Dubai, Sep 23 (Cricket News) The ICC on Thursday launched the official anthem of the upcoming T20 World Cup along with a campaign film featuring 'avatars' of Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli and West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard.

The tournament will begin on October 17 in Oman and UAE, with the final to be played in Dubai on November 14.

Composed by Bollywood music director Amit Trivedi, an animated film features young fans from all over the world engaged in T20I cricket and includes some of the sport's biggest superstars.

India captain Kohli leads the group of players brought to life as 'avatars' in the animation, that interact with each other throughout.

Kohli is joined by fellow captain Pollard of the reigning champions, West Indies as well as Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and Rashid Khan of Afghanistan.

Launched in collaboration with ICC's global broadcast partner Star Sports, the film premiers worldwide on Thursday across ICC, BCCI, and Star Sports' social media handles.

The animation features a brand-new broadcast technology that blends both 3D and 2D effects to create the film.

A production team of over 40 people, including designers, modellers, matte painters, animators, lighters, and compositors, worked round-the-clock to produce the final version.

A total of 16 countries, featuring the sport's biggest names and best teams, will compete in the sport's biggest event since the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There is something magical and special about putting on the West Indies jersey and stepping onto the field," said Pollard.

"This upcoming World Cup will give us more special moments. We know our fans will be fully engaged, watching, and supporting and we want to give them plenty to cheer about," he added.

The opening fixture of the tournament takes place on October 17 as Oman take on men's T20 World Cup debutants Papua New Guinea at Muscat's Oman Cricket Academy.

Claire Furlong, ICC General Manager, Marketing and Communications said: "Cricket has more than a billion fans around the world, and we wanted to put our young fans in the heart of the action alongside their heroes and allow them to live the game."

Also Read : The fantastic four who have made a mark in the T20 game for the country and in IPL

News Source : PTI

(Football news) The Premier League is up and running in full force. The fixtures have started coming hard and fast with European and Cup competitions midweek. Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United are all on 13 points before the start of gameweek 6. 

Chelsea and Manchester City play at the Stamford Bridge for the first time since the UEFA Champions League final last season. Both teams have strengthened their squad since then. Chelsea at the moment look unbeatable having won all but one game this season. The game will be a battle of two tactical geniuses Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel. Both the teams won their Carabao cup fixtures midweek. Manchester City will be without defenders Aymeric Laporte and John Stones while Ilkay Gundogan and Oleksandr Zinchenko are doubtful. As for Chelsea Eduardo Mendy is still in doubt while Christian Pulisic has been ruled out completely. 

Also read: Has Carlo Ancelotti rescued Marco Asensio's career with the position change?

After their disappointing Carabao cup exit, Manchester United will host Aston Villa. The team will be keen to bounce back straight away after their midweek setback. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer benched the majority of his first choice players against West Ham in the cup so United players will be fit and ready for the game. Aston Villa have a tough fixture list coming up and the Lions who sit 10th on the table will be looking to get a result.

Liverpool travel to Brentford away in an attempt to stay top of the table. Brentford isn't the easiest of places to win but with Liverpool's form, Jurgen Klopp will be expecting nothing less than 3 points. Both the teams won their Carabao cup ties comfortably and approach this game in very good form. There are still question marks over the fitness of Trent Alexander Arnold and Roberto Firmino. Thiago, Harvey Elliott and Neco Willaims have been ruled out.

The big game of the week is the North London derby at the Emirates Stadium. The history of this contest makes the game worth more than just 3 points. Tottenham started the season well but then fell off whereas Arsenal have done the exact opposite. Both the teams won their Carabao cup ties but on current form Arsenal go into the game as favourites. Granit Xhaka could return in Arsenal's midfield after serving his suspension. Harry Kane on the other hand is yet to score in the Premier League and he wouldn't get a better opportunity to break his goal drought in the League.

Sharjah, Sep 23 (Cricket News) Star-studded Royal Challengers Bangalore would look to shrug off the crushing defeat in the previous outing and get their mojo back when they take on Mahendra Singh Dhoni's resilient Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match, here on Friday.

While RCB will look to start afresh, CSK got a confidence-boosting 20-run win against defending champions Mumbai Indians on Sunday night.

It is imperative for RCB to improve upon their batting as they seek to keep their place in the top half of the points table.

It will be important that the openers -- Devdutt Padikkal (217 runs) and skipper Virat Kohli (203 runs) -- provide a solid start.

But the opening duo would also need support from the middle-order, which crumbled against Kolkata Knight Riders.

The likes of Glenn Maxwell (233 runs) and AB de Villiers (207 runs) will have to perform in unison against a strong CSK attack.

Australian Maxwell did justify his high price tag during the first leg, becoming the side's top scorer. He would be raring to go once again as will the ever-reliant De Villiers.

The RCB bowlers will also have to forget the underwhelming display against KKR. While pacers Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel bowled well, Kiwi quick Kyle Jamieson, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga all had leaked more than 10 runs an over.

CSK could have suffered the reversal in their tie against Mumbai had it not been for youngster Ruturaj Gaikwad's mature unbeaten knock of 88 off 58 balls.

The team's leading run-getter Faf du Plessis (320 runs), Moeen Ali were out for ducks while Ambati Rayudu was retired hurt on nought. Veterans Suresh Raina and Dhoni also failed to reach double digit scores and the side was reeling at 24 for 4.

But Gaikwad was not ruffled and kept his calm, steering the three-time champions to a respectable 156 for 6. He stitched crucial partnerships with all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo, who smashed 23 runs off eight deliveries, taking the team over the 150-run mark.

Defending a modest total, CSK showed immense resilience as the bowlers led by pacer Deepak Chahar and Dwayne Bravo handed the “Yellow Army" their sixth win of the season.

A win on Friday will take them back to the top of the table.

CSK will also have the option to choose young England all-rounder Sam Curran, who had been one of the breakout stars of last year’s IPL, shining with both the bat and the ball.

Teams (From): Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (Captain) Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir, Faf du Plessis, Robin Uthappa, Karn Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Jason Behrendorff, Krishnappa Gowtham, Mitchell Santner, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Hari Nishanth, N Jagadeesan, Cheteshwar Pujara, KM Asif, Harishankar Reddy, Bhagath Varma.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (Captain), Navdeep Saini, Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian, Rajat Patidar, Dushmantha Chameera, Pavan Deshpande, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Sachin Baby, Wanindu Hasaranga, George Garton, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Devdutt Padikkal, Kyle Jamieson, Suyash Prabhudessai, KS Bharat, Tim David, Akash Deep, AB de Villiers.

Match starts at 7:30PM IST.

Also Read : Rohit and Hardik are recovering very well: Boult

News Source : PTI 

(Football news) It already looks like stopping Bayern from winning their 10th title in a row will be a mammoth task. The likes of Dortmund and Wolfsburg are trying to provide some bit of competition but looking at Bayern's current form it already looks like a daunting task.

Bayern take on newly promoted side Fruth, Nagelsman’s side will head into the clash as overwhelming favourites. After failing to win their first match Bayern have been mutilating every opponent they have faced, having won all their seven matches since then and only conceding 4 goals. The Bavarians will be without Kingsley Coman who recently underwent a heart surgery and will be unavailable, Corentin Tolisso, Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry will all unavailable with small niggles.

The match of the week is going to be between the two Borussia clubs, Dortmund vs Monchengladbach. It will also be an emotional return for Marco Rose to his former club, the three points for Dortmund are very important as they need to maintain pressure on Bayern or else they will run away with the title. Dortmund will receive an injury boost as Nico Schulz will come back from a long term injury but Emre Can, Julian Brandt and Dan Axel Zagadou will be unavailable for this important clash. All eyes will be on Erling Haaland as he already scored 7 in 5 matches, the same as Robert Lewandowski.

Wolfsburg take on Hoffenheim away from home, Van Bommels side will be looking to get back to winning ways after a disappointing draw against Frankfurt. Wolfsburg have made an unexpected start to the season as they look to maintain this against struggling Hoffenheim side, they have a chance for the first time since 2005 to win three away matches in the league. Wout Weghorst will be the player to watch out as he has scored in each of the last three encounters between them.

Also read: Has Carlo Ancelotti rescued Marco Asensio's career with the position change?

RB Leipzig take Hertha Berlin in what is a must win match for Jesse Marsch, they have made the worst start in their history as they have only managed 4 points from 5 matches. On the other hand Hertha will be high on confidence after winning their previous game and will take advantage of Leipzig's frailty. This season Leipzig are finding it tough to score even after buying last season's golden boot runner Andre Silva, if Leipzig are to get a positive result their forward players need to up their game.  

The other games to watch out for:

Bayer Leverkusen vs Mainz 05
Eintracht Frankfurt vs FC Koln
Union Berlin vs Arminia
Freiburg vs Augsburg

Bhubaneswar, Sep 23 (Hockey News) Odisha will host the Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium here from November 24 to December 5, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced on Thursday.

At a function held here, Patnaik said Hockey India had recently approached the Odisha government to support them for the Men’s Junior World Cup to be held in two months time.

“It is a short notice for making the arrangement for such an event, especially during the pandemic period. However, since the country’s prestige is at stake, we have readily agreed to host it,” the chief minister said.

“I hope the reigning Indian team will take advantage of the home condition and emerge victorious again,” he said.

Patnaik also unveiled the logo and the trophy for the event.

Also Read : We're eager to directly qualify for Paris Olympics by winning Asian Games: Hardik

News Source : PTI

Palm Beach (USA), Sep 23 (Golf News) Eager to be back on the course after a month-long break, Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri will compete in next week's Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, hoping to present a stronger and faster version of himself.

Having recovered from a tough season, and despite losing valuable time, tournaments and physical strength after contracting the COVID-19 infection, Lahiri did exceedingly to qualify for the Olympics.

He also managed a punishing schedule and kept his PGA Tour card even as many top stars lost their full playing rights.

Lahiri recognises that the way he played towards the end of the season and even got into the Play-offs after a long time, augured well for the coming year.

"I knew I was getting into my rhythm. So I want to continue with the same mindset. So, the key is to start this season in the same vein, albeit fresher, stronger, faster and I will be able to manage my schedule better and not have to wait till the last minute," he said.

Talking about the off-season, Lahiri said it was mostly spent rejuvenating in the company of his family.

"It has been a good month; a much-needed month which started off by taking some time off with the family to vacation. That was a first after a couple of years. It was probably what I needed after the hectic end to the schedule.

"Physically I found myself quite drained and I think I played like seven out of nine weeks to finish the year. That included travel to Japan and back and the play offs," said Lahiri.

"...the Olympics; managing the travel and the fatigue and the energy levels. Frankly, there was a lot on my plate and I am quite pleased with the way I handled the pressure with the COVID situation.

"I am glad I was able to do that and I had to dig deep. I am proud of how I managed that." Lahiri, who last won in 2015 at the Hero Indian Open and then made his move to the PGA Tour by the end of that year, is still looking for his first win on the PGA Tour.

"I was totally spent every which way and all this happened within 3-4 months of having COVID. The last two and a half weeks or so I have gotten back in the gym; have started working out a little bit more trying to work on endurance as much as possible.

"At the same time, I am trying to keep an eye on all my parameters...I am recovering my strength and have been in touch with my coach Vijay Divecha as well and just trying to get back into the same rhythm that I had found towards the end of the season last year." The Indian ace, who has now spent more than seven seasons on the PGA Tour, the toughest professional golf Tour in the world, is now all set to start the 2021-22 season next week.

"I want to hit the ground running and check some things off my list," added Lahiri.

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News Source : PTI