Stand-in England coach Graham Thorpe feels that all-rounder Sam Curran's stint with the Indian Premier League (IPL) side Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is the reason behind the 23-year-old making an impact for his country of late. ....

While the Indian cricket team in England is fretting over the fitness of opener Shubman Gill who is doubtful for the first Test against England that begins in Nottingham on August 4 and speculation is building on whether India will send a back-up, the Indian cricket board is yet to come out with an official statement on the status of the batsman's injury. ....

Nicolò Barella and Lorenzo Insigne scored a goal each Friday to give Italy a 2-1 win over Belgium and a spot in the European Championship semifinals. ....

Daniel Zakaria scored an own goal in just the eight-minute of the game to hand Spain the lead as in the 68th minute Xherdan Shaqiri equalised for Switzerland. Remo Freuler was sent off in the 77th minute for his tackle on Gerard Moreno in the Euro 2020 quarter-final at the Saint Petersburg Stadium. Extra Time was needed but with 10-men, Switzerland held Spain to 1-1- but Spain beat Switzerland 3-1 on penalties. ....

Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer has said that if Shubman Gill misses the five-match Test series against England in August-September due to a leg injury, Mayank Agarwal will be his choice to replace the young opener. ....

India's Maana Patel on Friday became the first female and only the third swimmer from the country to punch her Tokyo Olympics 2021 ticket. Patel, a backstroke simmer from Ahmedabad, joins Srihari Nataraj and Sajan Prakash to have qualified for the event and secured a direct entry. The development was confirmed by Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju. ....

The Australian cricket team is in a lockdown of a different kind on their white-ball tour of the West Indies, and they will not be able to leave their hotel rooms for the next two days due to a tropical storm, which will hit St. Lucia in the next 48 hours. ....

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned United Arab Emirates (UAE) players Amir Hayat and Ashfaq Ahmed from all cricket for eight years after its Anti-Corruption Tribunal found them guilty of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. ....

Top Spanish football club Barcelona suffered a setback when they failed to sign a new contract with Lionel Messi before the June 30 deadline, leaving the Argentine star free to join any club he wishes. ....

Indian Test team opener Shubman Gill is likely to miss the first Test of the five-match series against England due to injury in the lower part of his leg. ....

India's poor outing in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand saw quite a few players slip in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings announced on Wednesday. ....