Indian football team is leaving no stone unturned to prepare for the “challenges” they are likely to encounter when the side lock horns in forthcoming qualifiers for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 slated to kick-off from June 3.

The Indian Football Team on Sunday shared the pictures from the training sessions. In the pictures, the players can be seen sweating it out on the field in order to prepare for the upcoming games. “Preparing for the challenges in Doha,” the Indian Football Team tweeted.

The Blue Tigers arrived safely at the Hamad International Airport Doha on Tuesday for India’s three forthcoming matches.

India who are currently on 3 points from 5 matches in Group E are scheduled to play Asian Champions Qatar on June 3, Bangladesh on June 7, and Afghanistan on June 15 with all three matches to be played at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha.

The round of matches is being played in Doha in view of the COVID pandemic situation which doesn’t allow the original format of home and away matches. India are currently on 3 points from 3 matches in Group E.

Meanwhile, star goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu said that it’s a matter of having three clean slates for the remaining matches in the World Cup Qualifiers and that it is up to the boys to script their own fates.

“The less we think about it, the better. It’s past. But it’s significant to remember what happened as it drives us to understand the part we need to work upon. We have three clean slates in front of us. It’s up to us as to what we need to write upon them,” said Sandhu in an official AIFF release.

Former Australia skipper Ian Chappell believes that the life of a modern cricketer is becoming harder and harder with the creation of bio-bubbles due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He also cited the India-Australia Test series on how the hosts’ got wore out in the bowling department while India somehow managed to stay fresh even when they were being hampered by injuries. “The modern cricketer is substantially better rewarded than players of the previous century. However, like with all such things in life, there is a downside involved. This comes in the form of the numerous adjustments to be made because of the extra formats that are now played and the resultant crowding of the schedule,” Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.

“This was highlighted in the last Australia-India series, where the home side used the same fast-bowling trio in all four Tests. As the Australian pace bowlers wore down in the final stages of the series, their Indian counterparts may have caught a break as injuries meant they had to constantly change personnel. India is one of the few teams who have enough skilled quick bowlers in reserve to meet the challenges of the schedule and still remain competitive,” he added.

Talking about the effect Covid-19 has had on players and international cricket, Chappell said: “The Covid-ravaged world has meant cricketers spend extended periods in bubbles, which challenges their skills and their mental health. It has also resulted in scheduling that has Test matches crammed together, which is physically and mentally demanding, especially for the fast bowlers.”

“Modern fast bowlers do a lot of varied training in order to prepare for the demands of constant cricket, but still the injuries continue to pile up. Fast bowlers in the past concentrated more on running and bowling a lot in the nets to gain their match fitness,” he added.

The former Australia skipper also wondered whether retired players would want to earn same rewards as the current crop of cricketers does or whether it is now the current players missing being part of a different era.

“It would be interesting to discover if retired cricketers envied the rewards paid their modern counterparts or whether current players would swap today’s whirling merry-go-round for the casual approach of the past. I suspect most international cricketers are just happy to have played,” said Chappell.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Sunday confirmed that the Asia Cup 2021 has been postponed as “no practical window” was available to stage the tournament this year in face of the risks posed by COVID-19.

“The ACC Executive Board, in face of the risks and restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, had made the difficult decision to postpone the Asia Cup 2020 to 2021,” the ACC said in a statement. “Since then, the ACC has been working with its participants and stakeholders to try and ensure that the event is held in the year.”

“However, on account of a packed FTP, it has been concluded that there is no practical window in the year when all the teams would be available to participate. The Board has accordingly considered the matter very carefully and determined that the only way ahead would be to postpone the event,” the statement further read.

ACC said it would only be feasible for this edition of the tournament to be held in 2023 as there is already an Asia Cup in 2022 and dates for the same will be confirmed in due course.

Pakistan is likely to host the 2022 edition of the tournament, with Sri Lanka hosting in 2023, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Earlier, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani had confirmed that the Asia Cup slated to be held in June this year was likely to be postponed if India managed to qualify for the finals of the World Test Championship.

“Asia Cup was set to go last year but it got postponed to this year. Right now, it looks like the Asia Cup won’t be going ahead this year as the WTC finals are set to go ahead in June. Sri Lanka had said that they would try to host the tournament in June,” Mani had told reporters in Karachi during a press conference. There has not been an Asia Cup after 2018. India had won the last two editions of the tournament.

New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor feels an early conclusion to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 has helped Team India to be better prepared for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final slated to begin on June 18.

The safety of every individual involved in the IPL was one of the major reasons for the BCCI and the IPL Governing Council to unanimously decide on the suspension of the league on May 4. Taylor said the Virat Kohli-led side will be more conditioned ahead of the WTC final than they would have been if IPL wasn’t suspended.

“I couldn’t think of better preparation than playing two Test matches in England. At the end of the day, it is a neutral venue. In terms of India, IPL finishing early has probably played into the hands a little bit,” said Taylor in a virtual press conference.

“If IPL had come, they would have had a smalled preparations. Now they will be a lot more conditioned, their bowlers will get their loads up,” he added.

New Zealand will play two Tests against England before they take on India in the WTC final on June 18.

Taylor feels the two Tests against England will give the Kiwis a slight advantage going into the WTC final.

“Playing these two Test matches gives us a slight advantage but this Indian team have been number one in the world for a long time and had a lot of success over here [in England],” said Taylor.

“I guess we can’t ask for a better schedule leading into the WTC final. At this time of the year bowlers will be relishing the conditions,” he added.

England and New Zealand will lock horns in two Tests, beginning June 2.

A player who has been the role model of a large sports community, who has been the only player in the country to win two Olympic medals in an individual event, who has been India’s only world champion of wrestling and who has been a turning point in Indian wrestling due to all these achievements. Now, he finds himself accused of a murder and has been sent to six-day police custody

The two-time Olympic medallist is said to have allegedly thrashed wrestler Sagar Dhankar, a 23-year-old former junior national champion, to death during a brawl in the Chhatrasal Stadium parking area on 4 May.

Sources close to Sushil say that he did not run away due to the fear of the police after the murder. He was allegedly running fearing a possible revenge by a gang to save his life. When caught, Sushil accepted the brawl in the Chhatrasal Stadium parking lot. He also allegedly said that not paying rent for two months by Sagar was the reason for the brawl. As per sources close to Sushil, Sagar lived like a caretaker in Sushil’s house. Bringing a friend named Sonu started all the problems.

Sonu allegedly belonged to the Kala Jatheri gang, which is accused of several crimes, including murders. It is believed that due to the murder of Sagar and the assault on Sonu, the Kala Jatheri gang was determined to take revenge from Sushil, who chose to hide in order to escape from it. In Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Punjab, he continuously changed his hideouts. In the meantime, he used 15 SIMs and tried to reconcile with the same gang.

Actually, Sushil was of aggressive nature right from the beginning. It was this aggression that helped him win wrestling matches for the country. And it is this very aggression that threatens to take everything away. All his accolades (Arjuna Award, Padma Shri, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna), and government job are at stake. The model Town flat in the name of his wife will also be examined.

The author has the most number of live TV commentary of Sushil’s bouts including Olympics & CWG.

Barcelona confirmed on Friday that Lionel Messi will not play the final game of the La Liga season against Eibar on Saturday. Messi did not attend the training session with the rest of his teammates on the eve of their final fixture.

Coach Ronald Koeman allowed Lionel Messi to miss the game and take an early holiday, meaning the Barcelona legend might have played his last game for the Catalan club amid uncertainty over his future, according to Reuters.

Lionel Messi’s contract expires at the end of the ongoing season and the Argentina superstar has remained tight-lipped about a possible extension. He requested to leave the club last year and was linked by British and Spanish media with a move to Manchester City or Paris St Germain, but ultimately stayed put for one more season.

Should Messi not sign a new contract then his final game for the club would be last weekend’s dismal 2-1 defeat at the Camp Nou to Celta Vigo.

Messi has netted 30 times in La Liga this season and is set to win Spain’s Golden Boot – the Pichichi Trophy.

However, Barcelona haven’t managed to be at their best in the ongoing season. After having been knocked out of Champions League in the last 16 round, their earliest exit from the elite European competition in 14 years. The Catalans have also lost out of the title race in the league and can, at best, finish third in the league behind rivals Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.

Barcelona, who have 76 points from 37 matches, take on Eibar on Saturday while Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid will be playing their final league games in a bid to win the title in the last-day thriller in La Liga.