl on a slow and low Kanpur pitch. Jamieson in particular displayed his immaculate understanding of Test cricket and the skill to back it up. He was quick to find the fullest length to bring the batters forward without letting them drive. Remember that is not how he operates in helpful conditions where he comes behind Southee and Trent Boult and bowls dry lengths before going for the fuller ball that draws the edge.Kyle Jamieson celebrates the dismissal of Shubman Gill•BCCIJamieson bowled enough good balls to benefit from the old adage “it takes one ball to get them out”. It really was that in the case of Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane. Gill curtailed his movement across from England to stay beside the line of the ball and score freely, which he did, but he fell to perhaps the first ball that reversed, and it did reverse remarkably early. On another day, the first ball that misbehaves like this is not on target, and you get the chance to tighten your game. On this day, Gill’s stumps went for a walk.The same happened with Rahane, who everybody knows doesn’t have the runs: an average of 25 in his last 15 Tests. You can’t discard the cold evidence, but he has batted better than the numbers suggest.A big indicator of where Rahane’s game is at is how eager he is to hit an early boundary. He is a flashy starter: in the three years leading to the Australia tour no India batter had scored more streaky boundaries in the first 30 balls of an innings than Rahane even though he had quite a low strike rate over that period. Since Australia, Rahane has been more assured before he really struggled in the second half of the England tour. In Kanpur, he looked calm, middled most of the balls he played, had a control percentage close to 90, but got out to one that stayed low from the exact length that he had cut away for four previously.On Rahane’s day this bottom edge goes for four. It’s happened before. It was Jamieson’s day.Southee doesn’t have the disconcerting pace or bounce but he does have a lovely outswinger. Early in the piece he bowled scrambled-seam deliveries to look for the lbw, and then when it began to reverse he went wide on the crease, flipped the shiny side outside, made Pujara play the angle and then took the edge with away swing.Ajinkya Rahane middled a few and then got out to one that kept low•BCCIAt the other end, though, New Zealand would have seen worrying signs with balls keeping low and the odd one turning from the straight. And yet this was only the second time since 2001 that spinners bowled 50 overs in a day in India without a wicket. It raised the same old question that is asked of visiting sides: should you just pick your best bowler instead of two spinners?New Zealand’s selection shouldn’t be faulted in hindsight. Had they got to bat first their spinners would have got more helpful conditions. And even if they had gone with just the one, that one would have been Ajaz Patel, who had an ordinary day, struggling to put together a string of good balls, going for 78 in 21 overs, that too after he bowled his last few overs well outside leg to Iyer.Iyer was never meant to play in this series. A closer contender to the first XI was sent to South Africa on the A tour, and he was just a back-up. That he could slot in to cover for KL Rahul’s injury and score an efficient unbeaten 75 on debut from a tricky situation shows you how good India’s reserves are. In doing so he preyed on the lack of depth in New Zealand’s attack.The moment they were forced to bowl two spinners in tandem, thanks to a niggle to Southee, Iyer pounced. Jadeja once again underlined Hanuma Vihari’s misfortune: India have a specialist bowler good enough to bat at No. 6.Batting will not ease out the way it did for Iyer and Jadeja – who were no doubt good enough to capitalise on it – because India have just the bowling attack for these conditions. It will take a huge effort from New Zealand and the weather to not add to the list of comfortable wins for India when they win the toss at home. As for #newera, give them some time before making judgements. They are not here to make statements for the sake of making statements.

وصل تشابي ألونسو لتدريب ريال مدريد الصيف الماضي، وعلى الرغم من ذلك فقد كشفت تقارير جديدة فإنه كان من الممكن أن يتخذ مساره التدريبي اتجاها مختلفا قبل عودته لملعب سانتياجو برنابيو كمدرب.

وبحسب الصحفي “فابريس هاوكينز” فإن تشابي ألونسو مدرب ريال مدريد كان من بين الأسماء المرشحة لتدريب باريس سان جيرمان في عام 2023 عندما كان يحقق نجاحاته مع بايرليفركوزن.

وأضاف أن باريس سان جيرمان وصناع القرار في النادي كانوا يبحثون ويدرسون أسماء العديد من المدربين وملفاتهم الشخصية.

أقرأ أيضاً.. مخاوف في باريس سان جيرمان بسبب لويس إنريكي

وتحدث هاوكينز عن ارتباط عدة أسماء بتدريب باريس سان جيرمان في عام 2023: “وضع المدير الرياضي لويس كامبوس قائمة طويلة جداً، كان أرتيتا أحد المرشحين الأوفر حظاً وكان أيضاً هناك هانز فليك ولويس إنريكي وتشابي ألونسو”.

وأكد الصحفي الفرنسي أيضاً أن باريس سان جيرمان تحرك للعديد من الأسماء المرشحة الأخرى: “كان هناك محادثات مع ناجلسمان، وأرتيتا، وتشابي ألونسو، أراد ألونسو الاستمرار في ليفركوزن وكان يحلم بتدريب ريال مدريد بينما أراد أرتيتا البقاء مع آرسنال”.

وحول قرار باريس سان جيرمان بتفضيل تعيين لويس إنريكي مدرباً جديداً للفريق، اختتم أيضاً: “ما جذب اختيار لويس إنريكي هو شخصيته، إنه شخص يعبر عن رأيه بصراحة، ولا يخشى اتخاذ قرارات صعبة، هناك أيضاً الجانب الرياضي وقصة لويس إنريكي التي أثرت في ناصر الخليفي ولكل هذه الأسباب كان الإسباني هو المدرب المختار”.

Newcastle United supporters will be filled with relief after seeing Eddie Howe secure his first major signing of the summer transfer window.

A move for Anthony Elanga was finally confirmed on Friday, but this deal has been weeks in the making.

The Swedish winger cost the Toon around £55m, but Howe will be hoping that this fee eventually turns into a bargain.

“Elanga is an exciting talent with attributes that make him a unique attacking threat,” said Howe upon Elanga’s arrival at St James’ Park.

“His pace, energy and ability to create and score goals will strengthen us and complement the way we want to play.”

Champions League football will take centre stage next season and Howe will be aiming for his side to do better than when they were last in the competition. Newcastle finished bottom of their group during 2023/24, despite claiming a famous 4-1 win over PSG.

With Elanga now signed, it should be the catalyst for the manager to land another couple of signings in the coming weeks.

The former Nottingham Forest star has plenty of Premier League experience, but what exactly will he offer the Magpies next term and beyond?

What Anthony Elanga will offer Newcastle

Since making the move from Manchester United to Forest in the summer of 2023, Elanga has been at the forefront of their recent success.

Across these two seasons, the winger has scored 11 goals in the Premier League, while chipping in with 20 league assists in that time.

He doesn’t just offer a clear-cut threat in front of goal either. According to FBref, when compared to his positional peers in the Premier League last term, Elanga ranked in the top 3% for crosses (6.66) per 90, along with ranking in the top 10% for goal-creating actions (0.65) and in the top 27% for carries into the opposition penalty area (1.73) per 90.

While signing the 23-year-old is a boost for the team, plus giving Howe an excellent attacking option for the next few years, was signing another player in this area a priority for the club?

Jacob Murphy was excellent on the right flank last term, tearing it up for the Magpies in the top flight. Indeed, across 35 top flight games last season, the Englishman scored eight goals while recording 12 assists for the Magpies.

If comparing him to fellow wingers Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes, who registered 12 and 14 goal involvements in the Premier League, Murphy was by far the best-performing wide man in the squad.

Of course, he won’t be around forever, and some competition would be ideal, but in terms of improvement, the right flank shouldn’t be Howe’s priority ahead of next season.

The defence is an area which requires strengthening, notably at centre-back and between the posts.

Howe is certainly making inroads to bolster both positions and he has been given an exciting update regarding a transfer target recently.

Newcastle’s search for a defender

Marc Guehi still looks like a target, although it remains to be seen exactly how far Howe is prepared to go in order to sign him.

Elsewhere, Malick Thiaw and Leonardo Balerdi are both defensive targets, with Howe expressing interest in both centre-backs recently.

The one player he appears to be most keen on is Atalanta defender Giorgio Scalvini. The Italian could be set to leave the Serie A side this summer, but they have placed a £50m price tag on his head.

According to The i Paper, the Toon have ‘carried out preliminary work on a possible deal’, but there are a host of clubs keen on securing his signature, including Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus.

Scalvini has reportedly stated he is intrigued by the prospect of playing in the Premier League, while also gushing about both the club and manager when on international duty of late.

Could this help Howe get a deal wrapped up sooner rather than later? Only time will tell.

Why Newcastle must sign Giorgio Scalvini

Newcastle must add at least one centre-back to their squad this summer. Last season, Howe mainly relied on Dan Burn and Fabian Schar. Both are excellent players, but they are both 33 and won’t be around forever.

Indeed, the only centre-back in the current squad who is under 30 is Sven Botman, but he has missed 59 games since the start of the 2023/24 season.

As such, a move for Scalvini is a must for the club. He missed the majority of last term due to injury, but throughout the 2023/24 campaign, he was superb.

Accurate passes

37.8

Tackles

1.6

Interceptions

1.8

Clearances

2

Total duels won

4.8

Balls recovered

4.9

Hailed as a “top talent” by Fabrizio Romano in 2022 – as well as a “world-class” centre-back by talent scout Jacek Kulig – Scalvini ranked highly across a range of metrics in Serie A during 2023/24.

Compared to his peers, he ranked in the top 5% for successful take-ons per 90, along with ranking in the top 11% for touches in the attacking penalty area, the top 4% for interceptions and in the top 16% for aerials won per 90.

If he is able to replicate those types of performances at Newcastle, then Howe would have landed an excellent signing for the club.

The best thing is, Scalvini has yet to even reach his peak, indicating that the next few years could see the Italian defender only going from strength to strength.

Although Howe has just spent £55m on Elanga, there is no doubt that a deal to sign the Atalanta starlet would be viewed as a more important signing, especially with concerns about the defence.

Scalvini has showcased his talents in Europe before, impressing during the 2024 Europa League final as his side defeated Bayer Leverkusen 3-0.

Performing in the Champions League will be a massive step-up for the youngster, but if he wishes to take his game to the next stage, this is the level he should be playing at.

The next few weeks will be interesting for the club. That much is certain.

Elanga's new Gibbs-White: Newcastle leading race for £40m "magician"

Newcastle are hoping to make more signings after landing Anthony Elanga.

1 ByAngus Sinclair Jul 12, 2025