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A slow surface that makes strokeplay difficult and large outfields in Nagpur can be turned into Afghanistan’s favour

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Nagpur26-Mar-2016They worried Sri Lanka with a rousing batting recovery, startled South Africa with a barnstorming start in a big chase, and left England gasping with their spin bowling. Three Super 10 matches against three Full Members, and Afghanistan created chances of winning each of them. They eventually fell short all three times, but the displays have only strengthened their belief that beating top opposition is not a distant prospect.On Sunday, Afghanistan will end their World T20 with a meeting against West Indies, who top their group with three wins in three matches. Afghanistan will be up against, perhaps, the most power-packed batting line-up they have faced in the tournament.But in Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shenwari and Hamza Hotak, Afghanistan have enough depth in the spin department to make life difficult for batsmen reliant on big shots on a slow pitch and one of the bigger outfields in Indian cricket. Afghanistan have played three matches at the VCA Stadium before, in the first round, and though they faced far weaker opposition at that stage of the tournament, they know the conditions.”Definitely, their batting is very [strong], but we have a very good spin department,” Asghar Stanikzai, Afghanistan’s captain, said on the eve of the match. “So where we can restrict them is, we will try to depend more on spinners, since the boundaries over here are longer and hitting the spinners will not be that easy. They are good strikers of the ball but we play good cricket, and are not just trying to give them a tough time but we are here to go back with at least one win [from the Super 10 stage].”Afghanistan have made massive strides since their first appearance at a world event in 2010, and Stanikzai said they were no longer content simply with pushing big teams hard. He was particularly disappointed that they had let strong positions slip against Sri Lanka and England, and said Afghanistan were close to being a “serious team” that would win matches regularly.”When we first appeared in that [2010 World T20] in West Indies, we were only thinking that we are playing with big names and most of us were very impressed with the players around,” Stanikzai said. “This time we are not only participating in this tournament but we were serious about it.”If you see our last three matches, especially against Sri Lanka and England, we have played very good cricket. To be honest, we could have won those games because we knew the strength of our team, but somehow we made mistakes and that’s why we couldn’t finish on a winning note. If you compare between 2010 and 2016, there is a lot of difference in the Afghanistan team, and in the next one or two years we will be a serious team and beat these Full Members very easily, as we have potential.”West Indies are already through to the semi-finals, but their coach Phil Simmons knows they cannot take Afghanistan lightly.”They’ve played well in all the games,” he said. “They’ve batted really well, [especially when] they were chasing a big score against South Africa, who we played yesterday. So they’ve been playing well and I know them from before [Simmons was Ireland’s coach from 2007 to 2015], so I know that they’re going to come to try and win. So we’ve got to just play properly.”While Afghanistan are clearly a team on an upward curve, there are fears that West Indies are heading in the opposite direction. They have failed to qualify for the ODI Champions Trophy in 2017, and have struggled in Test cricket for a number of years. They have been among the best T20 sides in the world, as their displays in this tournament have suggested, but some of their biggest stars in the format, including Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy, are in their 30s and could possibly be playing at their last ICC event.Simmons disagreed with the pessimistic view of the future, pointing to the fact that Bravo and Sammy are only in their early 30s, the fact that the current squad has performed so well while missing Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons and Sunil Narine, and the fact that West Indies have just won the Under-19 World Cup.”I’m not too sure how you write off guys at 30, 32 and 33,” Simmons said. “But to answer your question, yes, you can see it in the amount of players we have missing here. You see it in the young players coming up. You saw it in the Under-19 squad and you see it in the CPL at home, so it’s going to keep coming for a long time to come.”

Neymar took time out of his rehabilitation to pay a visit to his former team Santos, where he watched the Brazilian side beat rivals Corinthians.

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• Neymar paid visit to Santos
• Watched former team in action
• Star out with serious injury

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Neymar turned up at the Estadio Urbano Caldeira on Wednesday night wearing a T-shirt with the Santos logo on it. The Al-Hilal attacker looked on as Joao Schmidt fired the Alvinegro to a 1-0 win, lifting them to the top of the Paulista after six matches – though Sao Paulo could overtake them with a win on Thursday.

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  WHAT SANTOS SAID

  Neymar's appearance at Santos sparked suggestions that he could return to his boyhood club in the near future. Asked about the prospect of signing him, coach Fabio Carille said: "It would be great [to have Neymar]. We know it's difficult, a different player who can solve it… It's a distant dream, but let's dream."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Santos will likely have to wait until next year if they want to bring the 32-year-old back to the Brazilian league. He has a contract with the club until 2025, having joined from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer transfer window. The ex-Barcelona star managed just five games for Al-Hilal before he suffered a cruciate ligament injury and was ruled out for months.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR NEYMAR?

  The attacker will continue his recovery and was initially expected back before the end of the season. However, Brazil's team doctor has ruled him out until the start of next season, meaning the star will likely miss the Copa America this summer.

Cricket in Jammu and Kashmir has struggled against the odds for decades, but with poster boy Abid Nabi ready to take the step up to the big league, things may be about to take a turn for the better

Nagraj Gollapudi05-Dec-2006

Abid Nabi is 20. He stands 6 feet 2 inches tall, has wide, strong shoulders, and wants to bowl fast. A year ago he caught Dennis Lillee’s attention at an MRF Pace foundation bowling camp. Lillee alerted Greg Chappell, and soon Nabi was bowling in the India nets.He is nippy, bowls with a smooth and clean action, and along with Punjab’s VRV Singh, who has already played for the country, he represents hope for Indian cricket in its quest for that ever-elusive species: the genuine fast bowler.But Nabi is not merely a fast-bowling prospect. He may not be aware of it, and may not want to contemplate the significance of it, but it is more than merely India’s fast-bowling hopes that are riding on his shoulders.Nabi is no ordinary cricketer. He represents Jammu and Kashmir, a state locked in a bloody conflict over identity, one where the concepts of patriotism and nationalism are shrouded in grey, and where overt allegiance to the Indian mainstream brings perils. For years Jammu and Kashmir has had only a token presence in the Ranji Trophy. No international match has been played in the state since 1986. Rains forced the abandonment of the fifth ODI of the India-New Zealand series in Jammu in 1988. No cricketer from the state has ever come close to being picked for India.Much depends on whether Nabi succeeds. It could potentially revive cricket in Kashmir. More importantly, he can be a bridge, a symbol. That cricket can heal was demonstrated by India’s historic tour to Pakistan in 2004. During that last international in Srinagar in 1986, the crowd cheered for the visiting side, Australia. Would they do the same if Nabi is part of the team?***Ghulam Nabi Ahanger, Nabi’s father, has always been a keen follower of cricket. In 1983, when international cricket came to Jammu and Kashmir for the first time, he bought a 50-rupee ticket to watch India play Clive Lloyd’s West Indies. But more than a decade later, when his son started showing a liking for the game, he tried to dissuade him.The Nabis, who come from fairly humble circumstances, felt there was no scope in taking sport seriously, especially in troubled times. “We thought then that education was the best option for our children,” Ahanger says over tea at the family’s three-storey house in Srinagar, which they share with three of Nabi’s maternal uncles and their families.In the beginning Nabi did not think of playing cricket for a living. But as encouragement came his way from his coach and senior team-mates, he began to dare to hope. “I became hopeful that I can become someone and get good things,” he says.In the limited opportunities he has found to play for his state, he has already made some strides. This season he narrowly missed out on a place in the Challenger Series teams and the North Zone Duleep Trophy squad.Bowling in the nets at Mohali, in the presence of his heroes, Nabi learned valuable lessons. “Every senior told me to look after my physical fitness, and that if I continued to work hard, I could get a chance anytime.”***Does Nabi’s ambition go against the grain of the local thinking in his state? Does it mark a departure from a way of life that is thought to be conditioned towards seeking azaadi from the Indian mainstream?

Ehsan Mirza, the treasurer at the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) doesn’t think so. Mirza’s family owns a successful carpet business, and Mirza also runs the popular Amateur Cricket Club (ACC), where Nabi, among others, plays. Mirza says that at this point in time he perceives no opposition to Nabi – or anyone else from the state – playing for India. “The state’s politics has never influenced JKCA matters,” he says.
Dar Yasin, who took the photographs that accompany this feature, quit playing cricket after a police encounter near where they were playing a Sunday match in the early 1990s left one dead. He thinks the common man is getting increasingly desperate to see a Kashmiri face in the Indian dressing room. “People have been complaining for a long time that nobody has been selected from Kashmir. There’ve been some good players, but they were rejected on the basis of being Kashmiri,” he says.Terrorism has ripped holes in the delicate fabric of Kashmir’s beauty. It has dried up investment and employment opportunities that may otherwise have come the state’s way. That India is taking its place as a global economic power is not lost on young Kashmiris, who are ready to take risks to better their lot.Samiullah Beigh, 20, a tall, upcoming fast bowler, and Nabi’s team-mate, thinks they can’t move forward by playing safe all the time. “If I want to be a great player, I have to sacrifice something.” Beigh is in his final year at engineering college, and aims to devote all his time to the game once he graduates.Mirza understands that if things don’t improve in the state’s cricket soon, youngsters will start looking elsewhere. “They are very ambitious and try to excel at everything they do,” he says. The Nabis are impatient too. They have gone through hardship, lived with fear – and continue to do so. Now there is hope, in the form of their son. They cherish dreams of the day when he finally plays for the country and makes Kashmir proud.Will Nabi live up to the expectations and turn into India’s next pace sensation? Only time will tell. For now, he is the poster boy of Jammu and Kashmir cricket and has become something of a benchmark.Nineteen-year-old Mohammed Mudasir, who started to take a serious interest in the game two years ago, and attended the MRF camp in 2006, says his parents are now asking him to work harder and follow Nabi’s example.Nabi understands the responsibilities of being a role model. Sitting on the grass at the picturesque Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium, he talks of how happy he feels when young cricketers approach him for advice. He himself hardly had the benefit of such inputs when he was rising through the ranks.***For every Nabi who makes it to the verge of the big time, there are dozens who fall by the way. The lush environs of Jammu and Kashmir have produced abundant talent, but it has often withered away for want of nurture.Players such as Abdul Qayyum Bagoo and Surinder Singh Bagal – who Sourav Ganguly once said was the fastest bowler he had faced – may not have become household names, but they did make it to the fringes of national selection. They may have gone all the way had they had support. Who knows what such talent would have achieved with proper guidance?”We were sidelined because we came from a weaker state,” says Idrees Gundroo, a Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler of the 1980s. “Had we got these opportunities now, as the board is giving these days, we would’ve made it to a decent level.” It is only now that the likes of Nabi have Farooq Abdullah, the JKCA President, throwing their weight behind them.Still, being a cricketer in Kashmir is hardly easy. The years of conflict have taken their toll. The JKCA has been reduced to a two-room office after the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) took over the complex. Cricketers have to walk past hoops of barbed wire that cordon off the association’s premises. CRPF jawans stand guard outside, not letting even officials and players in without identity cards.

Apart from the pitch at the Sher-i-Kashmir, which was once fast and is now flat, the entire Kashmir region doesn’t have a single turf wicket. Back in 1996, when after a seven-year lull some senior cricketers and JKCA officials came together to get cricket going at the stadium again, they found it difficult to locate the playing square under the grass, which had grown two-feet tall.Sher-i-Kashmir continues to languish: the wicket lies barren; the stands are the ones that were installed for the first time in 1983; the scoreboard is lost among the branches of the beautiful Chinar trees that circle the ground; there are no toilets or drainage facilities, no dressing room for the players, no showers. The B ground adjacent to the main one has two practice wickets, but both of cement.The JKCA says its hands are tied since nothing can be done without the army’s permission, even if it is the association that owns the land. Mirza says the JKCA has been asking the security forces to vacate the premises for the last six years in vain.As an alternative arrangement, Mirza has signed a contract with Kashmir University (KU) under which the JKCA will maintain and use the university’s two grounds for the next three years. A new turf wicket and two practice wickets have already been constructed at the KU grounds for the use of the ACC.It may be too little too late, though. Their patience wearing thin, the likes of Nabi and Beigh are now looking to play outside the state as much as possible. Nabi made his Times Shield debut this year in Mumbai. He thinks playing outside the state more “will fast-forward my development”.Says Beigh, “Earlier we used to play just for the sake of pride and honour and it was a big thing to play one match for the state. Now, after being at the MRF for four months, I am more hungry to prove myself on the national front. I never felt the other bowlers [at MRF] were any special.”If Nabi does eventually make it to the Indian side, he could be the harbinger of a new chapter in the history of Jammu and Kashmir cricket. “If we get one break – Nabi – then there will be a stream of players following him,” Mirza says. Abdul Majid Kakroo, the former India football captain, who played between 1981 and 1989, and once was on a terrorist hitlist, says sport can only help unite. “If Nabi goes on to play for India, it will silence the skeptics who feel that India treats Kashmir as an outsider.”As for Nabi himself, he only wants to take his state forward. Kashmir is the rabbit of Indian domestic cricket and Nabi aims to change that. “I want Jammu and Kashmir to move forward. Aage ka toh pata nahin (I don’t about what will happen in the future).”

If there are two specialist spinners in a 15-man squad with a pitch like the Oval, someone offering variety should be allowed to absorb some overs and take some pressure off the faster men

Kern De Freitas06-Apr-2008

Sri Lanka found the escape hatch against West Indies yesterday at the Queen’s Park Oval on a pitch that looked wonderful for shot-making, but still provided a bit of assistance for the bowlers.With two days left in this intriguing contest, Sri Lanka reached 268 before Muttiah Muralitharan offered a catch to Daren Powell off Jerome Taylor to bring the innings to a close and set the home team a tricky target of 253.Just after lunch, though, they were languishing at 99 for 6 when the dangerous Chamara Silva had departed. It was a 138-run partnership between Thilan Samaraweera and lower-order left-hand batsman Chaminda Vaas that kept the Sri Lankans in the game and frustrated West Indies for the better part of the day. Thus, the case of the missing spinner again resurfaced.With due respect to captain Chris Gayle – who, to prove my point, eventually separated the duo – he cannot be considered the answer to West Indies’ need for variety in their attack. In fact, this ‘one-track’ attack, though not lacking pace, looked a little bit flat at times, once the Sri Lankan pair had played themselves in.Gayle has not shown the propensity, or at least the desire, to bowl several overs on the trot as a specialist spinner would, like, say the ultra-successful Muralitharan. Murali accounts for a big chunk of Sri Lanka’s over rate on a constant basis, a huge part of the reason he recorded his 63rd five-wicket haul at the Oval yesterday.Suffice to say that the region cannot truthfully boast of a spinner of the calibre of Murali. With that being said, if there are two specialist spinners in a 15-man squad with a pitch like the Oval – which has something for batsman, fast bowler, and spinner – someone offering variety should be allowed to absorb some overs and take some pressure off the faster men.The closest a specialist spinner got to the West Indies team was 12th man Sulieman Benn, bringing his team-mates water. Why pick them if you won’t play them?Then there’s hometown hero Amit Jaggernauth, who put Trinidad and Tobago into the Carib Beer Challenge Final against Jamaica with simple figures of 10 for 79, only his personal-best figures in regional cricket, last weekend against Barbados.Perhaps they’re worth a shout, or even a look in. Otherwise, spin might just be the next creature on the endangered species list in the Caribbean.

And what’s the lowest score a batter has a Player-of-the-Match award for?

Steven Lynch14-Jun-2022I spotted that Mustafizur Rahman took 28 wickets in his first ten ODIs. Was this a record? And what’s the most by anyone in any spell of ten ODIs? asked Khaled Hossain from Bangladesh

Mustafizur Rahman’s tally of 28 wickets in his first ten one-day internationals for Bangladesh – starting with 5 for 50 and 6 for 43 against India in June 2015 – has been bettered only by another left-arm seamer, New Zealand’s Mitchell McClenaghan, who managed 29; the West Indian Ottis Gibson also took 28.The purplest ten-match patch at any stage in ODIs belongs to Pakistan’s Waqar Younis, who claimed 35 wickets in ten games between April and November 1990, a run that included five five-fors, three of them in succession, and even one wicketless match. Ajantha Mendis once took 34 wickets in ten ODIs for Sri Lanka, while Rashid Khan of Afghanistan and Oman’s Bilal Khan (earlier this year) have both managed 32.All nine Bengal players who batted reached 50 in their recent match against Jharkhand – is this a record? asked Peter Dayson-Smith from England, among others

This was reasonably fresh in the memory, as a few weeks ago I answered a similar question after seven Surrey players reached 50 in an innings against Kent. And so it’s easy to confirm that Bengal’s nine half-centuries against Jharkhand in Bengaluru last week is a record for any first-class innings, beating eight by the Australian tourists in their match against Oxford and Cambridge University Past and Present in Portsmouth in 1893. There have been 26 instances of seven scores of 50 or more in an innings, including Surrey’s total of 671 in that match in Beckenham in May, which remains the highest in first-class cricket without an individual century.In the same round of Ranji Trophy quarter-finals, in Alur, Mumbai thrashed Uttarakhand by 725 runs, another first-class record: the previous-heaviest defeat by a runs margin was 685, by New South Wales against Queensland in Sydney in 1929-30, in the match in which Don Bradman made 452 not out, the highest score in first-class cricket at the time. There have been heavier innings defeats, the grand-daddy of them all being Pakistan Railways’ victory over Dera Ismail Khan in Lahore in 1964-65, by the little matter of an innings and 851.What’s the lowest all-out Test total that included a 200-run partnership? asked Vipul Shah from India

There have so far been four completed innings in Tests which were less than 300 but nonetheless featured a partnership of 200 or more. Lowest of all is Australia’s 284 against West Indies in Brisbane in 1968-69, which included a stand of 217 between Bill Lawry and Ian Chappell (no one else made more than 17).When Pakistan made 288 against West Indies in Georgetown in 1999-2000, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Abdul Razzaq put on 206, quite a recovery from 39 for 5. India’s 293 against England at Headingley in 1952 included a partnership of 222 by Vijay Hazare and Vijay Manjrekar, while South Africa made 296 vs India in Kolkata in 2009-10, with a stand of 209 between Alviro Petersen (who was making his debut) and Hashim Amla. New Zealand’s 283 against West Indies in Kingston in 1984-85 included a stand of 210 between Geoff Howarth and Jeff Crowe – but only nine wickets fell in that one as Jeremy Coney had broken his arm and was unable to bat.If we look at innings which were not all-out, Pakistan’s 230 for 3 to beat New Zealand in Hyderabad in 1984-85 included a partnership of 212 between Mudassar Nazar and Javed Miandad.Asif Ali faced only seven balls and made 25 runs in his Player-of-the-Match performance against Afghanistan in the 2021 T20 World Cup•ICC via GettyI noticed that Aiden Markram has played 31 Tests, and has not yet taken part in a draw – is this a record? asked Keith McKenzie from South Africa

You’re right that the South African batter Aiden Markram has so far taken part in 19 Test victories and 12 defeats – and no draws yet. This is indeed a record: Jason Gillespie took part in 26 Tests before playing in a draw, while his Australian team-mates Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden had 22 and 21 respectively; the 19th-century England allrounder Johnny Briggs played 20 Tests before his first draw.Markram currently has the most Tests in a complete career without a draw, although he might yet lose that distinction. George Lohmann, another 19th-century Englishman, played 18 Tests without ever featuring in a draw; next comes Alok Kapali, who played 17 Tests for Bangladesh and lost them all. Keaton Jennings has so far appeared in 17 Tests for England, all of which ended in definite results, while Shimron Hetmyer has played 16 for West Indies.In the second match in Sri Lanka, Matthew Wade was Man of the Match for his 26 not out from 26 balls; he didn’t bowl, or make any catches or run-outs. Has anyone won the award after scoring fewer than this as their only formal contribution to a T20 international? asked Rohan Kennedy from Australia

Australia’s Matthew Wade won the match award in the second T20 international against Sri Lanka in Colombo last week for his run-a-ball 26, which came after he entered at a tricky time – 80 for 5 in the ninth over, chasing only 125. You’re right that he didn’t otherwise feature on the scorecard, although that wouldn’t show, for example, any particularly good pieces of fielding; Wade did keep wicket through a Sri Lankan innings that included no extras.However, Wade’s 26 balls is a long way from the smallest involvement by a player who ended up with the match award in a T20 international. Playing for Pakistan against Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup in Dubai in October 2021, Asif Ali was given the award after having an active involvement in only seven deliveries, from which he hammered 25 not out. Brad Hodge (21 not out) faced eight balls for Australia against South Africa in Durban in 2013-14, as did Dinesh Karthik (29 not out) for India vs Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy final in Colombo in 2017-18 (he did also complete a run-out while keeping wicket). Against England at The Oval in 2009, Ramnaresh Sarwan won the award for his nine-ball 19 not out as West Indies chased a rain-reduced target.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Football clubs are some of the biggest brands in the world these days, and GOAL brings you the top 10 most searched football clubs in 2021.

The year 2023 was monumental in football due to several iconic events. Cristiano Ronaldo broke ties with Manchester United to join Al-Nassr and kick off a Saudi Pro League "All-Stars" frenzy, eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi surprised everyone by moving to David Beckham's Major League Soccer franchise Inter Miami on the back of lifting the 2022 World Cup and solidifying his GOAT status, Manchester City winning the treble and more.

Needless to say, football teams were googled heavily across the calendar year. People across the globe search for football teams to keep track of their results, position in respective league tables, and the high-profile transfers in the football world.

If you're anything crazy like us, you might have wondered which clubs occupy football fans’ search engines the most. If yes, then you are in the right place to find it out. Here at GOAL, we present you with the list of the top 10 searched football clubs on Google.

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  Real Madrid | 44.5 million average monthly searches

  With Real Madrid winning the Champions League, La Liga, and the Spanish Super Cup in 2021-22, the bar was set extremely high for the 2022-23 campaign.

  Although they ended the season with three trophies, securing the Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, it wasn't quite the campaign that Carlo Ancelotti's side would have hoped for, finishing second in the La Liga table, second in the Spanish Super Cup and were eliminated in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

  However, they have bounced back impressively in the new season, and there is no reason why they cannot again be major contenders for the biggest prizes despite enduring a full-blown injury crisis in the defensive department.

  In what was supposed to be a difficult season for Los Blancos, with Karim Benzema gone and no Kylian Mbappe to replace him, summer recruit Jude Bellingham has stepped up, and taken the football world by storm, while Vinicius Jr. has continued his fine form.

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  Manchester United | 33.8 million average monthly searches

  The Red Devils showed great promise in the first season of Erik ten Hag’s leadership, finishing third in the Premier League, winning the Carabao Cup (their first piece of silverware in more than half a decade), whilst also reaching the FA Cup final.

  But the 2023/24 campaign has so far proved a major step backwards, with Manchester United seemingly lurching from one crisis to another and seeing a number of their top stars failing to perform. They look like a team lacking identity, while eyebrows have been raised about Ten Hag's questionable man management and transfer policy.

  Now with the club’s new investor – the British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe – taking over the charge of all operations, including transfer dealings at Old Trafford, it seems the club are gearing up for a complete top-to-bottom overhaul in the next year.

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  Galatasaray | 32.4 million average monthly searches

  Back-to-back Süper Lig titles in 2018 and 2019 saw Galatasaray return to the top of Turkish football after a three-season title drought. However, another three years without a title followed, and the second most successful club in Turkish football history fell off dramatically, with their 13th place finish in 2021-22 their lowest ever across any Turkish top-flight campaign.

  Enter, Okan Buruk. And the man has well-and-truly transformed their fortunes. They went onto have an absolutely incredible season in 2022-23 and managed to win the league title against all odds.

  Gala supporters love nothing more than witnessing eye-catching dribbles, free-flowing football, and sensational goals. Recent seasons had been short on this, however. In that respect, 2023 is a return to form for the entire league, with flashy, silky players such as Wilfried Zaha, Hakim Ziyech, and goal-machine Mauro Icardi arriving at the club.

  The Turkish giants are also notorious for their hostile treatment of visitors to RAMS Park, and a return to European football has been a treat to watch. Their Ultras never disappoint with their atmosphere, and Tifos, which have another level of popularity all over the world; you might have come across the huge "Welcome To Hell" sign on the internet ahead of their Champions League clash against Man United.

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  Manchester City | 29.3 million average monthly searches

  Manchester City were the centre of attention of the football world in 2023, and for good reason— they enjoyed the most successful season in their history. They won the Premier League. They won the FA Cup. They, at last, won the Champions League.

  It finally all came together for the Citizens, who for long stretches of the season looked as if they wouldn't add anything to their trophy cabinet racked up in recent years. Talismanic striker Erling Haaland steamrolled his way through English football, and broke all sorts of goal-scoring records to power Pep Guardiola's side to a historic treble.

  But there was another tale of the medal around the necks at the Etihad. The Premier League champions were hit with 115 charges of breaching financial rules, and refused to cooperate with the investigations.

  They weren't just dominating the pitch; they were ruling the bank. They topped the Deloitte Football Money League, claiming the title of the football club with the most revenue worldwide, with a staggering $808.1 million (€731m) in the treasury. Forbes also chipped in, ranking them to be the world's sixth-most valuable club, at $4.500 billion (€4bn).

  Although they have looked a tad bid complacent at the start of the 2023-24 season, expect them to storm back into contention for nearly every club-level top honour by the end of the campaign.

The opener was dropped after the selection committee said they were unaware of the “shoulder pain” due to which he had failed to report to the ground for the game against Mumbai on Thursday

Arun Venugopal09-Feb-2018M Vijay has been left out of the Tamil Nadu side for the remainder of the Vijay Hazare Trophy after he “failed to report” to the ground for the game against Mumbai on Thursday due to “shoulder pain”. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) made it clear in a press release that the state body, the selection committee and the team physio were unaware of Vijay’s injury.According to a top TNCA official, Vijay didn’t turn up to the SSN College ground, the venue of the match, on Thursday, and informed coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar about his injury at about 7.30 am, an hour and a half before start of play. With Tamil Nadu already hamstrung by an injury to opener Abhinav Mukund, Vijay’s unavailability was the last thing they needed. Ganga Sridhar Raju eventually slotted in as opener alongside Kaushik Gandhi.A source close to Vijay said the batsman was shocked by the development and was waiting to clear the air with the TNCA.Vijay, 33, played Tamil Nadu’s first two matches against Gujarat and Goa and scored 11 and 51. He has now been replaced by batsman Pradosh Ranjan Paul for the remaining matches.”How can we find a replacement at the last minute?” another TNCA official asked. “Vijay didn’t report to the ground and neither did he inform the selectors about his injury. It was very disappointing to say the least.”Vijay was unavailable for a comment on the matter.The TNCA is understood to have been unhappy with Vijay’s “attitude” over a period of time. “This isn’t the first time something like this has happened,” a top TNCA official told ESPNcricinfo. “The selectors weren’t even inclined towards picking him in the four-day squads [for the Ranji Trophy] in the first place because of issues with his attitude and general aloofness.”The official, however, confirmed the TNCA hadn’t initiated any disciplinary proceedings yet. “At the moment it’s only the decision of the selectors to not pick him,” he said. “In the future, once national players confirm their availability for a tournament they have to play the full competition. They can’t pick and choose matches. This issue might come up for discussion at the Executive Committee meeting of the TNCA.”India offspinner R Ashwin, who has picked up seven wickets in three matches so far, is also set to miss Tamil Nadu’s fixture against Andhra on Sunday. The official, however, clarified that Ashwin had sought the permission of the TNCA in advance, and the association, in consultation with the selectors, granted his request.

Elsewhere, Jharkhand picked up a bonus point against Haryana through a ten-wicket win

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2017Left-arm orthodox spinner Sijomon Joseph took his maiden five-wicket haul to help Kerala notch up their second win of the season, a 131-run win against Rajasthan in Thumba.Rajasthan were set 343 to win after Sachin Baby’s counterattack – 30 off 16 balls – lifted Kerala’s score from 217 for 2 to 250 for 5 in less than five overs on the morning of the final day. Overnight batsman Jalaj Saxena was unbeaten on 105 when Kerala declared; Sanju Samson couldn’t add to his overnight score of 72, falling in the first over of the day.Rajasthan’s innings was plagued by recurring collapses. They had lost both openers withing seven balls of the start of their innings, before a 63-run stand between Robin Bist (70) and Rajesh Bishnoi (35) brought stability to the innings. But Joseph broke that stand and followed it up with the wicket of Ashok Menaria to reduce Rajasthan to 64 for 4 with more than 70 overs still to play. Nearly 40 of those overs were absorbed by the fifth-wicket pair of Bist and Mahipal Lomror (53) but the former’s wicket brought yet another collapse – they fell from 160 for 4 to 190 for 9. Deepak Chahar and Aniket Choudhary then attempted a final resistance, batting out 62 balls and bringing Rajasthan close to pulling off a draw. But Joseph trapped him in front in the 84th over to seize the win for Kerala.Jalaj, who made scores of 79 and 105* in the game, took two wickets in the second innings to also finish with a ten-wicket match-haul.Jharkhand walked away with a bonus-point win against Haryana in Ranchi, after chasing their 80-run target without losing any wickets.The win was set up by Shahbaz Nadeem, whose six-wicket haul inflicted a collapse on Haryana, who had begun the day on 141 for 4. Overnight batsmen Rajat Paliwal (93) and Rohit Sharma (71) added 107 runs on the final day before Nadeem dismissed the former, seven short of a 14th hundred. Haryana lost the rest of their wickets for the addition of only 48 runs and were bowled out for 296, having conceded a first-innings lead of 217.Jharkhand promoted wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan, who struck an unbeaten 46 off 45 balls and took them home in the company of Nazim Siddiqui (24*).

Manchester United winger Antony registered his first goal of the season during Sunday’s 4-2 win over Newport County in the FA Cup.

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• Antony scores first goal of season
• Plans to 'close' himself off to focus
• Wants to turn around season for Man Utd

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  After making a huge transfer from Ajax in the summer of 2022, the £86 million ($109m) signing has struggled with form. The criticism was intensifying since Antony had failed to score or assist all season – until the win over Newport County, when his dreadful streak came to an end. Antony provided a first-half assist for Bruno Fernandes' early goal. Then, after Newport equalised to tie it 2-2, the Brazil international scored on a rebound. The Brazilian has now vowed to close himself off and use his first goal to help himself turn his season around.

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• WHAT ANTONY SAID

  Speaking to the media, Antony said: "I fought hard to reach the levels of playing for this club, I know I can build on yesterday’s performance and continue to show my qualities. I pushed myself day after day for better performances.

  "I will continue to completely close myself off to improve & play the football that United hired me to do. The whole club, every fan, deserves the best from each one of us. United is one of the main clubs in the world, where everyone wants to be and it's where I want to build my story.

  "I know it hasn't been an easy season, we didn't get the results we wanted as a team, but we never stopped working and focusing on what needed to be done to improve."

• Getty Images
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Erik ten Hag will be fully hoping that Antony can turn his season around as his side has been suffering in the final third of the field, lacking that finishing touch with all of his forwards having misfired so far this season. The Red Devils will have a tough battle ahead of them if they want to make it to the Champions League places for next season as they sit eighth on the Premier League table, 11 points off Aston Villa in fourth.

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• WHAT NEXT FOR ANTONY?

  The Brazilian is likely to be starting for the Dutchman's side on the right side of attack when they take on Wolves on Thursday, February 1 at the Molineaux as he looks for his first goal contribution in the Premier League this season.

Martin Williamson05-Dec-2005

A&C Black, 319pp rrp £22.50

I recently heard someone dismiss the C&G Cricket Year, now in its 24th year, as a poor man’s Wisden. That is has survived so long and continues to flourish should be an indication that it deserves respect in its own right. But aside from its English bias – coverage not writing – the similarities are few.I must confess that I was an avid reader of the book when it first came out – then it was under the sponsorship of Benson & Hedges – and the first ten or so issues were a perennial Christmas must-have. But then I drifted onto other things, and so I was interested to know what had become of the publication.What I enjoyed in the original was that it complemented Wisden. While the Almanack provided a mass of statistics and scorecards, the B&H put flesh on those bones. It reported in some depth on overseas matches – domestic games from the Caribbean to Pakistan and Australia warranted potted reports and an abundance of pictures. Armed with Wisden and the B&H, someone who wanted to know what had happened across the world just about had it all at his fingertips.A decade and a bit later, the world has moved on. The internet means that scores from the extremities are now almost instantly available, and even Wisden has taken the plunge and uses pictures liberally. But that very progress appears to have led to the C&G withdrawing back to its core audience. It is now unashamedly aimed at the UK market, with little more than passing coverage from elsewhere. Take Australia. Their whole year is given 12 pages, five of which are text, five scorecards of Tests, and VB Series potted scores so brief as to be, frankly, useless. It’s the same elsewhere.But the UK coverage is good. It presents a review of the English summer in a more colourful and less wordy format that the Almanack, and in time for the lucrative Christmas market – no mean feat given that that now almost drags on into October. The format of the book means that the layout is user friendly – the font can be read by people with anything other than hawk-like vision for one thing – and the lavish use of colour pictures really enhances the written word.But therein lies the other major gripe. Wisden does offer a high standard of writing, and its reputation means that it can attract the cream of the crop. The C&G, under the editorship of Jonathan Agnew, is far more limited, in terms of space and, I assume, budget. Agnew himself, aided by Mark Baldwin, contributes large swathes of the England pages, and does so effectively. But although there are some good essays dotted here and there – Charlie Austin (who is Cricinfo’s man in Sri Lanka) writes with first-hand experience of the effect of the tsunami – they are too few and far between to really satisfy those looking for something more than a quick ten-minute flick. Major issues which dominated English cricket – the Zimbabwe tour and the BSkyB TV deal, to name two – are given no more than a few lines in Agnew’s editorial.I was left with a feeling of not really knowing who this book is aimed at. When I first bought it, I remember thinking that I need it and Wisden to cover all the bases. I still need Wisden; the C&G is now no more than a welcome addition … but not a vital one. Times have moved on, and there is a suspicion that the C&G has not quite kept up.