MUMBAI: Ahead of the one-off Test against England in June, India batswoman Harmanpreet Kaur on Sunday shared a picture of herself sporting the Test jersey.

Harmanpreet shared the photo on one of her Instagram Stories and she wrote: “Loving this already.” She also shared a photo of the backside and as a result, now everyone knows that she would be sporting the jersey number 7.

India women cricketers might be in quarantine ahead of the upcoming multi-format series against England, but everyone is sweating it out in the gym to ensure they are raring to go for the high-voltage series.

Taking to Twitter, the official handle of BCCI Women had posted a video of the players working out in the gym and the caption read: “Shut the Noise! We are INDIA.”

The women’s team will take on England in a one-off Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is. The two teams will first square off in a four-day Test match, beginning June 16.

Then both teams will lock horns in three ODIs beginning June 27 with the matches slated to be played at Bristol, Taunton, and Worcester. Both teams will then square off in three T20Is, beginning July 9 and the three matches will be played at Northampton, Hove, and Chelmsford.

The third T20I between England Women and India Women, which was slated for July 15, will now be held a day before in Chelmsford. The third T20I will now be held on July 14 instead of July 15 due to broadcasting issues.

India’s Senior Women squad for Test & ODI: Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav.

India’s daily Covid-19 cases continue to decline further as 165,553 fresh infections—the lowest single-day rise in 46 days—were recorded in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed on Sunday

Covid-related deaths, however, continue to remain high as 3,460 people succumbed to the infection, taking the total death toll to 325,972. The cumulative number of the Covid-19 cases has increased to 2,78,94,800, with a daily positivity rate at 8.02 per cent, which is less than 10 per cent for the sixth consecutive day.

“There are 21,14,508 active cases of Covid-19 in India. The active cases decreased by 114,216 in the last 24 hours,” the Health Ministry said.

Also, the weekly positivity rate continues to decline and stood at 9.36 per cent. Daily recoveries in the country continued to outnumber the daily new cases for the 17th consecutive day, as India witnessed 2,76,309 fresh recoveries in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said. The recovery tally of India has reached to 2,54,54,320 and the recovery rate stands at 91.25 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Centre has set a target to procure 20 to 25 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses by July-end and 30 crore doses in August-September, informed government sources told ANI on Sunday. This came amid reports of shortage of Covid-19 vaccines in the country as flagged by several state governments. According to sources, the Serum Institute of India (SII) has initiated the process of ramping up the production of vaccine and will provide 10 crore doses of Covishield to the Centre by the next month and 10 to 12 crore doses by July. The government also targets to inoculate 1 crore people on a daily basis, sources said.

According to the Union Health Ministry, a total of 21,20,66,614 vaccine doses have been administered through 30,07,831 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today. More than 30.35 Lakh (30,35,749) vaccine doses have been given in the last 24 hours.

“For the month of May, a total quantum of more than 4.03 crore vaccine doses has been made available by the Union government to states, free of cost. In addition, a total quantum of more than 3.90 crore doses was also available for direct procurement by the states as well as private hospitals in the month of May 2021. Therefore, in May 2021 a total number of 7,94,05,200 doses were available for the national Covid vaccination programme,” the ministry said.

India is currently using three vaccines—Covishield manufactured by SII, Covaxin of Bharat Biotech and Russia’s Sputnik V.

The day also saw Uttar Pradesh announcing that the Covid-induced lockdown in the state will be relaxed from 1 June onwards in those districts that have less than 600 active cases as of 30 May. However, weekend and night curfew will remain imposed across the state. Night curfew will be imposed from 7 pm to 7 am.

This means the lockdown will continue in 20 districts including state capital Lucknow, Noida and Ghaziabad. In these districts, markets, schools, colleges and educational institutions will continue to remain closed.

As for the remaining districts, shops outside containment zones will be allowed to open for five days during the week in districts that have less than 600 active Covid-19 cases. Government offices will open with 50 per cent attendance on a rotational basis. Private offices can open but Covid-appropriate behaviour must be followed and work-from-home is still encouraged where possible. At religious places, not more than five people will be allowed at any point of time. At weddings, only 25 guests can be present at any given time. For funeral processions, a maximum of 20 people has been permitted.

Restaurants will only operate via home delivery. Only those food stalls and dhabas that are located on highways/expressways will be allowed to open for dine-in services, provided Covid protocol is followed.

Coming to the national capital, with 78 new deaths in the last 24 hours, Delhi’s single day Covid-19 death toll dropped below 100 for the first time since 13 April, while recording 946 fresh infections, according to the Delhi government’s health bulletin on Sunday.

According to the Delhi government’s health bulletin on Sunday, as many as 1,803 people recovered from the disease in the 24-hour period, while the positivity rate remained below 2 per cent and stood at 1.25 per cent. As per the government data, 75,440 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours and 1,92,37,040 tests were conducted so far. The cumulative caseload of Delhi has now reached 14,25,592 including 12,100 active cases, 13,89,341 recoveries and 24,151 deaths.

Delhi is currently under lockdown since April 19. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has recently extended the ongoing lockdown in the national capital by one more week till 5 am on 7 June while allowing operations of manufacturing/production units within closed premises.

Earlier in the day, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal too extended the ongoing Covid lockdown in the state till 7 June. He said shops can operate from 9 am to 3 pm, with shopkeepers following the odd-even formula. Educational institutions will remain closed till June 15 and the night curfew will continue from 10 pm to 5 am.

After winning the Champions League 2020-21 season, Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta labelled teammate N’Golo Kante as the best midfielder in the world.

Sole strike from Kai Havertz helped Chelsea defeat Manchester City 1-0 in the finals of the UEFA Champions League on Saturday (local time) here at the Estadio do Dragao in Porto. This was the first time that Chelsea had made it to the finals of the Champions League after winning the title way back in 2012. “It’s straightforward, yes he is the best in the world. He does everything. The energy he brings, I don’t know how many ball recoveries he had today. The way he drives the ball forward, he covers so much ground,” Goal.com quoted Azpilicueta as saying.

“It is special to have him. Of course, when we don’t have him we miss him. After winning the World Cup and now Champions League, he is still so humble as a person. I am so happy for him, he is a massive part of this team and I am very happy to have him next to me for a few years,” he added.

The Blues skipper also lauded all the players who were at the sidelines and were not given an opportunity to feature in the playing XI for the summit clash against Manchester City.

“In the dressing room, I know how tough it can be to be left out of the team when we have so much competition in the squad but everyone kept their ego [to one side] and put everything towards the team,” Azpilicueta said.

“To me, that’s the most satisfying thing about tonight. The guys upfront, like Timo, Mason, Kai, Christian when he came on and the work they did for the team was incredible. They stepped up as a group and as a team, we want to build on that and make special things. We will celebrate for a few nights, or for the summer for the ones that don’t have the Euros, I am sure! But then that’s gone, we are part of the history for the second time of Chelsea and we got for the next challenge,” he added.

Talking about his own personal journey, the Chelsea captain said: “For me to have this moment is incredible and I have a lot of emotions coming through all through this day. We got over the line and I am very, very happy. To win my first trophy as a captain is special.”

“I lost three finals but the fourth one was the right one and the big one so I am really happy. I am pleased because a few months ago a lot of people doubted the quality of the team but we did it,” he added.

Indian pugilist Mary Kom finished her campaign with a silver medal at the 2021 ASBC Asian Boxing Championships after going down fighting against the two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay in a high-octane 51kg final in Dubai on Sunday.

Both the boxers started the summit clash with an aggressive mindset and soon exchanged powerful blows attempting to unsettle each other. The five-time Asian Championships gold medallist Mary Kom used all her experience against the Kazakh boxer and made her work hard but it wasn’t enough as the latter tilted the hard-fought game successfully in her favour and emerged champion with a narrow 29-28, 28-29, 30-27, 29-28, 28-29 scoreline.

It is the second silver for Mary Kom at the Asian Championships who has previously won titles on five occasions –2003, 2005, 2010, 2012, and 2017 besides silver in 2008.

Later three more Indian boxers — Pooja Rani (75kg), Lalbuatsaihi (64kg), and Anupama (+81) — will be seen in action in the women finals on Sunday at the ongoing prestigious Championships.

The defending champion Amit Panghal (52kg) and two other pugilists Shiva Thapa (64kg) and Sanjeet (91kg) will be seen in action on Monday in the men’s finals.

Panghal will be up against the Rio Olympics and world champion Uzbek pugilist Zoirov Shakhobidin of Uzbekistan. While Assam boxer Thapa will be challenged by the Asian Games silver medallist Mongolia’s Baatarsukh Chinzorig.

Second-seeded Sanjeet will also have a strong challenge of the Rio Olympics silver medallist Vassiliy Levit, who is chasing his fourth gold medal of the Asian Championships.

Eight Indian pugilists Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Jaismine (57kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (64kg), Monika (48kg), Saweety (81kg) and Varinder Singh (60kg) secured bronze medals with their semi-final finish at the event which witnessed the presence of 150 boxers from 17 countries including strong boxing nations such as India, Uzbekistan, Philippines and Kazakhstan.

Did Frank Lampard’s departure and Thomas Tuchel’s arrival reverse Chelsea’s fortunes? Whether Chelsea’s confidence in defeating Manchester City in the FA Cup and Premier League in two months was the reason for this success? Is this a reason of a good plan to defeat a very consistent team whose defence has improved tremendously? These are some of the questions that Chelsea has solved in this Champions League. This team when defeated Real Madrid in SF, had an psychological edge on Manchester City and prepared themselves for the title. Pel Guardiola ended a long wait of ten years.

The two sides have locked horns 169 times – the first dating back to as early as 7th December 1907 where the teams settled for a 2-2 draw. Ever since then Chelsea has won 71, drawn 39 and lost 59 times against Manchester City.

Chelsea FC had been no strangers to the blitz of top tier football when they won the Champions League in 2011-12 season. Caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo led the club to win their first Champions League title after beating Bayern Munich 4–3 on penalties. This year Chelsea once again seemed to have witnessed a mid-season revival under Thomas Tuchel who replaced Frank Lampard, who was dismissed after a poor run of results. Tuchel impact with the Blues was evident from his first match – a goalless draw at home against Wolverhampton Wanders, that set the record for most possession (78.9%) and passes completed (820) for the manager’s first Premier League game. Chelsea topped Group E with 4 wins and 2 draws from their 6 matches in a pool featuring Spain’s Sevilla, Krasnador from Russia and French side Rennes.

In the Round of 16, the Blues outsmarted the resolute defence and counter-attacking Athletico Madrid with a 3-0 aggregate score. Chelsea next faced Porto in the Quarter Finals, who had gotten the better of the fancied Juventus after finishing 4-4 but advancing on the away goals rule. Despite losing in the 2nd leg Chelsea sneaked past Porto 2-1 on aggregate and booked a ticket into the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2014. Tuchel’s ability to masterclass in team management was evident as the team was more purposeful in attack and seemed to have found a lost gear to finish the game with purpose. With this tactical win, Chelsea recorded only one loss in the 18 matches since the German took charge. The semifinal tie against 13-time champions Real Madrid was another example of how the 47-year-old German manager had knit an intricate defensive plan that could punish the opposition on counter attacks and the pace of the German duo of Werner and Havertz. Chelsea booked a date in the final against Manchester City with 3-1 aggregate win against the Los Blancos. The tie for the Continental title was an all-England affair. Twice before has the final of the Champions of Europe witnessed two English sides vying for the Continental title – First in 2007-08 when Manchester United edged past Chelsea in sudden death at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and the second time when 2018-19 when Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.

Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Manchester City this year could be a sign of the domination of English clubs in Europe. While football pundits would blame Guardiola for a tactical folly for not using the defensive midfielder in the finals, everyone knows that there is no other manager who is best acquainted with the demands of a Champions League Final. Having won the title twice with Barcelona, the former FIFA World Coach of the year might have thought of changing his side that had lost 4 of the last 5 fixtures against Chelsea in the Premier League and the FA Cup. Man City has played 60 games this season utilizing the services of neither Fernandinho nor Rodri with protecting the defence. This gave added freedom to N’Golo Kante and he never let the Citizens settle down with the ball. Thinking out of the box and in an attempt to spring a possible surprise in the final, might have caught Guardiola and his men on the wrong foot. Further, the facial injury to the talismanic Kevin Kevin De Bruyne and misses from Riyad Mahrez and Foden could have added to the woes of the Man City. At the end of the regulation time, the Continental Trophy was going to London.

This Pandemic year has clearly witnessed the dominance of the English clubs. Had Villarreal not beaten Arsenal to set up a Europa League showdown with Manchester United in Gdansk, the two major European tournament finals would have been all-English affairs for the second time in three seasons. The Premier League team has the financial muscle and flexes it to reap the rewards on the big stage. With Real Madrid and Barcelona almost extending the gap between themselves and the rest in Spain this divide among the big spenders and rest has clearly tilted the Spanish equation. This year a fresh lease of air has been ushered in by Atletico Madrid. The financial arm of the Football ecosystem has been dominated by Manchester City and its spending of 2.8 billion dollars from their Abu Dhabi United Group. In Porto’s Final of the Champions League, City lost out to the only side that spent more than them in the transfer window this summer – Chelsea. With the gems of the game packed into different Premier League Clubs and the best managers, Thomas Tuchel, Carlo Ancelotti, Jurgen Klop and Pep Guardioloa this looks like a sign of the dawn of a new era in world football.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Thursday confirmed that its entire contingent bound for the Olympics will be vaccinated against Covid-19 before the Tokyo Games. The IOA has also said its entire contingent has at least received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, while some have been fully vaccinated as well.

“The Indian Olympic Association therefore is confirming to IOC and Tokyo Organising Committee its commitment and pledge to follow all necessary precautions and guidelines, ensuring that all the participants through the Indian Olympic Association for the Tokyo Olympics including athletes, technical officials and delegate members will follow all precautions and will be vaccinated before leaving for Japan, presently each of the above has had the first vaccination and 2nd will happen as per vaccination protocols,” the IOA said in an official statement. “We thank the Government of India for their support in securing vaccinations for each of the contingent members and any representatives from India,” it added.

Further talking about ensuring safety of athletes at the Games, IOA said: “The safety of everyone involved at the Tokyo Olympics is the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) highest priority and the IOA will do everything possible to ensure that all the personnel part of the Indian contingent clear the necessary steps as provided in the playbook before boarding their respective flights for Tokyo.”

“The International Olympic Committee (IOC) along with the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee have been carrying out fabulous work to ensure that the Olympic Games are held in a completely safe and secure environment for the betterment of the athletes as well as the public of Japan. We at IOA do not want to leave any stone unturned and are here to support the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee in every possible manner and aspect,” it added.

On May 22, the IOA had informed that 19 Olympic-bound athletes had received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and hence they were fully vaccinated against the virus.

131 athletes and 13 para athletes had received first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine while 17 athletes and 2 para athletes had received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine as of May 20. 23 members of the coaching staff had received both doses of the vaccine while 87 members had taken first dose of the vaccine.