Sports Highlights

The following are the top/expected stories at 2120 hours: EXPECTED STORIES: *Report of ISL match between Mumbai City FC and Chennaiyin FC in Margao.

*Report of India vs Bhutan match in SAFF U-19 Women's Championship in Dhaka.

STORIES ON THE WIRE: SPO-CRI-KOHLI-WRAP Virat vs BCCI: India's Test captain contradicts president Ganguly on T20 captaincy discussion By Kushan Sarkar New Delhi/Mumbai, Dec 15 (PTI) There were whispers of a discord and on Wednesday the simmering tension between BCCI and Test skipper Virat Kohli was out in the open when the superstar batter dismissed as ''inaccurate'', the Board's claim that it tried to persuade him against giving up T20 leadership.

SPO-CRI-KOHLI-LD CAPTAINCY Wasn't asked to reconsider quitting T20 captaincy, told about end of ODI captaincy before SA selection: Kohli Mumbai, Dec 15 (PTI) India Test skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday said the BCCI never asked him to reconsider quitting T20 leadership as claimed by the Board and his removal from ODI captaincy happened 90 minutes before the team's selection for the upcoming South Africa tour.

SPO-CRI-IND-LD KOHLI I am available for ODI series in South Africa, clarifies Kohli Mumbai, Dec 15 (PTI) India Test captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday asserted that he will play in the upcoming ODI series in South Africa, putting to rest speculations about his availability and his equation with newly-appointed white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma.

SPO-CRI-KOHLI-ROHIT Rohit is able captain and will have my 100 percent support, tired of questions on equation with him: Kohli Mumbai, Dec 15 (PTI) ''Tired'' of quelling never-ending speculation about a rift with Rohit Sharma, India's Test skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday described his white-ball successor as an ''able and tactically sound'' captain, who will have his complete backing as a senior player.

SPO-CRI-KOHLI-IND-SA We can do something special in South Africa this time around: Kohli Mumbai, Dec 15 (PTI) South Africa is the final frontier that the Indian Test team is yet to conquer but skipper Virat Kohli firmly believes that his side can do ''something special'' in its upcoming tour of the Rainbow Nation with a maiden series win there.

SPO-HOCK-ACT-LD IND India trounce Bangladesh 9-0 in ACT hockey; courtesy Dilpreet's hat-trick, Jarmanpreet's brace Dhaka, Dec 15 (PTI) Striker Dilpreet Singh struck a hat-trick as defending champions and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist India thrashed hosts Bangladesh 9-0 to register their first win in the Asian Champions Trophy men's hockey tournament here on Wednesday.

SPO-ATH-LD COE Chopra's gold an opportunity to broaden athletics' footprint in India: Coe New Delhi, Dec 15 (PTI) World Athletics President Sebastian Coe on Wednesday said India must grab the opportunity provided by Neeraj Chopra's historic gold medal in Tokyo Olympics and broaden athletics' footprint in the country by holding more international events.

SPO-CRI-WOM-MANDHANA Have got my groove back but want to be more consistent: Mandhana By Bharat Sharma Gurugram, Dec 15 (PTI) Smriti Mandhana has established herself as one of the leading batters in women's cricket but the elegant southpaw wants to add more consistency to her batting going into the ODI World Cup next year.

SPO-CRI-CSA-LD REPORT ABD, Smith accused of prejudicial conduct in Social Justice and Nation-Building commission report Johannesburg, Dec 15 (PTI) Cricket South Africa (CSA) and some top former players such as Graeme Smith and A B de Villiers have been accused of engaging in racially ''prejudicial conduct'' against players by the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) commission.

SPO-FOOT-ISL-ATKMB-BFC-PREVIEW Arch-rivals ATK Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru FC look to return to winning ways Bambolim, Dec 15 (PTI) Heavyweights ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC will look to get their house in order and get back to winning ways when the two arch-rivals clash in an Indian Super League match here on Thursday.

SPO-FOOT-SHIELD-FINAL IFA Shield: Real Kashmir FC win thriller for back-to-back title triumphs Kolkata, Dec 15 (PTI) Real Kashmir FC showed tremendous resilience to pull off a stunning 2-1 win over a spirited Sreenidi Deccan FC and lift their second successive IFA Shield title here on Wednesday.

SPO-BAD-WORLD-IND Prannoy in pre-quarters of BWF World C'ships Huelva (Spain), Dec 15 (PTI) India's HS Prannoy registered a straight-game win over Daren Liew of Malaysia to reach the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF World Badminton Championships here on Wednesday.

SPO-CRI-WOM-WC-SCHEDULE Women's ODI World Cup schedule: India play opener against Pakistan on March 6 Dubai, Dec 15 (PTI) India will open their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Women's ODI World Cup beginning in New Zealand on March 4, the ICC announced on Wednesday.

SPO-HOCK-NATIONAL Karnataka, Chandigarh register impressive wins in Senior Nationals Pune, Dec 15 (PTI) Karnataka and Chandigarh registered thumping wins over their respective rivals on the fifth day of the 11th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship here on Wednesday.

SPO-GOLF-WPGT Seher Atwal takes slender lead in 15th Leg of WPGT Kolkata, Dec 15 (PTI) Seher Atwal, who registered a breakthrough win earlier this year, took a slender one-shot lead in the first round of the 15th and final leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here on Wednesday.

SPO-FOOT-SAFF-WOM-HOST India to host women's U-18 and U-19 SAFF C'ships next year New Delhi, Dec 15 (PTI) India will host South Asian Football Federation's (SAFF) U-18 and U-19 Women's Championships next year.

SPO-HOCK-WOM-KHELO India juniors beat SAI B 6-0 in Khelo India U-21 Women's Hockey League New Delhi, Dec 15 (PTI) India juniors defeated Sports Authority of India 'B' 6-0 in the opening Group A match of the inaugural Khelo India U-21 Women's Hockey League (Phase I) here on Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)