The sports wrap: Gujarat gain slight edge over Mumbai in Ranji Trophy final, and other top stories

The big story: Parthiv Patel leads Gujarat’s surge

Gujarat reached 291/6 against Mumbai at the end of day two of the Ranji Trophy final with a handy lead of 63. Mumbai’s bowlers were frustrated by Parthiv Patel (90) and Manprit Juneja’s (77) timely efforts after getting rid of in-form openers Samit Gohel and Priyank Panchal.

While Abhishek Nayar proved a handy customer with his medium-pacers with three crucial wickets, Shardul Thakur, Balwinder Sandhu and spinner Vijay Gohil struggled for long spells. Patel and Juneja brought up 108 for the fourth wicket. The defending champions were sloppy on the field too, dropping a couple of catches.

Cricket

After recently being appointed as the Indian skipper in all three formats of the game, Virat Kohli called the experience “surreal” and added that there are multiple ways to chart out success.
The Supreme Court appointed Lodha Committee instructed Board of Control for Cricket in India CEO Rahul Johri to get written assurances from all state units hosting matches that cricket will no way be affected.
Indian spin ace Ravichandran Ashwin opined that despite stepping down, MS Dhoni’s will hold the key as a communicator as a seasoned campaigner in the camp.
Yuvraj Singh’s father, former cricketer Yograj Singh, once again lashed out at Dhoni, stating that the 35-year-old made a comeback in the Indian team because of the latter stepping down as captain.
Dhoni continued to earn rich praise from his teammates with swashbuckling batsman Rohit Sharma observing his switch from a middle-order batsman to opener a career-changing decision.
India’s fitness trainer Shankar Basu has taken a break from the national team and has been replaced by Pune-based Anand Date.

Football

Manchester City have been charged by the Football Association with breaching its anti-doping procedures, the governing body said on Wednesday.
Mexico and USA have emerged as frontrunners to host the 2026 World Cup, where, for the first time, 48 teams will take part. Canada are also in the running for submitting a bid.
Former Manchester City and Fiorentina forward Stefan Jovetic has moved to Spanish side Sevilla on loan and will play out the rest of the season there.
The agent of AS Roma defender Kostas Manolas revealed that the Italian giants had rejected a 40 million euro bid from English Premier League top dog Arsenal in the summer.
Fresh from winning the FIFA World Player of the year award, Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo ruled out coaching from his future plans once he hangs up his boots.

Tennis

Leander Paes and his new partner, Brazilian Andre Sa ousted top seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi 7-6(3), 6-3 in the ASB Classic in Auckland on Wednesday, PTI reported.
Yuki Bhambri breezed through to the second round of the Australian Open qualifiers after beating American Stefan Kozlov 6-1, 6-4 in Melbourne on Wednesday.
The Indo-Czech duo of Sania Mirza Barbora Strycova entered the semi-finals of the Apia International in Sydney after defeating Madison Brengle and Anastasia Rodionova 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday.

Badminton

Chennai Smashers defeated Awadhe Warriors 4-3 in a Premier Badminton League on Wednesday.

Chess

Grandmaster Murali Karthikeyan defeated compatriot KS Raghunandan in the fourth round of 15th Parsvnath Delhi International Open Chess tournament.

Wrestling

Delhi Sultans’ campaign in the second season of Pro Wrestling League ended as they slumped to their third consecutive defeat, losing 2-5 to Haryana Hammers.