From messy breakups to simmering feuds to returning prodigals, this season has it all

Alagappan Muthu18-Mar-2025When something unbelievable happens on TV, it becomes a part of our real life. We talk about it the next day, long after the reveal, still basking in it. It’s the standard soap-opera high, and the IPL has been tapping into it for 18 years. Its even had an evil twin.By actively shuffling its talent through that chaos engine called an auction, this tournament replenishes itself, creating potential for the most unpredictable outcomes, not to mention immediately recognisable storylines born out of putting the same old players in fun new roles. This season we’ll see the return of a prodigal son, the start of a new feud, a lot of heartbreak and much more.Related

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“It feels odd actually,” R Ashwin said in a video posted by Chennai Super Kings, where for the first time since 2015 he was wearing yellow again. In that time, he’s captained a different franchise, he’s been to two finals, he’s experienced Chepauk from the visitors’ dugout and seemed to make it a point to do really well against his old employers – eight wins in 12 games along with 15 wickets and two Player-of-the-Match performances. That’s twice as much as he won at CSK. Dude was winning the breakup.In November, CSK brought Ashwin back for INR 9.75 crore. They’ve only ever spent more on five players in auctions, and he’s got right down to business, which, according to some shaky cam footage of training sessions, includes downloading the secrets of playing the helicopter shot from MS Dhoni. Or was it actually an upload?Last year, Shreyas Iyer received the IPL trophy from the heads of the organisation that culled him from its central contracts list•AFP/Getty Images”I invited him for my 100th Test to hand over the memento,” Ashwin, who is looking at a major personal landmark, said at a book launch on Sunday. “It was in Dharamsala and I wanted to make that my last Test. He couldn’t make it. But I didn’t think he’d hand over the gift of getting me back to CSK. It’s a much better one.”Coincidence is Shreyas Iyer becoming Ranji Trophy champion a few days after he was cut from the BCCI’s central contracts list. Then he became IPL champion, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy winner, and Champions Trophy winner, and it was clear he was the jilted ex showing off his revenge bod. Fate even conspired to have Roger Binny, the head of the organisation that tore up his contract, hand out the silverware – and white jackets – in all but one of those tournaments. Kolkata Knight Riders, what have you done?!Punjab Kings are ready for a new beginning, and they didn’t waste any time putting their very expensive good-luck charm front and centre.All was not well at Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants. The face of one of those franchises leapt up on the shop window when he casually wondered, in front of the entire world, “if I go to the auction, will I be sold or not and for how much?” We’re not saying that put the competition on notice that a high-performing, easily marketable asset was up for grabs and that they’d do well to carve out a significant portion of their budget for him. But we’re also not not saying it. Rishabh Pant landed himself an INR 27 crore payday and will be playing for a team whose owner berated their previous captain on live TV.”Disrespect,” KL Rahul said, when ESPNcricinfo asked him about the one thing that made him really angry, and it was hard not to think of that night when he stood in stunned silence, unable to reconcile that 167 runs could be scored in 9.4 overs while his boss demanded answers for all of it happening on his watch. Accountability is important, and being mauled like that does warrant a debrief if only so it doesn’t happen again. IPL captains are prone to being summoned out of bed in the dead of night to explain the decisions they make – even the really minute ones like why they poked their nose at a 42-degree angle instead of 45. It’s part of the job. It’s just that all this usually takes place behind closed doors.Glenn Maxwell has a long and complicated history with Punjab Kings, his not-quite-new team•BCCIRahul has now moved to DC. Isn’t that nice? Now there are neatly-drawn enemy lines. Look for them this Monday because those two teams kick off their IPL campaigns against each other.In a case of actual love lost, Glenn Maxwell and Royal Challengers Bengaluru are no longer together. But there’s still something there. When they had the exit meeting, they “ended up talking about the game for half an hour”. Does that sound like two parties who are ready to move on? All we can do is hope that his new franchise treats him right and helps mend his broken heart. Where is he off to again? *checks notes* Oh damn.Jos Buttler is in need of mending as well. He looked like a ghost in the Champions Trophy and though most people put that down to his own personal performance as batter and leader of England, the real reason was obviously that he was distraught he won’t get to go play with Yuzvendra Chahal anymore. Feelings that probably surfaced when another Rajasthan Royal, Sanju Samson, with whom he’s shared a dressing room for seven years, found his way to Buttler’s table at dinner, a blubbering mess himself. Good luck following that, Gujarat Titans.There is a Steve Smith on X, a normal guy with a regular job, who gets spammed every time his rather more famous namesake does things in cricket. Potentially, there is also a Mitchell Starc somewhere out there who must have received a message meant for someone else, because his rather more famous namesake had no idea KKR were going to drop him. The retention deadline had long passed and Starc – the white-ball GOAT not the made-up rando – had to learn that the team he helped win the IPL had moved on in the media. It’s going to be fun when they come up against each other this year (April 29 in Delhi). Based on words caught on a stump mic, this guy with a WMD for a left arm also has a long memory.

هاجم أنطونيو كاسانو، لاعب إيطاليا وروما وريال مدريد السابق، جيمي كاراجر بسبب تصريحاته ضد المصري محمد صلاح جناح فريق ليفربول الإنجليزي.

وانتقد كاراجر صلاح في عدة تصريحات، عقب حديث اللاعب المصري بعد مباراة ليفربول وليدز يونايتد في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز التي انتهت بالتعادل الإيجابي 3-3.

وكان صلاح أعرب عن عدم رضاه على الجلوس بديلاً لثلاث مباريات متتالية في الدوري الإنجليزي، مشيرًا إلى شعوره بأن ليفربول يتخلى عنه، إلى جانب حديثه عن انقطاع علاقته بالمدرب آرني سلوت، ليهاجمه كاراجر لاحقًا (طالع تصريحاته من هنا).

وفي تصريحات عبر “Viva football” على “إنستجرام”، قال كاسانو: “كاراجر، قبل الحديث عن صلاح يجب أن تغسل فمك أولاً، لأن كاراجر غير كفء للحديث عنه، لأنه يقول كلامًا فارغًا في كل مرة”.

وأردف: “عندما نتذكر كاراجر نرى أنه قضى كامل مسيرته في ليفربول، لكنه مشجع متعصب لإيفرتون، وباختصار لقد صنع مسيرته بالتملق للمشجعين، يتملق لهم القميص (يشير وهو يرفع القميص إلى الجماهير)”.

وتابع: “لقد أدلى كاراجر بتصريحات غير لائقة تجاه ثالث أفضل هداف في تاريخ ليفربول، ولكنني أتذكره (صلاح) بشكل خاص بفضل الـ250 هدفًا التي سجلها، وهو كان عاملاً حاسمًا في فوزهم بالبطولات وبدوري الأبطال، كأس العالم للأندية”.

وواصل: “لديه مشاكل مع سلوت وسيتم التعامل معها، لكن كاراجر في هذه الحالة يأخذ دور المهرج في التلفاز ليقول كلامًا فارغًا، تجنب الكلام، وبما إنك لا تفهم ابق في منزلك، لماذا تتحدث عن صلاح؟، لأنه الآن أكثر أهمية منك، إنه أهم منك وربما لا يهتم بك”.

وأتم: “قد قالها صلاح أيضًا، الآن سترون أن كاراجر سيتحدث بعد تصريحاتي، لأنك تخيلت أنه ظاهرة في الملعب، لكنه ظاهرة خارج الملعب أيضًا، ماذا فعل؟ رمي له الطعم، ومن التقمه؟ كاراجر، لكن يا كاراجر كنت تلعب وأقدامك معكوسة، توقف عن الكلام، لا تزعجني”.

The New York Mets and Seattle Mariners put on a show Sunday night at the Little League Classic. Young ballplayers competing for youth baseball's ultimate prize got a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see their favorite MLB stars up close and a tremendous amount of fun was had per usual.

The Mariners organization and its fans would have had a decidedly worse time had their cornerstone outfielder Julio Rodriguez suffered a significant injury while sledding down a hill on a piece of cardboard, which almost became a reality when a member of security took a spill and nearly landed on his ankle.

Here's the footage, which thankfully ends with everyone invovled getting up and getting on with their day.

That is too close for comfort. And you have to feel for the security person here who was simply trying to hustle to do the job and ended up losing to gravity. Before they were even able to get upright some unhelpful person is joking about a potential Rodriguez ACL injury. It's rough out there.

Rodriguez will be paramount to the Mariners' playoff hopes going forward and their ability to make a deep run if they get there. Plenty of people breathing a sigh of relief realizing this could have been worse.

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Punido pela Justiça Desportiva Antidopagem (TJD-AD), Gabigol, atacante do Flamengo, ficará afastado dos gramados até abril de 2025, a princípio. A suspensão definida cabe recurso à Corte Arbitral do Esporte (CAS), na Suíça. Portanto, o jogador tem a possibilidade de reverter o caso, mas também pode sofrer com o aumento da pena.

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➡️ Tudo sobre o Mengão agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso novo canal Lance! Flamengo

➡️ É O BRASA! Coloque R$200 no Brasil contra a Espanha e fature mais de R$640 no Lance! Betting

Após a apresentação do recurso pela defesa do acusado, que terá auxílio do clube carioca no caso, o CAS fará um novo julgamento. Com isso, novas evidências podem aparecer, e o TJD-AD tem a possibilidade de solicitar um aumento da pena. Porém, o tribunal não pode aumentá-la se apenas Gabigol recorrer da decisão inicial.

– O julgamento na Corte Arbitral do Esporte, que é a próxima fase do processo, será uma questão totalmente submetida à uma nova apreciação da Corte Suíça. Outras linhas de defesa, acusações e evidências podem ser produzidas. Se houver o recurso só do atleta… Quando você recorre, não pode obter uma decisão pior do que tinha. Se só o atleta recorrer, ele fica com a mesma decisão ou uma decisão melhor – explicou Marcelo Franklin, advogado especialista em processos de doping e direito desportivo, em contato com o Lance!.

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Higor Maffei Bellini, especialista em direito esportivo, reforça que a possibilidade existe, mas a Justiça Desportiva Antidopagem também precisaria recorrer para que a pena seja aumentada.

– Não existe a chance (de aumentar a suspensão) se apenas o Gabigol recorrer. A Procuradoria Antidopagem teria que fazer este recurso, visando aumentar a pena. Não é possível aumentar a pena daquele que faz o recurso – afirmou o advogado.

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OUTRO LADO

De acordo com Renata Mansur, mestre em direito desportivo e presidente do Tribunal de Justiça Desportiva do Rio de Janeiro, ainda não é possível prever o desfecho do caso. Apesar de existir a chance do aumento da punição, Gabigol ainda pode solicitar efeito suspensivo (suspensão dos efeitos da decisão de um juiz ou tribunal, até que a decisão final sobre um recurso seja tomada).

– Não há como afirmar a probabilidade de reversão do julgamento. Porém, o atleta ainda poderá recorrer à Corte Arbitral do Esporte, localizada na Suíça. No recurso, o atleta poderá pedir o efeito suspensivo, para que a decisão não produza efeitos de imediato – disse.

➡️ Veja a nota oficial do Flamengo

O QUE ACONTECEU?

A Justiça Desportiva Antidopagem julgou Gabigol por tentativa de fraude em exame antidoping, que acontece sem aviso prévio nos clubes, como no Flamengo. Ele foi acusado de infringir o artigo 122 do Código Brasileiro Antidopagem, que prevê suspensão de dois a quatro anos. Em nota oficial, o jogador afirmou acredita que será inocentado.

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Every call is critical in the three-game series between the Guardians and Tigers that's helping decide the wild AL Central race. First base umpire Chris Guccione may have taken that a bit too seriously as he waited entirely too long to make his call on a close play at first Thursday night.

In the bottom of the fourth inning with a runner on second, Guardians second baseman Brayan Rocchio hit a dribbler to second base, which Gleyber Torres fielded with his bare hand and flipped to first. It was a bang-bang play, but Guccione took some time making his call, which caused C.J. Kayfus to dash for home. Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson was unsure what to do, but threw home after a moment of reflection to try and get Kayfus.

Home plate umpire Brennan Miller didn't make a call either, mainly because he wanted to know what was going on at first. Guccione eventually called Rocchio out, which ended the inning in an incredibly strange sequence.

On the replay, Rocchio was clearly out and Guccione made the right call. Better late than never, I guess.

The Guardians took the first two games of the series in Cleveland to claim the AL Central lead in miraculous fashion. They trailed the Tigers by 15 1/2 games on July 8 and 10 1/2 games at the start of September. Cleveland has won 17 of their past 19 games while Detroit has dropped eight in a row and 11 of their last 12. The Tigers were able to jump out to an early lead Thursday in what's continuing to be an incredible race in the division.

Although a strange play, at least the odd moment didn't cause any controversy.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has dropped a nine-word injury update on a Hoops player with “absolutely everything”, adding to the concerns around Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Rodgers suffers Carter-Vickers blow in Celtic comeback

The Hoops secured an important victory in the Europa League on Thursday evening, winning 2-1 at home to Sturm Graz, bouncing back from last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at Dundee in the Scottish Premiership.

Speaking after the game, Rodgers seemed more positive than he has been for most of this season so far, hailing his Celtic side’s performance at Parkhead.

“I thought we were brilliant in the game. I mentioned beforehand that with pressure you can go two ways. You can either make progress or you can crumble, and the performance of the players showed that they progressed so much tonight. We really dominated a very good team in Sturm Graz. You can see the goals they’ve scored and the physicality they have.

“I’ve said before that there are always games in your season that can be the turning point and I think that tonight is an all-round performance against a good side. Now we have to recover because we have a big game on Sunday and we have to put that same energy and focused mentality in to that game.”

While Thursday’s victory was a welcome shot in the arm for Celtic, they were brought back down to Earth with the news that Carter-Vickers has suffered an achilles problem and could be out for several months.

Rodgers confirmed the blow ahead of the trip to Hearts on Sunday, revealing an exact timeline is not yet certain but “its not great news”, and it might not be the only concern…

Iheanacho injury "looks like a hamstring"

Speaking to the media, Rodgers also provided a worrying nine-word injury update regarding Celtic striker Kelechi Iheanacho: “It doesn’t look great. It looks like a hamstring.”

The Hoops manager added: “We’ll see where it is, but it looks like hamstrings, which isn’t great. I’m not worried about (squad depth). I’m really only worried about how we played tonight, and that’s our focus. We’ll see what it is in the morning, and if they’re not available…we just have to accept it if we have injuries.”

Celtic face a huge Scottish Premiership clash with Hearts on Sunday lunchtime, with the latter topping the table by five points ahead of the reigning champions.

Not having both their starting number nine and top centre-half available for such a key match is a massive blow for the Hoops, with Rodgers lauding the Nigeria star during their time together at Leicester City.

“He’s a nightmare in training to be fair. He’s just a big strong lad who can put himself about, he’s fast, he’s got absolutely everything to be a top striker and he’s showing it now, which is great.”

Celtic star who Lennon dubbed "world-class" was even better than Nygren

This Nakamura-esque Celtic star was even better than Benjamin Nygren against Sturm Graz.

ByDan Emery Oct 24, 2025

With Iheanacho almost certainly out against Hearts, it is up to other Celtic attackers to step up to the plate, with the summer signing already scoring twice in three league starts this season.

Arsenal cruised to a 4-0 win over Atlético Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, with all of their goals coming in just 14 exciting second-half minutes.

Arsenal run rampant in second-half demolition of Atlético Madrid

Arteta’s side set out their stall for a rapid start and might have been ahead inside five minutes when summer signing Eberechi Eze created space for himself on the edge of the area, with his resulting strike looping off David Hancko’s ankle and over goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

However, the crossbar denied Eze a first Champions League goal before Declan Rice thudded the follow-up into the ground and over.

Eze was involved again with 19 minutes gone with an eye-of-the-needle pass to Bukayo Saka. The England winger, who had the away side “on toast” according to Paul Merson, beat Oblak to the ball, but Atleti’s keeper did just enough to divert his dinked effort away from danger.

Moments after the interval, Alvarez was given time and space to turn on the edge of the box. His fine curling effort had a diving Raya beaten, but it was the home side who were saved by the woodwork this time round.

Then came the goals.

Rice’s sumptuous set-piece on 57 minutes was begging to be converted, and an unmarked Gabriel did not disappoint. Arsenal’s second came from a fine driving run from Myles Lewis-Skelly, with the England teenager picking up the ball in the centre circle and getting past four Atlético players before finding Martinelli — who curled his shot into the far corner and doubled the home side’s advantage.

The score became three when Viktor Gyokeres’ barren run without a goal finally came to an end. Eze failed to volley home Martinelli’s cross, but the ball fell to Gyokeres, who managed to dig out his shot which deflected in off Hancko’s heel.

The Swede had another three minutes later. Rice’s corner beat everyone bar Gabriel at the back post, and the Brazilian’s header was bundled in off Gyokeres’ thigh. The 27-year-old had gone 38 days without scoring, but now had two goals in three minutes.

Simeone was deflated on the touchline, while Arteta oversaw his side’s sixth straight win of a season which is promising to deliver so much.

It was a night to remember for the Gunners, who maintained their 100 per cent start to the Champions League campaign, but one man who wasn’t anywhere to be seen in the matchday squad was 20-year-old Alexei Rojas.

Alexei Rojas responds to dig over Arsenal role

The South American, who joined Arsenal’s academy in 2019, is yet to make his senior debut for the north Londoners, with Colombia U20 manager César Torres taking a sly dig at Rojas’ role under Arteta and explaining why he didn’t play him at the Under-20 World Cup.

In response to Torres, speaking to AS, Arsenal’s young shot-stopper fought back — clarifying that he is indeed viewed as a senior player in Arteta’s squad.

Rojas has appeared on the bench for Arteta, particularly last season, but is yet to get a nod in the matchday squad, which could be down to his involvement in the Under-20 World Cup as it only concluded two days ago.

Colombia took third place in the tournament after beating France, so they were in it for a long period, and it will be interesting to see what Rojas’ role is now he’s coming back to N5.

أسدل الستار على مباريات الجولة الثالثة ضمن منافسات المجموعة الرابعة في بطولة كأس العرب 2025، والمقامة على الأراضي القطرية.

ولعب المنتخب الجزائري مع نظيره العراقي في لقاء حسم المتصدر، فيما التقى المنتخب السوداني مع نظيره البحريني.

طالع|فيديو | بهزيمة وتعادلين.. منتخب مصر يودع كأس العرب بالخسارة بثلاثية أمام الأردن

وفاز منتخب البحرين على نظيره السوداني، بثلاثة أهداف لهدف، في لقاء أقيم ضمن مباريات الجولة الثالثة من منافسات المجموعة الرابعة في بطولة كأس العرب 2025، والمقامة على الأراضي القطرية.

كما انتصر منتخب الجزائر على نظيره العراقي بهدفين نظيفين ضمن نفس الجولة، ليخطف محاربو الصحراء الصدارة بسبع نقاط، بينما العراق ثانيا بست نقاط.

وودع منتخب البحرين البطولة بعد احتلال المركز الثالث بثلاث نقاط، كما انتهى مشوار السودان الرابع أيضا برصيد نقطة. ترتيب المجموعة الرابعة في كأس العرب 2025 بعد انتهاء دور المجموعات

1- الجزائر 7 نقاط.

2- العراق 6 نقاط.

3- البحرين 3 نقاط.

4- السودان نقطة.

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Neste sábado (13), o Vasco realizou o lançamento em suas redes sociais do novo uniforme I que será utilizado durante a temporada em homenagem ao que seriam os 70 anos do ídolo Roberto Dinamite. Com referências a trajetória de gols do centroavante, cria do Vasco, o Cruz-Maltino irá estrear a nova camisa diante do Grêmio, neste domingo (14), em São Januário.

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Com a silhueta de uma comemoração de gol de Roberto na nuca, o novo uniforme unifica uma série de camisas do Vasco que foram utilizados pelo camisa 10 ao longo de sua carreira no clube e traz homenagens ao jogador na faixa transversal. Além disso, na parte interior, o uniforme conta com uma carta redigida pelo clube em homenagem ao jogador que é o maior ídolo do Gigante da Colina.

Roberto Dinamite é natural de Duque de Caxias e faria aniversário neste sábado, dia 13. Maior artilheiro do Vasco e do Campeonato Brasileiro, o lendário centroavante receberá uma série de homenagens do clube e da CBF neste final de semana.

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Nearly a decade after leaving it for the world of football, Paul DePodesta is reportedly returning to the sport that made him famous.

DePodesta plans to leave his current position as the Browns' chief strategy officer to become the Rockies' head of baseball operations, according to a Thursday afternoon report from Ken Rosenthal of . The 52-year-old has served in his role with Cleveland since Jan. 2016.

Despite not having worked there in over two decades, DePodesta remains heavily associated with the Athletics and the analytics-first approach they helped pioneer in the 2000s. He served as that team's assistant general manager from 1999 to 2004; in 2012, actor Jonah Hill received an Oscar nomination for portraying a character based on DePodesta in Bennett Miller's .

In '04, DePodesta became the Dodgers' general manager, only for Los Angeles to fire him after two years. He spent time with the Padres and Mets before moving to the Browns, where he struggled under the supervision of owner Jimmy Haslam.

Colorado is coming off one of the worst Major League Baseball seasons of this century; it finished 43-119 and finished 50 games behind the first-place Dodgers in the National League West race.