There was chaos after Shanaka was initially given out caught behind, then found short of his crease, but given not out for both
Shashank Kishore27-Sep-2025Why was Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka ruled not out even though he was run-out by Sanju Samson off the fourth ball of the Super Over against India in the Asia Cup game on Friday?For a while, confusion reigned when Shanaka ventured out of his crease after missing a yorker from Arshdeep Singh, who went up in an appeal for a caught behind, while Samson threw the ball at the stumps to find the batter short. But the umpire had given Shanaka out caught behind after a bit of contemplation, and Shanaka referred the decision upstairs to the third umpire Masudur Rahman. After replays confirmed there was no bat involved, Shanaka was ruled not out for the caught behind and for the run out too. It was the timing of the umpire signalling out initially for the caught behind – after Samson’s direct hit – that led to the confusion.MCC’s law states that “the ball will be deemed to be dead from the instant of the incident causing the dismissal”. In this case, that incident was the caught-behind appeal, which meant the ball had been dead when Samson tried to run Shanaka out. With replays proving Shanaka didn’t nick the ball, he was immediately deemed not out, even though India captain Suryakumar Yadav seemed to enquire with the umpires about the decision.Related
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“According to the rules, if you appeal for the catch, then Dasun could go up to the third umpire,” coach Sanath Jayasuriya said of what he made of the appeal. “It was the first decision that counts always, not the second. So he went for the referral, and it was not out. That’s what happened. But overall, I think there are a few grey areas [in terms of the rules at large] that they [officials] have to finetune a bit.”However, Shanaka was out next ball when he sliced one to deep third as Sri Lanka lost both their wickets five balls into the Super Over to set India just three runs to go into the final unbeaten. Suryakumar then thumped Wanindu Hasaranga first ball through the covers to seal India’s victory.
Tottenham are ready to ramp up their interest in Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo as the north London club prepare to rival both Liverpool and Manchester City for the winger in January. Semenyo has a release clause worth £65 million ($86m) in his contract, something his suitors are acutely aware of ahead of the reopening of the market.
Semenyo in demand
Semenyo is a wanted man ahead of the January window. Not only have reports suggested that Liverpool are preparing a move to trigger his release clause in January, which is made up of a £60m ($79m) fee and £5m ($7m) in bonuses, there is also reported interest from City, who view him as the kind of explosive attacking player who can slot into Pep Guardiola's frontline. Semenyo has enjoyed a fantastic season on the south coast, contributing six goals and three assists in 12 Premier League games.
Now, Sky Sports report that Spurs are intensifying their interest in the Ghana international ahead of the window. The club attempted to land two marquee wide players in the summer but were only successful in persuading Mohammed Kudus to move to north London, as Savinho stayed at City. It appears they remain interested in the profile, but would prefer to sign Semenyo to the Brazilian.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportCan Spurs land him?
Spurs have endured a difficult season under manager Thomas Frank, and while they are more ready to pay what is required to sign Semenyo, it is unclear if they will be able to qualify for Europe. Ahead of the midweek fixtures, Spurs had won just one home game all season, and sit in the bottom half of the Premier League table. A turnaround is, of course, possible, but reports suggest that Frank is under severe pressure, and could well lose his job before the January window swings open. It is unclear if that would impact Spurs' pursuit of Semenyo. They were interested in signing him in the summer but ultimately baulked at his £70m ($92m) asking price.
Semenyo supports Arsenal
Semenyo has been very open about the fact that he is an Arsenal fan, which may well put the brakes on any potential move to Spurs. Having already seen Gunners fan Eberechi Eze slip through their fingers, repeating that mistake would be very costly, but Semenyo insists he pays no attention to rumours.
Speaking to The Athletic in October of last year, he said: “I do hear it. But I try not to take too much notice. It is so early in the season and that can all fade away in a split second. It is great to hear they are interested — I don’t know how true that is — but I just want to focus on my game, continue doing what I’m doing, causing problems, scoring goals, getting assists. That’s the main thing. If that does come we will deal with that then but at this moment in time it is just about staying focused on what the goal and the plan is this year.”
“I am an Arsenal fan,” he says. “I don’t conflict the two with my job. It is great to play against Arsenal, a team I have watched all my life and I want to play for the top clubs as well. In order for that to happen I need to prove it.”
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Getty Images SportSemenyo's next move?
Semenyo will have his next opportunity to prove his worth when Bournemouth play Chelsea this weekend. They then take on Manchester United, and it's almost certain that scouts will be keeping a close eye on the Ghanaian's performances.
He has confirmed that he wants to play in Europe, adding in his interview with The Athletic: “Yeah, any team that plays Champions League, Europa (League) — that’s the aim. I know that’s not going to come with a click of my fingers, it’s going to take some time. It’s going to take goals. It’s going to take a lot of consistent performances. But I’ve worked all my life for that and I’m just going to continue working hard. That’s my mentality.”
After returning to club action following the final international break of 2025, Liverpool needed to find a remedy for their issues.
A defeat to Manchester City two weeks ago is hardly something to be ashamed about, but after consecutive wins across league and European action, it was a return to the doldrums of the previous month.
In truth, Arne Slot’s men have been way off it in 2025/26. The Anfield outfit are severely lagging behind in the race for the Premier League title and they can probably already forget about any hopes of retaining England’s biggest prize, but for a major miracle.
The nadir of the campaign so far came on Saturday. Nottingham Forest, sat inside the relegation places, visited Mersyeside and swatted aside Slot’s troops with ease, winning 3-0.
It was a ghastly defeat and one that was epitomised by the performance of club-record signing Alexander Isak.
The issues behind Alexander Isak
2025 has been a peculiar old year for Mr Isak. He began the year in career-best form and took Newcastle United to a Carabao Cup triumph at Wembley against his new employers.
Yet, he ruined his legacy. He chewed it up and spat it back in the faces of Newcastle supporters.
He didn’t go on the club’s pre-season tour in Asia and from that moment he was never seen in first-team training again.
Isak trained on his own at Newcastle’s complex and then after missing the opening weeks of the season, finally got his British record move to Liverpool. FSG shelled out a jaw-dropping £125m to sign him but he has not been worth that fee in the slightest.
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The Swede has struggled with fitness and injury since moving, hardly surprising given he didn’t have a proper pre-season. That, however, is the player’s fault and he’s now paying the price.
The striker has now played nine games for his new side but has only scored once, a solitary goal in the EFL Cup.
He’s gone five Premier League matches without scoring and all four of his Liverpool starts in top-flight action have ended in defeat.
His performance against Forest on Saturday was the epitome of what he’s gone through on Merseyside to date.
As Slot’s side lost 3-0, Isak was nowhere to be seen. BBC Sport’s Phil McNulty described his afternoon as a “symbol of one of the most limp Anfield displays in recent years.”
As a consequence, the attacker only lasted 68 minutes on the pitch, amassing just 14 touches of the football and winning zero of his duels.
Isak vs Forest
Minutes played
68
Touches
14
Accurate passes
5/7 (71%)
Key passes
1
Successful dribbles
0
Shots
1
Shots on target
0
Ground duels won
0
Aerial duels won
0
Stats via Sofascore.
Before this game had even taken place Liverpool correspondent David Lynch had suggested the Swede was “offering Liverpool less than Darwin Nunez did”. Still, while Nunez never really got up to speed, there is a belief that Isak will eventually come good.
The same cannot be said for someone who plays further back than Isak.
Liverpool star is becoming this season's Darwin Nunez
What a puzzling character Mr Nunez was. The Uruguayan arrived in a £85m move from Benfica back in June 2022 but failed to ever really set the world alight.
He missed a catalogue of big chances. In January 2024, he set a Premier League record when he hit the woodwork four times in one game against Chelsea. No one has ever hit the bar or post on as many occasions in one match as that.
Furthermore, back in 2023/24, only Erling Haaland (34) missed more big chances than Nunez (27) in the top-flight. The trouble is, while the Norwegian powerhouse scored 27 that term, Liverpool’s leading number nine only found the net on 11 occasions in league action.
Then, last season, the South American netted just seven goals in 47 fixtures, prompting his exit from English football. He has since moved to Saudi Arabia and Al-Hilal, where he has netted five times in nine appearances.
Isak will likely have a better Anfield career than that, but he is arguably not the main scapegoat right now. That honour is in the hands of Ibrahima Konate.
The Frenchman, as Nunez did, has become the but of the jokes at Anfield this term and is the most under-fire player in Slot’s squad.
Yes, Florian Wirtz and Isak continue to disappoint, a huge problem given their price tags, but Konate has had one too many chances now and his Liverpool career is heading in a similar way to a certain Trent Alexander-Arnold.
His contract is due to expire at the end of the season and with Real Madrid allegedly chasing his services, it looks like the best option for all parties that he leaves on a free transfer.
Liverpool would love a fee, of course they would, but they just need to get him off their books now. He’s simply too error-prone. It’s not just one error either, something football analyst Raj Chohan outlined on social media during Saturday’s game.
Having made a dreadful mistake, beaten all ends up by Forest striker Igor Jesus, the Frenchman was extremely thankful that the goal that followed that sequence of events was ruled out for handball.
Writing afterwards, Chohan simply said, “every time he makes one error, he makes multiple.”
Tactical writer Dharnish Iqbal, further noted that Konate’s form at the moment is “shocking”, outlining him as one of the biggest problems at Slot’s disposal right now.
According to the official data, supplied by Sofascore, he has made three mistakes leading to a shot in league action alone this term. In the Champions League, he has made a further one. This is particularly bad as in the whole of the 2024/25 Premier League season, he made two. He’s already up to that number now from 12 starts.
He might not be like Nunez in the sense that he’s a striker, but he’s the new club scapegoat, and like Nunez, he needs to leave as soon as possible.
Worse than Konate: Slot must drop 2/10 Liverpool flop who lost 100% duels
Ibrahima Konate was not the only culprit during Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest.
Sciver-Brunt scored century in a game where India’s batting collapsed in the absence of senior players
ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2025
Nat Sciver-Brunt and Emma Lamb added 173 runs for the fourth wicket•Getty Images
Without Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Pratika Rawal, India’s batting order crumbled against England at Bengaluru’s Centre of Excellence ground in a warm-up fixture ahead of the ODI World Cup. Chasing 341, India were all out for 187, with Arundhati Reddy not coming out to bat due to a leg injury she sustained while bowling.Wicketkeeper Uma Chetry, who was included in the squad in place of the injured Yastika Bhatia, made a promising 45, while captain Jemimah Rodrigues top-scored with 66 off 68 balls. Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, and Sneh Rana combined to make just 43 runs in the middle order.Related
Reddy suffers blow to knee during warm-up match against England
Sent in to bat, England, propelled by captain Nat Sciver-Brunt’s brisk 120 and Emma Lamb’s 84, piled up 340. India’s pace spearhead Renuka Singh struck in her first over to remove Tammy Beaumont, and the hosts had both Amy Jones and Heather Knight back before the halfway stage. However, Sciver-Brunt and Lamb’s 173-run stand put England in front, despite Kranti Goud’s three-wicket haul later in the innings.Shafali Verma notched up 70 off 49•Getty Images
Shafali Verma, left out of India’s World Cup squad, scored a blistering 49-ball 70 in India A’s four-wicket win over New Zealand in a rain-affected fixture.After New Zealand posted 273 for 9 on the back of Izzy Gaze’s unbeaten 101 at No. 7, multiple rain interruptions left India chasing a revised target of 225 in 40 overs. Shafali’s brisk knock – which included 11 fours and a six – gave the innings early momentum. Captain Minnu Mani remained unbeaten on 39, while wicketkeeper Madiwala Mamatha contributed a crucial 56 not out off 60 balls at No. 8.Earlier, Sayali Satghare, the reserve seamer for India at the World Cup, picked up three wickets. India A had New Zealand reeling at 146 for 7, but Gaze’s counterattacking century helped the Sophie-Devine-led side post a competitive total.In Colombo, both the Pakistan-Sri Lanka game and South Africa’s match against Bangladesh were washed out. Sri Lanka were 33 for 1 in 7.3 overs when play came to an end, while in the other contest, South Africa had reached 45 for 3 in nine overs before rain intervened. Bangladesh’s young pacer Marufa Akter dismissed both Laura Wolvaardt and Annerie Dercksen, while Nahida Akter bowled Marizanne Kapp – a dream start for Bangladesh.
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has demanded the “immediate removal” of Andy Pycroft, the match referee for the India vs Pakistan game on Sunday evening in Dubai, from the remainder of the Asia Cup.The demand from Naqvi, who is also the current president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), came a day after the PCB had alleged that Pycroft had “requested the captains not to shake hands at the toss” as is customary.On Monday, the PCB sought to escalate the matter. “The PCB has lodged a complaint with the ICC regarding violations by the Match Referee of the ICC Code of Conduct and the MCC Laws pertaining to the Spirit of Cricket,” Naqvi said in a tweet (reproduced below). “The PCB has demanded an immediate removal of the Match Referee from the Asia Cup.”ESPNcricinfo understands that the PCB has conveyed this demand via a letter addressed to ICC general manager Wasim Khan. The letter says that Pycroft, at the time of the toss, took Pakistan captain Salman Agha aside and told him there would be no handshakes at the toss. It goes on to say that Pycroft then spoke separately to India captain Suryakumar Yadav.Pakistan team manager Naveed Akram Cheema subsequently spoke to tournament director Andrew Russell asking for an explanation, and was told, the PCB says, that it was down to the line the BCCI had taken on the matter following discussions with the Indian government. When contacted by ESPNcricinfo, Russell offered no comment on the subject.ESPNcricinfo Ltd
The PCB says that Pycroft’s action had violated the MCC Laws and was against the spirit of cricket, and accused the match referee of violating the ICC’s code of conduct. While there is speculation that Pakistan have threatened to withdraw from the tournament if Pycroft was not removed, ESPNcricinfo understands that the PCB has not yet adopted that position.ESPNcricinfo has sent a query to the ICC, which is the ultimate authority, to check whether Pycroft did indeed instruct the captains not to greet each other at the toss.At the conclusion of the game, which India won by seven wickets, the Indian players and support staff chose not to meet the Pakistan side, an unwritten custom after a contest, with Suryakumar Yadav, the India captain, saying afterwards that the Indian “government and the BCCI were aligned” on the matter.Pakistan captain Salman Agha subsequently skipped the post-match presentation, and coach Mike Hesson called India’s decision “disappointing” when he spoke at a press interaction.Shivam Dube and Suryakumar Yadav went straight back to the Indian dressing room after completing the win•Associated Press
While this is an ACC tournament where the ICC has no organisational role, the match officials are allocated by the ICC. Withdrawing a match referee and appointing a replacement would require the ICC to get involved. The BCCI, meanwhile, are the official hosts of this Asia Cup, and might be required to play a part in the matter too.This is the second statement Naqvi has issued since tensions between India and Pakistan spilled over following the game. Shortly after the defeat, he accused India of “dragging politics into the game” and lacking “sportsmanship”. Suryakumar, meanwhile, said at the press conference that a “few things in life were ahead of sportsman’s spirit”.Pycroft is one of two match referees at the Asia Cup, Richie Richardson being the other, and has two more games to officiate in during the group stage of the tournament: Hong Kong vs Sri Lanka in Dubai on Monday and Pakistan vs UAE, also in Dubai, on Wednesday.This was the first meeting between the two teams since India and Pakistan exchanged cross-border hostilities in May, and uncertainty had surrounded the match in the intervening months, with several calls for India to boycott it. Clarity only emerged when the Indian government made public its official policy for sporting engagements with Pakistan, greenlighting meetings in multilateral events while refusing to engage in bilateral contests.As such, this might only have been the first part of an issue that could well come up again next Sunday: Pakistan need to beat the UAE to secure progression to the Super Four, where they will face India in Dubai again on September 21.
Head coach Simmons urges Bangladesh to “enjoy the moment” and play with “freedom”
Shashank Kishore23-Sep-20251:49
Chopra: You look at Saif Hassan and go ‘there’s some serious talent there’
Bangladesh were outmuscled in their last T20I series against India in October 2024, finding themselves chasing scores of 221 and 297 over the course of a 3-0 series defeat.A year on, they’ve picked up the pieces. Under a new coach in Phil Simmons, who took charge three days after that India tour, they’re trying to unlearn old habits, and build new ones.While there’s awareness that structural changes will take time, there’s also the matter of not losing sight of the present. On Wednesday, they’ll play India, the reigning T20 world champions once again, in a crucial Asia Cup fixture with the stakes a lot higher: the winner will take a giant step towards making Sunday’s final.Related
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“Every team has the ability to beat India,” Simmons said. “The game is played on the day, it’s what happens during that three-and-a-half hours. If we get the break in the game, then we have to hold on to it. We have an opportunity to win.”While the head-to-head reads 16-1 in India’s favour, the India-Bangladesh rivalry has transcended far beyond just the numbers. What began as a sibling rivalry in the early 2000s turned into something bigger, when Bangladesh upset India at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.It took until 2015, though, to take the world by storm, when the two sides met in a charged-up World Cup quarter-final in Melbourne. Since then, matches between the two sides have contained enough drama to satisfy any cricketing hype machine.The MS Dhoni and Mustafizur Rahman shoulder barge in 2015, the heart-stopping last-ball thriller at the 2016 T20 World Cup in Bengaluru, and perhaps the most memorable of them all, the Nidahas Trophy final in Colombo in 2018 have all lent some weight to this ‘rivalry’.
“Every game, especially games involving India, has a hype because they’re the number one T20 team in the world. There must be a hype. We’re just going to ride on the hype.”Phil Simmons, Bangladesh head coach
While things have simmered down since, at least on the field, there has been the odd bit of tension, like India deferring a routine bilateral tour, originally to take place in August this year to September next year. Simmons hasn’t paid much mind to that, or to suggestions that his team stands no chance against India on Wednesday.”Every game has a hype,” he said. “Every game, especially games involving India, has a hype because they’re the No. 1 T20 team in the world. There must be a hype. We’re just going to ride on the hype. We’re going to enjoy the moment and enjoy the game. That’s how we’re trying to go into the game, to enjoy the game and therefore give our best.”Asked if he had allowed himself a smile after beating Sri Lanka earlier in the Asia Cup, Simmons admitted he did, but quickly underlined the bigger picture. “We are not here to win a game against Sri Lanka. We are here to win the tournament. Until we get to the stage where we are out, I have to keep everybody grounded in the dressing room.”Simmons has been encouraged lately, even though Bangladesh have produced mixed results – which includes a T20I series loss to UAE. Yet, through it, there has seen a deviation from their safety-first approach of preserving wickets and setting a platform before trying to accelerate.Simmons: ‘We are here to win the tournament. Until we get to the stage where we are out, I’ve to keep everybody grounded in the dressing room’•ICC via Getty ImagesWhen Simmons took over, he wanted them to play differently. And the team has slowly bought into the philosophy, which mirrors the captain Litton Das outlook as well. “It’s been really good,” Simmons said, reflecting on his time in charge of the T20I side. “A big part of it must be the captain and how he has guided his guys and let them know how he wants them to play.”And also the coaches, because we’ve given them that freedom to express themselves when they go out there. I think that’s the biggest part in all formats of cricket, but mostly so in T20 cricket. The freedom to express and use their skills.”For his part, Simmons has given them the independence and liberty to discover their own methods, while also focusing on being flexible.Example: Two games into the Asia Cup, it seemed a given Parvez Hossain Emon and Tanzid Hasan would be locked-in as openers. Then Bangladesh lost to Sri Lanka in the group stage and Simmons saw Saif Hassan batting superbly at training and decided to shake things up.In August, Saif made a comeback to the T20I squad after two years. On Saturday, he struck a 45-ball 61, only his second T20I fifty, as Bangladesh bouced back to beat Sri Lanka in their first Super Fours fixture.1:55
Chopra impressed with Hridoy’s cricketing smarts
Similarly, one match after hitting an unbeaten, six-ball 12 against Afghanistan, Nurul Hasan was left out for Mahedi Hasan, whose offspin made him a necessity against a left-hander heavy Sri Lankan batting line-up. Similarly, legpinner Rishad Hossain made way for an extra seam-option in Shoriful Islam.These changes, Simmons explained, were largely tactical: “Everybody has their time. Maybe you play well in one game but lose the chance in the next because of the combination. It’s hard, but we’re trying to make sure the XI is always hard and difficult to get into. The balance of the team is most important.”If flexibility has been their batting mantra, their bowling has been shaped by pragmatism. Simmons has introduced structured workload management, first with Andre Adams and now with bowling consultant Shaun Tait.Fast bowlers like Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful, and Tanzim Hasan Sakib have been carefully rotated and preserved. Hasan Mahmud is being groomed for Tests, while young quicks such as Nahid Rana have been given elaborate feedback that they hope he will incorporate before he returns.Simmons credits assistant Mohammad Salahuddin, a respected domestic coach, for helping build player confidence and connections, which has been an extension of his management style with Afghanistan and West Indies.In the previous regime, where a board chairman held strong influence over squad selections, at times even the playing XI, such calls may not have been so easy to take. Things are different now.”As long as I have a proper reason for my decisions – we all have different opinions, but as long as I’m confident, and my staff and the captain are confident in how we’re guiding the team, then criticism is like water off a dog’s back. It doesn’t bother me,” Simmons said.
Sarwar Imran in a stable condition at team hotel and hopeful of attending training on Wednesday
Mohammad Isam30-Sep-2025
Sarwar Imran, Bangladesh Women’s head coach, suffered a minor stroke while at the World Cup•Sarwar Imran’s Facebook profile
Bangladesh women’s head coach Sarwar Imran suffered a minor stroke on Monday in Colombo, where the team is preparing for their World Cup opener against Pakistan.Team manager SM Golam Faiyaz confirmed the news to ESPNcricinfo, stating that Imran is now in a stable condition.”(Sarwar) Imran sir was feeling dizzy a couple of days ago, and it continued on Monday. We took him to the hospital where the doctors detected he had a minor brain stroke,” said Faiyaz.The manager said that Imran was released from the hospital on Tuesday. He is now recuperating in the team hotel, although he wanted to join Tuesday’s training session.”We asked sir to rest today,” Faiyaz said. “He is hopeful of going to the ground with us tomorrow (Wednesday).”Imran, aged 66, was appointed the women’s head coach in February this year, after Hashan Tillakaratne, the former Sri Lanka captain, left the role earlier in the year.Imran was also the men’s coach when the Bangladesh team played their inaugural Test in 2000.Bangladesh open their World Cup campaign against Pakistan in Colombo on Thursday. It will be their second appearance at the tournament, having made their debut in 2022 and scraped through qualifying for this year’s event.
No confirmation yet on whom he will play for this season
ESPNcricinfo staff28-Aug-2025Batter Mandeep Singh has decided to leave Tripura ahead of the 2025-26 domestic season after spending just one season with the team.”Thank you Tripura CA for giving me the opportunity to play last season, I enjoyed my time there,” Mandeep wrote in an Instagram post. “Made some wonderful memories on and off the field. Wishing the team success for the upcoming season. Looking forward to the next chapter.”Mandeep captained Tripura across formats, playing six matches in the Ranji Trophy, six games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and seven matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Tripura in the 2024-25 season.Tripura failed to make it out of the group stages in all the competitions but Mandeep showed good form.In the Ranji Trophy, he scored an unbeaten 124 and made five half-centuries, crossing the fifty-run mark in every game he played last season. He made three fifties in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, with a top score of 94 against Bengal, and he scored two half-centuries in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s.Mandeep had switched over to Tripura after 15 years with Punjab, having led them to the Syed Mushtaq Ali title in his last season with them, ending a 30-year trophy drought.There is still no confirmation on which team he will play for in the upcoming season.
Rangers have now reportedly launched an opening enquiry to sign Mujaid Sadick from Belgian side Genk in an attempt to hand Danny Rohl his first arrival at Ibrox.
The new manager has got off to a mixed start in Scotland, with victories over Kilmarnock and Hibernian at least stopping the rot in the Scottish Premiership before heartbreak in extra-time against Celtic. As Roma entered Ibrox in midweek, there may have been some hope that Rohl’s side could cause an upset before their problems were laid bare for all to see once again.
The Italian side raced into the lead courtesy of Matias Soule in the 13th minute, before Lorenzo Pellegrini put them out of sight just before half-time. Whilst it was no thumping, the gulf in quality was clear at times as Roma picked up a 2-0 victory.
Speaking to the media at full-time, Rohl admitted his disappointment – saying: “It’s disappointing, the result. We did, in some key moments, not the right things that we should do.
“I’ve said this many times, and I will repeat this, this game at the moment we need to grow in. We want to win this game in the future, but at the moment there are a lot of things that we have to increase.
“In the second half, I changed the shape and had one more player higher on the pitch. I felt then until the 75th minute that there could be something if we used one moment to bring the belief or the confidence in a good direction. But we couldn’t, and then in the end it was a very experienced side we played.”
Fewer touches than Butland: Rohl must axe Rangers man who lost the ball 11x
Rangers have now lost four out of four in the Europa League, and Danny Röhl must drop the flop who lost the ball 11 times against Roma on Thursday.
Nov 7, 2025
Defensively, Rangers were found wanting once again and it’s something that the 49ers must address in the January transfer window. As Rohl aims to mark his own stamp on the current side, a central defender should be at the top of his shopping list.
Rangers launch Mujaid Sadick enquiry
As reported by journalist Sacha Tavolieri, Rangers have now launched an enquiry to sign Mujaid Sadick from Belgian side Genk in the January transfer window. The 25-year-old has seemingly impressed the Gers and may have first caught their attention when he pocketed summer signing Chermiti in a 1-0 win over the Scottish giants in September.
The central defender completed 45 of his 46 attempted passes, made 15 defensive contributions and was not dribbled past once in a dominant display against Rangers. Chermiti, meanwhile, was limited to just one touch in the opposition box and was dispossessed three times. In a night to forget for the struggling striker, Sadick thrived.
It’s also worth noting that the Spaniard can play right-back as well as centre-back in what could offer Rohl crucial versatility. As far as first arrivals go, Sadick would be an excellent option to turn to in the January transfer window.
Rohl must drop another Rangers transfer flop with Chermiti
A look at their scoring rates begins to point to the reasons for this long-standing problem
Andrew Fidel Fernando12-Sep-2025For longer than ten years, a little over half of international T20 cricket’s lifespan so far, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have nursed woeful run rates. The stats are pretty clear. Of the ten top-ranked men’s T20I teams, they have the two worst run rates since 2015.A ten-plus year span is clearly many ages in T20 cricket, the fastest moving and now most-played of cricket’s formats. And yet Bangladesh and Sri Lanka’s loyalty to the bottom of this table has seen extraordinary consistency. Between 2015 and the end of 2019 they were eighth (Bangladesh) and tenth (Sri Lanka) on the table, and since 2020 they are eighth (Sri Lanka) and tenth (Bangladesh). If you’re looking for more recent history – since the start of 2024 – they are eighth (Sri Lanka) and ninth (Bangladesh), just ahead of Afghanistan. But unlike Afghanistan, neither Sri Lanka or Bangladesh qualified for the semi-final of the last World Cup.We’re mostly interested in only the run rate for this section, but just to illustrate how abysmal these teams’ batting has been, we’ve also incorporated batting average into this graph.
In the long term, there has not been one particular phase of the game in which they have struggled – they have been poor in the powerplay, middle overs death. But since 2024, some differences have emerged. Sri Lanka have become a middling team (sixth out of ten) in the powerplay, while Bangladesh are middling (fifth out of ten) at the death. That progress has perhaps been powered by their improved six-hitting, as Mohammad Isam lays out here. But they both continue to both be poor through the middle overs and poor overall.What could possibly be behind such long-term dysfunction for these two nations specifically? A theory has arisen, independently in each country, that might explain these run rates. Tracks in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – at the Premadasa and Mirpur stadiums especially – are too spin-friendly to allow batters to develop more aggressive aspects of their game, or so the thinking goes.In August 2023, for example, Sanath Jayasuriya tweeted his displeasure at low-scoring surfaces at the Premadasa in the Lanka Premier League, arguing that pitches should “fuel positive, aggressive play” to “electrify the fans”. He was in charge of the Dambulla Aura team then, but is now head coach of Sri Lanka’s men. Around the same time, Sri Lanka captain’s captain then, Wanindu Hasaranga, also made his displeasure for slower Premadasa tracks known.Bangladesh’s players, meanwhile, have asked to play as few T20Is in Mirpur as possible, preferring the better batting track in Sylhet. Just a couple of months ago, Mike Hesson, Pakistan’s coach, slammed the Mirpur surface calling it “not up to international standards” when his team were dismissed for 110.At first blush, the numbers line up in support of this theory. Since the start of 2020, matches played in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are ninth and tenth respectively for run rate (innings involving top ten teams only). T20Is in these countries have also seen the two lowest batting averages over the last few years.
So we have long-term correlation. But do we have causation? It’s difficult to pin down exactly whether the pitches are the source of the problem, given a whole host of other factors (domestic structure, resources, coaching, strategy, etc) could be affecting these outcomes. But a further set of stats suggests that the pitches being part of the problem is a strain of thought worth pursuing.When Bangladesh and Sri Lanka play overseas, you would expect their scoring rates to be substantially better than at home on account of the pitches overseas being better on average, right? But since 2020 both Sri Lanka’s and Bangladesh’s scoring rates have only increased marginally when playing top ten opposition away from home. Sri Lanka have an improvement of 0.28 runs per over, while Bangladesh show an improvement of 0.70. Other teams, meanwhile, average 1.53 runs per over more when they play outside of Bangladesh or Sri Lanka than in those nations.!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}})}();
To put that another way, if we use batting innings in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as a baseline, Sri Lanka average 5.6 more runs per innings away from home. Bangladesh average 14 more runs per innings away. Everyone else put together averages 30.6 runs more when not playing in either of those countries.(For the stats in the above two paragraphs, only matches against teams in the top ten were considered. And only matches in the home nations, plus the UAE, where, because of geopolitical circumstances in South Asia, many teams play matches against top opposition. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have their away records reflected. For other teams, innings in both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have been removed.)Clearly, these are significant issues that both teams need to solve in the next few months as the attention focuses on T20Is in men’s cricket. But there are some advantages for teams accustomed to low-scoring surfaces. The UAE, where the Asia Cup is being played, has also had its share of low-scoring matches, which Sri Lanka and Bangladesh may enjoy. Next year’s T20 World Cup will also be co-hosted by Sri Lanka, and the Premadasa is almost inevitably bound to host more matches than any other Sri Lankan ground.And yet there is also the problem, for these two teams, of India hosting many World Cup matches. That is a country that is used to seeing big T20 scores.But T20I cricket will be played beyond the next six months. If Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are to solve their long-term run-rate problems in this format, they would do well to at least take serious notice of the fact that their home pitches don’t really give their batters a chance of playing more expansive brands of cricket.