New Delhi: Tata Group on Tuesday bagged the title rights for the inaugural Women’s Premier League beginning in Mumbai on March 4.

A BCCI source told PTI that Tata has secured the rights for five years. The Indian multinational conglomerate had last year replaced Vivo as the title sponsor for the Indian Premier League.

“The deal has been inked for five years,” the source said.

The first edition will be played in Mumbai at two venues, Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium.

The sale of media rights had fetched BCCI Rs 951 crore and the five teams were sold for Rs 4700 crore.

At Rs 3.40 crore, Indian opener Smriti Mandhana was the most expensive buy at the auction held earlier this month.

DUBAI: Sania Mirza closed her glorious career with a first round defeat at the WTA Dubai Duty Free Championships, losing the contest in straight sets along with American partner Madison Keys here Tuesday.

Sania and Keys lost 4-6 0-6 to the formidable Russian pair of Vernokia Kudermetova and Liudmila Samsonova in exactly one hour.

The 25-year-old Veronika is ranked 11th in singles and number five in doubles while Liudmila is world number 13 in doubles.

The 36-year-old Sania, who turned Pro in 2003, walks out of competitive tennis with six Grand Slam titles, including three women’s doubles with Swiss legend Martina Hingis.

She won two of her three mixed doubles with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi (2009 Australian Open and 2012 French Open). She won the US Open trophy with Bruno Soares.

The breaks were traded at swift pace in the opening set which was locked at 4-4.

From there, Kudermetova and Samsonova broke the pair of Sania and Keys one more time for a 5-4 lead, placing themselves in a position from where they could serve out the set.

They did that quite comfortably, losing one point in the 10th game.

Sania and her partner were broken in the very first game of the second set and it was one-way traffic after that as they were bageled.

NEW DELHI: Usman Khawaja made a compact fifty but Ravichandran Ashwin’s twin strike gave India the upper-hand as Australia were pegged back at 94 for 3 at lunch on the opening day of the second Test here on Friday.

Ashwin (2/29 in 10 overs) removed Marnus Labuschagne (18) and Steve Smith (0) in quick succession despite Khawaja’s well compiled knock that had eight fours and a six over extra cover off the senior off-spinner.

This was after Khawaja and David Warner (15) added 50 runs for the opening stand as the visiting team gave a better account of themselves after skipper Pat Cummins opted to bat first.

While Khawaja was more assertive with his footwork and started with a square driven boundary, Warner struggled a lot during the first hour.

In fact, the Kotla strip aided better bounce and carry with Mohammed Siraj (0/14 in 6 overs) bowling a brisk first spell.

While Mohammed Shami (1/31 in 6 overs) erred in length during his first three-over spell from the Old Pavilion End, Siraj bowled quick and hurried both Warner and Khawaja with pace and bounce.

Warner’s slowed down reflexes cause him trouble with Siraj rattling him with quick deliveries.

Warner got hit on the elbow, which required medical attention and then on the head, which required on-field concussion test.

Having been softened up by Siraj, skipper Rohit Sharma changed Shami’s end and brought him from the Delhi Gate side.

Having pushed him on the backfoot, Shami went wide of the crease and angled one in, forcing Warner to jab at it and the regulation catch was accepted by keeper Kona Bharat.

Khawaja, however, started using his feet against Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja (0/11 in 3 overs) and collected a few boundaries but it was Labuschagne, who got an off-break from Ashwin that beat him and DRS went in favour of India.

In case of Smith, full credit to keeper Bharat’s reflexes and technique as he kept a low centre of gravity and nick was collected inches off the ground to unsettle Australia who had good first 90 minutes before losing track.

Brief Scores:

Australia 1st Innings: David Warner c Srikar Bharat b Shami 15 Usman Khawaja batting 50 Marnus Labuschagne lbw b Ashwin 18 Steven Smith c Srikar Bharat b Ashwin 0 Travis Head batting 1 Extras: (B-9, NB-1) 10 Total: (For 3 wickets in 25 Overs) 94 Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-91, 3-91.

Bowling: Mohammed Shami 6-2-31-1, Mohammed Siraj 6-2-14-0, Ravichandran Ashwin 10-3-29-2, Ravindra Jadeja 3-0-11-0.

Dubai: India on Wednesday claimed the top spot in the latest ICC Test rankings to become the number one ranked side in all three formats of the game.

India’s big innings and 132-run win over Australia in the first Test catapulted the ‘Men in Blue’ to the top spot, dislodging the Pat Cummins-led team.

Already the top T20 side, India had reached the number one spot in ODIs last month after beating New Zealand 3-0.

India (115) are four rating points ahead of Australia (111) in the Test rankings and a win in the second Test, starting Friday, will not only consolidate their top spot but also aid their push for entering second consecutive World Test Championship Final.

India need to win the four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy 3-1 or 3-0 to make the final.

Among individuals, India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin jumped to the second spot in the Men’s Test Bowlers Rankings following his eight-wicket show against Australia in Nagpur.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who made a successful comeback after almost five months due to a knee injury, has moved up to the 16th position, courtesy his player-of-the-match winning effort in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series-opener.

The spin duo haunted Australia in the first Test between by sharing 15 wickets between them as India won by an innings 132 runs inside three days.

Ashwin ensured India wrapped up a stunning victory before tea on the third day, as the veteran off-spinner took 5/37 in the second innings to go with 3/42 earlier in the match.

The 36-year-old is 21 rating points behind Australia captain Pat Cummins and is contention to return to the No.1 ranking for the first time since 2017.

While Ashwin stepped up in what turned out to be the last session of the Test, Jadeja did the damage on the first day with 5/47, including the prized wickets of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne.

Jadeja then took 2/34 in the second Australian innings. Australia were bowled out for just 91.

Among other Indian bowlers, pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who too has been out of action since September last due to a lower back stress fracture, is placed fifth.

In the Test batting chart, India captain Rohit Sharma has been rewarded for his match-defining ton in Nagpur. He gained two spots to be at number eight.

Rohit came to the crease after Australia were all out for 177 in their first innings, then made the wicket look all-but tame with an assured 120 that set the tone for the rest of the match.

Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant, who will be out of action for an indefinite period following his horrific car accident, is the other Indian batter in top-10. He is placed seventh.

In contrast Australian openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja have paid the price for being dismissed cheaply twice.

Warner has fallen six places to 20th after his scores of 1 and 10, while Khawaja has dropped two spots to 10th after only making 1 and 5 in the first Test.

Australian duo of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith occupy the top two position with Pakistan captain Babar Azam in the third spot.

India all-rounder Axar Patel has leaped six places to seventh in Test all-rounder rankings after coming to the crease at a tense 240 for 7. He hit a patient 84 for his highest score in the format.

The second Test between India and Australia will be played in New Delhi from Friday.

New Delhi: The third Test between India and Australia scheduled to be played from March 1-5 has been shifted from Dharamsala to Indore, owing to poor outfield conditions, BCCI said on Monday.

That the match will be shifted was confirmed on Sunday itself after BCCI curator Taposh Chatterjee’s report deemed the re-laid outfield as unfit for an international match.

“The third Test of the Mastercard Australia tour of India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, originally scheduled to take place at the HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala from 1st to 5th March has now been moved to Holkar Stadium, Indore,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.

“Owing to harsh winter conditions in the region, the outfield lacks sufficient grass density and will need some time to develop fully,” Shah further stated.

The inclement weather added to the woes of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) as the local ground staff didn’t get enough time to grow a good layer of grass on the patches of bald outfield.

Mumbai : Smriti Mandhana stole the thunder in the inaugural Women’s Premier League auctions as Royal Challengers Bangalore pipped Mumbai Indians in a bidding war to buy the India vice-captain for Rs 3.40 crore (USD 410,000) here on Monday.

The second costliest Indian player so far is all-rounder Deepti Sharma who was bought by UP Warriorz for Rs 2.6 crore.

However, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur came much cheaper for Mumbai Indians at nearly half the price of Mandhana at Rs 1.80 crore.

“Everyone knows Mandhana and Perry, we were pretty committed to the couple of people we wanted to get. We’re very happy to get such quality players. It’s a dream result for us to get Mandhana, Perry and Devine,” RCB Director of Cricket Mike Hesson said during a media interaction.

“Smriti has got plenty of captaincy experience and is familiar with the Indian conditions, so highly likely (she’ll be the captain).”

One of the prominent picks during the first round was Australia’s off-spin all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner, who was bought by Gautam Adani-owned Gujarat Giants for Rs 3.20 crore (USD 386,000).

Star Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry received a cool Rs 1.70 crore (USD 205,000) winning bid from RCB who also got New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine dirt cheap at base price of Rs 50 lakh.

RCB has already exhausted Rs 5.60 crore out of Rs 12 crore purse and they need to get another 12 players with the rest of the Rs 6.40 crore to have a mandatory squad size of 15 players.

UP Warriorz also got England left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone on board for Rs 1.80 crore.

EAST LONDON: South Africa beat India by five wickets in the final to clinch the Women’s T20I Tri-series title here on Thursday.

South Africa chased down the target 110 with 12 balls to spare. Chloe Tryon top-scored with 57 not out off just 32 balls. She hit six fours and two sixes as South Africa reached 113 for 5 in 18 overs.

For India, Sneh Rana was the most successful bowler with figures of 2 for 21 while Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Renuka Singh got a wicket apiece.

Earlier, opting to bat, India posted a below-par 109 for 4 with Harleen Deol top-scoring with a 56-ball 46.

Brief Scores: India: 109 for 4 in 20 overs (Harleen Deol 46; Nonkululeko Mlaba 2/16).

South Africa: 113 for 5 in 18 overs (Chloe Tryon 57 not out; Sneh Rana 2/21).

Ahmedabad: India beat New Zealand by 168 runs in the third and final T20 International to win the series 2-1 here on Wednesday.

Electing to bat, India posted a massive 234 for 4, riding on Shubman Gill’s (126 not out) maiden T20I ton, and then shot New Zealand out for 66 in 12.1 overs.

Daryl Mitchell top-scored for New Zealand with 35.

Hardik Pandya grabbed four wickets for 16 runs while Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Mavi and Umran Malik took two wickets apiece.

Brief Scores:

India: 234 for 4 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 126 not out, Rahul Tripathi 44, Hardik Pandya 30; Daryl Mitchell 1/6).

New Zealand: 66 all out in 12.1 overs (Daryl Mitchell 35; Hardik Pandya 4/16).