Author: Anuraag Peesara

 Having registered a thumping win in the first Test, Sri Lanka had a few jittery moments in the second but ended up winning the Test as emphatically as the first. West Indies garnered first innings lead to create some interest, but Dhananjaya de Silva’s sensational hundred curbed their every remaining hope. https://twitter.com/OfficialSLC/status/1466712836197941250 Sri Lanka batted first in this Test as well, and they had a terrific start to the game, with Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne getting a solid opening partnership. Nissanka completed his half-century and played the aggressor, as the duo added 106 runs for the first wicket. But once their partnership ended…

Ajaz Patel ensured the Mumbai Test between India and New Zealand will be etched in history, and despite the 33-year-old scripting a very rare tale in international cricket, the visiting side were let down by their batters. India are in a firm position to complete yet another series win on home turf in Mumbai, with their bowlers running rampant on Day 2. On the opening day of the Test, India won the toss and chose to bat first. The game was delayed for a while due to rain, but once the game resumed, Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal put up a brilliant partnership for…

Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has been having a sensational outing in international cricket, which started with his exploits in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in UAE and is now ripping up defences in the longest format against Bangladesh. The Men in Green won the first Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram by 8 wickets, and Afridi returned with 7 wickets in the game. In the second innings of the Test match, Afridi cleaned up Bangladesh’s top three and added two more wickets, making it seven for the game, adding the two he picked up in the first innings. Hasan Ali did…

Colin Munro reckons his time as an international cricketer is coming close to an end, and he himself is coming to terms with it. After not being picked in the New Zealand T20 World Cup squad, batsman phased out of the side due to a poor run of form, and as it stands, with a new crop of players emerging, it seems like there isn’t a scope for a comeback for the Kiwi. Munro said in an interview that he would’ve been more adamant to fight back at the age of 25 or 26, but now that he’s nearly halfway past in his 30s,…

On November 29, Ralf Rangnick has been appointed as Manchester United interim boss and will take up a consultancy role at the club after the end of this season. It means that he will be playing a similar role he played at Hoffenheim, Schalke 04 and both RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg. However, the word consultancy in the case of United has not been specified properly. The German was an integral part of the transfer negotiation business at all the clubs he previously worked for, in whichever capacity he was involved in. He is expected to take up a similar…

One of the greatest referees the game of football witnessed, Pierluigi Collini is currently the Chairman of FIFA’s refereeing committee, and his team has been working relentlessly to integrate technology into the game to ensure it meets the modern standards and makes the life of referees a little less turbulent. As a part of that endeavour, FIFA will be trying out the semiautomated offside technology in the FIFA Arab Cup that got started on 30th November. It has been hailed as the most important experiment thus far, and it was explained by the legendary referee of the yester generation during FIFA’s Football Living…

Former Inter Milan & Argentina midfielder Esteban Cambiasso launched a heavy attack on his former international teammate’s latest accomplishment. Lionel Messi, who was named the winner of Ballon d’Or for this year, has been receiving a lot of criticism on account of not deserving the award ahead of Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski. Cambiasso, who was an integral part of Jose Mourinho’s treble-winning campaign back in 2010, said that he stopped believing in individual awards the moment Diego Milito was not considered to be in the top 30 after a treble win. The Argentine forward had scored 30 goals across all competitions, but failed to secure a…

The much-anticipated arrival of Ralf Rangnick has been completed at Manchester United, with the German boss joining the Old Trafford-based club on an interim role. However, he will not be at the helm of things on Thursday night to oversee the fixture against Arsenal, as he is yet to receive his work visa from the British government. This means Michael Carrick will be in charge for another game, and there is a possibility he could get a fourth game in charge against Crystal Palace if Rangnick’s work visa isn’t stamped by Saturday. The former United midfielder, who had plenty of memorable duels…

Chelsea centre-back Thiago Silva got some criticism ahead of the Premier League game against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge, from United legend Paul Scholes. The midfielder of the yester generation noted that Cristiano Ronaldo will find it easy to go past him, and these comments did not go well with the Brazilian. Credit: Getty Images As it turns out, United sneaked out a draw against the league leaders and European champions. Jadon Sancho got his first Premier League goal for the club banking on a terrible error from Jorginho, but the Blues got back on level terms courtesy a penalty earned by Silva,…

The Merseyside Derby will be played with one almighty twist this time at Goodison Park, with the Liverpool faithful at the away stand spotting one familiar figure in the coaching staff of their bitter local rivals. Rafael Benitez, who joined Everton in June, will be facing his former club for the first time as the Toffee’s boss. This has been one of the most talked-about moves of this summer, with Benitez receiving plenty of threats from the Reds fans through wall paintings and social media. However, the Spaniard went through with the move, which came at the expense of a…