Like Kohli, Shubman Gill, another promising top-order batter, also made his mark on the international stage after his successful stint in the U-19 World Cup in 2018. Many cricket enthusiasts and experts have hailed Gill as the next big thing in Indian cricket. Together, Kohli and Gill represent a formidable duo in India’s batting lineup.

However, a fake video recently went viral, falsely depicting Kohli criticizing Gill. In the doctored video, Kohli appears to admonish Gill, saying there’s a “big gap between showing promise and becoming a legend.” The video, which has been widely circulated, shows Kohli comparing himself to legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. The comments in the video are believed to be the result of lip-syncing, and the incident has sparked concerns over the misuse of AI technology, with many viewers warning that “AI is dangerous.”

In other news, the latest ICC Test rankings released on Wednesday saw several shifts among top players. Virat Kohli has moved up two places to secure the eighth spot, while Indian captain Rohit Sharma has dropped one place to sixth. Young Indian batter Yashasvi Jaiswal continues his rise, moving up one spot to seventh in the rankings.

Veteran England batter Joe Root maintained his position as the top-ranked Test batter in the world, following England’s successful first Test against Sri Lanka in Manchester. Root’s teammate, Harry Brook, made significant gains, jumping three places to fourth overall, surpassing Pakistan’s Babar Azam, Australia’s Steve Smith, and Rohit Sharma.

Babar Azam experienced a notable drop, falling six places from a shared third to ninth after a rare failure in the first innings of Pakistan’s Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan climbed seven spots to enter the top 10, achieving a career-high ranking at a shared 10th place following his century in the same match.

Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim also reached a career-high rating, moving up seven spots to 17th place.

Among bowlers, seasoned Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin continues to hold the top spot, with pacer Jasprit Bumrah and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja maintaining their third and seventh positions, respectively. England’s Chris Woakes climbed four spots to 16th, while Sri Lanka’s Asitha Fernando made a significant leap of 10 places to 17th. Pakistan’s Naseem Shah (up four places to 33rd) and England’s Gus Atkinson (up four places to 42nd) also achieved career-best ratings after strong recent performances.

In the all-rounder rankings, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin continue to occupy the top two spots, with India’s Axar Patel ranked sixth.

Top Indian race walker Bhawna Jat has been handed a 16-month ban for whereabouts failure by the Anti-Doping Disciplinary (ADDP) Panel of the NADA after she committed the offence in August last year.

Bhawna, a former national record holder in women’s 20km race walk, was provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency in August last year and she was recalled from Budapest where she had reached to take part in the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

Her 16-month ban period will, however, begin from August 10, 2023, the date of provisional suspension. Her ban will thus be over on December 10 this year.

The ADDP’s decision to hand her the suspension under Article 2.4 of the NADA Rules was delivered on July 10 but it was published on the website of the national anti-doping watchdog only on Thursday.

Under Article 2.4, “Any combination of three (3) missed tests and/or filing failures, as defined in the International Standard for Results Management, within a twelve (12) month period by an Athlete in a Registered Testing Pool” constitutes ‘Whereabouts Failures’ by an athlete.

The 28-year-old Bhawna had also missed two dope tests in May and June 2023 and was warned for a filing failure in late 2022.

Jat had then blamed her failure to fulfil NADA’s whereabouts conditions to glitches in the mobile application, through which she had to fill up the form, and subsequently losing her phone.

“I don’t know how this happened. I had gone somewhere. I was not able to receive the OTP on the (mobile) application and later I lost my phone as well. This is the reason I wasn’t able to update my whereabouts,” she had said.

Bhawna had competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She had won gold in the 20km race-walk event at the National Inter-State Championships in June last year.

There are two types of whereabouts failures — filing failures and missed tests.

Under the World Athletics Anti-Doping (WADA) rules, any combination of whereabouts failures — filing failure and/or missed test — within a period of 12 months constitute an anti-doping rule violation, for which the applicable sanction is two years ineligibility, subject to reduction to a minimum of one year depending on the degree of fault of the athlete.

Athletes included in the Registered Testing Pool (RTP) must provide a full address for their overnight location, the name and full address of each location where they train, work or conduct other regular scheduled activities, as well as the usual time-frames of each activity.

RTP athletes must also identify a 60-minute window and location for each day of the quarter, during which they must be available for testing. Failure to comply with whereabouts and testing obligations will result in a whereabouts failure.

New Delhi: Veteran India opener Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket two years after he last donned the national jersey, saying that he leaves the scene a content man after representing the country in all three formats.

The 38-year-old made his international debut in 2010 in an ODI against Australia in Visakhapatnam and his last India game was also a 50-over match, against Bangladesh in 2022.

“As I close this chapter of my cricketing journey, I carry with me countless memories and gratitude. Thank you for the love and support! Jai Hind!,” Dhawan said in a post on ‘X’.

“It’s important to turn the page to move forward in life and that’s why I am announcing my retirement from international and domestic cricket. As I bid goodbye to my cricket journey, I have peace in my heart that I played for so long,” he said.

A product of Sonnet Club and a fighter from West Delhi, Dhawan appeared in 34 Tests, 167 ODIs and 68 T20Is for India but had fallen out of favour in the last couple of years due to patchy form and emergence of younger opening talents like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill.

His best came in the 50-over format in which he amassed 6793 runs at an average of 44.11, including 17 hundreds and 39 fifties. He averaged 40.61 for his 2315 Test runs, which featured seven centuries.

“I am standing at a point in my life where when I look back, I see only memories, and when I look ahead, I see a new world. I had just one goal in life, to play for India, and I made it happen,” he said.

“I am very thankful to DDCA (Delhi and Districts Cricket Association), the BCCI and my fans. And that’s why I tell myself, don’t be sad that you won’t play for India again but be happy that you played for your country. And that’s the biggest thing for me, that I played,” he said in his concluding remarks in the social media post.

The Delhi-born batter didn’t enjoy a memorable beginning to his international career, getting dismissed for a two-ball duck.

However, after initial struggles, Dhawan returned to the Indian team in 2013 and cemented his place across all three formats with some fine performances including being named the Player-of-the-Tournament in India’s triumphant campaign in the Champions Trophy in England.

One of the highlights of his illustrious career was the brilliant 185 he scored against Australia on Test debut in Mohali, having raced to his century in just 85 balls with a flurry of boundaries.

Dhawan, however, could have been even out before he had faced a ball in his Test debut. The first delivery of the India innings slipped out of Mitchell Starc’s hand and fell on the stumps with the debutant out of his ground at the non-striker’s end.

The Australians did not appeal, and the flamboyant Dhawan took full advantage of that by setting the record for the fastest century by a Test debutant.

At his peak, the Delhi swashbuckler was a sight to behold with his range of strokes and ability to hit powerfully.

Dhawan did not forget to thank the people who helped in becoming the player that he was, forming en excellent partnership with Rohit Sharma at the top of the Indian batting order.

“I always had one goal in mind that was to play for India and I achieved it thanks to a lot of people. First of all my family, my childhood coach Tarak Sinha and Madan Sharma, under their guidance, I learnt cricket.

“Then my entire team with whom I played for years, got another family, fame and everyone’s love and support.”

“I just say this to myself that don’t be sad that you won’t play for your country again but always be happy that you played for your country. And it’s the biggest achievement for me that I played,” Dhawan added in the video.

He is a bonafide IPL legend, appearing in 222 matches, that yielded 6769 runs, including two hundreds and 51 half centuries.

His 768 fours in the tournament are the highest by any batter and he also holds the distinction of being the first to hit consecutive hundreds in the event.

He was a part of the title-winning Sunrisers Hyderabad team in the 2016 season. He has also played for Delhi, Mumbai and Punjab. Of these, he captained Delhi and Punjab at various stages of his career.

He had appeared for Punjab this season but played in only five matches owing to fitness issues.

The 26-year-old Chopra was at fourth spot till the fourth round before sending his spear to 85.58m in his fifth attempt. He saved the best for the last as his sixth and final attempt measured 89.49m, which was better than his performance in the Paris Olympics.

He was in danger of missing the sixth throw but his fifth round effort of 85.58m saved him. Only the top three after five rounds get their respective final attempts.

Two-time world champion and Paris Olympics bronze medallist Anderson Peters of Grenada won the event with his second round monster throw of 90.61m while Julian Weber of Germany took the third spot with 87.08m.

“The feeling wasn’t great at first, but I´m happy with my throw, especially the second (career) best throw on my last attempt. It was a tough start, but the comeback was really nice and I enjoyed the fighting spirit I showed,” Chopra said after the event.

“Even though my early throws were around 80-83m, I pushed hard in the last two attempts finishing strong. Competing at this high level, it’s important to stay mentally tough and fight through.”

Nursing a long-standing groin injury, Chopra claimed a silver in the Paris Olympics on August 8 with an 89.45m throw, having won a historic gold in the Tokyo edition of the Games three years ago.

Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem had beaten Chopra for the gold in Paris with an Olympic record throw of 92.97m.

Peters, who had struggled to find his form last year, led the competition from beginning to end and he stamped his class with the 90m-plus throw in the last round. He has a personal best of 93.07m which he had produced in 2022.

With seven points from Thursday’s second-place finish, Chopra will be on joint third spot with Weber on Diamond League standings with 15 points. Peters jumped to top spot with 21 points.

Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, who finished seventh (82.03m) on Thursday, is in second spot with 16 points.

On Saturday, Chopra had confirmed his participation at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, leaving a decision on a possible surgery after the end of the season.

Chopra was the Diamond League champion in 2022 and finished second behind Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic in the winner-takes-all DL final in Eugene, USA, last year.

This season’s DL finals will be held in Brussels on September 14. He needs to finish in the top-six of the Diamond League meetings series standings to qualify for the season finale.

There is another DL meeting — in Zurich on September 5 — which has a men’s javelin throw event in its roster.

Chopra had won the Lausanne leg of the Diamond League in 2022 and 2023, but could not do so this time. In fact, Chopra is yet to win a DL meeting this year. He finished second behind Vadlejch in Doha on May 10.

Chopra has been managing his groin injury since winning the gold in the Budapest World Championships last year.

Mumbai: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shah Rukh Khan reportedly engaged in a heated argument with Ness Wadia, co-owner of Punjab Kings, during a meeting of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise owners on Wednesday in Mumbai.

According to reports, Khan and Wadia disagreed over the number of retentions that should be allowed during the mega auctions ahead of IPL 2025. While the Bollywood star favoured major retentions, Wadia opposed the idea, as reported by Cricbuzz. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s co-owner Kavya Maran sided with Khan, expressing her franchise’s preference for a mini auction rather than a mega auction.

However, Wadia denied any claims of a dispute with Khan, stating that he has known the Bollywood star for over 25 years and there is no animosity between them. He added that everyone shared their opinions during the meeting, and ultimately, the focus is on considering all stakeholders and doing what is best for everyone.

Following the meeting, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah released a statement highlighting that a “constructive dialogue” took place among the owners of the 10 franchises. He mentioned that feedback was shared on player regulations and other commercial aspects, including central merchandising, licensing, and gaming. “The BCCI will now take these recommendations to the IPL Governing Council for further deliberation and evaluation before formulating the IPL player regulations,” Shah added.

Lakshya Sen during his men’s singles Round of 16 badminton match against compatriot HS Prannoy at the 2024 Summer Olympics

Paris India’s Lakshya Sen registered a comfortable straight-game win over compatriot HS Prannoy to become only the third male player ever from the country to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympics badminton competition here on Thursday.

The 22-year-old from Almora, a reigning Commonwealth Games champion and a 2021 World Championships bronze-medallist, looked in complete control as he notched up a 21-12 21-6 win over world no. 13 Prannoy in a 39-minute pre-quarterfinal clash.

Sen joined Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth, who had reached the quarterfinals in the London and Rio edition of the Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016 respectively.

Currently ranked 22, Sen will face 12th seed Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen in the quarterfinals.

“I think having tough matches gives you confidence. I am now ready to go deep into the tournament. It will be a tricky match against Chou, I have to go and recover well and give my 100 %,” Sen said after the match.

Sen was steady in his defense and mixed his attack well, while Prannoy, who played a three-game match last evening, looked tired and didn’t show much resistance during the 39-minute contest.

It was the end of campaign for Prannoy, who had recovered from a bout of Chikungunya to compete at his maiden Olympics.

Sen was off to a good start, leading 7-4. He kept things under control as Prannoy seemed to struggle, played too defensively and was left to do the catch-up act. Sen closed out the opening game comfortably.

The second game was a blur as Sen looked rock solid and quickly wrapped up the contest after leading all the way.

Paris, Aug 1: A third straight Olympic medal stayed out of her grasp as PV Sindhu made a shock exit from the Paris Games with a straight-game loss against China’s world number six He Bingjiao in the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals here on Thursday.

The 29-year-old from Hyderabad failed to mount a consistent attack and was outpaced 21-19 21-14 by Bingjiao in a 56-minute round of 16 clash, which was a rematch of the Tokyo Olympic bronze medal play-off.

Sindhu, who won the silver and bronze medal at the Rio de Jeneiro and Tokyo editions, had topped the group to qualify for the knockout stage.

Paris: Indian golfer Diksha Dagar, who is due to take part in the the Olympics, was involved in an accident but is doing fine and will compete in her event as planned.

The Dagar family — Diksha, her father and caddie Col Naren Dagar, her mother and brother — were in the car, which was hit by another vehicle on Tuesday night while they were returning from a function at India House.

According to Col Dagar, Diksha is fine and will play the event as per schedule from August 7 and is also going for practice.

However, Diksha’s mother has been hospitalised with a suspected injury in the spinal area.

She will be in hospital for the next few days for treatment. The extent of it will be known only after further tests and diagnosis.

Their car was just crossing when the light turned and there was an ambulance on the side. A second car which was on the other side of the ambulance was not visible to Diksha’s driver and it hit them from the side, a source said.

This is Diksha’s second Olympic Games and the women’s competition will start on August 7 and run through to August 10.

On Thursday the men’s competition, with Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar playing for India, got underway.