Azam set for Big Bash League debut for Sydney Sixers The Sydney Sixers have made clear their intentions to challenge for the title at the upcoming Big Bash League in December by assembling a star-studded lineup which includes the likes of internationals Steve Smith, Moises Henriques and Ben Dwarshuis.  However, in an attempt to reinforce their already formidable batting order, the Sixers made a massive call by securing the services of Pakistan star batter Babar Azam as a pre-draft signing for the upcoming season. We will be covering all the matches at this year’s BBL so be sure to check out our cricket predictions.  According to the BBL rules, every participating franchise is allowed to make one foreign player signing ahead of the BBL draft, and the Sixers faced no competition in roping in the former Shaheens’ skipper, with all other teams having already brought in their one permitted overseas signing.  The Sixers finished last season in second place in the league table but endured a disappointing knockout stage, losing to the Hobart Hurricanes in the Qualifier before being eliminated from the competition by cross-town rivals Sydney Thunder.  In the last six seasons, the Sixers have ended the league phase in either first or second spot, and the team’s general manager, Rachael Haynes, expressed her delight in having Azam as a part of the squad, while hoping he can help them return to title contention once again. She said:  « We are absolutely delighted to welcome Babar to the Sixers. Babar’s resume speaks for itself. The skill, professionalism, and experience that he brings is of enormous value to our playing group and the news is obviously incredibly exciting for our fans. He is a world-class player and a proven leader. He’s not only a huge addition to our club, but to the league as a whole. » During the BBL draft, Pakistani players proved to be the most in demand. Aside from Azam, Shaheen Afridi became the first pick at the draft, while Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Rizwan are also set to feature in the upcoming tournament.  Check out our sports predictions Azam’s record in T20 cricket across the globe As Haynes alluded to, Azam’s record in the shortest format of the game is nothing short of incredible, and he brings with him a wealth of experience on both the international and domestic circuits, most recently featuring as the captain of Pakistan Super League outfit Peshawar Zalmi.  With an astonishing 11,330 runs to his name, the 30-year-old is the second-highest run scorer in T20s for Pakistan. He has racked up an incredible 11 centuries and 93 fifties, with only West Indian legend Chris Gayle having more T20 tons to his name (22). Discussing his selection with the media, Azam said:  « It’s an exciting opportunity to play in one of the world’s best T20 leagues and to be a part of such a successful and respected franchise. I’m looking forward to contributing to the team’s success, building a strong connection with ...

Shubman Gill era kicks off with defeat at Headingley Shubman Gill’s first match as captain of the India Test squad ended in disappointment, as his team suffered a five-wicket defeat at Headingley on Tuesday evening after posting a second innings target of 371. The result also confirmed our cricket prediction for the match. On a batting-friendly surface, India got off to an excellent start on Day 1, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and fellow opener KL Rahul putting on a 91-run first-wicket stand to give their side a solid foundation to build on for the remainder of the match.  Jaiswal went on to score 101 at the top of the order, while his skipper and newly appointed vice-captain Rishabh Pant also produced stellar knocks in the middle of the innings, finishing on 147 (227) and 134 (178) respectively, helping their side to a first-innings total of 471.  Jasprit Bumrah, who is only expected to play three of the five Tests over the coming month, was the pick of the Indian bowlers in the first innings, notching up an incredible 5/83 in 24.4 overs, at an economy rate of just 3.36. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna shared the five remaining wickets.  However, aside from Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, all of India’s bowlers were expensive in their spells, and England managed to post 465 runs before being bowled out, just six runs behind the Men in Blue’s first innings tally.  Check out our sports predictions England mount fightback in second innings In the second innings, Jaiswal was dismissed for just four runs, but Rahul took up the mantle and anchored the innings, scoring a stunning 137 from 247 deliveries, despite the wickets of Sai Sudharsan and Gill falling around him.  Pant arrived at the crease with the score at 92/3, and together with Rahul, the duo managed a 195-run partnership for the fourth wicket that seemingly put India firmly in the driver’s seat. The team’s lower order failed to make a significant impact, but India ended their second innings with 364, leaving England with a target of 371.  After surviving a tricky few overs late on Day 4, stumps were called with England still having all their wickets intact, and they kicked on with purpose on Day 5, with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett delivering a 188-run opening stand before the former departed.  Duckett was eventually dismissed for 149 off 170 deliveries, but Joe Root once again proved his class, leading the Three Lions to an opening match victory with 53 runs at number four, while Ben Stokes and Jamie Smith also made important contributions.  A rain disruption after lunch gave India hope of making inroads late in the day, but their bowlers were unable to have an impact late on, with Bumrah ending wicketless in the second innings. Krishna was arguably the pick of the bowlers, picking up 2/92 before England secured the result.  The series will now shift to Edgbaston in Birmingham with game two scheduled to commence on July 2.  More ...

Bhutia slams AIFF president for India’s football struggles Indian football players and fans were forced to swallow a bitter pill earlier this month when the national team suffered a painful 1-0 defeat to Hong Kong at the brand new Kai Tak Stadium, which sent them to the bottom of their group standings after two games.  What made the defeat a tough one to accept was that the Blue Tigers conceded in the 94th minute of the match, and the result left their chances of qualifying for the Asian Cup hanging by a thread, which is a major blow with the side already ruled out of 2026 World Cup qualification. You can track India’s progress for the rest of the tournament via our Asian Cup livescore tool. Following the loss, fans and pundits were left outraged, and Bhaichung Bhutia, former captain of the India national team, took his frustration public by accusing the All India Football Federation’s president, Kalyan Chaubey, of destroying the sport. He said:  “Kalyan Chaubey has destroyed Indian football. Chaubey has to resign and leave. He has completely destroyed it. Three General Secretaries in two-and-a-half years — the entire structure, the system will have to be changed. Controversy after controversy, corruption charge… even after months now we don’t know who the I-League winner is.” Bhutia went on to question Chaubey’s decision to appoint Manolo Marquez as the head coach of the Blue Tigers while simultaneously managing FC Goa, while suggesting that the AIFF president had bypassed the organisation’s technical committee during the Spaniard’s appointment.  The former India skipper also criticised the AIFF for asking national hero Sunil Chhetri to come out of retirement for the team’s qualifiers, labelling the decision a “poor call” and a move driven by “desperation rather than proper planning.” Notably, Bhutia ran for the position of AIFF presidency back in 2022 but was beaten by Chaubey. Since then, he has regularly called out the current leadership, while alleging corruption and mismanagement throughout the upper echelons of the organisation.  Check out our football predictions AIFF president Chaubey bites back at Bhutia criticism  Following Bhutia’s no-holds-barred press conference, AIFF president Chaubey addressed the allegations made by the former India skipper in a separate media address, during which he also expressed India’s interest in bidding for the 2031 AFC Asian Cup. Responding to Bhutia’s claims, Chaubey said:  « As a member of the (AIFF) Executive Committee, Mr. Bhutia has access to appropriate and empowered platforms to express his views. However, since his defeat in September 2022 (AIFF president’s election), he has consistently and deliberately made baseless allegations and presented a distorted image of the AIFF. These actions tarnish the federation’s reputation and Indian football internationally” Chaubey closed the topic by inviting Bhutia to attend the upcoming AIFF Executive Committee meeting, which is scheduled for July 2, adding that it would be an opportunity for Bhutia to air his concerns and provide his suggestions to the relevant parties.  India will resume their AFC Asian Cup qualification in October, when ...

Ibrahim Aliyu nets MLS record-breaking goal for Crew  After finishing in second place in the Eastern Conference standings in the regular season last year, the Columbus Crew have gotten off to a mixed start this term, currently in fourth place with 31 points after 18 league games.  The Crew have posted a record of eight wins, seven draws and three defeats ahead of their midweek clash against Atlanta – you can check out our Columbus Crew vs Atlanta United prediction for our experts’ thoughts and insights before kickoff.  Last week, Wilfried Nancy’s side played host to the Vancouver Whitecaps, who have been in stellar form this season, and entered the match on an 11-match unbeaten run while holding a five-point advantage over San Diego at the top of the Western Conference. Aliyu, who arrived at Lower.com Field in April this year from the Houston Dynamos, was handed just his fifth start for his new employers and opened the scoring for the Crew in only 68 seconds after the first whistle.  Not only was that strike the 22-year-old’s second for Columbus and helped them bring an end to a painful six-match run without victory, but it was also the second-fastest ever scored by a Crew player in the club’s history in the MLS.  The Nigerian thought he had doubled his tally for the match in the second half when he stuck a second in the back of the net, but he was left visibly frustrated after play was pulled back for offside. Still, the victory was a deserved one for the Crew, as Nancy mentioned in his post-match press conference:  Aliyu was born in Kano and began his career in the Nigerian league before securing a move to Lokomotive Zagreb in 2020. He also spent time at Dinamo Zagreb and Hadjuk Split before moving to the US in April 2023.  Check out our football predictions  Crew’s Max Arfsten shines for USMNT in Gold Cup While much of recent attention has been focused on the FIFA Club World Cup, the United States men’s national soccer team has been performing incredibly at the ongoing CONCACAF Gold Cup, where they have qualified for the quarter-final. One player who has caught the eye for the USMNT during the tournament is Crew midfielder Max Arfsten. The 24-year-old made a stunning start to the tournament, providing two assists in the team’s opening match against Trinidad and Tobago before producing another impressive performance against Saudi Arabia in their second match.  Arfsten earned a call-up to Mauricio Pochettino’s side thanks in part to his excellent start to the season for the Black and Gold, scoring three goals and providing three assists in his first 11 games of the 2025 campaign.  The US have a perfect record of three wins from three matches in the Gold Cup this year and will face Costa Rica in the quarter-final at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota on June 29.  View Gold Cup livescores

Nair chooses representing his country over cash  Karun Nair’s journey over the last decade is a testament to resilience. Back in 2016-17, the right-handed batsman was tipped to be the next star player for India after smashing a stunning triple century against the Three Lions in Chennai.  However, after that, he suffered a significant dip in form and was left on the bench for the Men in Blues’ 2018 tour to England before he was dropped from the national squad altogether midway through the same series.  Further poor performances followed, and by 2020, Nair was unable even to earn a spot in his state team, Karnataka. By that point, he was already in his late 20s, and many had written him off from making a comeback to the Indian team.  The 33-year-old worked tirelessly in the domestic scene over the next few years and continued producing impressive performances in the T20 format, as we saw in the recently completed Indian Premier League, all of which contributed to his recall to India for their series this month.  Before heading to England, though, Nair revealed that he was advised to give up his dream of representing his country and was told to focus on the financial security offered by the mega-money T20 franchise cricket teams across the globe. He said:  « I still remember a prominent Indian cricketer calling me and saying you need to retire because the money in these leagues would make me secure. It would have been easy to do, but I knew that regardless of the money, I would be kicking myself for giving up that easily. I was never going to give up on playing for India again. That was just over two years ago and look where we are now.”  After being snubbed by Karnataka, Nair joined Vidarbha for the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy, where he ended the competition as the fourth-highest run scorer with 863 runs in 16 innings, including four centuries and two half-centuries, while averaging 53.93. Check out our cricket predictions Nair struggles to make immediate impact upon India recall India kicked off their first of five Test matches against England at Headingley last Friday, and with one day left to play, the match is delicately poised, with the Men in Blue needing to defend 350 runs on Tuesday.  New vice-captain Rishabh Pant has been excellent in the match, scoring back-to-back centuries in his two innings, while Yashasvi Jaiswal, skipper Shubman Gill and opener KL Rahul also notched up tons.  However, India’s bottom half has struggled to make an impact on the match with the bat, with none of their final six batsman managing to score more than 25 runs in either innings. Nair was dismissed for a four-ball duck in his first knock and added just 20 runs in the second innings.  Despite this, the batter is not believed to be at risk of the axe just yet, as head coach Gautam Gambhir was vocal about his support for Nair in the lead-up to the ...

Cricket: “Turning of the tide” – Comparing India's 2021 and 2025 England Test squads

Report: RCB owners place $2b valuation on franchise In 18 years of competition, the Indian Premier League has grown to become one of the richest and most valuable sports leagues in the world, ranking in the top five alongside the likes of the English Premier League, National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). While the competition for fans and players is about pure passion and seeing the greatest players from across the globe compete in the shortest form of the game, behind the scenes, many franchise owners view it as a massive business opportunity. In most instances, this is not a bad thing, as the mega-money that the IPL promises for players raises the stakes substantially, making it a thrilling event for onlookers, but it can also create problems behind the scenes, as we have seen with several franchises who have come and gone over the last two decades. In 2025, one team that has competed under a single banner since the very first tournament, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, rose to glory, winning their first-ever title by beating the Punjab Kings in the final and confirming our cricket prediction for the competition.  Unsurprisingly, the victory saw the commercial appeal of the franchise soar, and reports following the Royal Challengers’ victory suggested that British spirits giant Diageo PLC were exploring the possibility of selling part or all of its stake in the franchise.  It is understood that Diageo had placed a $2b valuation on RCB and that the decision to sell off their shares was a strategic move after witnessing a decline in premium liquor sales. With RCB being a non-core part of the business, selling off shares would free up funds for Diageo to reinvest in its core business.  Further reports suggested the move had come due to the company facing mounting regulatory pressure from the Union Health Ministry to stop the advertising of alcohol during major sporting events like the IPL.  Check out our sports predictions Diageo PLC responds to RCB sale claims Shortly after the reports of the potential sale of RCB hit mainstream media, inquiries were believed to have been made by the Bombay Stock Exchange to Diageo about the validity of the claims.  However, Diageo secretary, Mital Sanghvi, swiftly poured cold water over the rumours, stating that the claims were unfounded and speculative, while emphasising that the company had absolutely no intention of selling RCB in the foreseeable future. He said:  « The company would like to clarify that the aforesaid media reports are speculative in nature, and it is not pursuing any such discussion. This is for your information and records.”  With the IPL only expected to continue to grow in the years to come, the fate of RCB (and most franchises in the competition) will be closely monitored by investors. While Diageo has made its point clear in this instance, the commercial appeal of the competition to the sports business world suggests that the sale of RCB is far from over.  More cricket news