A day after the AFC women’s Asian Cup India 2022 draw was held, the atmosphere in the Indian women’s football team in Jamshedpur remains one of utter focus.

The team has returned from a gruelling exposure tour, where they faced six tough opponents in three different countries with completely different weather conditions. The players had all gathered together to watch the draw live on Wednesday at the team Hotel, eagerly waiting to see who they will be facing in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, that India will host next year.

“We have a collective dream, and that is to do well in the Asian Cup. We only have a few months left now, and seeing the draw live was a huge motivating factor for us all,” AIFF quoted skipper Ashalata Devi as saying.

“We had all gathered in the hall where we generally hold team meetings and have video sessions, but the only difference was that our future opponents were unfolding before our eyes. The atmosphere was absolutely buzzing inside the hall,” she added.

Eventually, India were drawn against eight-time champions China PR, two-time champions Chinese Taipei, and West Asian heavyweights IR Iran. Skipper Ashalata had even made her predictions as to which teams she wanted to face.“Every one of us had our own predictions. I had also predicted Iran, because I have so much respect for them, and we did get them in our group right at the start,” Ashalata continued.

“I have a lot of respect for them. Not only are they a very good side, but just the determination of all the women in their team to go out there and play football against all the odds is something that still gives me goosebumps,” she added.India have, earlier this month, played and beaten Chinese Taipei 1-0 in a friendly in Bahrain, and also beaten IR Iran in the Hero Gold Cup in Bhubaneswar in 2019 by the same margin, but midfielder Sanju Yadav is not one to dwell on past results.

“We’ve got equal respect for all teams. Yes, we have beaten Iran and Chinese Taipei, but that’s all in the past. Nobody will give an inch in the Asian Cup, and we have to fight for every little bit that we get,” Sanju said. India’s campaign in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup gets underway against IR Iran on January 20 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Australia opener David Warner has said he wasn’t worried about his lean patch despite everyone talking about his form in the last few days. David Warner and Aaron Finch set the tone with a 70-run opening stand as Australia chased down a target of 155 against Sri Lanka on Thursday. Warner was going through a lean patch but the batter made sure he smashed his fifty right when Australia needed him the most.

“I had to start fresh. Everyone was talking about my form but I reiterated that it’s not the thing I’m worried about, it’s about going out there and starting well. Finchy started well, we gelled well out there and applied pressure to the bowlers,” said Warner in the post-match press conference as per ICC.

“It’s the world of sport, when you ride the highs, you’ve got to ride the lows and you have to stay confident, keep a smile on your face and never let it get to you.“It was great to get out there in the middle, spend some time there, running between the wickets. Little things like that just keep your mind ticking,” he added.Part of the challenge for all the top-order batters is the slow nature of the wickets, with Warner having explained that he had taken to training on synthetic wickets and polished concrete in order to adjust.

“That’s helped and it’s something we’ll keep continuing through this World Cup. You’ve got to have a nice, stable base on these wickets,” said Warner.“When people take pace off the ball, you’ve got to wait for the ball, when there’s pace on it, you can sit on it,” he added.

As Australia looked to finish it off quickly, Warner found Rajapaksa on the boundary for 65 off just 42 deliveries, but Steve Smith and Marcus Stoinis got them home with three overs to spare, to boost the net run-rate as well.Meanwhile, India batter Hanuma Vihari pointed out that Smith’s skills will play a key role for Australia on UAE wickets.

“Warner returned to form at the right time for Australia and gave a scintillating start with Finch. But the way Smith finished the match was fantastic for me. A batsman like Smith will play a big role in the matches ahead on UAE pitches. This is my calculation,” Vihari said on Koo. Australia will next lock horns with England on Saturday.

India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu on Friday stormed into the semi-finals of the ongoing French Open after defeating Thai badminton player Busanan Ongbamrungphan in straight sets.

The Indian shuttler defeated Ongbamrungphan 21-14, 21-14 in the quarter-finals to move into the next round. Sindhu started the match on a high and took the opening game Ongbamrungphan 21-14. Riding high on confidence, the Indian shuttler started the second game with a lead of 4-2.

Sindhu continued her fine form and won the second game 21-14 to seal the match. Earlier in the day, shuttler Lakshya Sen faced a defeat in the quarter-finals of the ongoing tournament.

Playing at Court 2, Lakshya lost in straight sets against South Korea’s Heo Kwanghee 15-21, 17-21. On Thursday, Sameer Verma got retired hurt and bowed out of the tournament despite winning the first game with a scoreline of 21-16, 12-21.

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell defended 13 runs off the last over as his side defeated Bangladesh by three runs in the nail-biting thriller on Friday in Sharjah.

West Indies went against Bangladesh in the Group 1 Super 12s match of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Bangladesh needed 13 runs in the last over as the game went down to the wire. However, Russell gave just nine runs as West Indies got home for the first time in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

Put to bat, West Indies got off to a pathetic start as they lost early wickets of Evan Lewis and Chris Gayle and the score after 4.2 overs was 18/2. Bangladesh bowler Mahedi Hasan later scalped the wicket of Shimron Hetmyer. This was his second wicket after Gayle.

Later, Roston Chase and Nicholas Pooran provided the momentum to their team after playing great knocks of 39 and 40 runs, respectively. Their scores brought the team to a total of 142/7 at the end of 20 overs.

Chasing 143, Bangladesh got off to a bad start but Liton Das and skipper Mahmudullah made sure the side were right in the game till the last over before Russell brought out his A-game.

West Indies will now be facing Sri Lanka for their next ICC Men’s T20 World Cup clash in Abu Dhabi on November 4 while Bangladesh will be going against South Africa on November 2.

Brief scores: West Indies 142/7 (Nicholas Pooran 40, Roston Chase 39; Shoriful Aslam 2-20) vs Bangladesh 139/5 (Liton Das 44, Mahmudullah 31; Jason Holder 1-22)

Asif Ali blistering cameo powered Pakistan to a five-wicket win over Afghanistan in the ongoing T20 World Cup here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Pakistan needed 24 runs in 12 balls but Asif did a Carlos Brathwaite and smashed four sixes to power Pakistan home. Chasing 148, Afghanistan dented Pakistan’s hopes star batter Mohammad Rizwan in the third over. The Green Army stitched a partnership but Afghanistan skipper Nabi brought himself into the attack gave the breakthrough.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam kept fighting and completed his fifty in 45 balls despite losing Mohammad Hafeez in the 15th over. Rashid Khan turned the game in Afghanistan’s favour as he dismissed Babar in the 17th over.

But Asif Ali smashed four sixes in the penultimate over as Pakistan defeated Afghanistan with six balls to spare.

Earlier, opting to bat first Afghanistan got off to the worst possible start as the side lost four wickets inside the powerplay. Karim Janat and Najibullah stitched a 25-run stand to revive Afghanistan innings however Shadab Khan struck as the side lost five wickets before completion of 10 overs.

Skipper Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib scored 35 runs each as Afghanistan fought back after being reduced to 64/5. The side had scored 147/6 in the 20 overs.

Brief Scores: Afghanistan 147/6 (Mohammad Nabi 35, Gulbadin 35; Imad Wasim 2-25) vs Pakistan 148/5 (Babar Azam 51, Fakhar Zaman30; Rashid Khan 2-26)

Indian mix doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy on Thursday lost in the round of 16 match in the ongoing French Open.Playing at Court 4, the Indian pair lost against Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti 21-15, 17-21, 19-21. The pair Ponnappa and Satwik dominated the game in the first round but the Indonesian duo came back stronger in the second and the third round.

Earlier, India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu defeated Denmark’s Julie Jakobsen 21-15, 21-18 in straight sets to advance into the second round of the women’s singles event at the French Open 2021.

Elsewhere, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was forced to retire from her opening round match with an injury. Saina Nehwal was trailing 21-11, 9-2 against Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi in her women’s singles clash when she decided to concede.

Earlier, Lakshya Sen stormed into the men’s singles round of 16. The 20-year-old defeated Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen 21-10, 21-16 in 45 minutes. Sourabh Verma also went into the men’s singles round of 32. He defeated Brazil’s Ygor Coelho 22-20, 21-19.