The inaugural edition's winner Mumbai Indians will bank on their core group of players while two-time finalists Delhi Capitals will expect fireworks from Shafali Verma when they face-off in the second game of the Women's Premier League here on Saturday. The finalists of the first WPL in 2023, both Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals made it to the knockouts in the second edition last year but lost to the eventual champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the eliminator and the final respectively. Those defeats were certainly not reflective of how well MI and DC had fared until the knockouts stage, with Harmanpreet Kaur's side finishing second in the points table with five wins in eight matches and Meg Lanning's team topping it with six wins in as many outings. The winners of WPL 2023, Mumbai Indians tend to lean on their core group of players both overseas and Indian and a similar approach can be expected this year, with only a few changes taking place in terms of squad composition. India pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who was grappling with an unspecified injury, was ruled out of the competition and has been replaced by slow left-arm orthodox bowler Parunika Sisodia, who was one of the main performers in India's title-winning campaign in the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup recently. Mumbai Indians have let go of England's Issy Wong, who took the first-ever WPL hat-trick in 2023, after the player lost form and the franchise found the leader of their attack in South Africa's Shabnim Ismail. Among domestic talents, another member of the U-19 T20 World Cup winning squad G Kamalini would be one to watch out for, having finished as the third highest scorer in the competition with 143 runs in seven matches. Apart from a strong leader in Harmanpreet, MI have strong figures from other international sides such as Nat Sciver-Brunt (England), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), as well as South Africans Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon. While Yastika Bhatia is MI's No 1 wicketkeeper-batter, other Indian players in Saika Ishaque, Sajana Sajeevan, uncapped Akshita Maheshwari and Amanjot Kaur will be expected to play their roles to perfection. On their part, Delhi Capitals will be keen to do one better after finishing as runner-up for two times in a row ever since the competition began. One of the most consistent teams in the competition, the Lanning-led Delhi have strong talent base across departments but the key will be to deliver in crucial matches. All eyes will be on the explosive Indian batter Shafali who has responded to her exclusion from the Indian side with runs in domestic cricket. She forms a lethal opening pair with Lanning at the top, while the likes of Australia's Annabel Sutherland, England's Alice Capsey and India's Jemimah Rodrigues form the core of their middle order. All-rounder Sutherland will hope to draw inspiration from her recent success of having struck 163 in the only Test of the women's Ashes followed by winning the highest individual honour in Australian cricket. While Delhi boasts of three wicketkeeper-batters in India's Taniyaa Bhatia, Nandini Kashyap and Scotland's Sarah Bryce, their bowling looks settled with Marizanne Kapp as the leader of the attack, backed by Australia's Jess Jonassen, India's Radha Yadav and Shikha Pandey as well as Titas Sadhu.
Divock Origi's late strike earned Belgium a 1-0 Group H win over Russia at the Maracana Stadium on Sunday to seal a spot in the knockout round of the World Cup.
Who do you think should be part of the Indian team for the T20 World Cup semi-final against England?
New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson said his side have every chance of derailing India in a major final once again.
Lanka's entry into the 2023 World Cup is marked with injuries, modest form of players and rumours of the team getting a new captain that was put to rest at the last minute.
Former India captain Mithali Raj on Tuesday attributed the national team's underwhelming performance in the Women's T20 World Cup to lack of growth across departments over the past three years.
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic admitted his team rode their luck against Belgium but said he was pleased with the way they controlled the match for large stretches.
Sri Lankan skipper Wanindu Hasaranga admitted his team's shortcomings led to their early exit from the T20 World Cup 2024, despite a convincing win over Netherlands in their final group stage match.
The Indian cricket fraternity praised the team for pulling off the win.
Huge upsets lit up the basketball World Cup on Wednesday as France beat hosts Spain 65-52 while Serbia thumped Brazil 84-56 to set up an intriguing semi-final clash.
However, experienced goalkeeper Joe Hart and Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere were both omitted from a squad announced on Wednesday via a social media video featuring young recreational players from around the country shouting out the names.
South Africa's hopes of a semi-final place at the Cricket World Cup appear to have been washed out along with their fixture against the West Indies at the Rose Bowl on Monday.
So, will the members discuss the possibility of placing India and Pakistan in different groups in the league stage of the tournament to avoid Men in Blue's travel to the neighbouring country?
Babar had stepped down from his leadership role across formats following the conclusion of the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Insisting that India are currently playing the "best cricket of the World Cup", West Indies batting legend Brian Lara feels that the defending champions must test their bench strength against minnows UAE in a Pool B match in Perth.
India vice-captain Shubman Gill has dismissed speculation about the ODI future of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, stating that there are no retirement discussions within the team.
India's archers have never been able to go past the quarter-final hurdle at the Olympic Games.
Argentina and Australia have only two full days to rest, a factor Argentine manager Lionel Scaloni called 'madness'.
Strangely, despite four wins on the trot, none of India's players have even figured in the top 20 of the MVPI table.
As Group B toppers, South Africa had to take the flight back to Pakistan to play their semi-final as the last-four clash involving India was to be staged in Dubai.
The ICC Champions Trophy is set to kick off in Pakistan, marking the country's first ICC event since the 1996 World Cup.
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A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday.
India's Arshdeep Singh is in the race for the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year along with Pakistan's Babar Azam, Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza and Australia's Travis Head, the ICC revealed on Sunday.
Several Pakistani cricketers are reportedly unhappy with PCB chief selector Wahab Riaz for delaying the issuance of NOCs to players.
'We need to play attacking hockey, our strength. When we try to play defensive, we tend to be too much defensive which provides more chances to opponents. We need to put pressure on them (from the start)'
Pakistan are dangerous opponents for the best of teams in major tournaments but they could face a rocky road in their quest
Since the start of the century, India have made it to two finals and two semis in five ODI World Cups but have just ONE title to show for. It's high time to end that barren run!
Pakistan were stunned by the co-hosts USA in a thrilling nail-biting clash, settled in the Super Over.
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Babar Azam announced that he will be stepping down as the white-ball captain of the Pakistan cricket team, wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan is likely to take his place
Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar says he would have picked a much younger Indian squad for the T20 World Cup since loading the side with seniors has not worked in the past.
'Tried to hit the seam as much as I could, and tried to be as clear as I could with my execution and it all came out well so I felt happy.'
The 12th edition of the tournament will feature Robert Bailey, Gregory Brathwaite, Anil Chaudhary, Nigel Duguid, Shaun George, Shaun Haig, Mark Hawthorne, Ranmore Martinesz, C.K. Nandan, Ahsan Raza, Shozab Raza, Timothy Robert Robinson, Langton Rusere and Paul Wilson in umpiring role.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI against New Zealand in Sunday's final?
The International Cricket Council (ICC) expressed its satisfaction over the detailed briefing of arrangements presented by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials for next year's Champions Trophy, sources told Geo News.
In Morocco, an important member of the Arab League but where much of the population identifies as Amazigh, there has been some bemusement at the Arab embrace, including jokes that people from other Arab countries should finally accept the Moroccan dialect.
The Indian badminton team sealed a place in the knockout stage of the Sudirman Cup mixed team championship, despite Indonesia pulling off a stunning 3-2 victory over Denmark in the last match of the Group 1D in Gold Coast, Australia, on Wednesday.
The Tunisian captain's goal mobilised the French into action, with Deschamps bringing in stars like Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann to jump-start an attack that had so far been tepid.
New Zealand claimed the one World Cup prize that no team sets out to win - third place.
