NEW DELHI: Rishabh Pant has moved past legendary MS Dhoni to become India’s highest run-scorer as a designated wicketkeeper in away or neutral Tests, adding another major milestone to his growing record book.Pant crossed 2,500 runs in the category during India’s second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Monday, edging past Dhoni’s previous mark of 2,496. Pant has achieved the tally at an average of almost 42, significantly better than Dhoni’s 32.84.Former India wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer is a distant third on the list with 1,209 runs at 32.67, followed by Syed Kirmani with 1,109 at 21.74 and Kiran More with 901 at 29.06.

Pant battles through injury scare

The milestone came a day after Pant had endured an injury scare at the SSC ground. The India wicketkeeper-batter was struck on his left arm by a short delivery from Sri Lanka pacer Lahiru Kumara during the third session on Sunday.Pant attempted to pull the delivery behind square but missed it, taking the full impact on his arm. He was visibly in discomfort and was attended to by the Indian team physiotherapist, who initially applied an ice pack before Pant’s arm was strapped.After making just three runs from 15 balls, Pant walked off the field alongside the physiotherapist in the 58th over. His early departure added to India’s concerns on a day when they were already being tested by Sri Lanka’s bowlers.Most runs as wicketkeeper in away/neutral Tests (India)

Pant returns to help India rebuild

Despite the blow, Pant returned to the middle on Monday after Sri Lanka claimed India’s sixth wicket through Asitha Fernando, who dismissed debutant Saransh Jain for six.Pant joined Dhruv Jurel with India needing stability and immediately faced another stern examination from the Sri Lankan pacers. Fernando and the other quicks repeatedly tested him with short-pitched deliveries, with Pant taking a couple of blows to the shoulder before the drinks break.The 28-year-old nevertheless showed considerable resilience and continued batting despite the discomfort. Jurel provided valuable support at the other end as the pair put together a crucial partnership to steady India’s innings.

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Paris Saint-Germain snatched a draw away at Rennes (2-2) on the opening day of Ligue 1. Ferran Torres, Paris’s new signing, came on after the break and saved the day for PSG.

Import King Of The Sea has thrown his hat into the ring for spring feature races after a commanding first-up triumph at Randwick, according to trainer Ciaron Maher.

In only his second Australian racing campaign, the former UK galloper was outstanding, producing a brilliant turn of foot from the tail of the field to capture the Drinkwise Mile (1600m) on Saturday.

The foreman for Maher’s Sydney stable, Jo Gerard-Dubord, expressed confidence in the five-year-old’s potential but noted that his campaign path would be shaped by his upcoming performances.

“He’s a horse with plenty of talent. He didn’t have a lot of luck last preparation, but the form out of his races has been very strong since, and there’s a lot more to come,” Gerard-Dubord advised.

“He is still lowly rated, so we probably need to see what he does next start. There are plenty of options.

“Whether we target a race like the ‘Metrop’ (Metropolitan) here. You’ve got a Naturalism (Stakes) down in Melbourne to try to get into a Caulfield Cup.

“When they’ve got a turn of foot like that, for a horse that can stay and do that over a mile, it’s very exciting.”

This win represents King Of The Sea’s fourth career victory from ten starts and his maiden success in Australia.

Ridden by James Mcdonald, the gelding justified his $1.80 favouritism, crossing the line 1-3/4 lengths ahead of Puntin ($9), with Anthracite ($15) a further half-neck adrift in third. Punters who used the best horse racing betting apps saw their favoured runner deliver a superb first-up performance.

Looking to get involved in the betting markets? Explore the available betting markets for the race.

Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected from Sunday night’s WNBA game between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky after a confrontation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud late in the third quarter.

Freedom was seated along the baseline wearing a black shirt that read “WOMAN noun. adult human female.”

With 1:22 remaining in the third period, the Fever called a timeout after Cloud scored inside. Cloud shared a chest bump with teammate Aicha Coulibaly before turning around and walking toward Freedom.

Cloud, 34, began yelling and pointing at Freedom, 34, as she approached him. Freedom stood up, extended his arms, and took a step onto the court before security personnel and several Sky players stepped between them.

“There was just a fan incident and the security handled it, and we’re just going to focus on the game,” Chicago forward Azura Stevens said after the Sky’s 113-90 loss.

Chicago coach Tyler Marsh said Cloud was concerned about being a distraction for the team.

“I told her she wasn’t,” Marsh said. “I told her that we all embrace her as someone that protects our team and protects people that need to be protected and so Tash is always going to stand on that, and we stand for Tash.”

Freedom stopped near the basket to argue his case to security as he was escorted from the court area. He spun around while holding his shirt out to encourage a response from the crowd as he walked toward the front lobby.

He spoke with a group of police officers before departing Wintrust Arena.

“I didn’t see it, we were talking about the next play in our huddle,” Indiana star Caitlin Clark said, “so I think that’s probably a question for Chicago.”

Cloud met with team and league security after the game but did not speak with the media.

The WNBA has recently been the focus of debate over whether transgender women — individuals assigned male at birth who transition to align with their gender identity — should be allowed to compete in the league. No transgender athlete has ever played in the WNBA.

Although the league’s collective bargaining agreement states it is restricted to women, it contains no specific language regarding gender identity or sex assigned at birth.

Fever guard Sophie Cunningham stated in an ESPN profile published last month that she was opposed to transgender girls and women competing in girls’ and women’s sports. Freedom and another former NBA player, Royce White, have declared themselves eligible for the WNBA draft, saying they identify as women.

Freedom joined a small rally supporting Cunningham outside Wintrust Arena before the game.

Asked if he had a message for Freedom, Marsh praised the league and its players.

“If you come to a game you should probably come to enjoy the basketball,” he said, “and that seems pretty simple to me. I think these players deserve that and have earned that. Being a former basketball player, you should probably understand and feel that too.”

There were no major issues between Sophie Cunningham and DiJonai Carrington in Indiana’s 113-90 victory over Chicago on Sunday night. Cunningham scored three points for the Fever in 11 minutes, while Carrington recorded seven points for the Sky in 18 minutes.

It was the first matchup between the teams since Cunningham was brought down by Carrington on a fast break earlier this month. Carrington was listed as questionable with a left foot injury, but was cleared after warmups.

Cunningham downplayed any lingering animosity between the teams going into the game. Indiana had dropped two straight games.

“My mindset has never changed. I think it is what it is,” Cunningham said. “I’m locked in on tonight. … I think we’re just out here trying to get the win.”

Cunningham and Carrington both checked in for the first time with 3::green-background[04] remaining in the first quarter, with no notable disputes between the players all night long.

Sky coach Tyler Marsh said he had no conversations with his players before the game about the tense atmosphere from their previous matchup.

“That kind of was what it was last game and anything that came out of it kind of lasted for that time,” Marsh said. “But for us, again, it was on to the next one in front of us.”

Cunningham was going up for a layup in the first quarter of Indiana’s 90-86 win on Aug. 8 when Carrington came from behind and struck her in the head and neck, knocking her to the court as the shot went in. Cunningham got up, charged Carrington and pushed her as she was held back by a teammate.

The referees reviewed the play and upgraded it to a Flagrant 2 after citing windup, impact, and follow-through, resulting in Carrington’s ejection.

Shortly after being thrown out, Carrington posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on social media and tagged the Fever. Carrington is Black and Cunningham is white.

Days later, Carrington said she never claimed the Flagrant 2 assessment resulted from white privilege, though she did not elaborate further.

“I (couldn’t) care less about what she does, what she tweets, any of that,” Cunningham said before Sunday’s game. “I’m here to play basketball.

“There’s going to be people who are going to talk about it … but to me, it’s just another basketball game.”

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has ruled out challenging Gianni Infantino for the FIFA presidency but delivered his strongest warning yet to the world football chief, saying Infantino must either step down or face a challenger at next year’s election.Infantino has come under mounting pressure following his now-abandoned proposal to sell a stake in the commercial and ticketing rights of FIFA competitions to private equity investors. The plan triggered fierce opposition from UEFA and other continental confederations, with European football’s governing body even threatening a boycott of FIFA competitions.Ceferin, widely regarded as a potential challenger to Infantino, said he had no intention of pursuing the top FIFA job. However, he believes Infantino could face an opponent when the election is held in March.“One option is that he realises that he doesn’t have the support, and that’s not only a political support of the ones who vote, but the political support of football community, the political support of fans, the political support of the players, former players, coaches,” Ceferin said in an interview with the British podcast “The Rest is Politics: Leading”.“And the second option is that he goes to the elections in March, but in that case, I think he will have a candidate against him. I don’t know yet who.”

Ceferin rejects FIFA presidency bid

Infantino has been FIFA president since 2016 and had appeared on course for another unopposed election before the backlash over the proposed investment deal. FIFA has set November 18 as the deadline for potential challengers to nominate.Ceferin, however, insisted he remains committed to UEFA and does not want to replace Infantino.“I’m not interested because of two reasons. One reason is that I love UEFA and I love working here, and I think that at a certain point … it’s time to also enjoy life a bit,” Ceferin said.“And the second point is, my credibility is much, much higher if I’m not interested in the position.”The 58-year-old Slovenian has emerged as one of Infantino’s most vocal critics following the controversy over the proposed creation of FIFA Forward Enterprise, a company that would have managed the commercial and ticketing rights of FIFA competitions, with a 21% stake earmarked for sale to a private investment company.

‘Worse than the Super League’

Ceferin described the proposal as more damaging than the failed European Super League project and insisted UEFA would not allow football’s commercial rights to be sold off.“I think this plan is even worse than the Super League plan,” Ceferin said.“Super important clubs wanted to do their own league, which is wrong, and would destroy football. But in this case, football would be literally sold.“I’m absolutely sure that the plan is dead. It’s hard to to imagine what kind of people would sell the sport that belongs to everyone. We will not allow that to happen.”Ceferin also accused FIFA of failing to consult UEFA before unveiling the plan, saying he discovered it through media reports while on holiday with his family.“He didn’t contact me since this happened,” Ceferin said.The UEFA president also took aim at Infantino’s European roots, arguing that the FIFA president should remember the support he received from UEFA during his rise to the top of world football.“But I think someone should remind him that he is a European, and that he was supported by Uefa, which he forgot,” Ceferin said.

The second week of the NFL preseason closed with a trade. According to ESPN, the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers agreed to a deal that sends linebacker Deion Jones to the Bay Area in exchange for running back Zamir White. The transaction addresses depth for both teams, particularly for the Saints, with No. 2 running back Alvin Kamara nursing an MCL sprain.

White signed with the 49ers less than two weeks ago. He inked a one-year deal worth $1.2 million and was projected to enter the season on the lower rungs of San Francisco’s depth chart. Instead, he arrives in New Orleans with a chance to see playing time early in the campaign. White has never played a snap outside of Las Vegas, as he spent the first four years of his career with the Raiders and accumulated 736 rushing yards over 45 games.

Jones landed on the Saints’ roster a few days earlier on Aug. 7 by way of a one-year, $1.3 million contract. While he was an every-week starter for the Atlanta Falcons in each of his first six professional seasons, he filled a smaller role across three different teams over the last four years. Jones most recently played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and tallied 29 tackles in 17 games last year.

Below are trade grades for the Saints and 49ers.

Saints: B-

Kamara’s injury is a boon to Travis Etienne, who should take firm command of the No. 1 running back role in New Orleans if the former’s absence carries into the regular season. It creates depth concerns in the backfield, though, especially since Kamara is not the only one on the shelf. Devin Neal aggravated a hamstring injury in Saturday’s preseason game, and Audric Estime hurt his ankle in the preseason opener, leaving the Saints without the second, fourth and fifth options on their unofficial depth chart.

Adding White to the group should keep the running backs afloat through the end of training camp, and he is capable of eating up a few snaps in the opening weeks of the regular season if called upon.

Boosting the running back depth without taking on any additional salary is a win for the Saints, especially since the linebacker they are parting with was no lock to make the roster in the first place. Jones was a cut candidate whom the team listed as a fourth-teamer.

49ers: C+

The 49ers were in need of linebacker depth with only Fred Warner and Tatum Bethune available to them, and Jones fits the mold of a third option. He could even push Bethune for the primary backup role, but the latter made eight starts in 2025 when Warner suffered his gruesome ankle injury and may still factor into the team’s plans after making those important contributions.

Regardless of how Jones fits into the equation, all San Francisco had to part with to acquire him was a deep backup who, at best, was sixth in line for carries. Removing players from behind Christian McCaffrey is always a risk given his extensive injury history, but the 49ers have plenty of more enticing backups they would turn to before White, who might not have even made the roster in the first place.

The team also just signed Khalil Herbert in a corresponding move to Patrick Taylor Jr.’s landing on injured reserve, so the cupboard is far from bare.

North Zone vs West Zone Live Score: Pacer Tushar Deshpande and off-spinner Tanish Kotian headlined a fine bowling performance with four wickets apiece as West Zone bowled out North for a lowly 251 on the opening day of their Duleep Trophy match at the Centre of Excellence.

Deshpande (4/57) and Tanush Kotian (4/72) shared the spoils equally as North, who were placed comfortably at 117 for 2 at one stage, were left gasping for breath at 220 for 9 before Anshul Kamboj’s audacious 60 off 52 balls with five fours and equal number of maximums took them past 250-run mark.

North also made a mini comeback of sorts as left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq bowled a peach of a delivery to castle opener Prithvi Shaw while other opener Harvik Desai was snapped up by India’s T20 specialist Arshdeep Singh. West Zone ended the day’s play at 31 for 2.

Tayler-Woolston grew up watching Newport with his father, Andrew, and was treated to a side that featured South Africa internationals Gary Tiechmann and Percy Montgomery in the pre-regional era.

After captaining Cardiff Met and Wales Students then playing for Newbridge, he got the chance to pull on a black and amber jersey for the first time against Cardiff on permit in October 2015.

A permanent move followed, but the flanker was unable to be at his best.

Tayler-Woolston came out to his family in his late teens – “I couldn’t have asked for a better reaction from my parents, they weren’t bothered at all” – but kept secrets in rugby settings.

“I was sort of living a double life, and then you are lying to yourself,” he said.

“My biggest worry was that I would be judged based on my sexuality rather than my rugby skill.

“I think it was my second year with Newport that I started to think that I had to tell people, that I couldn’t bottle things up any more.

“It was mentally draining and I was constantly on guard. I wanted to go to dinner with my partner, I wanted to hold their hand without constantly looking over my shoulder.”

Relatively new in the squad, Tayler-Woolston’s biggest fear was being rejected.

He wondered how the coaching staff react, and whether they would continue to pick him?

“All those ideas were building in my head because you read horror stories online,” he added.

“I felt that I was lying to my team-mates because I couldn’t be my true, authentic self around them.

“It is tiring being on guard all of the time, wondering what people would think, whether I would be isolated and rejected.

“I love pulling on the black and amber jersey, I never take it for granted and it means so much.

“It would have been devastating to be rejected by my club and city, but thankfully I’ve never faced that.”

A slumping star player is the last thing a team wants with the MLB postseason just around the corner. And yet, everyone from the World Series favorites to the Wild Card hopefuls is dealing with it in some capacity.

The question now is whether it’s too late for those players to turn things around or if there’s still time for them to build enough momentum for a postseason peak. FOX Sports MLB writers Rowan Kanver and Deesha Thosar dive into that and more in this week’s MLB Roundtable:

What is the most important thing or player for L.A. to fix over the next few weeks, as rosters expand and the postseason looms?

Kavner: Kyle Tucker. Edwin Díaz is a close second, but even if Díaz never threw another pitch this year, the Dodgers demonstrated last season when Tanner Scott struggled in the first year of his four-year, $72 million deal (and then didn’t appear in the postseason) that they can withstand the loss of a high-leverage reliever and make up for it in other ways. Some of their starting pitchers will likely again find their way in the bullpen once October arrives.

There aren’t as many ways to mask Tucker’s struggles, which show up on both offense and defense. He has the lowest OPS at home of any qualified MLB player, and he has dropped catchable fly balls in each of the Dodgers’ last two series. His frustrations at home got to the point last Saturday that Dave Roberts gave him a mental day off. Last year, when Michael Conforto struggled in L.A. on his one-year, $17 million deal, the Dodgers gave Conforto all year to try to get right before ultimately holding him off the postseason roster. That’s a lot harder to do with a player making $60 million a year, so they need to try to find a way to get Tucker’s confidence back to a place where he can at least be an additive supporting piece. He doesn’t have to be an All-Star caliber player, like he was the last four years. He just can’t be this.

Thosar: As much as I want to say fixing Kyle Tucker’s season-long slump is the biggest priority, I actually think Mookie Betts getting hot at the plate is exactly what the Dodgers need down the stretch run. He’s the stabilizing force in the lineup, and we’ve seen Betts carry the offense when he’s hitting well. Plus, the Dodgers seem to go as Betts goes. He’s batting .315 with an .888 OPS, three home runs and eight RBI over the past two weeks, and Los Angeles went 8-6 over that span. The Dodgers seem to find their footing and reclaim their momentum when Betts is right in the middle of their production.

Is Pete Crow-Armstrong just this good of a player, where he’s a genuine MVP candidate who could lead a team to a World Series, or is there concern that another shoe will eventually fall?

Kavner: Can I say both? Right now, this version of PCA looks like a player capable of carrying a team to a championship. He is providing value in every way imaginable, and this is no longer a small sample of elite production. At the same time, with any player who has a history of chasing and is prone to swing and miss, there’s always concern about a slump at some point. (It’s easy to forget now, considering how he has played since, that Crow-Armstrong had a .669 OPS at the end of April and a .713 mark at the end of May.)

To his credit, PCA has followed his slow start to the year with three extraordinary months, during which he has registered an OPS over 1.000 in each of June (1.249), July (1.011) and August (1.002 entering Thursday). That’s a long stretch without any dramatic dips, and it’s not a coincidence that both his whiff and chase rates have been down considerably over that time. If he can keep those close to league average, he should remain a superstar and could be headed toward a 40-40 season. This looks like an MVP player right now.

Thosar: The evidence from this season, in particular, points to he’s really just this good. Even if this exact level of production comes down a little, the underlying metrics and the player he is suggest this is all real. He’s only 24, and he’s already reached his second consecutive 30-30 season, doing it all while playing an elite center field. Beyond the stats on the back of his baseball card, the biggest reason to believe PCA is maturing as a hitter is the incredible jump in his walk rate. He went from a 4.5% walk rate last season to a 11.9% rate this season, which coincides with the huge uptick in his on-base percentage. Plate discipline paired with his ability to adapt to pitchers figuring him out has really increased his ceiling in ways that suggest he’ll be a star in the league throughout his prime.

With Adley Rustchman now behind the plate and Roman Anthony due back relatively soon, does Boston have enough for a deep postseason run?

Kavner: This is definitely a team capable of making a deep October run, but it will all come down to how their bats perform. Their pitching is without question good enough to make a deep October run, especially if Garrett Crochet and Garrett Whitlock are back contributing by then. The offense has come and gone, though, and even after their spectacular month of July and terrific start to the second half, the lineup has been exactly league-average overall this season. I trust the bats of Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu in the postseason, and with Caleb Durbin heating up, it’s worth pointing out he was the Brewers’ best hitter in the NLCS against the Dodgers last year. But getting Rutschman and Roman Anthony going could be the difference between a nice season and a championship one.

Thosar: If Anthony returns looking remotely like the player he was last season, the lineup gets substantially deeper. Especially with Rutschman behind the plate, suddenly the Red Sox look like they can run out a playoff lineup with multiple high-end offensive threats rather than asking one or two guys to carry the entire offense. So, yes, the combination of those two bats makes them a legitimate October threat. But I’m not convinced that, even with Rutschman and Anthony slugging, the Sox are a World Series contender. They would have to be overwhelmingly dominant to get there. Thanks to their quality pitching, they can make opponents uncomfortable in a short series. It all goes back to how effective Anthony will be, and how soon he will get there. Expecting him to instantly become an MVP-caliber hitter after being out since May is a touch unrealistic.

Paul Skenes has seen his ERA jump nearly two full runs, and Pittsburgh trails four teams for the last NL wild-card. Can the Pirates realistically make a run at the postseason with Skenes unable to get further than the fifth inning?

Kavner: Maybe if they found a way to switch to the American League? No, realistically, I can’t see a world in which the Pirates reach the postseason if this is the version of Skenes they have for the rest of the year. The signs lately have not been promising. He hasn’t gone more than five innings in any of his last four starts, his fastball velocity is down and fluctuating, he has a 5.67 ERA since the start of July, and he still labored through 4.1 innings his last time out even after extra rest. The Pirates have to win the games he starts, and they have done that just once in his last five outings.

Given the hole they’ve dug themselves to start the second half, it would be difficult at this point for the Pirates to reach the playoffs even if Skenes suddenly found a way to tap back into his Cy Young form. As of Thursday night, FanGraphs gives the Pirates a 4.9% chance to make the playoffs. Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler are doing everything they can to try to lift the rotation, and the return of Oneil Cruz provides some needed upside for an offense that has struggled to produce since the break. But they need their ace to get on track if they want any shot at ending their 10-year playoff drought.

Thosar: Absolutely not. Skenes’ performance this season is the biggest reason Pittsburgh’s margin for error has completely disappeared. It would be one thing if he was showing signs of getting back on track around now, but things are still going downhill. He’s allowed 17 earned runs in his last 23 ⅔ innings pitched, good for a 6.46 ERA over five starts. The Bucs went 1-4 in those outings. Things have been so bad for so long that it’s fair to wonder whether he’s dealing with an underlying injury. And then there’s the issue with Pittsburgh’s offense, which is fifth-worst in the league since the All-Star break. When the lineup isn’t carrying the team, as it did in the first half of the season, and the pitching staff overall has taken a turn for the worse, it would be a mistake to think the Pirates could realistically make a run for the postseason.