Ashwani Kumar Makes Dream Debut In IPL If you had to dream up the best way to start your Indian Premier League career as a young seam bowler, claiming the scalp of an accomplished international player with your very first ball would likely rank at the top of the list of options.  For Ashwani Kumar, that dream became reality on March 31, when he picked up the prized wicket of Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper Ajinkya Rahane with his first delivery on debut for the Mumbai Indians in front of their home fans at the Wankhede Stadium.  Mumbai suffered back-to-back defeats in their first two matches of the 2025 IPL season and handed the 23-year-old seamer his first start for the franchise in place of Satyanarayana Raju, and he repaid his team’s faith in genuine style.  After sending Rahane back to the pavilion, Kumar went on to dismiss Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey and Andre Russell, ending the innings with 4/24, as Mumbai bundled the defending champions out for just 116 in 16.2 overs.  In doing so, Kumar became the first Indian bowler to take four wickets on IPL debut! The young paceman was snapped up by the Mumbai Indians for ₹30 lakh at the IPL mega auction last year – a drop in the ocean compared to some other players – after being released by the Punjab Kings for whom he had never featured despite being part of the squad for the entire 2024 season.  While he played in nine previous matches in the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Punjab, Kumar had never picked more than three wickets in any format of the game before his instrumental spell against KKR’s formidable batting lineup.  Unfortunately for the rising star from Jhanjeri, the return of Jasprit Bumrah forced him out of the team for Mumbai’s last match against RCB, which they lost by 12 runs chasing 221/5. However, he is expected to return to the fray this weekend when Mumbai face the Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.  There are a couple of blockbuster matches on the cards over the coming days, and our GT vs. RR and RCB vs. DC predictions are online right now, so be sure to have a look at them ahead of the toss.   IPL predictions What Are the Best Bowling Figures on IPL Debut? The greatest debut of all time for a bowler in the IPL came from the Mumbai Indians in the form of Alzarri Joseph back in 2019. The West Indian fast bowler stepped into the side as a replacement for Adam Milne and finished with an incredible 6/12 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Joseph picked up the wickets of David Warner and Vijay Shankar in his first two overs with devastating pace before dismissing Deepak Hooda, Rashid Khan and Bhuveneshwar Kumar in the space of four balls. His final wicket was that of Siddarth Kaul.  In second place is Australian medium-pacer Andrew Tye, who made his debut at 31 years of age and ...

Delhi Capitals Announce Themselves as the Team to Beat  After failing to reach the knockout stages of the Indian Premier League since 2021, Delhi Capitals’ fans finally have a reason to cheer again, as their side has stormed out of the blocks this season and looks like a team that means business.  During the offseason, Axar Patel’s side made major investments to bolster their squad, splashing out ₹14 crore on India international KL Rahul, ₹11.75 crore on Aussie quick Mitchell Starc, and a combined ₹27.75 crore on the trio of Thangarasu Natarajan, Jake Fraser-Mcgurk and Mukesh Kumar.  As it turns out, their financial decisions have worked a treat, with Rahul seemingly finding his best form in their last match, while Starc is joint-second in the purple cap standings, just one wicket behind Noor Ahmad and Hardik Pandya, both of whom have played a game more. The Capitals have now racked up three straight wins over the first three weeks of the competition and are currently the only team in the IPL that has yet to taste defeat, while also having a game in hand on the teams below them.  DC’s most recent victory was by far their sweetest, as they overcame five-time champions Chennai Super Kings by 25 runs last Saturday, marking their first victory over CSK at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in 15 years! The victory in Chennai was led by the performance of KL Rahul, who was promoted to the top of the order in the absence of Faf du Plessis, and the result meant that the Capitals had won three IPL matches in succession for the first time since 2009.  While the likes of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Punjab Kings have also made impressive starts to their IPL campaigns, Delhi look like the team on a mission – a mission to leave their poor performances in the past and secure their maiden IPL title. Owing to their sensational start to the season, the Delhi Capitals have surged up the betting boards and are now second-favourite behind RCB to win this year’s tournament, according to the last IPL odds.  IPL predictions What’s Gone Wrong With CSK & MI? While the Capitals are enjoying an excellent start to the 2025 IPL, two powerhouses of the competition, MI and CSK, are in the doldrums this season, currently in eighth and ninth place in the standings, respectively, after playing five games apiece.  The Super Kings picked up an opening round victory in the IPL’s El-Clasico but have suffered four defeats on the bounce since then, leaving them with a paltry net run rate of -0.889, which is the second-worst in the competition to date.  Mumbai, meanwhile, seemed to have found their form in their third match when they beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets, but they were unable to build on that performance, losing to LSG and RCB, both by 12 runs, in their last two matches.  Notably, both these teams have had very few big contributions ...

Baller League UK: Format and Overview Baller League UK is a six-a-side indoor football league consisting of 12 teams. Every Monday night, all teams play their league matches in succession, with the first night of the competition being staged on March 24.  Each league night is made up of six matches of 30-minute duration each and will be hosted by the Copper Box Arena in London. The top four teams at the end of the 11 weeks will advance to the final Playoff in June, when the Baller League UK champion will be crowned.  Points are allocated in exactly the same way as any of Europe’s top leagues, such as the Premier League or La Liga, with match winners being awarded three points, a draw earns one point, and no points are earned for a loss.  What Are the Rules for Baller League UK? Baller League UK introduces a fresh and exciting twist to the conventional football that we know and love – here are the competition rules:  All matches are in a six-a-side format with rolling substitutions Each half of the match lasts 15 minutes At the end of each half, there is a “Gamechanger” which lasts three minutes Gamechangers can include a 3v3 format, long-range goals counting as double, and goalkeepers cannot use their hands All Gamechangers are randomised from one match to the next Teams are allowed Wildcard players from Night 2 onward  Managers are allowed to challenge a referee’s decision by throwing a white flag One of the most exciting rules of the game is that there are no corner kicks. Instead, if a team concedes three corners, the opposing team is allocated an MLS-style 1v1 penalty kick.  Football predictions Which Teams are Participating in Baller League UK? Baller League UK has assembled a star-studded cast of managers, ranging from ex-footballers like John Terry, Alan Shearer and Ballon d’Or winner Luis Figo to YouTube sensations and internet personalities like Sidemen members Miniminter, Tobi Brown and Alisha Lehmann. These are the teams and managers competing in Baller League UK this year:  Squads include several former Premier League players, futsal players, free agents and released academy players. Among those are former Manchester United academy graduate Josh Harrop and Liverpool winger Jordan Ibe.  Other notable names include Ciaran Clark, Adrian Mariappa, Bruno Andrade, Michael Hill, and J’ardell Stirling, while Premier League winner Joleon Lescott featured as a wildcard player on night two of the competition.  Baller League UK: Standings After Three Weeks The third round of Baller League UK was played on Monday, April 7, and there were plenty of big results – most notably with AngryGinge’s Yanited maintaining their unbeaten record, while Ian Wright and John Terry’s teams picked up their first points of the competition.  Here’s how the table looks after three rounds: You can also wager on matches at Baller League UK with most of the best online betting sites worldwide.  How to Watch Baller League UK? Baller League UK has secured a one-year broadcast partnership with Sky Sports ...

Team Lagos Reign Supreme At South-West Games 2025 The 2025 South-West Games was the first of its kind and featured a total of six states from the southwest region of Nigeria competing in seven sports disciplines between March 25 and 29 in Lagos.  The event comprised football, basketball, table tennis, boxing, athletics, volleyball and archery, as well as a premier sub-tournament, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu South-West Alliance Games (BATSWAG), which was added to show off the region’s most talented under-18 sportspeople. After five days of grueling competition, host state Lagos emerged as the winners of the inaugural South-West Games and BATSWAG, earning an incredible 21 medals, including an unassailable 14 gold, along with five silver and two bronze medals.  Team Lagos’s impressive performance at the competition was capped off with a stunning 5-2 victory over Ekiti in the men’s football final on the final day of the Games after notching up all five gold medals along with two silver in table tennis.  The hosts state also secured all four golds in boxing and a combined seven medals (four gold, two silver and one bronze) in archery. Not only did the victory bring pride to the state, but it also catapulted some of Lagos’s brightest athletes to stardom across the nation.  Behind Team Lagos in the standings was Ogun State, which finished in second place with a solid tally of 10 gold medals, including finishing top in basketball, while Ondo State completed the final podium with three gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals.  Check out the best online betting sites in Nigeria here on SportyTrader! 2025 South-West Games: A Resounding Success for Nigerian Sport The Games attracted interest from all over the globe as well as from the nation’s most successful sportspeople, such as William Troost-Ekong, who took the time to wish the participating athletes good luck at the opening ceremony a day after the Super Eagles took on Zimbabwe in a crucial 2026 World Cup qualifier in Uyo.  Upon conclusion of the inaugural South-West Games, the overall staging and outcome of the competition were considered a resounding success, which has prompted the games’ major sponsor, First Bank Nigeria, to pledge ongoing support of the initiative for the foreseeable future.  At the closing ceremony, the Executive Director of FirstBank, Seyi Oyfeso, said:  “We will always support anything that is targeted at youths. At FirstBank, we will continue to embrace anything that engages our youth positively and things that encourage them to put their energies into things that are position and rewarding.” However, Oyfeso also added that FirstBank’s support will not be confined to only the South-West and urged other regions in Nigeria to create and organise such events across the nation as platforms to allow the Nigerian youth to showcase their skills on a national stage.  More sports news 

Orange Cap IPL 2025: Nicholas Pooran Still Leads The Way The Lucknow Super Giants have made a mixed start to their 2025 Indian Premier League campaign, currently sitting in mid-table with two wins and two defeats in their first four games, while maintaining a net run rate of +0.048. However, despite their erratic form, one player who has shone for LSG over the early stages of the season is master blaster Nicholas Pooran. The West Indian wicket-keeper batsman is the only player to have surpassed 200 runs in the competition, doing so in just four innings.  The most impressive part of Pooran’s performances to date is that, despite scoring just 12 runs in his last match, he still has a staggering strike rate of 218.47, having already smashed 18 fours and 16 sixes.  Pooran has struck the most sixes (16) and the most cumulative boundaries (34) in the IPL to date! However, his advantage atop the leading run-scorer standings is far from secure. After Surya Kumar Yadav’s knock against RCB on Monday, the Mumbai Indians’ batter is now up to 199 runs, two behind Pooran, though he has played a game more.  Gujarat Titans’ opener Sai Sudharsan is also in the mix, currently on 191 runs at an average of 47.75, while the West Indian’s teammate Mitchell Marsh currently has 184 runs to his name and has struck the second-most boundaries in the competition to date (32).  IPL 2025 Orange Cap Standings Pooran will have the opportunity to open some daylight between himself and the chasing pack on Tuesday, when he travels with the team to face the Knight Riders, and our experts fancy his chances here based on their KKR vs. LSG prediction.  IPL predictions Purple Cap IPL 2025: Hardik Pandya Draws Level With Noor Ahmad Over to the top bowler standings, and in this section, things are really heating up. Chennai Super Kings spinner Noor Ahmad has donned the Purple cap since his second match in the competition, but his lead in the standings was wiped out on Monday afternoon.  Despite Mumbai Indians’ dismal campaign to date, their skipper Hardik Pandya has surged up the leading wicket-taker standings in the last week, bagging seven scalps in his last two games, including a career-best 5/36 against LSG last Friday.  Pandya is now level with Ahmad on 10 wickets apiece, but the MI skipper has played a game more! Behind the leading duo, there is a whole host of players within striking distance of the top spot, led by Mohammed Siraj and Mitchell Starc, who have taken nine wickets each, with the latter doing so in just three matches in the competition.  Josh Hazlewood’s 2/37 against Mumbai on Monday has taken him to eight wickets in total, level with Sai Kishore and Khaleel Ahmed, while Krunal Pandya’s 4/45 in the last match has brought him into the top 10 on the leaderboard, now on seven wickets in four games.  IPL 2025 Purple Cap Standings Ahmad is back in action on Tuesday ...

2025 Asia Championships: Men’s Singles The Men’s Singles competition at the upcoming 2025 Asia Championships is dripping with talent, featuring the likes of world number one Shi Yuqi, 2021 World Champion Loh Kean Yew, and Paris Games Olympic silver-medalist Kunlavut Vitisarn, among others.  Leading India’s charge in this category is Commonwealth Games gold medalist and world championship bronze medalist Lakshya Sen. The world number 16 recently defeated Jonatan Christie at the 2025 All England Open and faces a tricky opening match against Taiwanese youngster Lee Chia-hao.  Other Indian players in the Men’s singles competition include Prannoy Haseena Sunil Kumar, Priyanshu Rajawat, and Kiran George, who are ranked 29th, 35th and 36th in the world, respectively.  2025 Asia Championships: Women’s Singles In the Women’s Singles category, India will be led by none other than Olympic silver and bronze medalist P.V. Sindhu, who will be determined to make amends for her frustrating first-round exit at the Swiss Open in the Super 300 in Basel.  Joining Sindhu in this section will be up-and-comer Aakarshi Kashyap. The 23-year-old earned silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in the mixed doubles competition, but she faces a stern opening test against number two seed Han Yue.  Malvika Bansod and 20-year-old Anupama Upadhyaya round out the Indian women participating in this category, and they will take on Gao Fangjie and number eight seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in the opening round, respectively.  2025 Asia Championships: Doubles  On to the Doubles categories and in the men’s competition, Pruthvi Roy and Krishnaprasad Sai Pratheek have been drawn in the top half and will face the Chinese Taipei duo of Chiu Hsiand-chieh and 2024 Olympics men’s doubles champion Wang Chi-lin. In the bottom half, India’s flag will be carried by Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethasabapathi. This Indian duo are guaranteed a place in the second round of the competition thanks to an opening round bye.  Another Indian duo that is sure to feature in the second round, owing to a bye, are the Women’s Doubles team of Tressa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand. Jolly and Gopichand are the nation’s number-one ranked women’s doubles team.  Priya Devi Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra are also set to battle for glory in the women’s doubles, and they will take on Sung Shuo-yun and Yu Chien-hui in the first round. Konjengbam and Mishra are the favourites according to most online betting sites to beat the Chinese Taipei duo in this match.  Finally, on to the mixed doubles, and India have four teams in this section. In the top half, Ashish Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh have received a first-round bye, while Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto will face the Malaysian team of Hoo Pang Ron and Cheng Su Yin.  Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath will battle for a spot in the second round against number-three seeds Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai. Rounding out the Indian contingent for the Asia Championship are Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde, who will do battle against Yap Roy King and ...

Bumrah Set To Make First IPL Appearance of 2025 The Mumbai Indians endured their worst season in the Indian Premier League in 2024, when they only managed four wins in their 14 games, which saw them finish last in the group-stage and be eliminated from the competition before the knockout stage. This season, the five-time champions have made another poor start, winning just one of their first four matches and currently languishing in seventh place, already four points off leaders Delhi Capitals, while plummeting in the latest IPL odds to win the competition. Despite having a star-studded lineup, Mumbai have struggled to find big contributions, with only Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya currently featuring in the top 10 of the top run-scorer and wicket-taker lists to date.  However, all that could be set to change, with their star paceman Jasprit Bumrah having now been cleared fit by the BCCI’s medical team at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, where he had been undergoing rehabilitation due to a stress-related injury to his lower back.  Bumrah sustained a back issue during the final Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Australia in early January, which also forced him to miss India’s run to the ICC Champions Trophy title in Pakistan and Dubai in March.  The 31-year-old joined up with his teammates for the first time this season over the weekend, and the team coach, Mahela Jayawardene, confirmed that he could feature in Mumbai’s high-profile clash against RCB, where he will go up against his India teammate Virat Kohli. Jayawardene said:  « Yeah, he is available. He is training today, so he should be available tomorrow. He arrived last night and I believe he had his sessions with NCA to finalise that. He has been handed over to our physios. So, yeah, he is bowling today, all good and we will play tomorrow. » Bumrah has been with the Mumbai Indians since the 2013 IPL season and has been one of their most important players over the years, registering 165 wickets in just 133 matches. The only season he missed was in 2023 when he suffered a similar back issue.  IPL Predictions  What About the Fitness of Rohit Sharma? Another big name that missed the Mumbai Indians’ last match was opener Rohit Sharma. The India national team captain was hit on the knee in the team’s third match of the competition and was forced to sit out the defeat to the LSG on Friday due to discomfort. However, Sharma was pictured in nets training on Sunday, when he padded up with fellow opener Ryan Rickelton and was seen hitting a few shots. He did not show any visible signs of discomfort and is expected to join Bumrah in the matchday squad come Monday.  The 37-year-old has made a very poor start to the 2025 IPL, registering scores of 13, 8 and 0 in his three innings. Still, his impact and leadership for the team are undeniable, and he will be hoping to mark his return to fitness with a ...

Mohun Bagan Stunned by Jamshedpur FC Mohun Bagan were head and shoulders the best team in the Indian Super League this season and made history by becoming the first club to win back-to-back ISL Shields since the start of the Indian domestic league.  The Mariners entered the playoffs as the clear favourites to win the cup according to all the best online betting sites, but things have not gone their way just yet, as they suffered an unexpected semi-final first-leg defeat to a resilient Jamshedpur in midweek.  Javier Siverio gave the Men of Steel an early lead at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on Thursday afternoon, but their advantage was soon erased by a Jason Cummings equaliser before the halftime interval, and the match looked set to end level as the final whistle approached.  However, Javi Hernandez stepped up in stoppage time and slotted away the Red Miners’ second of the match in the dying seconds, giving his side a one-goal advantage back to Salt Lake City in Kolkata on Monday.  That result brought an end to the Mariners’ 12-match unbeaten run in the top flight (W9 D3 L0), and was the first time they had lost to Jamshepur in any competition since the AIFF Super Cup back in April 2023.  While Mohun Bagan are still expected to turn the tide on their home patch next week, it certainly will not be a walk in the park, and you can check out our experts’ thoughts on the outcome via our in-depth football predictions.  Football predictions FC Goa With Mountain To Climb In Margao The only team to put up any sort of challenge to Mohun Bagan’s title run this season was FC Goa, who finished as runners-up in the league standings with 48 points in 24 games. However, like the champions, they are also in serious danger of seeing their ISL Cup dream brought to an end.  The Gaurs made the trip to the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday and found themselves a goal down before the interval when centre-back Sandesh Jhingan stuck the ball in his own net before Edgar Mendez extended the Blues’ lead to two early in the second half. Goa had their chances in the final quarter of the match, with Aakash Sangwan providing a tantalising cross to Odei Onaindia, but the defender got too far under it and skied his header well over the crossbar from just inside the six-yard box.  While many fans criticised Manolo Marquez’s tactics and his team’s performance in Bangalore, take nothing away from the Blues, who controlled the match from the outset and were coming off a thumping 5-0 victory over Mumbai City in the playoff knockouts.  Speaking at the post-match press conference, Marquez called for belief from his players and their fans. He went on to suggest that while it will be tough, a comeback is still very much on the cards when his side host the Blues on Sunday afternoon.  The Men in Orange now have a mountain ...

Angkrish Raghuvanshi – Kolkata Knight Riders The Kolkata Knight Riders have made a mixed start to the 2025 IPL season, splitting their first four games of the competition, two wins and two losses. However, one youngster who has caught the eye over the early stages of the campaign is Angkrish Raghuvanshi. The 20-year-old batter posted his best score in this edition of the competition on Tuesday, when he blasted a half-century in just 32 deliveries, including five fours and two sixes, to help his side to a resounding 80-run victory over the Sunrisers Hyderabad.  Raghuvanshi represented India at the under-19 level and was the highest run-scorer when the team won the Under-19 World Cup. Last year, he made a good impression in his first season in the IPL, showcasing tremendous versatility with his strokeplay, but this season he seems to be coming into his own.  After four games, Raghuvanshi is KKR’s leading scorer in the competition with 128 runs and an average of above 40. He will be back in action for the champs on Tuesday when they take on LSG at Eden Gardens, and you can check out our IPL predictions for that match ahead of the toss.  Hardik Pandya – Mumbai Indians Hardik Pandya is no stranger to being in the spotlight, but he had a fairly underwhelming IPL campaign in 2024. While he took 14 wickets, the explosive hitting we have become accustomed to from him was almost non-existent, as he managed just 216 runs in 14 matches.  Indeed, he has made another underwhelming start to the current campaign with the bat, currently on just 39 runs in three innings, but he looks back to his best with the ball in hand following a record-setting performance against the Super Giants on Friday.  While Mumbai lost the match by 12 runs, Pandya etched his name in the history books, becoming the first captain in the tournament’s history to take a five-wicket haul in the IPL, as he bagged 5/36 – his best-ever T20 figures.  The India international claimed the scalps of orange cap holder Nicholas Pooran, as well as Rishabh Pant, Aiden Markram, David Miller and Akash Deep. In doing so, he surpassed the previous best bowling figures by a skipper of 4/16, set by the legendary Anil Kumble in 2010. Cricket predictions Nicholas Pooran – Lucknow Super Giants While there are plenty of international players that deserve a mention, one who deserves all the praise he has already received is LSG’s Nicholas Pooran. The West Indian wicket-keeper batsman is the current orange cap holder and the only player in the competition to surpass 200 runs to date.  Last season, Pooran amassed 499 runs at an excellent strike rate of 178.21. However, this term, he looks well on course to obliterating his previous record, currently on 201 in just four innings, at a staggering strike rate of 218 – the highest of any player that has scored more than 100 runs in the competition so far.  The 29-year-old can ...

What’s Behind Kolkata Knight Riders’ Underwhelming Start to the Season? The Kolkata Knight Riders produced one of the most dominant displays ever seen in the history of the Indian Premier League last season en route to their third title. The Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise finished the group stage top of the pile and conceded only three defeats in 14 matches – the fewest of any team in a single edition of the IPL.  This season, though, things have been a whole lot different, as KKR have already lost two games and have largely looked like a shadow of their former self. The Knight Riders were dispatched in their opening match with relative ease by the Royal Challengers Bangalore and were no match for the Mumbai Indians in their third match, which they lost by eight wickets. One of the major factors that many pundits have alluded to as a key contributor to KKR’s dip in form this season is the IPL mega-auction that took place in the Middle East last year. During the auction, the franchise was unable to keep hold of several players who were crucial to their sensational form last year.  Arguably the biggest loss was that of Shreyas Iyer, who captained the team in their title-winning campaign. The India international was snapped up by the Punjab Kings for a whopping ₹26.75 crore and broke his silence after the auction, revealing that the reason he asked to leave the franchise was due to a “lack of communication”. Additionally, Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt and Nitish Rana were not retained by the team at the auction, and all three of them have made excellent starts to this season for their new teams. It is understandable that KKR may be looking to usher in new blood for the future of the franchise, but foregoing the opportunity to retain four full international-level players is a massive void to fill for any team.  Owing to their mixed start, KKR are now the third-biggest outsider to win the tournament according to the latest IPL betting odds.  Cricket predictions Can SRH Victory Help Change KKR’s IPL Fortunes? After their embarrassing defeat to the Mumbai Indians, KKR secured a much-needed 80-run victory over the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday. Batting first, Ajinkya Rahane’s men posted a defendable 200/6 in their 20 overs and bowled out the Sunrisers Hyderabad for just 120 runs in the 17th over. However, can this result suggest that a swift turnaround can be expected? Not quite! First off, barring a one-off big performance against Rajasthan, the Sunrisers have been pretty poor themselves, and are now at the bottom of the standings with just one win in four games and a net run rate of -1.612. What is clear is that the team from Hyderabad have pinned their hopes this season on their batting lineup, and if things don’t go as planned, as they did on Thursday when their top three batsman were dismissed for a combined total of just eight runs, then they ...