Sanju Samson and Heinrich Klaasen

NEW DELHI: A day after tempers flared during the high-voltage IPL 2026 clash between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, Sanju Samson and Heinrich Klaasen moved quickly to put the controversy to rest with warm social media messages for each other.The two players were involved in a heated on-field exchange during SRH’s successful chase at Chepauk on Monday night, but their posts a day later painted a very different picture.Samson shared a photo with Klaasen on social media and wrote: “Things happen on the field but lots of love and respect to this gem of a person off it.”Klaasen soon responded by reposting the picture with his own message: “Much love and respect for you bud. Always love watching you play. Keep doing your thing. We are all good. Looking forward to our next battle.”The exchange quickly won over fans online, with many praising both cricketers for showing mutual respect despite the emotional confrontation during the game.

Sanju Samson and Heinrich Klaasen’s social media exchanges

What happened during the clash?The incident took place in the 15th over of SRH’s chase when CSK spinner Noor Ahmad dismissed Klaasen with a sharp stumping.Bowling a googly outside off stump, Noor tempted Klaasen into stepping out for an inside-out shot. The ball spun away, beat the outside edge and Samson reacted instantly behind the stumps to whip off the bails before Klaasen could drag his foot back inside the crease.Samson’s lightning-fast work drew comparisons with former CSK captain MS Dhoni. Klaasen, who had looked dangerous with a quickfire 47 off 26 balls featuring six fours and two sixes, appeared visibly frustrated after the dismissal.As he walked back, Klaasen exchanged words with Samson near the pitch and even turned around again while heading towards the dugout. Samson responded as tensions briefly escalated before Shivam Dube, Noor Ahmad and the umpire stepped in to calm both players.Despite Klaasen’s dismissal, SRH completed a five-wicket victory to seal their place in the playoffs alongside Gujarat Titans.

Lane Kiffin is bring back a familiar face.

LSU has finalized a deal to hire former head coach Ed Orgeron as an assistant on head coach Lane Kiffin’s staff, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The deal brings Orgeron back to his home state, and reunites with him Kiffin after working under him at USC and Tennessee.

Aston Villa finally ended their 30-year wait for a major trophy after defeating SC Freiburg 3-0 in the UEFA Europa League final on Wednesday night in Istanbul.

Goals from Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers secured a famous victory for Unai Emery’s men as the Premier League side lifted their first trophy since winning the League Cup in 1996.

Villa took control of the final late in the first half when Tielemans fired home a powerful volley in the 41st minute after meeting a clever corner delivery from Rogers.

Just before the break, Buendia doubled the advantage with a brilliant curling strike from outside the penalty area after Freiburg failed to close him down.

Rogers completed the victory in the 58th minute, sliding in to convert Buendia’s cross and spark wild celebrations among the Villa supporters inside Besiktas Stadium.

The triumph also marked Villa’s first major European title since their famous European Cup success in 1982, when they defeated Bayern Munich in Rotterdam.

Villa players wore white shirts for the final, similar to the kit used during that historic 1982 victory, with club legends Peter Withe and Dennis Mortimer watching from the stands.

Manager Unai Emery continued his remarkable record in the Europa League by winning the competition for a fifth time. Emery previously lifted the trophy three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal.

The success completed a remarkable turnaround for Villa, who struggled badly at the beginning of the season and went six matches without a win.

Since taking charge in October 2022, Emery has transformed the club from relegation candidates into European champions and Champions League qualifiers.

Villa dominated much of the contest and could have scored earlier before Tielemans finally broke Freiburg’s resistance with his superb finish.

The victory ended years of disappointment for Villa, who had suffered several painful cup defeats in recent seasons before finally enjoying a memorable night in Istanbul.

Although Travis Kelce agreed to a one-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs that will bring him back for a 14th NFL season, much of the recent attention surrounding the star tight end has focused less on football and more on his relationship with Taylor Swift and the couple’s reported wedding plans.

Swift’s ties to football date back years. According to the 14-time Grammy winner, her father, Scott Swift, and Chiefs coach Andy Reid have long shared a friendship. Since beginning her relationship with Kelce, the music superstar has frequently appeared in luxury suites at Kansas City games.

The three-time Super Bowl champion recently revealed his fiancée also made a sharp observation about a legendary Pittsburgh Steelers running back.

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Taylor Swift celebrates with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce after the AFC Championship Game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Jan. 26, 2025. (David Eulitt/Getty Images)

On a recent episode of New Heights, the podcast he co-hosts with brother Jason Kelce, Travis shared Swift’s amusing observation that Jerome Bettis looked “like an offensive lineman running with the football.”

AARON RODGERS CONFIRMS HE’S RETIRING AFTER UPCOMING SEASON WITH THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Jason’s mention of Bettis’ upcoming golf tournament prompted Travis to share a story about unexpectedly running into the Hall of Famer during a dinner with Swift.

“He is just the best dude ever. I got to run into him at dinner. I was like telling Tay about him like, ‘That dude was a beast.’”

Kelce later showed Swift highlights from Bettis’ Hall of Fame career, which stretched from 1993 to 2005.

Running back Jerome Bettis of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs with the football against the Denver Broncos during the AFC Championship game at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Jan. 11, 1998. The Broncos defeated the Steelers 24-21. (George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

“I showed her a Jerome Bettis highlight tape and she was like ‘Why does he look like an offensive lineman running with the football?’ Because he was ‘The Bus,’” Kelce said.

Bettis, a six-time Pro Bowler, was listed at more than 250 pounds for much of his decade-long run with the Steelers, earning him the nickname “The Bus.” He began his career with the Rams, who selected him in the first round of the 1993 NFL Draft.

Jerome Bettis signs a football during Touchdowns on the Green, the inaugural Tim and Sherice Brown Celebrity Golf Invitational to Blitz Human Trafficking before Super Bowl LVIII at Topgolf Las Vegas on Feb. 8, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

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Bettis won Super Bowl XL with the Steelers.

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Macklin Celebrini is 19 years old and already carrying the weight of a comparison that no player in hockey ever escapes easily. Brady Tkachuk called him Sidney Crosby 2.0 on a recent episode of the Wingmen podcast, and the hockey world has been talking about it ever since.

The comparison did not come out of nowhere. Celebrini produced 115 points in his sophomore NHL season with the San Jose Sharks, finishing as a Ted Lindsay Award finalist and establishing himself as one of the most complete young centres the sport has seen since Crosby himself arrived in Pittsburgh two decades ago.

The Crosby Parallel Is Already Undeniable

Matthew Tkachuk put it plainly on the podcast. Players who remember Crosby as a teenager see the same qualities in Celebrini, including the skating, the puck protection, and the ability to control the tempo of a game through the middle of the ice.

Brady went further. “It’s not quite changing of the guard because Sid’s still Sid,” he said. “But it’s just like, holy cow, this kid is going to be 2.0 for the next 20 years.” That kind of praise from opponents carries enormous weight. 

Brady Tkachuk is not in the business of building up rival players without reason, and the respect in his voice was unmistakable. When Team Canada assembled for the World Championship in Switzerland, Celebrini was named captain before Crosby joined the roster. 

Rather than reclaiming the armband, Crosby encouraged Celebrini to keep the captaincy and accepted an alternate captain role himself. Celebrini responded by scoring twice against Italy. Crosby then produced four assists against Denmark as Canada rolled through group play unbeaten. 

The two have developed immediate chemistry on the top line together, a development that feels almost cinematic given the circumstances. Celebrini already skated alongside Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon at the Winter Olympics in a line nicknamed the Mac Attack. 

At the World Championship, he is now linemates with Crosby himself. The San Jose Sharks are still building around their young core, but Celebrini has already outgrown the rebuild narrative. He is not a prospect anymore. He is a star, and the sport is beginning to treat him like one.

The torch has not officially changed hands. Crosby is still Crosby. But the next era of Canadian hockey has a face, and at 19 years old, Macklin Celebrini is only getting started.

Kolkata Knight Riders, after five losses in their first six games, were virtually counted out of the IPL 2026 playoff race. However, they are now on a winning streak. Kolkata Knight Riders lived to fight another day with a crucial four-wicket win over Mumbai Indians after Sunil Narine-led bowlers once again delivered on a testing Eden Gardens surface to keep their IPL playoff hopes alive on Wednesday. Needing nothing less than a win to remain in contention, KKR rode on a clinical bowling effort to restrict the already eliminated five-time champions to a modest 147/8 after Ajinkya Rahane won an important toss.

All teams have now played 13 games. Three playoff spots are already sealed: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (18 points), Gujarat Titans (16 points) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (16 points). Five teams are vying for the one remaining spot: Rajasthan Royals (14), Punjab Kings (13), KKR (13), Chennai Super Kings (12) and Delhi Capitals (12). All of them need to win their last match to advance.

However, there is a remote possibility of RR qualifying for the playoffs even with a loss in their last game, but for that to happen, they need to have a strong run rate and hope that other teams in contention lose their matches. DC play KKR in their final match and the winner of that game must have lesser run-rate than RR for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s side to progress even with a loss.

In reply, veteran Manish Pandey (45 off 33 balls; 6×4) finally got an opportunity to bat at No. 3 with talented keeper-batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi injured and anchored a tense chase with a 33-ball 45.

He, along with Rovman Powell (40; 30b, 4×4, 2×6), shared a crucial 64-run partnership to set it up as the hosts overhauled the 148-run target in 18.5 overs.

The victory lifted KKR from eighth to sixth in the standings with 13 points and kept their slim playoff hopes alive with six wins from 13 matches.

However, their fate is no longer in their own hands as KKR will now closely follow Rajasthan Royals’ clash against Mumbai Indians on Sunday afternoon before they face Delhi Capitals in the evening clash.

A Royals win would seal their qualification and eliminate KKR, rendering Kolkata’s final league game against DC inconsequential.

For MI, it was their ninth defeat in 13 matches as the five-time champions remained second from bottom with one game left.

On a surface where strokeplay remained difficult, KKR began shakily and lost both openers inside the powerplay.

Finn Allen, coming off a blistering 35-ball 93 in the previous match against Gujarat Titans, started aggressively with two boundaries before Deepak Chahar cleaned him up for 8.

Ajinkya Rahane survived an lbw review via umpire’s call but never looked comfortable during his 17-ball 21 before edging Corbin Bosch in the final over of the powerplay.

Bosch struck again in the eighth over when Cameron Green (4) miscued a poor delivery down the leg side straight to fine leg as KKR slipped to 54/3.

Mumbai sensed an opening but let the game drift through sloppy fielding.

Jasprit Bumrah, enduring another forgettable outing, leaked 14 runs in his second over as KKR steadily rebuilt through Pandey and Powell.

There was further frustration for MI in the 10th over when Powell top-edged a pull off Hardik Pandya.

Deepak Chahar at fine leg appeared set for the catch but left it for Robin Minz running across from deep square leg, only for the ball to land safely between them.

Pandey, however, could not complete the chase and was cleaned up by Bumrah, while in the next over, Powell fell to AM Ghazanfar.

But with hardly any scoreboard pressure – KKR needed 19 from the last four overs – Rinku Singh (nine not out) and Anukul Roy (four not out) sealed their seventh win in the last eight matches.

Earlier, KKR’s bowlers had exploited the sticky conditions superbly as Cameron Green (2/23; three overs), left-arm pacer Saurabh Dubey (2/34) and Sunil Narine’s exceptional figures of 1/13 choked MI.

Green was exceptional on the field and with the ball, striking twice in the space of three deliveries to remove Ryan Rickelton (6) and Naman Dhir (0).

He then pulled off a stunning running catch from midwicket to dismiss Rohit Sharma (15) off Dubey just when the Indian stalwart was looking to break free.

MI went on to lose three wickets for six runs in the space of eight balls.

After a one-hour rain interruption, KKR’s spin duo of Narine and Varun Chakravarthy tightened the screws further, conceding just 14 runs in their first four overs while bowling in tandem.

Narine, in particular, was menacing with his turn and variable bounce, repeatedly troubling Tilak Varma before taking the prized scalp of MI skipper Hardik Pandya (26; 27b), beating him with a delivery that drifted in and stayed low to crash into the stumps.

Chakravarthy was unlucky not to dismiss Tilak on 12 after spilling a return catch following a collision with wicketkeeper Angkrish Raghuvanshi.

Raghuvanshi hurt his hand in the process and had to walk off the field, with Tejasvi Dahiya coming on as a substitute.

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MS Dhoni (Image credit: BCCI/IPL)

NEW DELHI: When will MS Dhoni return for Chennai Super Kings this season? It is a question that has followed the franchise throughout IPL 2026, but there is still no definite answer.CSK, currently placed sixth on the table with 12 points from 13 games, will face Gujarat Titans in their final league-stage fixture on Thursday. Ahead of the match, batting coach Michael Hussey once again addressed Dhoni’s availability. Hussey confirmed that Dhoni will miss the GT clash because of a thumb injury but added that the veteran wicketkeeper-batter could return if CSK qualify for the playoffs.A victory against Gujarat Titans would take CSK to 14 points, though they would still need favourable results from other remaining league fixtures to stay alive in the playoff race.“I can confirm he is not here with the team, but if we do happen to qualify, then he will definitely join back up with the team. He has got a bit of a sore thumb, so it is recovering nicely, but he would not be ready for this match. But hopefully, if we can manage to get through to the playoffs, then hopefully he will be alright,” Hussey said.CSK head into the game against GT on the back of consecutive defeats. They first lost to Lucknow Super Giants before suffering a five-wicket defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad.Speaking about the loss to SRH, where Ishan Kishan starred with a match-winning half-century in a successful chase of 181, Hussey admitted the result was disappointing but stressed the need to move on quickly.“Obviously, it has made it more difficult for us to get through to the top four. Individually, everyone will take a few little learnings from it, but we have to move on quite quickly. We were all very disappointed, obviously, after the match,” he said.“We were a bit flat in the dressing room. But coach spoke to us about, OK, come on, we have got one more game, one more chance, so we have got to make sure we move on from this very quickly. It is all about our attitude moving forward,” he added.