Category: 6. Sports

Former England cricketer Mark Butcher has heaped praise on India’s new Test captain Shubman Gill, highlighting his composure and technical finesse in filling the shoes of Indian great Virat Kohli at the crucial number four spot. Gill’s stellar form in the ongoing Test series against England has earned him 585 runs in four innings, and silencing doubts over his technique and temperament. “There aren’t many jobs in world sport that come with as much pressure and scrutiny as being Indian cricket captain, right? Not to mention you’re filling in Kohli’s spot in the order, or Tendulkar’s spot in the order,” Butcher told PTI. “So the pressures were enormous. And so far, he’s taken to it like a duck to water. He’s just looked very, very comfortable, very serene in terms of his temperament,” the 52-year-old added.

Speaking further on Gill’s performance, Butcher said, “And technically, he’s played beautifully as well. So what a great start to the series. I mean, he might have some records in his side by the end of it. He’s passed enough already. So what’s he got? 600 already in the series. It has been an incredible start.” He added that England need a plan for India’s middle order, especially Gill, stating, “England will have to come up with an answer for him… because they obviously feel, that you get past the top three or four…and then there are bounties to be had a bit further down the order.” Butcher also shared his admiration for KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, commending the former’s consistency and Jaiswal’s hunger for runs. “Every time I’ve seen KL play, so we go back to the 2021 series here in England, and he batted at the top of the order with Rohit,” he said. “So technically, he just looks very, very suited to top-order batting, really. And the fact that he’s now going to have a long run, hopefully, in that position, his average will go upwards of 40 very, very quickly because technically he’s fabulous. He’s a great player to watch.” Butcher described Jaiswal as a “generational talent” and spoke about his batting obsession, as relayed to him by Kumar Sangakkara. “Jaiswal just loves batting by the looks of it… he’s obsessed by batting and scoring runs. And he does it in a beautifully pleasing way. For somebody who’s so young and so relatively inexperienced to sort of look as comfortable at the top of the order in all these different conditions, is magnificent,” he said.

On India’s No. 3 spot, Butcher suggested the team should commit to a player. “You have to kind of make your choice and stick with it for a while because clearly, facing the new ball is difficult. People are going to get out for low scores. But you have to make your decision on who you think is the guy that’s going to fulfil that position.” Regarding Jaiswal’s potential short-ball vulnerability, Butcher remarked: “Yeah, possibly (he has a short ball weakness). It hasn’t cost him his wicket as yet. But it’ll be something that he’ll work on, I’m sure… I’m sure he’ll come up with an answer for it.”

He’s a young Italian tennis player, but not Jannik Sinner or Lorenzo Musetti.

He’s an up-and-coming On athlete, but not Ben Shelton or Joao Fonseca.

He could have been a famous footballer, but left the youth academy of Serie A club Roma as a teenager.

And he’s so softly spoken, that at times it’s impossible to hear him without leaning in close.

Flavio Cobolli, an understated but self-assured 23-year-old Italian, has flown under the radar during his fledgling tennis career. That is now much harder, because he just made his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, on the back of winning the biggest title of his career. Before the French Open, Cobolli beat former world No. 5 Andrey Rublev in straight sets to claim the Hamburg Open in Germany, an ATP 500 event, a couple of rungs below the Grand Slams. Cobolli saved all five of the break points he faced in the biggest match of his career.

Now he is in the last eight of Wimbledon, after beating former finalist Marin Čilić in four sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(3). He will have to get used to the attention — Cobolli said he felt “a little bit confused” during an interview at Roland Garros, as he explained the feeling of winning a big title and then heading straight to another one, trophy in hand.

“I like it,” he said of the attention before a first-round match against lucky loser and 2014 U.S. Open champion … Čilić. “It’s a little strange for me because I never had it.”

Clay is his preferred surface. In April, Cobolli won his first ATP Tour title on the surface at the Romanian Open. It was an unlikely win, coming off the back of an eight-match losing streak at the start of 2025. It was deflating after his breakthrough season in 2024, which saw his ranking rise from outside the world’s top 100 to the top 30. His latest title win also followed a disappointing couple of results: a first-round exit at the Italian Open and a quarterfinal defeat at a Challenger tournament in Turin.

But the Wimbledon grass has also proven a fine foil to his expressive brand of tennis. Čilić, who upset home hope and No. 4 seed Jack Draper in the second round, plays the first-strike, bludgeoning brand of the era in which he was a top player. Cobolli plays with more changes in rhythm and pace, moving the ball rather than blasting it.

Cobolli partly credits his progress to doing pre-season training in Spain with an old friend, Carlos Alcaraz. The two met over a decade ago on the junior circuit, where Cobolli once won a doubles match against the Spaniard. During an interview at the Laver Cup in September, Cobolli proudly referenced that junior victory, and said of their training block together at the Ferrero Tennis Academy in Alicante that he “learned a lot from Alcaraz and his lifestyle.”

They would have repeated the arrangement in the most recent off-season, but an injury to Cobolli got in the way. Still, Alcaraz has been impressed by what he’s seen from his near-contemporary. “He has the level to be there, really,” Alcaraz said during a news conference Monday in Paris.

“I’m just really, really happy with everything he’s doing lately. I’m pretty sure he’s gonna keep building his path and (will) become a really good tennis player.”

Alcaraz, who said Cobolli has “really good hands, really good touch,” empathizes with one of Cobolli’s weaknesses.

“What he was struggling (with) was about finding the right shots in the right moment. Probably he was a little bit inconsistent, like me sometimes,” he said with a smile.

Returning the compliment, Cobolli said: “He’s a nice guy, always joking, but when practicing he’s very focused.”

Six months before that training block, Cobolli drew Alcaraz in the first round of the 2023 French Open — his first main-draw match at a major.

“I said, ‘F—. Carlos on clay, first time main draw,’” Cobolli said of a match he ended up losing in straight sets, including a 25-minute bagel in the first. Cobolli said that “Carlos is a bit higher level” than anyone he’d faced, including Novak Djokovic.

It was at the 2024 Australian Open that Cobolli made his move, reaching the third round after entering as a qualifier. Sponsored by Lotto at the time, Cobolli formally joined On four months later.

The Swiss sportswear company’s roster also includes four-time Roland Garros champion Iga Świątek, top-10 American Shelton and Fonseca, who is considered the sport’s most exciting youngster. Joining has raised Cobolli’s profile, and with a game based more on style than power — he’s only 6 feet — his matches can catch fire. At last year’s French Open, he played out a barn-burner against Holger Rune, as their late-night, second-round match on Court 14 turned into one of the matches of the tournament. Cobolli was ultimately edged out in a final set tie-break that he had led 5-0, before Rune hit a slap-shot backhand return that changed the complexion of the match’s final minutes.

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Cobolli has faced Alcaraz and Djokovic, the leading men on the ATP Tour, but not yet Sinner — a compatriot, a good friend and a fellow sporting polymath. Sinner’s background as a high-level skier is well known, but had Cobolli’s career headed in a different direction, he might be speaking as a footballer for Roma in Serie A.

He was a right-back in their academy for five years, but decided at 14 to pursue a career in tennis. His dad and coach, Stefano, was also a professional player, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 236.

Does Cobolli ever watch Roma and think he could be playing? “Of course — every match, I think it,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Every match, I think, ‘I can do better than him.’”

A number of his friends have gone on to play for the Roma first team, many of whom he plays padel with. Though born and raised in Florence, Roma is Cobolli’s biggest passion. He goes to games whenever he can and follows the team obsessively while on tour, generally preferring watching football to tennis. When he won the French Open boys’ doubles title as an 18-year-old in 2020, Cobolli celebrated by hoisting a Roma scarf into the sky. He hadn’t planned it; it just felt right in the moment.

His infatuation extends to one of his many tattoos. He has the Italian phrase “sei tu l’unica mia sposa, sei tu l’unico mio amor,” which translates as “you are my only wife, you are my only love,” inked on his chest. It’s a quote about Roma from club legend Daniele De Rossi, who wrote it on the captain’s armband when he was managing the team between January and September 2024. Cobolli describes De Rossi as his “idol outside the court.”

Another of Cobolli’s friends from his Roma days is Riccardo Calafiori, the swashbuckling defender who signed for Arsenal from Bologna last summer. “I texted him then just to say, ‘Congrats for your move.’ He’s a nice guy — just a normal guy,” Cobolli said.

“We played in the same team at Roma, and he was amazing with his feet. I’m a bit better with my hands.

“I did (always think he’d make it) — he’s a special player. And he will be a great, great, great player for Arsenal.” He saw Calafiori’s resilience up close in their youth, as his fellow Italian overcame a horrific knee injury to climb to football’s highest level.

Another of their team-mates was Edoardo Bove, whom Cobolli met aged seven and now plays for Fiorentina. They became great friends playing together at the Roma academy, and Bove was also a gifted tennis player. In December 2024, Bove collapsed on the pitch during a match against Inter and suffered a cardiac arrest. Cobolli was watching the game and broke down in tears.

“I froze immediately,” Cobolli told the ATP Tour in December. “When I watched that moment, I called my mom, crying, and she told me, ‘Flavio, stop there, I’ll come to you,’ because it was tough for me.

In Paris, Cobolli said that Bove had surprised him by showing up at the Hamburg final. “He’s good, he’s happy, and I hope to see him on the pitch soon,” Cobolli said.

He still enjoys playing football tennis with some of his peers on the ATP Tour, including other talented footballers Alcaraz and Sebastian Korda, who he cites as one of the best in the locker room. Korda is close to footballing royalty, too — his girlfriend Ivana is the daughter of Pavel Nedvěd, the former Ballon d’Or winner.

Cobolli treasures these friendships from his Roma days, but ultimately chose tennis over football because, as well as his greater talent with a racket, he prefers the responsibility of an individual sport.

“I don’t like to play with a team,” he said. “I like to play alone. I love to stay alone in my life. I don’t like to lose because of someone else. I want to win because of me. In a team, it’s different.”

Still, as he roared in delight after beating Čilić on No. 2 Court, it was the emotions of his team, some in tears, that stood out. He’ll be trying to win alone again Wednesday, in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

(Top photos: Adam Davy / PA Images via Imagn Images)

Pope held off competition from Bethell for the number-three spot, although Bethell also offers the option of his left-arm spin.

Bashir has taken eight wickets in the India series, more than any other England bowler except Josh Tongue. However, the 21-year-old has been expensive – his wickets have cost almost 60 runs each and his economy is just below four an over.

However, McCullum said England will not “crowbar” Bethell into the team.

“He’s a batting option,” added the coach. “He’s the next one in if something happens.

“He wants to keep improving his bowling so that he can obviously impact the game across both the bat and ball. It’s not something we’d look at from a tactical point of view to do.”

One player set to be included in the England XI for the third Test at Lord’s, beginning on Thursday, is Jofra Archer.

The pace bowler, 30, has not played Test cricket in four years after a string of injuries, but seems likely to return as the home side freshen up their attack.

And McCullum said Archer is “certainly” available, despite bowling only 18 overs on his first-class comeback for Sussex in June.

“Jofra is looking fit, he’s looking strong, he’s looking ready to go, and he’ll come into calculations,” he added.

“It’s hugely exciting. He’s buzzing as well. He’s obviously been through his injuries and his time out of Test cricket.

“We all know what he’s capable of achieving in Test cricket and we hope that when the opportunity does arrive for him, he’s able to recapture and also improve on what he’s been able to do already in that form of the game.”

Henry Slade is out of the tour of Argentina and the United States with a hand injury, leaving England with inexperienced midfield options as they attempt to seal a series win over the Pumas.

Slade played the full 80 minutes in the 35-12 first-Test win over Argentina in La Plata on Saturday but will miss the rematch in San Juan this weekend.

Seb Atkinson made his first Test appearance in La Plata while Max Ojomoh, Luke Northmore and Oscar Beard – the other specialist centres in the 36-player squad – are still uncapped.

Fraser Dingwall and Ollie Lawrence, who emerged as England’s first-choice midfield during the Six Nations, are both injured while the versatile Elliot Daly has returned from the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia with a fractured arm.

Slade, who won his 73rd England cap against Argentina, was also a back-up option at fly-half, with uncapped Charlie Atkinson the only direct cover for the experienced George Ford.

Co-captains Ford and Jamie George and flanker Sam Underhill – with 102, 100 and 41 caps respectively – are now the only players with more than 40 caps in the squad.

England, whose tour will conclude with a one-off Test against the United States on 19 July, have no plans to summon a replacement for Slade.

Steve Borthwick’s side produced one of their best performances of the head coach’s reign in La Plata, surviving the sin-binning of Alex Coles and Seb Atkinson to lead 3-0 at half-time, before accelerating away to victory via four second-half tries.

The win takes England above their opponents to fifth in the world ranking.

The Pumas, who rested some of their France-based players for the first Test, have brought in Bordeaux-Begles second row Guido Petti for the second game.

The 30-year-old, who scored a try in their Top 14 final loss against Toulouse on 28 June, will join up with Harlequins next season.

Lando Norris described his victory at the British Grand Prix and his intense battle with Oscar Piastri for the world championship as exhausting, but is hopeful he has established some momentum for the next round in Belgium.

“It’s two wins, but they’ve not come easy by any means,” he said, after following up his win in Austria at Silverstone. “We’ve had good fights, but they’re pretty strenuous, exhausting weekends because you’re fighting for hundredths and thousandths and you’re fighting for perfection every session and I’m against some pretty good drivers. So, it takes a lot out of you, especially when you have a race like Sunday.”

Norris’s maiden win at Silverstone secured his first career back-to-back wins. Both races were high pressure head-to-head fights with his McLaren teammate Piastri, with little to choose between the two drivers in either meeting.

On Sunday Piastri had been leading, with Norris challenging him hard, until the Australian was given a 10-second penalty for braking erratically at a safety car restart. It allowed Norris to take the lead when Piastri took his penalty. Norris went on to win a demanding race in treacherous conditions that caught many drivers out and he felt he had needed to be at the top of his game to defeat his teammate twice in succession.

Norris now has four wins to Piastri’s five this year and has closed the gap to the Australian to just eight points, with 12 races left. The 25-year-old has struggled with the McLaren at times this season, not enjoying the feel of the grip from the front of the car, and this has been costly on occasion, particularly in qualifying.

However in Austria McLaren adjusted his front suspension and Norris confirmed that it has been an improvement. The British driver may now be on something of a roll but was acutely aware he would have to deliver week in week out to maintain his title aspirations.

“I’ve had two good weekends and, of course, I would love to continue that momentum, but it still requires more consistency,” he said. “Two weekends doesn’t mean anything otherwise. And I just need to keep it up and keep working hard.”

Piastri was furious with his penalty, imposed because the stewards ruled his sudden braking had forced Max Verstappen to take evasive action. However, the McLaren team principal, Andrea Stella, suggested that Verstappen may have been deliberately gaming the system to make the incident appear more serious than it was.

“We’ll have to see also if other competitors kind of made the situation look worse than what it is,” he said. “Because we know that as part of the race-craft, some competitors definitely have the ability to make others look like they are causing severe infringement when they are not.”

Former Barcelona and Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitić on Monday announced his retirement from football at the age of 37.

Rakitić had last been playing for Hadjuk Split back in his homeland following a brief spell in the Saudi Pro League with Al Shabab.

“Football, you gave me more than I could ever imagine,” he wrote in a post on social media confirming he was hanging up his boots.

“You gave me victories, defeats, lessons and friends for life. You gave me a unique path and a thousand stories to tell. You gave me a beautiful family and moments that I will carry forever in my heart.

“Now it is time to enjoy you from another perspective, to live you with the same passion, with a always grateful heart, from the stands, from the offices, from home, or wherever life takes me.”

Born in Switzerland to Croatian parents, Rakitić came through at FC Basel before joining German side Schalke 04 in 2007.

After four years he moved to Sevilla in 2011, where he met his now wife, for the first of two spells with the Spanish side which bookended six hugely successful years at Barcelona.

With Barça, he won 13 trophies, including four LaLiga titles, four Copas del Rey and one Champions League.

He also enjoyed great success with Croatia, making 106 appearances before retiring from international football in 2019, one year after reaching the World Cup final with his country, where they lost to France.

At Sevilla, meanwhile, he won two UEFA Europa League titles.

“With Sevilla, I discovered a second home and found the love of my life,” he said. “My daughter was born in that city and I won my first major title. We cried together and celebrated with passion. Sevilla is eternal.

“Barcelona gave me everything. It’s the club of my dreams. I achieved all my goals there, playing with the best players in the world and winning everything as a team.

“With Croatia, we made history. From our first game together in 2007 to the 2018 World Cup Final, where we made millions dream and feel proud of their roots. Sharing a dressing room with my national teammates has been one of the greatest gifts of my career.”

Newcastle striker Callum Wilson says “all good things come to an end” after confirming he will leave the club.

The former England international’s contract expired last week and he exits St James’ Park after failing to agree a new deal.

Wilson scored 49 goals in 130 appearances for Newcastle, who have thanked the 33-year-old for playing a “huge part in our success in recent years”.

“To all you Magpies, it’s time to say goodbye after an unbelievable few years at the Toon,” Wilson said in a statement.

“Thank you for everything. We stood strong together through the highs and some lows to help the club experience new heights.”

It is understood a number of Premier League clubs have shown an interest in Wilson, while he also has options in Major League Soccer.

Wilson joined Newcastle from Bournemouth for about £20m in 2020 and spent an injury-hit five years on Tyneside.

He struggled with both back and hamstring injuries last season, and only managed 18 appearances in the Premier League.

“I am so proud to have worn the iconic number 9 shirt and to have added a little more history to it,” Wilson added.

“Scoring at the Gallowgate end really is as special as they say.

“All good things come to an end, but there’s no doubt Newcastle United will always have a place in mine and my families hearts.”

On the outgoing front, Christian Eriksen, Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof departed at the end of their contracts.

Evans, though, is remaining at the club, following his retirement, after being appointed head of loans and pathways.

Tom Heaton signed a fresh one-year deal.

Sam Murray completed a move to Carlisle United, playing under former Reds striker Mark Hughes.