Axar likely to be called as Kuldeep's cover
New Delhi: left-arm spinner Axar Patel is likely to be summoned as the 15th member of the Indian team due to Ravindra Jadeja's suspension from the third Test against Sri lanka, starting August 12. While Kuldeep is a certainty in the playing XI for the final Test match, the team management wants to keep a cover for the young chinaman bowler. Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad is currently in Pallekele for the third Test and is expected to take a call after discussions with coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli. Axar is currently in South Africa, where he is playing the tri-nation one-day series of the 'A' teams. While Axar will be travelling with the Indian team in Sri lanka, off-spinner Jayant Yadav is expected to stay back as cover.
Iyer fires India 'A' to tri-series title
Pretoria: Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer delivered when it mattered most as India 'A' outplayed South Africa 'A' by seven wickets to retain the tri-series trophy they won four years ago. Iyer (140 not out off 131 balls), who did not score a half century in four round robin games, anchored the chase alongside Tamil Nadu captain Vijay Shankar (72 off 86) to guide India 'A' to victory in 46.5 overs. Earlier, South Africa 'A' recovered to post a competitive 267 for seven after losing half of their side for 115 in the 28th over. Farhaan Behardien struck an unbeaten 101 off 114 balls, which eventually went in vain. Dewald Pretorious too played a role in his team's recovery scoring 58 off 61 balls.
Haryana end Gujarat unbeaten run
nagpur: Haryana Steelers ended Gujarat Fortunegiants' unbeaten run with a 32-20 win in the Pro Kabaddi league here on Tuesday. Vikas Khandola was one of the stars for Gujarat. He led the way with some wonderful raids which included a moment of brilliance when he was caught by the rival defenders but managed to touch the line with his legs. Gujarat fought back strongly after a moderate first half but the Steelers' impressive play kept them ahead. They never allowed Gujarat any leeway and ran away to a convincing win. With seven minutes to go, Haryana led 18-11 and the best efforts of the Fortungiants raider yielded nothing positive. After 18 minutes of play, the two teams were level on points as Gujarat's defence rose to the occasion.
Sindhu seeded 4th in World C'ship
New Delhi: Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu and World No 8 Kidambi Srikanth have been given the fourth and eighth seedings respectively in the BWF World Badminton Championship, which will get underway in Glasgow on August 21. Sindhu was just below two-time winner and Olympic champion Carolina Marin. World No 16 Saina Nehwal, who clinched the silver medal at the 2015 World Championship, has been seeded 12th for the tournament. In men's singles, Srikanth, who has been in rampaging form with back-to-back titles at Indonesia and Australia, is seeded eighth, just below two-time Olympic champion and five- time World Champion lin Dan of China. Among others, Ajay Jayaram and B Sai Praneeth have been seeded 13th and 15th respectively, while World No 28 Sameer Verma will begin his campaign as an unseeded player.