New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on Wednesday confirmed that skipper Kane Williamson has been ruled out from the upcoming second Test against England.Williamson has been ruled out as he rests his irritated left elbow. He has been managing the injury since first missing matches in March and coach Gary Stead said it was still troubling him. “It is not an easy decision for Kane to have to miss a Test, but we think it is the right one,” head coach Gary Stead said in an official statement.“He has had an injection in his elbow to relieve the irritation he has been experiencing when he bats and a period of rest and rehabilitation will help maximise his recovery. The decision has been made very much with the ICC World Test Championship Final at Southampton in mind and we are confident he will be ready for that match starting on June 18,” he added.Tom Latham will captain the side for the third time in Williamson’s absence, while Will Young comes into the starting XI and will bat at number three.The first Test between England and New Zealand had ended as a draw and both the teams will now lock horns in the second Test, beginning Thursday at Edgbaston.In the first Test, New Zealand had Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Kyle Jamieson, and Colin de Grandhomme as pacers. Stead has also confirmed that all these players will not feature in the second Test against England.After the series against England, New Zealand will lock horns against India in the finals of the World Test Championship (WTC), beginning June 18 at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton.

Alexander Zverev is ready to go all the way as he made it into the maiden Roland-Garros semi-final of his career with a smooth 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 victory over world No.46 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.“Obviously it’s very nice to be in the semi-final but just being here doesn’t satisfy me,” Zverev said on court after the win against Spaniard. “I know I’m playing pretty okay, and I hope I can continue playing the same way, maybe even better in the semi-finals and then we’ll see in two days’ time what it holds for me.” The German 24-year-old didn’t hesitate to name his peers Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas as heirs in the Grand Slam hierarchy.“Obviously the Grand Slams are the tournaments that we want to win the most. Before, maybe the last few years, I was putting too much pressure on myself,” Roland Garros quoted him.“Also obviously in the media I was seen, before Medvedev and Tsitsipas arrived, I was seen as this guy that was going to all of a sudden take over the tennis world…I was not very patient with myself, which I feel like now maybe I learned how to deal with the situation a little bit better, I’m maybe a little bit calmer at the tournaments. But the end goal hasn’t changed.”This will be Zeverev’s third career Grand Slam semi-final appearance which means he has now taken sole ownership of fourth place on the list for most major semi-final appearances by a German man in the Open Era, ahead of Rainer Schuettler. He is the third German man to make the last four in Paris in the Open Era.“I’m in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam and I played solid so far,” Zverev said. “I know that the matches [from] the semi-finals on are not going to get easier. I think the opponents there are extremely difficult to beat, so I got to play the same or raise my level even higher to have a chance. But I’m comfortable. I’m happy. We’ll see how it is on Friday. But for now, it’s great to be here.”Alexander Zverev will now take on Stefanos Tsitsipas to book his berth in the final of the French Open.

India captain Sunil Chhetri on Wednesday said people who understand the sport of football know there is no comparison between him and Argentina striker Lionel Messi.Chhetri had added another feather to his illustrious cap as he overtook Messi to become the second-highest active international goalscorer on Monday. He achieved the feat when he struck a brace to help India defeat Bangladesh 2-0 at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium at Al Sadd Club in Doha. “It is people having their opinion and it is fine because people will have opinions. If you want to know my take on it, the fact is that there is no comparison whatsoever, forget between me and Messi, but between me and any player in that whole category. There are 1000 players who are better than me and all those 1000 are fans of Messi. That’s the reality. People who understand football know that there is no comparison.“I have pretty good knowledge of football so I know there is no comparison. What I am proud of is that I have played more than 100 matches for the country,” said Chhetri.“My advice to anybody who sees that goal scoring chart, my advice to them would be happy for five seconds, but that is about it. There is no comparison between me and Messi, the whole world is a fan of Messi, but anybody there in the list, there is no comparison, and that’s the truth,” he added.When asked how he still manages to stay so passionate about the sport, Chhetri said: “There are many ways I can answer that, but the one I choose today, if I give you the national team jersey tomorrow and ask you to give your best for the country, you are going to do that my friend. What keeps me going, is that I wear the national team jersey. There are 1.4 billion people in the country and I am one of the players who represents the country. Some days I am going to convert the goals, some days I am going to miss. I am trying to do my best and that is the bare minimum I can do. Playing for your country is not that difficult, probably reaching there is.”

Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, on Wednesday, said that the Indian Olympic-bound contingent will not sport any branded apparel during the upcoming Olympics.He also said that only India will be written on athletes’ kits at the Tokyo Olympics, which is all set to begin from July 23. “Indian athletes, coaches and support staff, will not be wearing any branded apparel at Tokyo Olympics. Only ‘INDIA’ will be written in the kits of our athletes,” tweeted Rijiju.Earlier, the Indian Olympic Association(IOA) and Sunlight Sports (Brand Li Ning) reached an agreement together to arrange the sports kitting of the Indian Olympic team to Tokyo 2020, locally by IOA.The agreement was reached keeping in mind the safety and convenience of the athletes, in lieu of the logistical challenges being faced by IOA due to the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown situation in the country.“Over 100 Indian athletes have qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The athletes are based in various states and cities of India in training camps — some of which are isolated bubbles, in preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games,” an official release stated.With the vastly spread-out training camps combined with the constantly evolving COVID-19 situation in India, IOA has faced unprecedented logistical challenges in meeting the exact apparel requirements of the participating Indian athletes. Due to these challenges, the Indian Olympic Association has requested Sunlight Sports to allow IOA to appoint local manufacturers familiar with the athletes’ apparel measurements, to produce and supply the sports kitting for the Indian Olympic team.

The ‘World Cup of Europe’ is upon us, as 24 of the best teams in Europe battle it out for top honours in UEFA EURO 2020. The tournament, pushed back by one year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will be played in 11 venues across Europe. The draw can go a long way in determining the passage of a team to the knockout stage and many times in international tournaments, one has seen good teams not progressing past the initial stages after being drawn in the aptly titled “Group of Death”. In EURO 2020, Group F deserves the tag of the “Group of Death”. It has defending UEFA EURO champions Portugal drawn together with two time winners France, who are also the 2018 FIFA World Cup title holders. To add to the list there is Germany, a team that has won the EURO title maximum number of times jointly (3 times along with Spain). 

The fourth team in the group is Hungary, who made the draw after winning the Qualifying play-offs. I recall the 2004 edition of EURO vividly, as I hosted the Pre & Post match show for India’s public broadcaster who relayed the EURO final on the National Channel. The final featured a very young and prodigiously talented Cristiano Ronaldo along with the experienced Luis Figo in the Portugal line-up. Playing in front of their home crowd, Portugal, the pre-match favorites were stunned by Greece who lifted their maiden trophy in the year in which the country also hosted the Olympic Games. Life came full circle in 2016, when I was a part of the Hindi commentary team for a private sports network that broadcast the tournament in India. Ronaldo and Portugal, won the EURO final in France, beating Les Blues in front of their home crowd. What was even more remarkable was that Ronaldo could not play the full match, as he was injured and substituted 25 minutes into the final. This time around, Portugal has more resources to rely on apart from just Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe.

With Bruno Fernandes in great form for Manchester United, Bernardo Silva having had a solid season with Manchester City and Diogo Jota looking in good touch, the EURO title-holders can hope to stake a strong claim to progress in the playoffs. Moving on and talking about France, who look like they are the team to beat in this tournament. The French side has made it to at least the Quarterfinals of the last 3 major tournaments (World Cup & EURO) that they have played in. They also seem to have the most settled team amongst the contenders, with 14 players out of the 26 having been a part of the 2018 World Cup winning campaign.

Germany have won the UEFA EURO title 3 times and are one of only three countries that have held the title of European champions and World Champions together (though not necessarily in that order), as West Germany won the EURO in 1972 and the World Cup in 1974. France won the EURO in 2000 after winning the World Cup in 1998, while Spain went one better by winning the EURO in 2008 and in 2012, while also winning the World Cup in between in 2010. With their coach Joachim Loew set to relinquish command at the end of the tournament, Germany may just be looking to give him the perfect send-off with a title they last won 25 years ago. On paper, Hungary seems to be the weakest team out of the four. Their best performance in EURO was a 3rd place finish in 1964. In the last edition in 2016, Hungary not only qualified for EURO but also made it to the Round of 16, after beating Austria, and playing out draws against Iceland and Portugal. So to take them lightly might be a recipe for disaster.

The author is a sports commentator who has worked on assignments for leading sports networks in India & abroad and is on the Hindi commentary panel for the EURO 2020 broadcast on SONY TEN3.

LAUSANNE: Twenty-nine athletes competing across 12 sports and from 13 host National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will be part of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Refugee Olympic Team (EOR) Tokyo 2020.

The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday approved the composition of the team. The athletes were selected from among the refugee athletes currently supported by the IOC through the Olympic Scholarships for Refugee Athletes programme. “They will send a powerful message of solidarity and hope to the world this summer, bringing further awareness to the plight of over 80 million displaced people worldwide,” an IOC release said.

The 29 athletes met for the first time on Tuesday in a virtual ceremony during which IOC President Thomas Bach officially announced their participation in the Games in Tokyo this summer.

Addressing the athletes, the IOC President said: “Congratulations to all of you. I speak on behalf of the entire Olympic Movement when I say that we cannot wait to meet you in person and to see you compete in Tokyo. When you, the IOC Refugee Olympic Team and the athletes from the National Olympic Committees from all over the globe, finally come together in Tokyo on July 23, it will send a powerful message of solidarity, resilience and hope to the world. You are an integral part of our Olympic community, and we welcome you with open arms.”

UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi congratulated the athletes.

“I am thrilled to congratulate each of the athletes who have been named in the Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020. They are an exceptional group of people who inspire the world. UNHCR is incredibly proud to support them as they compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Surviving war, persecution and the anxiety of exile already makes them extraordinary people, but the fact that they now also excel as athletes on the world stage fills me with immense pride. It shows what is possible when refugees are given the opportunity to make the most of their potential”