Outgoing South Africa coach Mark Boucher will lead the Mumbai Indians and Australia’s Trevor Bayliss will take charge of the Punjab Kings in the next Indian Premier League season, the franchises said. Boucher, 45, will leave his current role once the Twenty20 World Cup wraps up in November, despite having a year left on his contract. He will replace Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene as coach of Mumbai when the league resumes next year. Punjab is the third IPL team to be coached by Bayliss, who had long stints as England and Sri Lanka coach. He guided the KKR to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014 before a disappointing stint at Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Asiad gold medallist Sudha Singh retires
Sudha Singh, the 36-year-old Indian distance runner, has decided to retire from competitive international athletics. Over the course of her career that spanned over 13 years, the two-time Olympian and Asian Games gold medallist competed and brought India laurels across the globe. The Indian steeplechaser and marathon runner will continue to compete domestically and plans to open an academy. Born in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, Sudha burst onto the national athletics scene after winning the 3000m steeplechase event at the 2007 National Games. In the same year, she broke India’s national record at the national championships in Jamshedpur with a timing of 10:18. 76. Sudha dominated the 3000m steeplechase events across India for the next few years and clinched her first international medal at the 2009 Asian Championships by winning silver.
Injured Starc, Stoinis, Marsh out of India T20I tour
Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc and all-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh were ruled out of Australia’s Twenty20 tour to India with low-level
injuries. Team “Selectors felt with three games in six days across three cities,
including travel to India and internally, Marsh, Stoinis and Starc are best served remaining in Australia,” Cricket Australia said. The injuries are all minor with Starc (knee), Marsh (ankle) and Stoinis (side) replaced by Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams and Sean Abbott.
Russell, Narine left out, WI recall Lewis for T20 WC
West Indies recalled opener Evin Lewis for the T20 World Cup but excluded all-rounder Andre Russell and spinner Sunil Narine as part of their 15-man squad. Lewis last played for the team in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates while veterans Russell and Narine have been overlooked by selectors in recent months. Squad: Nicholas Pooran (C), Rovman Powell, Yannic Cariah, Johnson Charles, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Raymon Reifer, Odean Smith.
Siraj takes five wickets on County debut
India pacer Mohammad Siraj last week took a five-wicket haul on his County debut. Playing for Warwickshire, Siraj took five for 82 in 24 overs, helping his team bowl out Somerset for 219 on day two of the Division 1 fixture. Siraj’s scalps included Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq, George Bartlett, James Rew, Lewis Gregory and Josh Davey. Siraj had played a crucial role in India taking a 2-1 lead in England in the five-Test series last year. The final Test was played in July when England won to level the series. India spinner Jayant Yadav, also representing Warwickshire, ended with figures of 1 for 42 in 14 overs.
Halep undergoes nose surgery
Former world number one Simona Halep announced that she would need to rest for a few weeks after undergoing nose surgery. The Romanian said she had been struggling “for a while” with nose problems, making it difficult to breathe mostly at night. The former world number one took to Twitter and wrote: “The only way to solve the problem was to undergo surgery. ” The 30-year-old also said the surgeon took “this opportunity to also make a plastic surgery intervention. ”
Gujarat’s Achhava to represent India at World Masters
Gujarat’s Mohsin Achhava has become the first snooker player from the state to represent India in the Masters (above 40 years age) category at a world snooker tournament, a statement issued by the Gujarat State Billiards Association said. The world masters team snooker tournament will be held at Kuala Lampur on Sept 26-29. Mohsin displayed superb perfomance at the recent All India Masters Snooker Nationals in Hyderabad which earned him a berth for the international tournament. He had previously emerged second in the 2015 state snooker tournament. Dhvaj Haria had recently qualified for the World 6 Reds Snooker being held in Malaysia while Mayur Garg and Dhruv Patel represented India in the U-16 and U-21 categories last month in Romania.
