BCCI on Friday night announced the squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series against Australia. Seamers Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana were called up to the Rohit Sharma-led team which also included rookie wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel. Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini and Khaleel Ahmed were included in the squad as travelling reserves, the ICC release said.

The inclusion of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Abhimanyu Easwaran in the squad also came as a surprise to many.

Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav missed out on the 18-string squad as he has been referred to The BCCI Centre of Excellence for resolving his chronic left groin issue. Yadav is expected to begin his rehabilitations soon after the ongoing New Zealand Test series concludes. Recovering fast bowler Mohammed Shami was also omitted from the squad by the Indian selectors.

After featuring against Sri Lanka in T20Is and ODIs, KKR’s Harshit Rana has now received his maiden Test call-up. Interestingly, all three travelling reserves are also fast bowlers. 

Bengal captain Abhimanyu Easwaran has been consistent in the domestic circuit in the recent times. The star performer of the Duleep Trophy and Irany Trophy will board the flight to Australia as the third-choice opener with Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal. 

Indian Test squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024:

Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar

TRAVELLING RESERVES:

Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed

Max Verstappen could be set for an engine change grid penalty at this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, with Red Bull worried about his lack of straightline speed.

The Dutchman had a difficult time in the Mexico GP with engine problems during practice on Friday forcing an unprompted power unit switch for the rest of the weekend.

And while the use of his pool engine meant no further mechanical issues, its high mileage meant a decline in its performance and hampered the three-time world champion in the race.

Speed trap figures across the start/finish straight, before DRS is activated, showed Verstappen topped out at 251.4km/h – which was well adrift of team-mate Sergio Perez on 253.4km/h.

Verstappen was second slowest of all at the first intermediate trap, logging 299.6km/h compared to Perez on 303.1 and title rival Lando Norris on 307.9km/h.

With Red Bull already on the back foot with its RB20 struggling to match the race form of Ferrari and McLaren, the team knows it probably needs to commit to a fresh power unit to help boost Verstappen’s hopes – and Interlagos makes sense because it is a track where overtaking is easier.

While the key talking point after the race for Verstappen was on his penalties for driving infringements against Norris, Red Bull says that the lack of speed is a much bigger worry.

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko told Motorsport.com: “More alarming is that we couldn’t make the tyres work – both medium and hard.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

“We were nowhere near the two front teams, and I guess part of the problem is that Friday, we couldn’t drive because of the engine problems.

“We have to do something, that’s clear. We also will have a change the engine because we had been so slow on the straight.

“This engine, which was in the car, was not supposed to be in the car, so most likely Brazil could happen.”

Speaking to Austrian broadcaster ORF, Marko said that the engine Verstappen used in the Mexico race had only been intended to be used in practice sessions for the remainder of the campaign.

“The engine we had in there was no longer intended for the race, and the older an engine gets, the more its performance diminishes,” he said.

“The penalty would be five places. That wouldn’t be so severe in Brazil, for example, where you can overtake relatively easily. But we saw that we were missing three to eight km/h on the straights.”

Verstappen currently holds a 47-point advantage over Norris in the standings, and any engine penalty would only mean a grid drop for the main grand prix rather than the sprint race that Brazil will host on the Saturday.

PREMIER LEAGUE icon Mario Balotelli is on the verge of joining Serie A side Genoa.

The 34-year-old has been without a club since leaving Turkish outfit Adana Demirspor four months ago.

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To prepare for his return, Balotelli has trained individually over the last few months.

And now he is ready for what could be his final stint in football.

The striker has agreed to pen a seven-month contract with struggling Italian side Genoa.

He will join the club as a free agent until the end of the 2024-25 campaign.

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano claims he only wanted to join Genoa following extensive talks with manager Alberto Gilardino.

Balotelli arrived at Hotel Melia in Genova late on Sunday night.

The former Italy international appeared thrilled as he met with a group of supporters.

His medical is expected to take place on Monday morning.

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Genoa will be the 12th club of Balotelli’s professional career.

He made his debut with local side Lumezzane in 2006 before sealing a move to Inter Milan.

The striker then went on to play for Manchester City, AC Milan, Liverpool, Nice, Marseille, Brescia, Monza, Adana Demirspor and Sion.

He was also capped 36 times by the Italian national team and scored 14 international goals.

Similar to Armagh’s McCambridge, John Maher’s was a name on few lips when the season began.

After a few years in and out of the panel, he had looked to have nailed down his place in the Galway midfield by the end of last year’s championship.

This season, however, he was influential for the county, as his strong running marked him out as one of the most influential championship performers.

VR46 has announced that Andrea Iannone will return to MotoGP for the first time since 2019, replacing Fabio di Giannantonio in this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

The news was made official on Monday morning, as di Giannantonio prepares to undergo a surgery on the left shoulder he broke in Austria in mid-August, leaving him out of action for the last two races of the year.

His substitute Iannone, now 35-years-old, previously spent seven seasons competing in the premier class, including four within the Ducati fold. The highlight of that stint a sole victory in 2016 at the Red Bull Ring, the first for the Borgo Panigale marque since Casey Stoner’s string of success in 2010.

But in 2019, coincidentally in Malaysia, Iannone tested positive for Drostanolone, an anabolic steroid present on the list of prohibited substances of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

He was sanctioned with a period of disqualification of one-and-a-half years, which was later extended to four years by the Court of Arbitration (CAS).

He was riding for Aprilia at that point in 2019, having joined the then-struggling Noale marque on a two-year deal.

Andrea Iannone, Team Go Eleven

Photo by: Ducati Corse

It wasn’t until the start of 2024 that the Italian could make a comeback in professional motorcycle racing, joining the satellite Go Eleven Ducati team in the World Superbike Championship.

Having impressed on production-based machinery this year with victory in Aragon and eighth-place finish in the standings, Iannone has been given a chance to return to MotoGP 1814 days after his last appearance in the series.

Ducati was considering a number of riders to replace di Giannantonio, who timed his surgery in a way that will put him in the best possible position for pre-season testing in 2025. But VR46, under the decisive influence of team owner Valentino Rossi, has taken a more eye-catching route.

The Italian, who will continue with Go Eleven in WSBK next year, is also in contention to ride one of VR46’s GP23 bikes in next month’s Valencia finale.

Iannone is being drafted into the team at a time when di Giannantonio feels he is performing at the optimum level, despite the injured shoulder.

“It’s a bummer to stop now, as I’m feeling better than ever this season, I think I’m at my best,” he said after finishing a strong fourth in Sunday’s wet-weather Thailand Grand Prix.

Di Giannantonio has been one of the revelations of the year and his speed has been recognised by Ducati, which has signed him directly to its factory roster for 2025.

He will be the only rider other than factory team duo Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia to be allowed to run the latest-spec GP25 bike in 2025.

“‘It’s very important to be fully recovered for the first test at Sepang in February, so I’m going to have surgery this week,” said the 26-year-old. “That way I will meet the deadlines set by the doctors.”