Former India batsman VVS Laxman reckons Shikhar Dhawan’s focus should be on scoring runs in the upcoming Sri Lanka tour to cement his place in the squad for the T20 World Cup.

Sri Lanka and India will square off in three ODIs and three T20Is, beginning July 13. While Bhuvneshwar has been named vice-captain, Dhawan will lead the team which will be coached by former India skipper Rahul Dravid. Laxman said Dhawan might be leading the side but he has to be amongst runs in the Sri Lanka series considering the stiff competition for the opening spot in T20 World Cup squad.“First thing, I think he is being rewarded for his consistent performance for the Indian Team, – especially in white-ball cricket – and he is the most experienced player in this squad,” said Laxman on Star Sports’ show Game Plan.“But Shikhar Dhawan will be very clear that he has to use this opportunity – especially keeping in mind the T20 World Cup, there is so much stiff competition. There is Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul – who are established opening batsmen. Virat Kohli, very clearly mentioned that he wants to open in T20 formats.“So, Shikhar Dhawan has to be amongst runs. So, while he is excited being the captain of the Indian team – and anyone will be proud to lead their country – but his focus will be to score runs and put his spot in a secure position,” he added.Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan feels Dhawan will have a point to prove to himself in the Sri Lanka tour and at the same time, the opening batsman will be excited to lead the side for the first time in his career.

“He is a very fun-loving guy. Whenever you meet him, he is always laughing, very cheerful. The youngsters will be very comfortable around him. And I think, as a leader, he will have a point to prove – not to anyone, but for himself,” said Irfan.“Because last time he was leading an IPL side, that was not a very fruitful move for him, but that was so many years ago. So, if any senior guy wants to do something, he needs to convince himself – more than trying to prove a point to anyone else.

“So, he will be really excited for leadership, but at the same time, he will be looking forward to not only perform but also sharing his experience with all the youngsters,” he added. The likes of Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav are also in the white-ball squad and many more youngsters are eyeing a debut for India in the Sri Lanka series.

Harry Kane scored a brace while Harry Maguire and Jordon Henderson registered one goal each as England thrashed Ukraine 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Euro 2020 here at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday (local time).

With this win, the Three Lions have set up a semifinal clash against Denmark at the Wembley Stadium on Wednesday. England got off the blocks quickly as Harry Kane made no mistake in converting a lovely cross from Raheem Sterling into a goal in just the 4th minute of the game. After that, no more goals were scored in the first half, and as a result, the Three Lions went into the interval with a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, England displayed its A-game and managed to score three more goals to eventually win the match 4-0. First, Jordon Henderson netted the ball into the goalpost in the 46th minute and four minutes later, Kane scored again to give England a 3-0 lead, leaving Ukraine search for all kinds of answers.

The final nail in the coffin for Ukraine came in the 63rd minute as Henderson got among the goal-scoring charts and in the end, England walked away with a 4-0 win.

Earlier on Saturday, Denmark defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 to enter the semifinals of the ongoing Euro 2020.

The mixed doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna on Saturday (local time) progressed to the third round of the ongoing Wimbledon 2021.

The Indian duo defeated Britain’s pair of Aidan McHugh and Emily Webley-Smith 6-3, 6-1 to enter the next round of the tournament. Mirza and Bopanna brought their A-game to Court 18 and in the end, the duo was able to win the match in straight sets.

The Indian pair will now lock horns against Andreja Klepac and Jean-Julien Rojer in the round of 16 on July 6. Earlier on Saturday, the women’s doubles pair of Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands were knocked out of the ongoing Wimbledon Championships. They lost their second-round match to Russian tennis players Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina 4-6, 3-6.

In the first set, Sania and Bethanie Mattek-Sands fought hard but the Russian duo took the game away from them. Riding on the winning momentum, Kudermetova and Vesnina clinched the second set quite easily as Sania and Mattek-Sands pair bowed out of the tournament.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is planning to send the first batch of its Tokyo-bound on the 17th of this month. Tokyo Olympics will go ahead from July 23-August 8. The Games were slated to be held last year, but it had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As of now our plan is to send the first batch of athletes from India to Tokyo on July 17th but we are trying to send them a couple of days before so that quarantine and training issues will be sorted out. We are in touch with the concerned authorities in Tokyo to get it sorted,” IOA President Narinder Batra told ANI.

“Our government is supporting us in every way and we are hopeful that everything will be sorted out soon,” he added. When asked about the final number of Olympic-bound contingent, Batra said: “Some of the names are yet to come to us we are awaiting them, we will soon make it public.”

With the Tokyo Games round the corner, the IOA is likely to declare the name of flag bearers for the opening ceremony of the showpiece event by July 5.

“IOA is planning to declare the names on the 5th of July. We have some names which we are sorting out but as of now, majorly it is on PV Sindhu and Bajrang Punia but again it’s not official. Final names will be declared by 5th of July,” sources in the known development had told ANI.

Meanwhile, the Sports Authority of India(SAI) and IOA continued their efforts to sensitise the Tokyo-bound athletes with a session titled ‘From India with Pride’ that helped them to understand the Japanese culture and address the possible barriers besides being ideal ambassadors of the country.

Skipper Mithali Raj smashed a classy fifty while Sneh Rana played a fighting cameo as India defeated England by four wickets in the third and final ODI on Saturday.

With this victory, India finally registered their first win on the England tour. The hosts had already won the series after clinching the first two ODIs but Mithali played a captain’s knock to give India a consolation win. Chasing 220, India got off to a good start with both openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana scoring regular boundaries. The visitors were right in the chase before Kate Cross provided England with the first breakthrough and dismissed Shafali (19) in the ninth over.

Mandhana then stitched a brief 20-run stand with Jemimah Rodrigues before Sophie Ecclestone sent the latter back in the dugout to reduce India to 66/2.

A few minutes later India lost Mandhana (49) as she departed without completing her fifty. Skipper Mithali stitched an important partnership with Harmanpreet Kaur for the fourth wicket after becoming the leading runs scorer across formats in international women’s cricket.

However, Knight dismissed Harmanpreet before Sciver sent back Deepti Sharma in the 40th over to reduce India to 164/5. India needed 38 runs from the last five overs and Sneh Rana rose to the occasion hitting some classy shots. Mithali too joined the party as she hammered the ball along the ground to see India home. Sneh smashed 24 runs off 22 balls to aid India’s chase in the third ODI.

Earlier, Deepti Sharma picked three wickets to restrict England to 219. England collapsed from 151/3 to 219/10 in 14 overs as Indian bowlers kept it tight in the second half of the hosts’ innings. It was an all-round bowling performance from the Indian side as every bowler, who bowled picked at least a wicket. Put in to bat first, England got off to a bad start as they lost Tammy Beaumont for a duck in the second over. It was Beaumont’s first duck in ODIs since November 2016.

Lauren Winfield Hill (36) and Heather Knight then stitched a solid partnership to steady the ship before Sneh Rana struck in her first over to reduce England at 68/2 in the 17th over.

England skipper Knight crossed 3000 ODI runs and became the fourth woman from her country to achieve the feat. But her stint at the crease soon ended as she fell four runs short of a fifty. Harmanpreet dismissed the England skipper as Knight slog-swept to Shikha at deep midwicket. Amy Ellen Jones and Natalie Sciver then built a brief partnership to take England over the 150-run mark in the 33rd over. But the hosts lost three wickets in quick intervals as India denied any chance of slogging to the England batters. Mandhana ran around from deep mid-wicket to take a sensational catch to dismiss Sciver (49) while Poonam Yadav bamboozled Katherine Brunt to reduce England to 177/6. Wickets didn’t stop falling in the death overs as England could only manage 219 in the 47 overs (reduced due to rain).

Brief scores: England 219/10 (Natalie Sciver 49, Heather Knight 46; Deepti Sharma 3-47); India 220/6 (Mithali Raj (75, Smriti Mandhana 49; Sophie Ecclestone 2-36).

Rodrigo De Daul, Lautaro Martinez, and Lionel Messi got among the goal-scoring charts as Argentina progressed to the semifinals of the ongoing Copa America here at the Estadio Olimpico Pedro Ludovico on Sunday.

Argentina defeated Ecuador 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the Copa America and the side will now lock horns against Colombia in the semifinals on Wednesday. The first goal of the match came in the 40th minute as De Paul netted the ball into the goalpost, giving Argentina a 1-0 lead.

The next two goals came in the second half. First, Martinez scored in the 84th minute, and in the dying minutes of the game, Messi registered a goal to hand Argentina a 3-0 win. In the entire match, Argentina had eight shots on target while Ecuador just had two.

On Saturday, Colombia defeated Uruguay 4-2 on penalties to qualify for the semifinals. The normal 90-minute action between both these sides finished at 0-0 and as a result, the match had to go down to penalties to decide the winner.