Sports Highlights

The following are the top/expected stories at 1700 hours: EXPECTED STORIES: *Report of IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai.

*Report of ATK Mohun Bagan's AFC Cup match against FC Nasaf in Uzbekistan.

STORIES ON WIRE: SPO-CRI-IPL-3RDLD VIRUS COVID scare at IPL: SRH's Natarajan tests positive 11 days after arrival, Vijay Shankar also in isolation Dubai, Sep 22 (PTI) Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer T Natarajan tested positive for COVID-19 but the team's IPL match against Delhi Capitals on Wednesday went ahead as scheduled after the remaining contingent was found to be negative.

SPO-CRI-PAK-ATHERTON Atherton questions ECB's decision to cancel Pak tour but give players IPL window London, Sep 22 (PTI) Former captain Michael Atherton says it was strange that England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) called off the Pakistan tour, citing players' welfare but allowed them a three-month window to play the IPL.

SPO-CRI-AFGHANISTAN-WT20 With ''Haqqani network influence'' on cricket, can ICC Board allow Afghanistan to play T20 World Cup? By Kushan Sarkar New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI) Afghanistan's participation in next month's T20 World Cup is becoming a matter of intrigue after Taliban's takeover of the strife-torn country, following which its Cricket Board's top official has been abruptly replaced and women have been barred from playing the game.

SPO-BAD-SUDIRMANCUP-PULLOUT Chirag-Satwik pair withdraws from Sudirman Cup on medical grounds New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI) The Indian men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy has pulled out of the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships on medical grounds.

SPO-CRI-IPL-KKR-MI-PREVIEW MI eye improved batting effort against rejuvenated KKR Abu Dhabi, Sep 22 (PTI) Defending champions Mumbai Indians would look for inspiration from skipper Rohit Sharma, who is set to return to action, when they take on a rejuvenated Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.

SPO-CRI-MCC-LAW-AMENDMENT MCC amends laws of game, to use gender-neutral term ‘batter’ instead of ‘batsman’ London, Sep 22 (PTI) Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on Wednesday announced that the gender-neutral term ''batter'' will replace ''batsman'' with immediate effect, in a bid to reinforce cricket's status as an inclusive game.

SPO-CRI-ICC-SAMUELS ICC charges Marlon Samuels for breaching anti-corruption code Dubai, Sep 22 (PTI) The International Cricket Council on Wednesday charged former West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels of breaching four counts of the anti-corruption code during a T10 league, including failure to disclose hospitality benefits that could bring disrepute to the sport.

SPO-CRI-IND-WOM-KHADEER Shafali needs to work on her back foot to put Australia on backfoot: Khadeer Mumbai, Sep 22 (PTI) Young India opener Shafali Verma is a fabulous front-foot player but she needs to work on her back-foot to put pressure on the Australians, former India cricketer Nooshin-Al-Khadeer said on Wednesday.

SPO-BOX-AIBA-REFORMS AIBA says will hold elections next year, athlete reps to be picked at World C'ships Lausanne, Sep 22 (PTI) The International Boxing Association (AIBA) on Wednesday announced that it would hold elections for its Board of Directors in 2022 while athlete representatives will be elected during the two World Championships later this year, continuing its push to be accepted back into the IOC fold. SPO-FOOT-ILEAGUE-CEO Full vaccination mandatory for I-League players, except U-18 and those recovered form COVID recently By Philem Dipak Singh New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI) All the footballers taking part in the I-League starting in December will have to be fully vaccinated except for U-18 players and those who have recently recovered from COVID-19 infection, League CEO Sunando Dhar said on Wednesday.

SPO-CRI-IPL-KUMBLE-COMMENTS Losing IPL games narrowly has become a pattern for Punjab Kings: Kumble Dubai, Sep 22 (PTI) Punjab Kings head coach Anil Kumble admitted that his team losing IPL games narrowly has become a pattern and the two-run defeat to Rajasthan Royals was certainly a difficult pill to swallow.

SPO-CRI-IPL-BOULT Rohit and Hardik are recovering very well: Boult Abu Dhabi, Sep 22 (PTI) Mumbai Indians pacer Trent Boult is not sure if skipper Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Hardik Pandya would feature in their next IPL game on Thursday but said both of them are recovering well.

SPO-CRI-PAK-ENG-HIGH COMMISSIONER British govt did not advise ECB against Pakistan tour: High Commissioner Islamabad, Sep 22 (PTI) The British government did not advise the England and Wales Cricket Board to cancel its men's and women's teams' tour of Pakistan on security grounds, the UK's High Commissioner here has said and promised to ''redouble'' efforts to make the T20 series happen in 2022.

SPO-CRI-IPL-RR-PARAG-COMMENTS Parag describes Tyagi's final over as ‘number one’ spell Dubai, Sep 22 (PTI) Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Riyan Parag lavished praise on young pacer Kartik Tyagi, who helped his team pull off a two-run win over Punjab Kings in their IPL match, saying it was the “number one” spell he has seen in his cricketing career.

SPO-FOOT-DURAND-DELHI Delhi FC reach Durand Cup quarterfinals with 1-0 win over Kerala Blasters Kolkata, Sep 22 (PTI) Willis Plaza's second half strike took Delhi FC to their maiden Durand Cup quarterfinals as they beat ISL giants Kerala Blasters 1-0 in their third and final group fixture at the Kalyani Stadium here on Wednesday.

SPO-ARCHERY-IND-WORLDS Surekha, Verma reach third round after finishing 6th, 7th in compound qualification Yankton (US), Sep 22 (PTI) Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Abhishek Verma reached the third round of the Archery World Championships after finishing sixth and seventh in the compound men and women qualification rounds respectively, here.