Sport

England captain Ben Stokes criticised the bowler-friendly MCG pitch after the Ashes Test ended in two days. Kevin Pietersen and Dinesh Kartik highlighted selective criticism of Indian pitches, while CA CEO Todd Greenberg admitted short Tests are bad for business

Arjun Erigaisi and D Gukesh joined Magnus Carlsen at the top after five rounds of the FIDE World Rapid Championships in Doha. Zhu Jiner leads the women’s section with a perfect score, while Koneru Humpy and Ju Wenjun trail with three points

BCCI is weighing Gautam Gambhir’s future as India’s Test coach after the South Africa series defeat. An informal approach was made to VVS Laxman, who declined. Gambhir’s contract runs till 2027, but split coaching could be considered after the T20 World Cup

Rayan Cherki scored an 83rd-minute winner as Manchester City defeated Nottingham Forest 2-1 in the Premier League. Tijjani Reijnders opened the scoring, Omari Hutchinson equalised, but Cherki’s decisive strike gave City their eighth straight win, taking them to 40 points

Nizamabad District defeated Hyderabad Blues by six wickets in the HCA B-Division T20 knockouts in Hyderabad. Warangal District and Mahbubnagar District also registered wins, while standout performances came from Srikar, Varshith and Rohith Reddy

Hyderabad’s Aaron George has been selected in India’s U19 World Cup squad for Zimbabwe and Namibia. India, five-time champions, are in Group B with New Zealand, USA and Bangladesh

Surya Charishma Tamiri and Tanvi Patri reached the women’s singles final at the Senior National Badminton Championships in Vijayawada. In men’s singles, S Rithvik Sanjeevi stunned top seed Kiran George, while Bharat Raghav upset M Tharun to set up the final clash

Telangana’s Shivani Karra won gold in the under-14 girls 200m freestyle and 100m backstroke at the South Zone aquatics championship in Hyderabad. Dakshinya Harini Gidijala added gold in the 200m breaststroke as swimmers from Karnataka and Telangana shared honours

Jain University defeated University of Mumbai 3-2 in the AIIU Inter Zonal women’s table tennis tournament in Hyderabad. Savitribai Phule University and Chandigarh University registered straight wins, while Punjab University advanced with a walkover against Adamas University

The mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals at the AAI 52nd Institutional Table Tennis Championships in Indore saw PSPB, RBI, Railways and Tamil Nadu pairs advance. Matches featured thrillers, straight-game wins and deciders, underlining the competitive depth at Abhay Prashal

Hyderabad: Shrivalli Rashmika Bhamidipaty lost in the semi-final of the Solapur Open ITF Women’s tennis tournament on Saturday. The Hyderabad player went down to M Ozeki 6-4, 4-6, 4-6.

Para athletes Shivani from Andhra Pradesh and Jyoti from Haryana were honoured with the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar by President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi. Both were trained by the Aditya Mehta Foundation and recognised for their sporting excellence

TCA Khammam defeated TCA Hanamkonda by 75 runs in the Telangana Gold Cup East Zone League at Warangal, with Imran Shaik scoring 75 not out. TCA Mahabubabad beat TCA Mulugu by eight wickets, with R Suresh starring with the ball

Tilottama Sen won gold in the women’s 50m rifle 3P final at the 68th National Shooting Championship in Bhopal. Vidarsa Vinod took silver and Ayonika Paul bronze. Rituparna Deshmukh claimed junior gold, while Rajasthan and Karnataka won team titles

Ujjain religious leaders have given strict warning to disrupt Indian Premier League (IPL) matches if Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur is allowed to participate. Mustafizur Rahman is the only Bangladesh player picked in the recent IPL auction.

PSG won their first Champions League title in 2025 before losing to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final. Liverpool, Barcelona, Bayern and Napoli claimed domestic honours, while Messi led Inter Miami to MLS glory ahead of 2026 World Cup preparations

Shafali Verma smashed 79 not out off 42 balls as India Women beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the third T20I at Thiruvananthapuram. Renuka Singh Thakur (4-21) and Deepti Sharma (3-18) restricted Sri Lanka to 112/7

A record Boxing Day Ashes Test at the MCG saw 20 wickets fall on Day 1. Australia collapsed for 152 but still led England by 42 runs. Josh Tongue took 5/45, while Michael Neser claimed 4/45

Virat Kohli (77) and Rishabh Pant (70) guided Delhi to a narrow seven-run win over Gujarat in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Despite strong starts, Gujarat collapsed to 247 all out chasing 255, with Prince Yadav and Ishant Sharma striking late

Telangana defeated Madhya Pradesh 4-0 in the Santosh Trophy Senior National Football Championship league match at Narainpur, Chhattisgarh. B Sunil opened the scoring in the seventh minute, while Saif Ansari struck a hat-trick in the second half

Aditya Vardhan will captain Hyderabad in the Vijay Merchant Trophy under-16 fifth-round match against Himachal Pradesh at Mulapadu, Vijayawada, from December 29 to 31

Telangana’s Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty reached the singles semifinal of the Solapur Open Women’s ITF tennis tournament after defeating Maya Rajeshwaran

Madhya Pradesh’s Suraj Sharma won both senior and junior men’s titles in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event at the 68th National Shooting Championship in Delhi

Rishiket Sisodia’s 161 powered Deccan Wanderers to an eight-wicket win over Sporting XI, while N Rakesh and Shashank Lokesh guided Cambridge XI past East Marredpally in the A-Division league knock-out semifinals