Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton’s title fight is considered the most dramatic in recent history.

The Brazil Grand Prix was controversial as Verstappen forced Hamilton off the track, but did not face a penalty.

Hamilton eventually won the race, maybe one of his greatest, from 20th in the sprint weekend.

The battle continued at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which featured a series of events between the title contenders.

Verstappen was ordered to give Hamilton the lead back, twice, after illegal overtaking off the track.

Hamilton collided into the back of Verstappen’s Red Bull, which had slowed – Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty for this.

The points were level and the title race went down to a winner-takes-all finale.

The intense last lap in Abu Dhabi would become one of the sport’s most controversial moments.

Race director Michael Masi incorrectly applied the rules in a late safety-car period, as Hamilton seemed on course to win his eighth title.

Masi went against protocol regarding lapped cars before the final-lap restart, allowing Verstappen to pass Hamilton into Turn Five and claim his first title.

India’s first-choice wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant parted ways with his IPL side Delhi Capitals after nine years of association on Thursday. The big-hitting unorthodox left-hander was not among the players retained by the Delhi team. Instead, they retained Axar Patel (Rs 16.5 crore), Kuldeep Yadav (Rs 13.25 crore), Tristan Stubbs (Rs 10 crore), Abhisek Porel (Rs 4 crore) and earned two Right to Match (RTM) cards.

It is certain that the mega auction ahead of IPL 2025 will witness a fierce bidding war to get the service of Rishabh Pant. The 27-year-old is the all-time leading run-scorer for the Capitals and is also the most-capped player along with Amit Mishra. According to ESPN CricInfo, as captain, Pant scored 1205 runs while averaging 35.44 – almost identical to his overall IPL average of 35.31 – at a strike rate of 143.96, only slightly worse than his IPL strike rate of 148.93.

ALSO READ | IPL 2025 Retention Updates: List of players released and other team news

However, one may wonder why the Delhi Capitals decided against retaining their captain. With age, form and experience well on his side, why did the franchise leave him for the bidding tables? 

 Or was it Pant who decided to move on? Here is the story so far.

Delhi Capitals’s ownership structure is a complicated one with co-owners Delhi’s GMR conglomerate and Mumbai-based JSW Group getting powers to control management for two years at a time. Rishabh Pant, who is a JSW recruit, wasn’t the top choice for GMR management headed by co-owner Kiran Kumar Grandhi, news agency PTI reported.

The moment GMR took charge of the side, they removed earlier coaching management including former Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly, who was replaced by Venugopal Rao. According to the news agency, captain Rishabh Pant wasn’t happy with the appointment of Rao and Hemang Badani, who possibly would have been given powers to overrule the skipper.

Pant and the team management did sit down and the discussions that took place last month weren’t fruitful. Pant didn’t want to work with unfamiliar coaching staff thrust on him by the new management and decided to end his association with the capitals.  

Meanwhile, Parth Jindal of the JSW maintained later on Thursday that DC’s retention decisions were strategically executed with the best interest of the team in mind. “In Axar, Kuldeep, Tristan and Abhishek we have the ideal blend of experience and youth, and I am very pleased with our retention. I would have liked to retain more players who have turned out for DC, but the rules mean we have to pick strategically,” Jindal was quoted as saying.

“I would have liked to retain more players who have turned out for DC, but the rules mean we have to pick strategically. Our intent is to build a strong and balanced squad that can bring home a much-awaited IPL trophy to our city,” Parth Jindal reportedly added.

PEP GUARDIOLA was certain about Manchester City’s future when he was quizzed about it last week.

He said that everything was in place for the incredible success story under him to continue long after he was gone.

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Because have no doubt about it, Guardiola could be gone at the end of this season.

Already he has stayed at the Etihad longer than people thought he might and there is nothing else to prove, nothing more to achieve.

But the belief that things will just continue when he goes could well be misplaced.

Let us not forget that it may be no small coincidence that director of football Txiki Begiristain, 60, has already stated that he is definitely on his way next summer.

This is not even taking into account what punishment may come the Manchester club’s way due to the charges of 130 financial rule breaches that are on their doorstep.

Although I have my doubts anything will ever come of that.

There are haunting parallels for City supporters over what has happened down the road when an era came to an end.

There was a similar arrogance at Old Trafford that things would just continue because, well, they were Manchester United.

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Senior figures would scoff at the suggestion that with Sir Alex gone they might now do a Liverpool and take decades to regain their place on their perch.

Now, with already 11 years gone they remain further away than ever.

That belief that it would just continue saw the Red Devils take their eye off the ball.

When Sir Alex went in 2013, the United that was so dominant went with him.

Now, titles were won at City before Guardiola under Roberto Mancini in 2012 and two years later when Manuel Pellegrini was boss.

But the startling dominance that the club has achieved under this manager since 2016 sets him apart.

Have no doubt it is down to him, nobody else, just him.

His energy to continue getting the best out of players is remarkable and continues unabated.

Not only does he, with Begiristain, source and buy great players he makes them better.

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His standards never drop. You just have to watch the Spaniard on the sidelines.

But that level of intensity can wear anyone down.

Even at Bayern Munich they claimed everyone was basically frazzled after his time there.

The man himself will need a rest and maybe the club and players too.

You look at this team, much like United of old, and there are certain players that simply cannot be replaced like for like.

Star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, 33, is unlikely to still be at the club beyond this season.

The incredible Kyle Walker at 34 cannot continue rampaging up and down that wing.

FUTURE QUESTIONS

Erling Haaland is only 24 but there has been no secret about his desire to one day end up at Real Madrid.

Guardiola has turned John Stones from an average centre-back into one of the best players in Europe but he is already 30.

There is still much more to come from Rodri who is 28 but how will this ACL injury impact him going forward?

In any case how can you guarantee that he and these City players will react in the same way to a new boss when 53-year-old Guardiola does go?

Down the road, when Sir Alex went it was like the tough head-master had gone and a young supply teacher was in.

Remember that, at school, when everyone just took the mick. That’s what happened at United.

Everything had been achieved, the team was coming to an end and basically nobody could be bothered anymore, everyone was knackered with it all.

Fergie axe comes at the right time – and he knows it

By Phil Thomas

IT is over a decade since he left the dugout but Sir Alex Ferguson has lost none of his sense of timing.

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When to sell, when to buy, when to change and ultimately when to go, Fergie has always been in a class of his own.

Over the years there were countless decisions which had everyone scratching their head — but Sir Alex always knew the time was right.

Some were more obvious than others. Like the night Manchester United won the Treble on the back of his substitutions.

Others less so, like the summer of 1995 when terrace legends Mark Hughes, Paul Ince and Andrei  Kanchelskis were sold at the peak of their powers.

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The whole of football thought the manager had lost his marbles.

But Fergie knew better, as he chose that year to unleash his “you win nothing with kids” Double heroes.

Just as he knew best when it came to right-hand men.

Brian Kidd, Steve McClaren, Archie Knox and Co — an endless list of world-class coaches who all came and went.

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And, of course, the biggest decision of all. Calling time on 26 years in which he had gone from the brink of the bullet to English football’s greatest-ever gaffer.

The majority of people are convinced Ferguson stepped down because he knew United’s era of dominance was over.

Maybe not the nosedive to come but certainly that an almighty rebuild was just around the corner. Another mass overhaul, yet not one he was prepared to oversee.

Now another end has arrived. Not as dramatic or as out-of-nowhere, admittedly, but an end nonetheless.

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Next summer Fergie will leave his 12-year role as global ambassador. Many see it as the most ruthless swing of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s cost-cutting axe — and they are wrong.

For while he is trying to save every penny in making United great again —  how’s that going, Sir Jim? — Ferguson has not suddenly and callously been told he is surplus to requirements.

This decision was a two-way call. An amicable parting. Football’s own conscious uncoupling, in Chris  Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow lingo.

And not, incidentally, a departure which means we will no longer see Fergie at Old Trafford on a matchday.

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That  simply  will  not  happen.   He  will still be there rain, wind or shine . . .
Only now as a high-profile non-executive director, rather than a man with the ear — and the sway — behind the owners’ biggest decisions.

Like he was when urging United to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo in 2021.
Admittedly not his finest hour, rather an indication of the influence he still retained.

Back then, until just before  Ratcliffe and his Ineos team arrived, in fact, Ferguson had the owners’ ear. Almost a hotline to the Glazer family, you could say.

And those days are done.

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Not that Sir Alex is bereft at the thought. For a start, some of the staff sackings have enraged the Scot — long-serving photographer John Peters and kitman Alec Wylie, for example.

This is not a cosy-cosy relationship with Ratcliffe being severed.
If anything, it is closer to the opposite. And as Fergie the Red, in every sense The Boss — those who played under him still call him that  — knows, trousering £2million or so a year in such tight times is not a good look.

Fair enough, not an amount anyone would turn down in normal circumstances.

Yet when many in the steerage class are losing their livelihoods, it is not something that would have sat well with him.

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There is also the practical side of things as well.

At the end of December, Sir Alex will be 83 years old, albeit still a freakishly fit 83 years old.

Yet even though the grey matter remains oh-so-sharp and the mind clear as a bell, the bones grow creakier and even Superman had to put his feet up on occasion.

That does not mean you will not see shots of Fergie alongside Ratcliffe at various points — Sir Jim loves too much the associated glamour of being pictured with the greatest.

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But any idea of Sir Alex having an emperor’s thumbs-down power has gone for good — and quite frankly that is something which suits both sides.

The fans, meanwhile, had grown so used to success that it was basically expected.

Sir Alex was frustrated in the belief that people thought silverware just kept arriving without any work going into it.

He didn’t like how the atmosphere could dip because people just sat back and waited for the win rather than roared their team on.

Last weekend when City beat Southampton 1-0, friends of mine described the spectacle as “boring”.

Another said that the team had “lost it’s fizz”. Have they too become complacent?

City could easily lose it’s fizz without Guardiola because there is no obvious candidate to take up the reins.

There are plenty of clubs snapping at their heels as well. Liverpool and Arsenal will not go away, Chelsea for all the apparent chaos at Stamford Bridge will always be there.

Tottenham might have their day and just look at what Unai Emery is doing at Aston Villa.

As City’s less than noisy neighbours will tell you, nothing is a given.

“Teams will move about. The two Edinburgh teams are at the bottom – I would expect them to pick up so it will change as we go on.

“Once you get to the more business end of the season then you can start looking at that kind of stuff. We are fully focused on winning games and that is what we have been doing.”

Thelin has maintained a level headed demeanour and a mantra of taking one game at a time since his summer arrival.

But does the experienced Shinnie have a part to play in ensuring some of the younger members of the squad do not get carried away amid a run of 15 wins and a draw?

“It is a hard one, it is letting them have that little bit of excitement because it is good and we are in a good place so it is about enjoying that but it is also about keeping our foot on the pedal because nothing has been achieved,” the midfielder explained.

“It is about trying to continue what we are doing, trying to continue to get better. We are still reasonably early in the manager’s era, so we are still learning as we go.

“It is enjoying it while we are at it because winning games is enjoyable but on top of that it is keeping right on top of it and keeping our foot firmly on the gas.”

Shinnie won the Scottish Cup with Inverness Caledonian Thistle nine years ago and winning silverware with Aberdeen remains “a massive ambition”.

“We know the challenge at hand,” he said of facing Celtic. “We know Celtic will be confident as well so we are trying to focus on ourselves and do the things that have gone well for us.

“Anything can happen in a cup game. We will be focused and ready to go.”

Wigan Warriors winger Liam Marshall is in contention for a full England debut after being called into the matchday squad for Saturday’s second Test against Samoa at Headingley.

Marshall, 28, helped Wigan complete an unprecedented quadruple and was Super League’s leading try-scorer last term. He comes in for Sydney Roosters star Dom Young, who injured his hand in the 34-18 victory over the Pacific islanders last Sunday.

His Wigan team-mate Luke Thompson returns from suspension to replace Huddersfield Giants prop Tom Burgess, while Junior Nsemba, the other uncapped player called up for the series, is also included in the 19-man group.

“I’ve had to make a few changes to my 19 from last weekend’s victory and that is why having a strong squad is so important,” said head coach Shaun Wane.

“I’m confident with the lads I have had to bring in. Our goal was always to win this series 2-0 and we have put ourselves in the position to achieve that on Saturday.

“We know Samoa will be better but so will we.”

Marshall, who scored 27 Super League tries last season, previously appeared for England against Fiji in a warm-up match for the 2022 Rugby League World Cup but the fixture was not given full international status.

Following the first Test, Wane warned his players that their performance would not have troubled world champions Australia.

And while he has modified his view slightly after reviewing the match, he insists that his team will need to step up a gear for Saturday’s contest, which is part of a international double header – with England’s women facing Wales earlier in the day (12:00 GMT).

“In the heat of the moment, it’s very hard to see a lot of detail, but now I’ve watched it back, I’m happy,” Wane told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“We played better than I thought. But I do think honestly that we need to improve again.

“They’ve got smart coaches and they’re going to put us under a lot of pressure. They’re going to see places where we’re going to be weak and we just need to improve.”

England matchday squad to face Samoa: Matty Ashton (Warrington Wolves), John Bateman (Wests Tigers), Daryl Clark (St Helens), Ben Currie (Warrington Wolves), Ethan Havard (Wigan Warriors), Herbie Farnworth (Dolphins), Kai Pearce-Paul (Newcastle Knights), Morgan Knowles (St Helens), Matty Lees (St Helens), Mikey Lewis (Hull KR), Liam Marshall (Wigan Warriors), Mike McMeeken (Catalans Dragons), Harry Newman (Leeds Rhinos), Junior Nsemba (Wigan Warriors), Victor Radley (Sydney Roosters), Harry Smith (Wigan Warriors), Luke Thompson (Wigan Warriors), Jack Welsby (St Helens), George Williams (Warrington Wolves).

Real Madrid fans were not happy with Manchester City’s Spanish CDM winning the Ballon d’Or over Vinicius Jr earlier this week. Some Madridistas even let their anger spill on the social media pages of Rodri, who was instrumental in the Euro 2024 reaching the Spanish capital.

However, the Real Madrid fans’s dislike of Rodri may come to an end next season, if the latest reports are to be trusted. The Los Blancos, they say, may make a move to sign the highly-rated CDM next summer. 

Reports suggest Vinicius Jr and Rodri playing together in the future at a time when Real Madrid are struggling to go past Barcelona in the La Liga race. After 11 rounds of competition, the Los Blancos are second to Hansi Flick’s Barca in the table. The difference between the two sides went up by six points after the Catalans thrashed the defending champions 4-0 at the Bernabeu. 

ALSO READ | Ballon d’Or 2024: Real Madrid unhappy with Rodri winning over Carvajal

Spanish media reports claim that Real Madrid blame their midfield for the humiliating defeat to their archrivals on October 27. Despite being packed by youthful players, Madrid reportedly want someone capable of neutralising rival press and making counter-breaking stops to lead them as a unit. These are the particular qualities that make Rodri an indespensible part of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. 

Why is Rodri special?

What elevates Rodri beyond the rest of the world’s best defensive midfielders, is his involvement in open-play sequences resulting in shots. With 8.4 per 90 minutes, he was comfortably top of the league, outshining even attacking players such as Phil Foden (7.8), Martin Odegaard (7.7), Bukayo Saka (7.5), Dominik Szoboszlai (7.4), James Maddison (7.3) and Mohamed Salah (7.3). 

ALSO READ | What makes Rodri truly irreplaceable for Manchester City? A look at the numbers

Similarly, in other competitions, City did not lose a match till the FA Cup final when Rodri was playing.

What is Real Madrid’s plan to sign Rodri?

Young French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni could be the casulaty id Real decide to go after Rodri. According to a report by Relevo, Real is not satisfied with Tchouameni’s performance in the middle of the park. The talented youngster who can play as a CDM, CM and even as a CB at times, has not been effective alongside Eduardp Camavinga, Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham after Toni Kroos decided to hang his boots at the end of last season. 

Some reports had earlier suggested that the 14-time UCL winners may even propose a player-swap-deal with Manchester City for Rodri. Again, it was the 24-year-old Tchouameni who was named as the player likely to be offered to the English giants, who are leading the Premier League by just a point, by Carlo Ancelotti’s team.