Expresso National and International Sports News Update at 1:30 pm on 9 July 2024

Sports update: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah to miss Sri Lanka tour. Controversy surrounds referee Felix Zwayer in Euro 2024. France football team celebrates election results amid EURO 2024.

Let us begin with our top story in cricket: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah will not be part of the Indian team that will tour Sri Lanka later this month. The Indian cricket board wants the captain of the T20 World Cup winning team and the other two seniors to take some more rest before returning for a full season in September when Bangladesh travels to India for two Tests and three T20Is starting on September 19. The tour of Sri Lanka features three ODIs and as many T20Is, from Saturday, July 27 to August 7. It is learned that the selection committee will meet next week to pick the team.

Moving on, Australian batter David Warner confirmed that he would retire after the conclusion of the recently concluded T20 World Cup. Warner took to his Instagram to pen his thoughts for the first time since the 2024 T20 World Cup – which he had confirmed as his last tournament for Australia. He wrote, “I will continue to play franchise cricket for a while, and I am also open to playing for Australia in the Champions trophy if selected. I truly hope I have entertained you and changed cricket, especially tests, in a way where we scored a bit faster than others". However, the swashbuckling opener also admitted the door is still open for another tournament.

England’s veteran pacer James Anderson will play in his 188th and last Test match starting this week at the Lord’s Cricket Ground against West Indies. The 41-year-old, who turns 42 later this month, believes that despite his age, he is still bowling as best as he has throughout his career. Speaking to the reporters on Monday, July 8th, Anderson said, “I feel like I’m still bowling as well as I ever have. But, I knew it had to end at some point. Whether it’s now or in a year or two. The fact it’s now is something I’ve got to deal with and accept. The last couple of months I’ve made peace with that".

In football news, Felix Zwayer, a German referee who was given a six-month ban in 2005 for match-fixing, will be officiating the Euro 2024 semifinal match between the Netherlands and England on Thursday, July 11th. What’s noteworthy here is that the 43-year-old has a bit of history with English talisman Jude Bellingham. In December 2021, Bellingham who was a Borussia Dortmund player at that time, received a fine of €40,000 (£33,970) from the German FA for his comments on Zwayer after his team’s 3-2 loss to Bayern Munich. This will not be the first time that Zwayer will be refereeing a match in this Euro.

In more updates, Players from the France football team, currently featuring at the EURO 2024 tournament in Germany, took to social media to celebrate the election results in their home country on Sunday, July 7th. According to reports, the Left’s New Popular Front is projected to win approximately 177-212 seats out of the 577 seats in the lower house of the parliament. This has dismissed the proposition of a far-right National Rally-controlled government. France defender Joules Kounde expressed his relief on X. He wrote, “The relief is as great as the anxiety of the last few weeks. Congratulations to all the French people who mobilized to ensure that this beautiful country of France would not be governed by the far-right.”

In the Paris Diamond League, Stefka Kostadinova’s 2.09m in women’s high jump happened at the 1987 World Championships. Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh, ever since she cleared 2.04 at the 2019 Worlds to set the all-time U20 record, was earmarked for this. And finally on Sunday, July 7th on an incredible evening of track & field action at the Paris Diamond League, the World Record that stood for 37 years was broken. The reigning World Champion first set a Personal Best and new National Record when she cleared 2.07m with her second attempt. And incredibly, attempting the record mark of 2.10m. The 22-year-old cleared the height in her first attempt.

In Olympic news, In less than three weeks, when India’s athletes touch down in Paris for the Olympic Games, they will be traveling from different corners of the world — Japan to Germany, the US to Turkey. For the Indian sports ecosystem, these journeys may well be the signoff on three years of preparations for the mega world event. They range from living quarters in Germany for a badminton entourage to special feed for horses in the equestrian event, according to the minutes of meetings held almost every Thursday afternoon over the past three years by India’s Mission Olympic Cell (MOC). The MOC includes former athletes, Indian and foreign coaches, high-performance directors, and officials from the federations and government.

Lastly: In hockey news, More than 1,000 domestic male and female players are in the fray for auctions. Approximately 500 international stars have expressed interest – a number that could rise after the Paris Olympics. Close to 30 corporates are keen on buying teams and no players from Pakistan. The revamped Hockey India League (HIL) is set to return this year with many new things – a bigger player purse, stricter franchise norms and just two venues instead of the usual home-and-away format. According to a Hockey India official, only those international players whose countries are ranked in the top 15 of the world at present will be allowed to register for the auction, which will take place after the Paris Olympics.

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