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Karachi, July 15: Pakistan survived a scare before scrapping to a sensational one-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the opening match of the Asia Cup Under-17 Cricket Tournament at the National Stadium here on Saturday.Bangladesh, sent into bat by Pakistan skipper Salman Butt, collapsed from a healthy 139 for three to 168 all out in 44.3 overs. Pakistan, in reply, reached the target with their last pair in. Najaf Shah cracked a boundary of a lone ball he faced to bring dramatic victory for the home team with three balls to spare. Nadeem returned six not out.Pakistan, in fact, were well placed at 150 for three but off-spinner Shafi-ul-Islam triggered a collapse by picking four wickets for 23 runs on a turning track. He was named Man-of-the-Match.Left hander Salman Butt, Kashif Raza and Suleman Qadir, son of ex-Test leg-spinner Abdul Qadir, each made 35. Salman hit five boundaries in his 54-ball knock, Kashif’s 61-ball innings contained three fours while Suleman struck five fours after facing 71 balls. Kashif and Suleman added 77 for the third wicket.Earlier Pakistan off-spinner Munir Ansari produced a splendid spell of five for 26 in 8.3 overs as Bangladesh lost their last seven wickets for 29 runs.Bangladesh skipper Nafees Iqbal, who opened the innings, hit 63 off 112 balls with three hits to the fence to hold his team’s innings together. Sharif-ul-Islam struck three fours in his 35.Sindh Governor Muhammad Mian Soomro inaugurated the event at a simple ceremony in the morning.

Alex McLeish has now dropped a claim on Aaron Ramsey amid the injury issues that the Welshman has had since signing for Glasgow Rangers on loan.

The Lowdown: Injury problems for Ramsey

Ramsey made the bench for the Teddy Bears in their 1-0 win at home to Aberdeen on Saturday after missing out entirely on their previous four matches over all competitions.

The Scottish Sun reported earlier this week that the Wales international has flown in his own trusted physios at a personal cost of £30,000 in order to try and help him with his injury troubles.

The Latest: McLeish reacts

Speaking to Football Insider, McLeish – who features as a pundit for BBC Radio 5 Live – gave his reaction to Ramsey’s injury worries, claiming that it is ‘very frustrating’ for Rangers and hinting that there may be an ‘underlying issue’.

The former Ibrox manager said: “For Rangers fans, it’s been very frustrating.

“Now, the internet goes mental and everyone goes into a fever pitch, thinking there is something underlying.

“It would be great for him to get back into the team. If there is an underlying issue, I’m sure at some point it will come out in the press.

“If it’s just a case of getting of reaching a certain level, that’s a mindset thing.

“When he got Wales to the semi-finals at the Euros a few years ago, I put him in the world class bracket.

“Everyone was flabbergasted when he came to Rangers but we have to see him ASAP. Time is running out and he needs to get cracking.”

The Verdict: Worrying

There is no doubt that Ramsey’s injury niggles are worrying for Rangers, given the history that he has in that regard. He reportedly suffered a minor knock a couple of weeks ago, but it seems as if he has still not been able to fully recover from that particular setback.

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Gers supporters will surely be hoping that the 31-year-old’s physios can do the work needed to boost his fitness, so that Giovanni van Bronckhorst can use him more regularly from now until the end of the season.

In other news: find out which Rangers man’s performance against Aberdeen was slammed by some reporters

Australia wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis, who was picked by Lucknow Super Giants for INR 8.6 crore at the recent IPL mini-auction, has confirmed that he will not be fully available for the 2026 season. Inglis said he would be getting married in early April, with IPL 2026 set to run from March 26 to May 31.”Well, I sort of watched a lot of it [IPL auction] and I was pushed back in the pecking order,” Inglis told . “I don’t have full availability this year. I’m getting married in early April. So, I didn’t really expect to go, to be honest. So I sort of saw my name go by unsold… the first one I was like ‘alright stuff this, I’m going to bed’ and I need to switch on for tomorrow [Ashes] and then woke up to the news. I didn’t know until I’d seen a few messages this morning.”Though his former IPL coach at Punjab Kings, Ricky Ponting, had hinted at Inglis’ partial availability after the franchise had released him, Inglis triggered a bidding war at the auction after initially going unsold. LSG eventually outbid Sunrisers Hyderabad and reunited Inglis with coach Justin Langer – the pair has previously worked together at Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League (BBL).Related

• IPL 2026 to be held between March 26 and May 31

• IPL 2026: How the ten teams stack up after the auction

• IPL 2026 auction: Green and greenhorns strike gold

PBKS co-owner Ness Wadia suggested that Inglis was among the players the franchise had been looking to keep for IPL 2026 until the player communicated his lack of full availability “45 minutes before the deadline.””We didn’t really let go of Josh. I mean, Josh unfortunately, sadly, only told us at the last minute, which was not very fair given that he had been with us for a while,” Wadia told . “I think everyone knew when the retention was coming, and we were informed by him 45 minutes before the deadline that he was getting married and needed time to relax and recuperate. He said he was going to be available only for a couple of weeks [three games].”We told him he should have informed us earlier. I don’t think it was very professional of him. I don’t think it is very professional of anyone if they know there is a deadline. You can’t call someone 45 minutes before and say, ‘Hey, I’m not coming,’ especially when he knew that we were retaining him.”But I wish him all the best. He is a good player and I am sure he will do well for Australia. And let’s see whether he plays in the IPL or not. I wish him all the best because he is a fellow human being. But, the manner in which he behaved was not very professional.”In his first IPL season, Inglis slotted in a disruptor in PBKS’ line-up, scoring 278 runs in 11 innings at an average of 30.88 and strike rate of 162.57. The tally included a match-winning 73 off 42 balls from No.3 against a Jasprit-Bumrah-led Mumbai Indians attack in Jaipur. Overall, Inglis has scored 3853 runs in 152 T20 innings at an average of 29.86 and strike rate of just under 150.

The success of Twenty20 cricket has prompted the Indian board to contemplate introducing the shortest version of the game in women’s domestic cricket. It is likely that women will play Twenty20 matches this season, though it is yet to be fitted into the schedule. The board will also discuss organising a women’s World Twenty20.”The BCCI is trying [to see] a Twenty20 World Cup for women cricket organised either before or after the women’s World Cup,” Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, told .The ICC has not discussed any firm proposals for arranging such tournament on a world scale. Any such development would have to go through the ICC women’s committee. The 50-over World Cup is scheduled to be played in Australia in 2009 though the venues within the country are yet to be approved by the ICC.The first-ever Twenty20 international was played by women when New Zealand beat England by nine runs in Hove in August 2004, six months before Australia and New Zealand played the first men’s international in Auckland.The Indian women also played their first and only Twenty20 before the men’s side, when they beat England by eight wickets in Derby in August 2006. Four months later the men’s side played their first Twenty20 when beat they South Africa by nine runs in Johannesburg.

The trial of Mark Vermeulen, the former Zimbabwe Test player charged with arson attacks on the Zimbabwe cricket association’s boardroom and training academy, has been adjourned after the prosecution failed to produce vital video evidence.Vermeulen, 27, who played the last of his eight Test matches in 2004, is charged with two counts of arson and if convicted faces 25 years in prison. He is accused of first trying to torch the association’s boardroom at the Harare Sports Club in late October and then burning down the pavilion at the training academy the following day.His trial is now set for February 7 after his defence lawyer, David Dhumbura, outlined the problems in a letter to the court. He wrote: “To date we still have not received a copy of the video footage on indications made by [the] client.”He went onto say that the delay had meant they had been unable to prepare the defence case in time for the December 6 hearing. “This is a serious and sensitive matter, we cannot afford ill-preparation. The liberty of our client is at immense risk.”Dhumbura said Vermeulen required expert medical examination and added: “We will be seeking a medical report from Australia which will describe the effects of a serious skull fracture which our client sustained in January 2004 [during the VB series].”Vermeulen was also examined by a local psychiatrist and a psycho-analyst who had both indicated they would only be able to provide comprehensive reports after December 8.Dhumbura applied for Vermeulen to be allowed to play cricket at any venue other than Harare Sports Club or Country club. The Magistrate William Bhila deferred the trial to next year and relaxed Vermeulen’s bail conditions from reporting daily to the police to once a week.

Sourav Ganguly: will there be a repeat of Lord’s 1996? © Getty Images

Sourav Ganguly, the deposed Indian captain, says he will treat his comeback to the Indian squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka, at Chennai on December 2, as if it was his first Test match.”If I get a chance against Sri Lanka, I will give my best as I did in my first Test, and try to do well,” Ganguly told a TV channell in what was his first reaction to being selected. “One is always happy at representing the country, be it your first Test, the 50th or 100th, as it is a great honour.”Ganguly also added that he was expecting to be named in the squad as he “had a good tour of Zimbabwe”. Admitting that his experience would be valuable while making a comeback, Ganguly, however, said one learns something new every day. “Even someone playing his 100th Test would say that he could still improve. We have new experiences every day and new results and situations confront us while batting and bowling.”Ganguly even admitted that playing domestic cricket had benefitted him. “Obviously, the more cricket one plays, the better one gets.”

Andrew Leipus: ‘It’s a pity that I won’t be around for Sachin’s 35th hundred’© AFP

With a bowler, you can ask how many wickets, with a batsman, how many runs. With a coach you can ponder the win-loss record. But, how do you judge a physio? Injuries come and go, striking even fittest of cricketers in the freakiest circumstances. It’s never easy to judge how well a physio is doing his job. Yet, if the players he trains, and the coach he works with, have a decent comfort level, that’s always a good sign. With Andrew Leipus, who is leaving the Indian team at the end of the Bangladesh tour after five years on the job, there’s no doubt how the team feels.”Andrew [Leipus] has been outstanding,” says John Wright, fulsome in his praise. “He is a thorough professional but I think the biggest thing about him is his work ethic. He is going to be very hard to replace; you don’t find too many Andrews around. You try and put good people around you and he is definitely one of those people.”Leipus, though pleased to hear Wright’s comments, is modest. “I’m flattered he says that, we have grown to become a bit of a family. Obviously you spend so much time with people that you develop relationships and get good understanding of how each of us operate. We know the little quirks, when to back off and when to approach each other. It will be tough when someone else takes over, but it’s life, no one is irreplaceable, ultimately.”When Leipus first began, in late 1999, he was able to quickly adjust to India and her people because he had already visited the country before, as a backpacker, with his girlfriend. “I think it really helped me to be honest; I knew the culture, I knew the country and I knew what to expect. It wasn’t a huge culture shock; it’s not like I got out of the plane and then have a central shock,” he says. “I had seen India from the trains, buses, tuk-tuks and stayed in guest lodges so I experienced it from the ground level. Obviously at the other end of the spectrum I am standing with heroes and superstars of Indian society so I have seen probably both ends of the spectrum.”But what was harder to get used to was the media attention his job received. Every injury fuelled speculations and rumours. “I never expected that much attention when I first got here,” he reflects. “Nowhere else in the world does the physio get that much attention from the media. You get periods when you get a bit of injury or something happens and you rest a player then the media sort of jumps on the story; it’s a story and I know you are doing your job.”We are trying to keep the injury sort of quiet for whatever reason from the gamesmanship point of view that becomes a bit of problem. I get a bit of annoyed when there is too much going behind the scenes. Those are tough times; obviously when you are under the pump and there are a few injuries and the media is jumping on, asking ‘is Leipus doing his job?’ that’s tough but generally, I have had a decent relationship with the media. I respect you guys for your job; it’s a very tough job to do. You’ve a harder job than me, I think.”But if doing the job as Indian physio was hard, deciding to give it up was harder. “It wasn’t easy, it was probably a tough decision to make; chuck the best job in the world and try and do something different,” he says. “From that point of view, it’s probably been the hardest decision in my life. But it wasn’t an over and out thing, it was growing for a while.”Looking back at his tenure, Leipus could not pin-point one moment as an obvious high. “There are so many of them, really. Every tour you have your highs and disappointments. The World Cup was great, beating Australia (in India in 2001) was great; beating Australia in Adelaide was great.” That was a special match for him, Liepus emphasises, because Adelaide is his hometown.Then he singles out the personal milestones that the players achieved during his tenure, Tendulkar’s 34th Test hundred, Sehwag’s 309 and Laxman’s innings in Kolkata, “They are all personal milestones that you feel proud of. It’s a pity that I won’t be around for Sachin’s 35th hundred. It would have been nice to been a part of that. I am a bit disappointed about it.”But not half as disappointed as the team, who would have lost a good man.

The Sydney Grade Cricket Competition’s Round 2 was completed yesterday, Monday 6 October. Bankstown, Randwick Petersham and Northern District recorded wins, but the rest of the competition had to settle for draws after rain intervened. Former NSW paceman Trent Johnston took a tremendous hat-trick for Mosman, while two little-known Sutherland third-graders broke an historic tenth-wicket partnership record.Mark Waugh recorded his first win as Bankstown’s captain, as his side crept past St George’s total of 212 for the loss of eight wickets at Bankstown Oval. Waugh could only manage 3 in difficult conditions, while Gian Scuglia (66) top-scored in his side’s important win.Northern District needed only one day to demolish a new-look Eastern Suburbs outfit at Waitara Oval. Brad Haddin made an unsuccessful return to his old club ground, scoring just 5 as the Dolphins managed only 91. Opening bowlers Rob Eddy (4/28) and Cameron Eve (3/22) did most of the damage for District. Graham Hanlon (69) and man-of-the-match Cameron Eve (60) then helped the home side cruise to victory, eventually scoring 262.Simon Katich (62) continued his fine early-season form at Petersham Oval, as Randwick Petersham hauled in Campbelltown-Camden’s 279, only six wickets down. Jarred Burke (103) and John McKell (82) gave the Ghosts a great opportunity on, but the classy Randy Petes batting line-up was too strong, with Joseph Hill (81) top-scoring.At Village Green, former NSW paceman Trent Johnston recorded a brilliant hat-trick against University of NSW. Michael Slater was the second of his three victims, as the Bumblebees stumbled to 4/8. However, Johnston (5/38) could not prevent the home side posting 311, to which Mosman replied with 1/125.In Third Grade, a remarkable record was established at Sutherland Oval. After being sent in to bat, Sutherland was reeling at 9/97, when Daniel Marandola joined Aaron Phillips at the crease. In 69 previous matches, Marandola’s highest score had been only 18. Phillips was eventually out for 154, with the score on 292- a 195-run partnership. Marandola remained undefeated on 61. The partnership is the highest-ever tenth-wicket partnership in any Grade.Other First Grade matches- Manly-Warringah 294 drew with Blacktown 1/23 at Joe McAleer; Penrith 237 drew with Fairfield-Liverpool 5/103 at Howell; Gordon 96 drew with Parramatta 0/56 at Killara; North Sydney 171 drew with UTS-Balmain 2/58 at Drummoyne; Western Suburbs 202 drew with Sutherland 0/20 at Pratten; Hawkesbury 152 drew with Sydney University 0/66 at Owen Earle.

Uttar Pradesh won their Ranji Trophy one-day match against Vidarbhy bythree wickets at Udaipur on Saturday.Opting to bat first, Vidarbha put 230 runs on the board. The runs weremade largely by Ulhas Gandhe and Harshal Shitoot, two batsmen who havedisplayed remarkable consistency lower down the order for Vidarbha.Gandhe made 46 off 71, with one four and one six, while Shitoot scored57 off 47, with seven fours.Needing 231 to win, Uttar Pradesh were never pressed for run-rate,with Mohammad Kaif hitting 65 off 61 balls and a number of otherbatsmen made quick runs. Kaif fell at 183/6, however, giving Vidarbhaa sniff at victory. The seventh wicket fell at 207, but ParvinderSingh (27 off 38) steered his side to a win by three wickets.

Mark Wood is flying home early from England’s tour of the UAE to see a specialist about the left ankle problem that forced him to sit out the third Test against Pakistan. He will miss the ODI and T20 legs of the tour, which begin in Abu Dhabi next week, with his place in the squad being taken by Liam Plunkett.Wood, whose energetic delivery stride has caused discomfort in his ankle joint for several months, has previously admitted that he may require surgery to rectify the issue. He required a cortisone injection to get through last summer’s Ashes win over Australia, and missed the third Test at Edgbaston before returning for the final two matches.He received a second injection during the Pakistan series, having claimed six wickets in 62.5 overs across the first two Tests, including his best Test figures of 3 for 39 in the first innings in Dubai. However, the England management opted not to risk him for the series decider, with Samit Patel instead earning a recall to complete a three-spinner attack.”Mark Wood’s ankle condition is well known and while we have managed his workloads over the summer and during the Test series against Pakistan it has been decided that the sensible course of action is to seek further advice from a specialist,” said James Whitaker, the national selector. “We will then be able to consider how to ensure Mark is able to perform at his very best in an England shirt going forward.”Liam Plunkett will replace Wood in both squads and, having featured in the ODI side last summer, his inclusion provides Eoin Morgan and Trevor Bayliss with an experienced pace bowling option in the squad.”With the Test tour of South Africa looming next month, England now have concerns over three of the seamers who played a role in last summer’s Ashes win. Steven Finn is currently recovering from a stress-related foot injury while Ben Stokes batted with some discomfort but did not bowl or field in the second innings in Sharjah after damaging his collarbone.England begin their preparations for the one-day leg of the UAE tour with a 50-over match against Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, while the four match ODI series against Pakistan starts on Wednesday.