Sports Highlights

The following are the top/expected stories at 1700 hours:

EXPECTED STORIES: *Report of IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

STORIES ON THE WIRE:

SPO-WC-IND-LD SQUAD WC Squad: Experienced Karthik trumps young Pant; Shankar gets in too

By Nikhil Bapat/Kushan Sarkar Mumbai/New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) Dinesh Karthik Monday returned to India's World Cup squad after 12 years, trumping Mahendra Singh Dhoni's heir apparent Rishabh Pant in a selection move that will be debated for a long time.

SPO-PANT-REAX

A bit surprised at Pant's omission: Gavaskar New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar Monday said he is surprised at young glovesman Rishabh Pant's exclusion from India's World Cup squad given his "exceptionally" good batting form and "great" improvement in wicket-keeping skills.

SPO-IPL-MUNRO

T20 needs players like Pant: Munro Hyderabad, Apr 15 (PTI) Rishabh Pant is known for his flamboyant brand of cricket and Delhi Capitals batsman Colin Munro feels players like the dashing wicketkeeper batsman are an absolute must in the shortest format of the game.

SPO-WARNER-SMITH

Smith, Warner likely to miss final stages of IPL New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) Australian batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner are likely to leave their respective IPL teams by the end of this month to attend their national training camp from May 2 after being drafted into the squad for the upcoming World Cup.

SPO-IPL-KXIP-PREVIEW

Inconsistent KXIP eye revival against rejuvenated RR By Sanjay Ganjoo

Mohali, Apr 15 (PTI) An inconsistent Kings XI Punjab will look to sort their bowling woes and regain the momentum when they host a rejuvenated Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here on Thursday.

SPO-TENNIS-RANKING Prajnesh rises to career-high ranking of 80

New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) Continuing his good run, India's Prajnesh Gunneswaran achieved a career-high ranking of 80 in the latest ATP rankings released Monday.

SPO-BAD-DANI Dani clinches Dutch Open International

New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) India's Harsheel Dani recovered from a game down to get the better of Denmark's Mads Christophersen to clinch the Dutch International badminton title in Wateringen, The Netherlands.