Sports News: Cricket and Football Headlines: MS Dhoni's Ultimatum, Gambhir's Coaching Style, Lara's Critique, and More

Ravichandran Ashwin has mentioned an incident in his autobiography, "I Have The Streets- A Kutty Cricket Story", regarding the 2010 match at Port Elizabeth when Dhoni lost his cool over S Sreesanth. Dhoni noticed that Sreesanth was a reserve player and not with the team; hence he wanted him to join them. He did not move an inch, and Dhoni, in anger, asked Ashwin to inform team manager Ranjib Biswal to book Sreesanth's ticket home. It was a strong warning that finally made Sreesanth join the team for drink duties on time, thus diffusing matters.

Avesh Khan shared his experiences while working under Gautam Gambhir, the newly appointed Team India head coach. Having played under Gambhir's mentorship themselves at the Lucknow Super Giants, Avesh said that Gambhir always focuses on mindset and asks players to play in a way which gets them ahead of the opposition, always giving their 100 percent. He is known for impactful, to-the-point communication, to asking for defined roles, and asking everyone to be selfless. He also praised Gambhir's style of coaching, saying that he would look to emulate Jasprit Bumrah's accuracy of delivery - Renaud: 'Delivering every ball as per plan is important'.

Batting legend Brian Lara has accused the West Indies cricket board of failing to build proper grassroots and academy facilities and said that money was not what would revive Test cricket fortunes. In the wake of the West Indian team's rout at Lord's by England, Lara echoed the sentiments on developing better talent and corporate involvement. He added that they are currently placed eighth in ICC Test rankings, have failed to qualify for the recent major events, and brought out the decline since then—the dominant force during the 1970s and 1980s—deserved better sponsorship and facility standards to groom young talent.

Legend Indian fast-bowler, Jhulan Goswami joins Trinbago Knight Riders as a mentor ahead of 2024 WCPL. Jhulan, the 2022 retiree with 355 international wickets, herself stated how excited she was to get onboarded by the TKR; lavished massive praises on the management of the franchise. Led by Deandra Dottin, star players of the team include Jemimah Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey, Meg Lanning, and Jess Jonassen. The TKR Women, under Jhulan, will feature in the WCPL from August 22-29 and will look to take the title home.

Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi is unlikely to be a part of the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh as he will be busy celebrating the birth of his first child with wife Ansa Afridi. Head coach Jason Gillespie confirmed the speculation that Afridi won't play in the series starting August 21 since he might opt not to leave his family at this juncture. The attention also came as he was in the news recently for his alleged misbehavior with batting coach Mohammad Yousuf during Pakistan's tour to England and his eventual replacement as white-ball skipper, Shaheen Afraidi, who had married Ansha back in February last year.

Veteran Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi has set his eyes on playing for another four years before calling it quits after the 2026 T20 World Cup. He would continue to be the leader of Dambulla Sixers in franchise-based league LPL and was still committed to his fitness regimen, forming one of the deadliest combinations with fellow-leggie Rashid Khan in T20Is. He said he would call time on his ODI career once the Champions Trophy ended. He feels himself important in Afghanistan's team dynamics. Nabi said that franchise cricket helped Afghanistan better their T20 record, a list that includes the historic semifinal finish in the recent T20 World Cup.

The Pakistan Cricket Board on February 21 revised the composition of the selection committee on the eve of the home Test series against Bangladesh. Two former players—the under-19 skipper, Mohammad Yousuf, and Asad Shafiq—have been retained along with some new and non-voting ones. A committee comprising captains and head coaches will choose the squads for the two Tests in Rawalpindi and Karachi, part of the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle.

England confirmed their place in the final of Euro 2024 after coming from behind to beat France in the semi-finals—a game in which they had been kept on their toes through the barrage of relentless pressing and direct passing, turning it around with two goals in five minutes. So it is now that a midfield like England's, with players such as Rodri to help dictate the pace, and energetic wingers like Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal, has to worry about Spain, who have rare possession and strength in midfield players of the quality of Fabian Ruiz. Despite this defensive solidity of England, set pieces remain a concern going into the final showdown.