Rishabh Pant – Lucknow Super Giants The Lucknow Super Giants signalled their intentions of being serious contenders heading into the 2025 Indian Premier League by breaking the bank at the IPL mega auction, shelling out ₹27 crore to bring in Rishabh Pant as their skipper.  His pricetag saw him become the most expensive player in the history of the IPL, surpassing the ₹26.75 crore Kolkata Knight Riders spent on Shreyas Iyer, who led them to the title in the 2024 edition of the competition and confirmed our cricket prediction for season 17. Pant made a disastrous start to the competition, dismissed for a duck in his opening match against the Delhi Capitals. By the end of LSG’s fourth match against Mumbai Indians, Pant had scored 19 runs, posting scores of 0, 15, 2 and 2.  The wicket-keeper batsman managed to salvage some pride by scoring an unbeaten 118 in his final match of the competition, but the Super Giants were already eliminated by that point. Pant ended the campaign with 269 runs and an average of 24.45 – his worst ever in the IPL. Venkatesh Iyer – Kolkata Knight Riders After a dominant run to the title in 2024, the Kolkata Knight Riders raised several eyebrows at the IPL auction when they released Shreyas Iyer. However, KKR seemed to have seen an opportunity in Venkatesh Iyer and went all in on him to the tune of ₹23.75 crore.  Barring a 60-run knock in his third innings, Iyer made almost no impact for KKR this year, and alarm bells began blaring midway through the competition when he scored 14 runs off 19 balls against the Gujarat Titans at Eden Gardens, marking his slowest T20 innings ever.  The all-rounder’s form nosedived even further during the second half of the IPL, and by the end of the competition, KKR failed to even reach the Playoffs, while Iyer ended the campaign with 142 runs in 11 matches, averaging a mere 20.29.  Ravichandran Ashwin – Chennai Super Kings Several players could have made our list of the biggest disappointments of the 2025 IPL, but it seems fitting to pick out one from the Chennai Super Kings, who endured their worst campaign in recent history.  The player in question is none other than veteran Ravichandran Ashwin, who cost the Super Kings ₹9.75 crore at the IPL auction to bring him back to Chennai for the first time since 2015. However, the spinner had a forgettable season, picking up just seven wickets in nine matches at an economy rate of 9.13.  Throughout the competition, Ashwin appeared reluctant to flight the ball on the spin-friendly pitches in Chennai, and he struggled for rhythm during key phases such as in powerplays and middle overs. Unfortunately for the five-time champions, their gamble on experience over current form did not pay off.  Check out our sports predictions

#1 Mohammadreza Shadalouei Chiyaneh – Gujarat Titans Mohammadreza Shadalouei Chiyaneh had another sensational season in the Pro Kabaddi League last year, when he led the Haryana Steelers to the title and was named MVP of Season 11 for his stellar defensive work and all-around versatility.  The Iranian all-rounder was part of a bidding war at the PKL 12 auction but was finally snapped up by the Gujarat Titans for a staggering ₹2.23 crore, becoming the first player in PKL history to be bought for ₹2 crore on three separate occasions.  Chiyaneh is aiming for his third straight PKL title after winning the trophy with the  Puneri Paltan and Haryana Steelers in the last two seasons, and you can check out the Gujarat Titans’ betting odds to win PKL 12 right here on SportyTrader.  #2 Devank Dalal – Bengal Warriors  Right behind Chiyaneh in the most expensive players’ list for PKL 12 was Devank Dalal, who shot to stardom while representing the Services team at the 71st Senior National Men’s Kabaddi Championship, where he was named Best Player of the Tournament.  Dalal sparked a bidding war at PKL 12, with the Patna Pirates, Bengaluru Bulls and Tamil Thalaivas all attempting to secure his services. However, it was the Bengal Warriors who eventually outbid their rivals, shelling out ₹2.205 crore for the star raider.  Check out our sports predictions #3 Ashu Malik – Dabang Delhi  After another stunning season in the PKL with Dabang Delhi last year, Ashu Malik was expected to be a man in demand at the PKL 12 auction, and the team from Delhi left nothing to chance, using their two-season Final Bid Match (FBM) to retain their skipper’s services for this upcoming campaign.  Across the last two PKL seasons, Malik has solidified his reputation as one of the most consistent raiders in the league, finishing as the best raider in PKL 10 and second in the same category last year, recording 730 raid points combined over the two campaigns.  #4 Ankit Jaglan – Patna Pirates Indian all-rounder Ankit Jaglan played an instrumental role in helping the Patna Pirates reach the final of the Pro Kabaddi League last season, and the franchise forked over ₹1.573 crore to retain his services for the upcoming campaign. The Pirates were forced to make use of their Final Bid Match option to keep hold of Jaglan, who was part of a bidding war, with Puneri Paltan, U Mumba, Jaipur Pink Panthers and Haryana Steelers all tabling bids to secure his signature. He was the league’s second best defender in 2024 with 79 table points in 25 games. #5 Arjun Deshwal – Tamil Thalaivas Rounding out the top five most expensive players for PKL 12 is Arjun Deshwal, who was acquired by the Tamil Thalaivas for ₹1.405 crore. The 25-year-old is now set to feature alongside India national team captain Pawan Sehrawat in what looks like a formidable Thalaivas attacking line-up.  Deshwal, nicknamed “Raid-Machine” for his relentless attacking prowess, is a former PKL MVP ...

Rankireddy-Shetty elimination ends India’s challenge in Indonesia Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s 2025 Indonesia Open campaign was brought to an end on Friday in Jakarta, when they were unable to fend off the Malaysian pair of Tee Kai Wun and Man Wei Chong in the quarter-final. The number seven-ranked Malaysians notched up a straight sets victory 21-19, 21-16 over the 22nd-ranked duo from India, securing their first victory over Rankireddy and Shetty in five head-to-head encounters.  In the round of 16, Rankireddy and Shetty had produced a resilient comeback to down Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, and while they managed to claw their way back in the second set against Wun and Chong, they were unable to finish off the job.  The 2025 Indonesian Open was the second competition that the Indian pairing participated in after a two-month break due to injury and illness. They had managed to reach the semi-final at the Singapore Open last week, where they were among the favourites, according to most of the best online betting sites.  In the women’s singles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand suffered a disappointing straight-set elimination to Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto 21-13, 24-22 in the round of 16.  Mixed doubles duo Sathish Karunakarana and Aadya Variyath were eliminated by Dechapol Puavarankuroh and Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand in just 25 minutes earlier in the competition with a scoreline of 21-7, 21-12.  Check out our sports predictions PV Sindhu still searching for top form  India’s star women’s singles player and two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu was unable to find her best form at the 2025 Indonesian Open, where she was beaten by Pornpawee Chochuwong in three sets.  Sindhu has struggled for consistency this season, and on Thursday, her inability to close out matches proved to be her undoing when she squandered a 15-11 lead in the deciding set to lose 22-20, 10-21, 18-21. Despite the defeat, Sindhu revealed that she feels that she is making improvements in getting back to her best, saying:  “I’ve a new coach. We started playing since January. It took some time to actually come together and accordingly work together. Sometimes it takes time that both needs to understand each other as a coach and a player. But things are going on well and of course there’s a lot of scope to improve as well and I think we are on the right track.” India’s badminton stars will now look to the US Open BWF Super 300 tournament, which gets underway on June 24. More sports news

Dhoni breaks silence on IPL future The 2025 Indian Premier League was one of the worst seasons in the history of the Chennai Super Kings. The five-time champions finished the league phase bottom of the table, with just eight points in 14 matches and were eliminated from playoff contention with over a week still to play. The Super Kings came under major scrutiny due to their performances, with fans and pundits claiming that an ageing team roster was central to their downfall after the franchise had a fairly quiet IPL auction compared to some other teams.  One of the players who was at the centre of the discussion was MS Dhoni, who, despite being the joint-most successful captain in the history of the competition, came under criticism for his poor performances this year, with some onlookers suggesting that the great man should call time on his career.  After CSK picked up a consolation victory over the Gujarat Titans in their final match of the competition, cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle spoke to Dhoni about his plans for the future. The 43-year-old Chennai legend said:  “I am not saying I am done. I am not saying I am coming back. I want to go back home and drive my bikes in Ranchi. I have the luxury of time before revealing my decision. Performances are not always the parameters to judge someone. If this would have been the case, some of the players had retired at 22. The contribution is more important.”  Dhoni spent 15 years with the India national team before retiring in 2019. India will take on England in a five-match Test series starting on June 20, and our cricket predictions will be available for all of those matches.  MS Dhoni records for India and CSK Whether Dhoni opts to call time on his career or not, one thing is for sure: he will go down as one of the greatest players of all time! Here are some of the records that the former India skipper has racked up over the years. The only captain with three ICC titles Most stumpings in international cricket Most international caps as a captain Only player to win a World Cup with a six Most unbeaten innings in ODI matches Highest score in ODIs among wicket-keepers Batsman with the most centuries batting at number seven Dhoni will celebrate his 44th birthday on July 7, and it remains to be seen if he will return for the 2026 Indian Premier League, though most from a neutral perspective would certainly love to see him revive the Super Kings next season, as he has done so often throughout his career.  More cricket news 

Suryavanshi’s stunning season for Rajasthan Royals The Rajasthan Royals endured a torrid 2025 Indian Premier League, finishing second last in the league standings with just eight points, 11 behind the top two teams in the league phase, which included eventual champions RCB, who confirmed our tournament-winner cricket predictions.  However, the one positive that came from the Royals’ campaign was the breakthrough of 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who was called up to the Rajasthan squad after Sanju Samson picked up an injury.  The teenage batter produced arguably the most explosive knock of the season, scoring a century in just 35 balls against the Gujarat Titans on April 28, which smashed several tournament records, including:  Becoming the youngest centurion in T20 cricket Fastest century by an Indian in the IPL Joint-most sixes in a single innings in the IPL Most runs in a single 2025 IPL over Highest partnership in Rajasthan Royals’ history  Due to his incredible performances, the Royals opted to retain him in the squad even after Samson’s return, and the 14-year-old went on to score 252 runs in seven innings. Suryavanshi registered the highest strike rate by a batter in IPL 2025. View live sports scores Suryavanshi backed to earn India T20 team call-up  Ashok Kumar coached Suryavanshi at the Bihar Under-19s and revealed in a media interview at the end of the IPL that he backs the batting prodigy to break into the India T20 senior team in the next two years. He said:  « That attitude of making the team win single-handedly since childhood was seen during his 35-ball hundred against Gujarat Titans too. These things show the bright future this kid has. My prediction is, if Vaibhav improves his fitness and his fielding, then in the next 2 years, he will be in the senior T20 Indian team.” As it turns out, Suryavanshi will not have to wait that long to represent India, as he was called up to the India Under-19 team for their tour to England in the next couple of weeks. 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre, who made his debut for CSK this season, will captain the team during the tour.  India will face England in a 50-over warm-up match before a five-game one-day series and two four-day Test matches. This tour will play a massive role in Suryavanshi’s hopes of making the team for the 2026 U19 World Cup in Zimbabwe and Namibia.  Check out our sports prediction

Eric Chelle explains Osimhen, Lookman’s Unity Cup exclusion Nigeria’s national team head coach came under scrutiny ahead of the team’s Unity Cup campaign when the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) revealed the squad that would travel to the Gtech Community Stadium to face familiar foes, Ghana.  Questions were raised as two of the Super Eagles’ star players, Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, were left out of the travelling squad despite being fully fit and available, with the majority of leagues across Europe now on summer vacation.  Ahmed Musa, who has been left out of the Nigerian team in recent times, was chosen to lead the Super Eagles at the competition, while the likes of Moses Simon, Stanley Nwabali and Wilfred Ndidi all made the cut to feature at the home of Brentford.  However, Chelle addressed the issue by explaining his reason for leaving out the star African duo was in an attempt to usher in new talent ahead of their World Cup qualifiers and the AFCON, which we will be covering with our football predictions. In an interview with the Nigeria Football Federation Communications, Chelle said:  “We have a lot of players in Nigeria, so we need to give chances to them so they can show us their quality, so it’s difficult for me to talk or think about anything else. The Unity Cup is a great tournament to try out some players or try out some systems to be ready in September.” While some considered Chelle’s explanation to be plausible, others suggested that several of the Super Eagles’ best players had asked to be left out in order to take the summer to decide on their futures at club level.  Osimhen spent the season at Galatasaray, and his loan deal with the Turkish giants ended at the start of this month, while several reports in recent weeks have revealed that Lookman is actively looking for a move away from the Serie A despite Atalanta securing Champions League qualification.  Nigeria defend Unity Cup title with victory over Jamaica Despite the absence of several of their best players, Nigeria secured victory at the Unity Cup by beating Jamaica 5-4 on penalties after the teams played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in regulation time.  Moses Simon and Samuel Chukwueze found the net for the Super Eagles either side of the halftime interval, while Christantus Uche stuck away the winning penalty to help his side defend the title that they won almost two decades ago during the last edition of the tournament.  Earlier in the competition, Nigeria took down regional rivals Ghana 2-1, with Rangers frontman Cyriel Dessers scoring the opening goal. The victory marked the first piece of silverware Chelle has earned since taking on the head coach role of the Super Eagles.  Nigeria will be in action later today in Moscow when they face Russia in an international friendly, which will form part of the preparation for their crucial World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and South Africa at the start of September.  Check ...

Haris powers Shaheen to series sweep After winning the toss and opting to bowl first at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Sunday, Pakistan were set on the backfoot early with Tanzid Hasan and Parvez Hossain Emon producing a superb opening stand of 110 for Bangladesh. However, after Hasan fell to Faheem Ashraf in the 11th over, the Shaheens came storming back into the contest, knocking over Emon three balls later, while strangling the Tigers’ middle order and containing them to 196/6, which was on par with the expectations of most cricket predictions.  Pakistan got off the a disastrous start with the bat, losing the crucial wicket of Sahibzada Farhan in the first over with just eight runs on the board, but that brought Mohammad Haris to the crease, and the wicket-keeper batsman proved to be the game-changer. Harris and Saim Ayub put on a second-wicket partnership of 92 runs off just 53 deliveries before Ayub was sent back to the pavilion by Tanzim Hasan Sakib at a crucial juncture in the match, with the Green Shirts needing 97 runs from 60 balls.  Hassan Nawaz came in and smashed a quickfire 26 off 13 to accelerate the run rate before falling to Mehidy Hasan Miraz, but Haris, together with his skipper Salman Ali Agha, refused to step off the gas and got their team over the line with two overs and four balls to spare.  Haris ended the innings with an unbeaten 107 from a mere 46 deliveries, including eight fours and seven sixes, while posting a scintillating strike rate of 232.61 to earn his side their first T20 series victory since early December against Zimbabwe.  Youthful energy paints bright future for Pakistan It is no secret that Pakistan cricket has endured a very difficult couple of years, which included dismal performances at the ODI and T20 World Cups, and a premature elimination from the ICC Champions Trophy on home soil earlier this year. However, this series may have just breathed new life into the Pakistani side, thanks to the promotion of young talents, such as Hassan Nawaz and Mohammad Haris, who could play key roles in transforming the Shaheen’s batting dynamics.  Nawaz was instrumental in the first two T20Is in this series, delivering solid knocks that gave the team a foundation to build on, while Haris’s innings in the third match saw him become the first non-opener to score a T20I ton for the Green Shirts and the second-fastest century-maker in the team’s history.  Similarly, Pakistan’s bowling unit also looked much better, with Shadab Khan rediscovering his form and Abrar Ahmed continuing to build a reputation as a capable spinner in the limited-overs format, which is something the team has lacked since Saeed Ajmal. Speaking after the victory, a beaming Salman Ali Agha said:  “As long as I’m captain, this is how we’ll play. This is the way forward. The world plays like this now—you have to keep bowlers and batters under pressure. In New Zealand, the conditions didn’t ...