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Shreyas Iyer to replace Suryakumar Yadav as India’s T20I captain

Published

4 months ago

2026/06/5

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Shreyas Iyer is India's new T20I captain (Cricinfo)

Shreyas Iyer is set to replace Suryakumar Yadav as India’s T20I captain, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is set for his maiden call-up, as the national selectors look ahead to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and the next T20 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand the same year.

The T20I squad will be announced on Saturday for the upcoming tour of Ireland and England, India’s first T20I assignment since Suryakumar led them to the T20 World Cup title in March.

Suryakumar, 35, is likely to be dropped from the squad altogether. The debate around his position arose following a lukewarm 2026 T20 World Cup, where he scored 242 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 136.72, and a poor IPL 2026 where he recorded only 270 runs in 13 innings at an average of 20.76 and a strike rate of 147.54.

His successor Shreyas is 31 but has not played a T20I since December 2023 due to India’s inability to find a place for him due to squad combinations, with Suryakumar and Tilak Varma occupying middle-order positions. Shreyas was most recently called up to the T20I squad as an injury replacement during the home series against New Zealand in January this year, but did not play a game because India preferred to pick the players who were going to play in the T20 World Cup that followed.

Shreyas, however, has proven captaincy credentials, having led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the IPL title in 2024 and led Delhi Capitals (DC) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the final in 2020 and 2025, respectively. He scored 604 runs at a strike rate of 175.07 in IPL 2025 and 498 runs at a strike rate of 168.81 in IPL 2026.

It is the second successive year in which India’s selectors are making such a decision. In 2025, Rohit Sharma had captained India to the Champions Trophy title in March, but the selectors replaced him as ODI captain before India’s next series in Australia in October. Rohit, however, continued to be part of the ODI squad.

Meanwhile, 15-year-old Sooryavanshi is set to become the youngest player selected in an India men’s squad since Sachin Tendulkar in the late 1980s, following a blockbuster IPL season where he made 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.30. Before the T20I tour of Ireland and England, Sooryavanshi will play for India A in a tri-series in Sri Lanka also involving Afghanistan from June 9 to 21.

India play Ireland in two T20Is in Belfast on June 26 and 28, followed by five T20Is in England from July 1 to 11.

(Cricinfo)

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Turkish court detains football refereeing chief pending corruption trial

Published

7 mins ago

2026/10/3

Priyan

The refereeing scandal is the latest controversy to shake football in Turkiye [Aljazeera]

The head of Turkiye’s football refereeing body and four other officials have been placed in pretrial detention by a court as part of a corruption investigation, the state news agency Anadolu reports.

Ferhat Gundogdu, head of the Central Referees Committee, and six others appeared before a judge over allegations of manipulation of the referee administration process, Anadolu said on Saturday.

They appeared on Friday before a judge at Istanbul’s Caglayan courthouse on several charges, including forgery of official documents, breach of trust and illegal acquisition of personal data, the report said.

The judge remanded five people in custody and granted the other two conditional release, Anadolu said.

It was the latest scandal to shake football in Turkiye, coming exactly a year after the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) suspended 149 referees on charges of illegal betting.

On Thursday night, police from the illegal betting and sports crime unit also detained Yasin Kol, a referee from Turkiye’s top-flight Super Lig, as well as an assistant referee, media reports said.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said prosecutors are examining claims about “interference in the processes of referee classification, assignments, scoring and appointments as well as the exams on rules”.

During raids on Tuesday, police searched the VAR room at TFF’s headquarters in Istanbul. Observers said the investigation was likely linked to last year’s betting scandal and would have implications for the federation.

“It does seem to be a continuation of 2025, and it looks like it will continue further,” sports journalist Ayhan Sensoy told the AFP news agency.

Sensoy, who wrote a 2024 book on the issue called The Gambling Pit, said it was unlikely that federation bosses “have any chance of staying in office”.

So far, the TFF has not directly addressed the arrests as its top officials are due to fly home on Saturday after attending Friday night’s Belgium-Turkiye UEFA Nations League clash in Liege, which Turkiye lost 3-0.

[Aljazeera]

Foreign News

Ten injured after car crashes into rugby supporters in Australia

Published

12 mins ago

2026/10/3

Priyan

A fire truck drives towards a crash site as a police vehicle blocks a road in Wallsend, News South Wales, on October 3, 2026, after a car drove into a crowd [Aljazeera]

A car has crashed into a crowd of rugby league supporters in the eastern Australian city of Newcastle, injuring 10 people, including three children.

New South Wales police said on Saturday that two of the injured – a five-year-old girl and a 67-year-old man – were in a critical condition and the other eight were in stable condition in hospital.

Police said they had arrested the 18-year-old man driving the vehicle and were investigating what happened. They said the crash was not believed to be related to “terrorism”.

The crowd had gathered to farewell the local rugby league side, the Newcastle Knights, ahead of their grand final against the Sydney Roosters on Sunday.

Newcastle Lord Mayor Gavin Morris said the driver, a rugby league fan, had lost control of his vehicle and had been taken into custody.

“He was revving the car, he was excited, he was a supporter, he was there for the joy of the moment,” Morris told the national broadcaster ABC.

“Somehow he lost control of the car … and he’s gone into the crowd,” he added.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “My thoughts are with everyone injured or involved in the horrible incident this morning in Newcastle.”

“Rugby league brings people together, and this should have been a weekend of excitement and pride for Newcastle fans,” he wrote in a social media post.

[Aljazeera]

Foreign News

Polls open in Latvia against backdrop of perceived Russia threat

Published

20 mins ago

2026/10/3

Priyan

A man votes during the general election in Saulkrasti, Latvia, on October 3, 2026 [Aljazeera]

Polls have opened in Latvia for an election taking place against the backdrop of perceived security threats from Russia and a nationwide cost-of-living squeeze.

Saturday’s vote is the first electoral test for Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs after coming to power in May this year when his predecessor resigned due to a backlash from stray drone incursions from Ukraine.

Kulbergs, whose right-wing United List party is currently polling at about 20 percent, is expected to hold onto his position, but the decline of two allies in his current coalition means he is set for a complicated negotiation over the makeup of any future government.

Polls opened at 05:00 GMT and will close at 17:00 GMT. The results are not expected to change Latvia’s pro-European and pro-Ukrainian course.

A woman holds an election campaign leaflet of the "Latvia First" party with a picture of the party's leader, Ainars Slesers, before the general election in Riga, Latvia, September 27, 2026. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo — *A woman holds an election campaign leaflet of the Latvia First party with a picture of the party’s leader, Ainars Slesers, before the general election [File: Aljazeera]*

About 1.5 million people are eligible to vote in the country’s 11th parliamentary election since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Latvian politics are highly fragmented, with parties rarely seeing above 20 percent vote share and coalitions being the norm.

This year, 14 electoral lists are contesting the election, but polls indicate only seven are likely to enter parliament, with the rest expected to fail to meet the minimum 5 percent vote threshold.

Rising living costs, low wages, strains on the healthcare system and long-term population decline have all featured prominently in campaign debates.

Most parties in Latvia are pro-Ukraine; however, the populist Sovereign Power party – which says it wants Ukraine to win but argues money spent supporting Kyiv would be better spent at home – looks likely to become the country’s second-biggest party, with more than 9 percent of the vote. Most other parties have ruled out forming a coalition with Sovereign Power.

Latvia First, a pro-Ukraine and populist nationalist party currently polling at about 9 percent, could be a potential coalition partner for PM Kulbergs.

The Progressives, a pro-European social democratic party, are polling at 6 percent.

Ethnic Russians make up roughly one in four Latvian citizens, but their vote, which has traditionally been cast along identity-based lines, looks set to be made according to economic and social issues.

Latvia is the poorest of the Baltic states, and it has sharply increased its defence spending since Russia invaded Ukraine, now allocating nearly 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to defence.

[Aljazeera]