Author Archives: TARIQ ABDULLAH

Bangladesh leapfrog India on WTC27 standings after series sweep over Pakistan

SYLHET, May 20: Bangladesh whitewashed Pakistan in a two-match Test series after spinner Taijul Islam produced a match-winning spell and sealed a well-fought 78-run victory on the final day of the second Test here at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. Before 2024, Bangladesh had never beaten Pakistan in a Test match. Now, they have achieved four consecutive victories against their Asian rivals. This latest win also marks their first home Test series victory over Pakistan. Notably, for the first time in their history, Bangladesh have won four successive Test series.

Taijul finished with impressive figures of 6-120, helping the hosts dismiss Pakistan for 358 while de-fending a target of 436 during the final day.

After resuming on day five following a brief rain interruption, wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan and all-rounder Sajid Khan added valuable runs in quick time, putting together a key 50-plus stand that pushed the total beyond 350. The duo were looking in great touch and moving their score closer to the winning total.

The partnership was even-tually broken by Taijul, who removed Sajid Khan for 28 off 36 balls. Sajid’s innings. Soon after, Pakistan lost an-other wicket when Shoriful Islam dismissed Moham-mad Rizwan (94 off 166).

Taijul then completed his six-wicket haul by cleaning up Khurram Shahzad for a duck, bringing the innings and the match to a close.

With this win, Bangladesh have moved above India and into fifth place on the ICC World Test Championship standings. Earlier, chasing a mammoth total, Pakistan had a shaky start as both their openers, Abdullah Fazal and Azan Awais, got out early. Later, Babar Azam forged a 92-run partnership with Shan Masood and stabilised the in-nings. However, the partner-ship was eventually broken by Taijul, who sent Babar to the pavilion for 47 runs.

While the next batter, Saud Shakeel, managed just six, leaving Pakistan un-der pressure at 154-4. Shan played a composed knock of 71 runs, but was eventually dismissed by Taijul as Paki-stan slipped further.

Despite the collapse, Riz-wan and Salman rebuilt the innings with a crucial stand that pushed Pakistan be-yond 200 runs and briefly stabilised the chase.How-ever, the 134-run partnership was eventually broken when Taijul struck again, removing Salman for a well-compiled 71. Hasan Ali was also re-moved by Taijul as Pakistan finished Day 4 on 316-7.

Coming to bat after los-ing the toss, Bangladesh posted 278 runs in the first innings with the help of a brilliant century from Lit-ton Das. While, Khurram Shahzad was the most suc-cessful bowler for Pakistan, as he took four wickets.

In reply, Pakistan were bundled out for 232 in 57.4 overs, handing the hosts a 46-run lead. Babar Azam top-scored with a fighting 68, while Sajid contributed valuable runs down the order, scoring 38. Nahid Rana and Taijul picked three wickets each for Bangladesh.

Bangladesh, who started their second innings with a 46-run lead, added 390 more runs with the help of a cen-tury from Mushfiqur Rahim, who scored 137 runs to give a mammoth target of 437 runs to the visitors, which the Salman Agha-led side failed to achieve.

BANGLADESH AHEAD OF INDIA IN RANKINGS

Bangladesh have leap-frogged India in the ICC World Test Championship standings after an impressive 78-run triumph over Pakistan in the second Test in Sylhet.

The win took Bangla-desh to fifth place on the WTC 2027 standings with a win-loss percentage of 58.33 percent, surpassing India, who dropped to sixth with 48.15 points from nine Tests, four wins and as many defeats along with a drawn Test. Meanwhile, Pakistan remained in eighth place on the standings following the loss.India, who have not played a Test match so far this year, will play a one-off Test against Afghanistan, which is not part of the WTC cycle.

The series triumph was Bangladesh’s first at home against Pakistan and their second successive sweep over their Asian rivals after their 2-0 win on Pakistani soil in 2024. (IANS)

Brief Scores

BANGLADESH: 278 & 390 (Mushfiqur 137, Litton Das 69; Khuram Shahzad 4-86) BEAT

PAKISTAN: 231 & 358 (Md. Rizwan 94, Salman Agha 71; Taijul Islam 6-120) by 120 runs

A participant in action during the long jump event of the State Level Inter School Athletics Meet 2026 at SAI, NEHU campus, in Shillong, on Wednesday. (ST)

BCCI domestic season to open with Duleep Trophy from Aug 23

NEW DELHI, May 20: The Ranji Trophy will once again be played in two phases with the opening round starting on October 11 while the 2026-27 domestic season will commence with the Duleep Trophy starting August 23, the BCCI announced on Wednesday.

The BCCI will be organizing 1788 games across age-group and senior cricket segments during the season, which include U-16, U-19, U-23, senior level for men and U-15, U-19, U-23 and senior level for the women.

Keeping up with the demand of time, the U-23 white ball competition and the Inter-zonal University meet for Vizzy Trophy will be played in T20 format going forward.

“The 2026-27 domestic season reflects the BCCI’s continued commitment to building a strong and competitive domestic structure while ensuring a balanced progression across formats and categories,” the board stated in release.

The Duleep Trophy, which is back in zonal format, will be played between August 23 to September 10. The entire tournament will be held at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

The Irani Cup between Ranji Trophy champions Jammu and Kashmir and Rest of India will be played from October 1 to 5 in Srinagar.

The blue riband event of BCCI’s domestic calendar – the Ranji Trophy – will have its first phase between October 11 to November 5 in which four rounds will be held.

The second phase between January 17 to March 3, 2027, will happen after the completion of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (National T20s) and Vijay Hazare Trophy (National 50-over meet).

The SMAT will be held between November 14 to December 6. The four venues for the league stages are Mumbai, Mohali, Vizag and Kolkata. The knock-out stage will be held in Nagpur.

The timing of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will allow the talent scouts to prepare their lists before the IPL auction which will be held sometime in December.

The Vijay Hazare Trophy will be held from December 14, 2026 to January 8, 2027.

A good decision taken by BCCI’s scheduling team is to have the Vijay Merchant Trophy (U16) being played from November to January, allowing for improved scheduling and player preparation.

This also helps the school cricketers to prepare for their annual or board exams which are generally held in February and March. (PTI)

(AP)

SOUTHAMPTON, May 20: Southampton was expelled from the Championship playoffs on Tuesday after admitting to repeatedly spying on opponents. The English Football League reinstated Middlesbrough to play in the Wembley final — the richest game in football — against Hull City on Saturday. The winner gets promoted to the Premier League. Southampton was charged earlier this month for the unauthorised filming of Middlesbrough’s practice sessions ahead of their semifinal. It went on to win the two-legged tie to go within one game of promotion to the top flight.

The league said the southcoast club had subsequently admitted further breaches this season concerning games against Oxford United and Ipswich. It was also deducted four points for next season.

“Southampton has a right to appeal the commission’s decision in accordance with EFL regulations and the parties are working to try and resolve any appeal on Wednesday 20 May. Subject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday’s fixture,” the league said.

The league said Southampton admitted breaches requiring clubs to act with the “utmost good faith and prohibiting the observation of another club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match.”

It said the final was still due to go ahead as planned, despite disruption caused by Middlesbrough’s late reinstatement.

The play-off final is labelled the world’s richest one-off football match because a windfall of at least $270 million in future earnings is on offer for the winning team.

Promotion to the top flight of English football — the world’s wealthiest and most-watched league — brings with it access to its multibillion dollar global broadcast deals as well as sold out stadiums for games against the biggest teams.

Southampton was relegated from the Premier League after finishing bottom of the standings last season and was aiming to make an immediate return

The stunning decision to expel it from the final comes after Leeds was previously punished for spying. In 2019, the EFL fined Leeds $259,000 for spying on one of Derby’s training sessions ahead of a game. Marcelo Bielsa, who was manager of Leeds at the time, accepted responsibility for having a club employee spy on Derby’s practice. In a detailed, hour-long news conference, Bielsa later admitted to having watched at least one of each of his opponents’ training sessions.

In handing out that fine, the EFL said Leeds’ conduct “fell significantly short of the standards expected by the EFL and must not be repeated.”

The Southampton incident has echoes of Canada’s Olym- pic women’s football team which was penalised for flying drones over New Zealand’s closed practice sessions ahead of the teams’ match at the Paris Games in 2024. (AP)

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG, May 20: Nongkseh SSCC and Shillong Lajong FC played out a high octane 1-1 draw in their Group A quarterfinal stage match of the 5th Meghalaya State League at the SSA Stadium here on Wednesday.

Although the two teams had played just two days ago, where Nongkseh were 2-0 winners, the atmosphere was no less intense, with fans from both sides heading back to the stadium to cheer on their teams.

Set-pieces proved to be Nongkseh’s major weapon once again, with the opening goal by Mebankhraw Wahlang (33′) coming off a corner kick taken by Hardy Cliff Nongbri.

However, Lajong were strong in open play and were able to equalise just minutes later when Fridison Wanniang (37′) fired through the legs of Nongkseh goalkeeper Guidle Syiemlieh after some neat one-two passing with his Lajong team mates.

Even though the game ended in a draw, these two teams have already given us two matches that were deserving of a final.

In the other match, defending champions Mawlai SC put on their best display of the quarterfinal stage to knock out Rangdajjied United FC 4-0. After losing four games in a row, Rangdajjied can no longer aspire to reaching the semifinals even though the 2023 champions still have two games to go.

Mawlai scored through Basuklang Bina (14′, 39′), Fairming Suting (66′) and Samlang Rympei (90’+4). The win briefly took them to the top of the Group B standings, until the second match sent them back down to third.

Basuklang has been on a scoring run of late and his two goals today saw him become Mawlai’s top scorer in this MSL with six goals. He seized the lead early and then headed in a Robertson Khongriah free-kick for his brace.

Rangdajjied had shown some improvement in their last game, where they went down to Mawlai 2-1, but they did not build on that on Wednesday, with poor touches hampering their attack, though they did persist right to the final whistle.

A defensive lapse allowed Fairming to score in the second half and Samlang’s goal right at the end was the last action of the match.

In the standings, Nongkseh lead with 8 points, Lajong are second with 7, Mawlai third with 7 and Rangdajjied have 0.

Lajong have head-to-head advantage over Mawlai and thus take second position for now.

On Thursday, Group B will enter the second leg with Rymbai Skhenshynriah SC against Maram FC at 2pm; Shkenshynriah won 4-2 in the first leg on Tuesday. Langsning FC will then face Nangkiew Irat SC at 6pm; Nangkiew will have to put up a much stronger fight after getting a 6-1 whipping in the first leg.

(AP) NYON, May 20: A Czech women’s football coach who secretly filmed players in the locker room and showers was banned from coaching for life by UEFA, the sport’s European governing body.

Petr Vlachovsky, former coach at 1. FC Slovacko, was convicted last year in the Czech Republic of filming more than a dozen women over a four-year period. He received a one-year suspended prison sentence and a five-year ban from coaching in the country.

UEFA determined that Vlachovsky violated rules covering insulting or indecent behaviour. The lifetime ban was announced Tuesday.

UEFA also requested that FIFA impose an international ban on Vlachovsky.

Arsenal supporters celebrate in a pub near the Emirates Stadium after Arsenal won the Premier League title. (PTI)

LONDON, May 20: Arsenal’s decades-long wait is over.

Mikel Arteta’s team was crowned Premier League champion for the first time since 2004 on Tuesday after Manchester City drew 1-1 with Bournemouth.

“I told you all…it’s done,” Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice posted on social media with a photo of he and his teammates celebrating.

The result put an end to what might be Pep Guardiola’s final title challenge with City after the decorated manager didn’t dismiss reports he was set to leave the club at the end of the season.

City needed to win at Bournemouth to take it down to the final game of the campaign on Sunday. But the draw left Arsenal with an unassailable four-point lead at the top, ending its 22-year wait for the title.

Arsenal fans celebrated wildly outside its Emirates Stadium, setting off flares and partying in the street. There were celebrations at the club’s training ground, too, where the players had gathered to watch the match.

City threatened another twist in an engrossing title race when Erling Haaland scored in stoppage time to equalize after Junior Kroupi’s first-half strike, but it was too late to find a winner.

Arteta’s players can now stand alongside club icons Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright, who previously reached the summit of English football.

And Arsenal’s current class could yet break new ground by winning the Champions League for the first time in its history later this month.

Thoughts of the May 30 final against defending champion Paris Saint-Germain can be put on the back-burner for now.

Now is a time for celebration and relief for Arteta after finishing runner-up in the league three years in a row.

In back-to-back seasons in 2023 and ’24, he watched as Guardiola’s City chased down Arsenal’s lead to be crowned champion.

And another chance was missed last year by finishing second to Liverpool.

Once again Arsenal has led the way for most of this campaign and despite seeing its points advantage ebb away during a gripping run in, it has finally managed to get over the line.

Arsenal’s last championship was on the so-called “In-vincibles” team of 2004, which went an entire campaign without losing in the league.

Since then it has seen Chelsea, Manchester United, City, Leicester and Liverpool all take the title. This is the first time since 2017 that a team other than City or Liverpool has not been crowned champion.

It is Arsenal’s 14th title and Arteta will hope it is the beginning of a new era of dominance.

He has finally got the better of Guardiola, who he was formerly assistant to at City.

The Spaniard took over at Arsenal in December 2019 – his first role as a manager. After winning the FA Cup in that first season, it has been a frustrating wait for more honours.

Even still, he is the second-youngest coach after Jose Mourinho to win the Premier League at the age of 44.

While his team has not maintained the attractive playing style of former manager Arsene Wenger, it has powered its way to the title with the best defence in the league and earned a reputation as a specialist for set-piece goals.

Time will tell if Arteta adopts a more expansive style in the future, more in-keeping with Guardiola’s City.

Guardiola was aiming to win the title for the seventh time in England and a second domestic treble after winning the League Cup and FA Cup this term. But Kroupi’s curling shot in the 39th minute left City with a mountain to climb.

Bournemouth wasted further chances to extend its lead, and Haaland ensured a tense finish for Arsenal fans when he levelled in the fifth minute of added time.

Ultimately it wasn’t enough and Guardiola has gone two years without winning a league title for the first time in his coaching career.

Relegation battle

The fight for survival will go down to the final day of the season after Chelsea beat Tottenham 2-1.

Spurs are two points ahead of West Ham, which is in the final relegation spot.

West Ham needs to beat Leeds on Sunday to have any chance of leapfrogging Tottenham and climbing out of the drop zone.

Tottenham hosts Everton and a draw would likely be enough because of superior goal difference.

A win would guarantee safety. (AP)

===AUTHOR’S NAME AND AFFILIATION===

By AP

MANCHESTER, May 20: Pep Guardiola addressed the fevered speculation about his future at Manchester City by saying he will talk to club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak in the upcoming days before announcing whether he’ll see out the remaining year of his contract.

Several outlets in the British media, including national broadcaster the BBC, have reported that Guardiola will be leaving at the end of this season and that Enzo Maresca – the former Chelsea manager who was previously assistant to Guardiola at City – is the leading contender to take over.

Speaking after a draw at Bournemouth that ended City’s chances of winning the Premier League, Guardiola didn’t deny the widespread reports indicating his imminent departure after 10 trophy-laden years at the club. “I talk with my chairman first,” Guardiola said.

“And after that, when I talk with my chairman, we decide (whether) to have one more year, we talk everything, we will decide.”

Asked whether those conversations will take place after the final match of the season at home to Aston Villa, Guardiola said: “No, we talk in these next days.”

Guardiola, who has won 17 major trophies at City since arriving in English football in 2016, has repeatedly been asked in recent weeks whether he would be staying at City beyond this season.

On Monday, he rolled his eyes when another question was posed about his future and answered: “I’ve said so many times, I have one more year.”

After the Bournemouth game, he said he had wanted to “focus on putting the team in the highest point” before announcing his future plans.

“I’m the happiest man on the planet to be in this club,” he said.

“This club is extraordinary. The season is over for us so we want to arrive in the last game with our fans.”

Manchester City’s head coach Pep Guardiola (R) reacts during the English Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Manchester City in Bournemouth, on Tuesday. (PTI)

Guardiola’s time at City has been record-breaking

In overseeing the most successful period in City’s history in his decade in charge, Guardiola has spent longer at the club than he did at Barcelona (2008-12) and Bayern Munich (2013-16).

His biggest achievement at City has been winning the Premier League-Champions League-FA Cup treble in the 2022-23 season, emulating the feat of Manchester United in 1999.

Guardiola’s City team has won the Premier League six times and became the only team in the nearly 140-year history of English football to win four top-flight league titles in a row (2021-24), the first team to earn 100 points in a top-flight season (2017-18), and the first team to win the domestic treble of the league, FA Cup and League Cup in the same season (2018-19).

This season, City has won both the League Cup and FA Cup but will finish second behind Arsenal in the Premier League. That was assured after the 1-1 draw at Bournemouth, which left City four points adrift of Arsenal.

Guardiola has also changed the face of English football in general, bringing a possession-based approach that started with playing the ball out from the goalkeeper or defence that ended up being mimicked across the country, from kids’ teams at grassroots level to rival teams in the Premier League.

Asked Monday if he thought a stand at City’s Etihad Stadium should be named after him, Guardiola said: “The important thing in our lives is when you look back, you can say, ‘Wow.’ You can look with a big smile and (say) that was good.”

“I am pretty sure,” he added, “most of the people who lived this time together can feel that.”

The final years of Guar-diola’s time at City has been under something of a cloud, with the club currently in-volved in a huge legal case with the Premier League.

City was charged by the league in February 2023 with more than 100 financial breaches, including provid-ing misleading information about its sources of income.

The case was heard by an independent commis-sion between September and December in 2024 but no verdict has been reached.

Punishment could be as extreme as expulsion from the top flight. City has al-ways denied the charges and Guardiola has said he is “fully convinced that we will be innocent.” (AP)

(AP)

SUWON (SOUTH KOREA), May 20: Drenched in rain, hundreds of South Koreans cheered the North Korean visitors during a rare football match between the divided countries Wednesday as Pyongyang-based Naegohyang Women’s FC defeated host Suwon 2-1 against the backdrop of political tensions.

The win locked Naegohyang into another match in South Korea, a final Saturday against Tokyo Verdy Beleza, which defeated Melbourne City 3-1 in the other semifinal of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League.

While athletes from North and South Korea have previously competed on combined teams and marched together in Olympic ceremonies during periods of warmer ties, such exchanges have largely disappeared in recent years as relations between the rivals deteriorated over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Naegohyang has drawn intense media attention since its 39 players and staff arrived in South Korea on Sunday on a flight from China.

(AP)

LONDON, May 20: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer took time out from dealing with his own sticky political situation to congratulate his favourite football team, Arsenal, on winning the Premier League.

“22 long years for the Arsenal,” Starmer posted on X soon after the title was clinched late Tuesday. “But finally, we’re back where we belong.

“Champions!”

For Starmer, a lifelong Arsenal fan, the victory was rare good news at a time when he is clinging to power after woeful results for his Labour Party in local and regional elections on May 7.

Dozens of Labour lawmakers have called for him to resign, a member of his Cabinet has quit, and a popular rival, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, is running for a seat in Parliament so he can challenge Starmer for the party leadership.

On this occasion, London got the better of Manchester, with Arsenal outlasting big rival Man City to the biggest prize in English football.

The new champions celebrated into the night, with midfielder Eberechi Eze posting pictures on his Instagram account up to 5 am local time.

One showed Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard leaning his head back with an Arsenal-branded bottle in his mouth, likely a nod to those critics who accused the team of being “bottlers” — a British term for collapsing under pressure — after three straight runner-up finishes in the Premier League and no major trophy since 2020.

Odegaard will be lifting the Premier League trophy after the away match against Crystal Palace on Sunday, the final day of the league season.

There was footage on social media of many Arsenal players, including Eze, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber, walking around the Emirates Stadium as the sun came up.