Sports News: India Triumphs in Women's Asia Cup, Mark Wood Sets Record, and ICC Elects New Chair: Cricket News Recap

The Indian women's cricket team defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets in the opening match of the Women's Asia Cup 2024. Having opted for batting first, Pakistan were bowled out for 108 as Deepti Sharma led the Indian bowling attack with figures of 3/20. Other contributors for crucial wickets were Renuka Singh, who ended with 2/14 and Pooja Vastrakar 2/31. Although Tuba Hassan forged a 31-run stand with Fatima Sana, the rest of the batters misfired as Pakistan collapsed. In response, an opening stand of 85 between India's Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma got them well on the road, with Jemimah Rodrigues closing the game out inside 15 overs.

It was words from Mark Wood, dovetailed by his scorching pace at Trent Bridge. He returned the quickest recorded Test over by an England bowler on home soil, averaging 94.40 mph. Wood replaced James Anderson and hit speeds above 96 mph regularly in his spell against the West Indies. He had enough pace and consistency to bring back memories of performances during the 2022 T20 World Cup and the 2019 ODI World Cup, in which he did leave his mark with the fastest deliveries. He has been known as one of the quickest bowlers in the world; Wood's fiery pace has kept batsmen on their toes across formats.

Suryakumar Yadav was confirmed as India's captain for the T20I series against Sri Lanka, while Shubman Gill was named vice-captain, in a bid to portray there is change in leadership. While Hardik Pandya acted throughout as vice-captain in the T20 World Cup and continued to be the leader of the post-World Cup set-up, the selectors opted for Suryakumar. These range from workload management of Pandya to Suryakumar's man-management skills and long-term vision for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Also taken into consideration were the too frequent visits of Pandya to the casualty ward, as the selectors wanted the swashbuckling all-rounder focusing on playing performance rather than captaincy.

ICC Associate Member Directors election results Two new board members for the next two years The ICC Associate Member Directors election results introduced two new board members for the next two years. Mubashshir Usmani of the UAE polled the most votes, at 23, and hence is the new Chair of Associate Members. Imran Khwaja held on to his board spot with 20 votes but lost the chair position. Mahinda Vallipuram makes a return to the board, defeating Pankaj Khimji by two votes. It was just these surprising results that opened the ICC Annual Conference, further discussions expected about the future of USA Cricket and an assessment of the recent T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA.

With Ravindra Jadeja announcing his retirement from T20Is right after India's win in the T20 World Cup 2024, he is not expected to feature in India's ODI team anytime soon. Though actually, he has a pretty strong record in ODIs; the selectors are more keen on going with options such as Axar Patel and Washington Sundar—who are a bit younger—for next year's ICC Champions Trophy. The latter was adjudged Player of the Series against Zimbabwe recently and was deemed as Jadeja's long-term replacement, but Jadeja still finds a place in India's main core Test team, more so for the upcoming World Test Championship matches.

The three-match T20I series between India and Sri Lanka will start in Pallekele on July 27, which Suryakumar Yadav will captain in the absence of retired Rohit Sharma. Shubman Gill has been appointed as the vice-captain. India will look to take home a clean sweep in the three-game T20I series under the guidance of new head coach Gautam Gambhir. Other key selection decisions include calling between Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson as the wicketkeeper-batter, and between Axar Patel and Washington Sundar as the spin all-rounder. Yashasvi Jaiswal will probably open with Gill, and Arshdeep Singh will spearhead the pace attack in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.

Mason Greenwood, 22, was looking to make a fresh start in Marseille and to get out of the way of controversies that involved him at Manchester United. The forward scored 10 goals in La Liga last season with Getafe and is looking forward to focusing on his football and family as he settles into his new club. There had been misgivings, conceded the president of Marseille, about signing Greenwood, but the footballing potential of Greenwood is not to be sniffed at either—looking forward to a solid season ahead and shunting international ambition onto the backburner for now.

Alexander Zverev continued his fantastic form at Hamburg, making it 43 wins this season with a comprehensively quick victory over Zhang Zhizhen. At no time did the German, seeking successive titles in this home tournament, look anything other than content and focused on getting through to the final. Coming to Roland Garros and about to defend his title in the Olympics, Zverev recalled his successful season in 2021, saying that it gave good vibes for upcoming tournaments like the US Open. Pedro Martinez now awaits him in the semifinals.