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With the Champions Trophy almost here, it is only natural for thoughts in the country to turn to the World Cup hosted there 29 years ago

Danyal Rasool16-Feb-2025″The worst experience,” Aaqib Javed says without hesitation “was Bangalore.”We’re standing behind the practice nets at the National Cricket Academy in the Gaddafi Stadium. A young hopeful from regional Punjab is trying to impress Aaqib, Pakistan’s interim head coach. It’s a lovely winter’s day, the sun washing over the ground without yet carrying the oppressive potency it will gain in a few weeks. There’s machinery and construction equipment all around. Pakistan’s most famous cricket stadium, with its iconic Mughal façade, is being torn down and rebuilt to service the demands of the 21st century and of the upcoming Champions Trophy.It’s a fitting time to reminisce, and Aaqib is thinking about 1996 quarter-final. “If you look at the stadium,” he says, about the Chinnaswamy, “the stands are right on top of you. If there was any flashpoint, or if anything notable happened, the din was unimaginable. It was so loud that our ears continued ringing the next day.”Related

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Bangalore’s crowd on the day will take that as a compliment, and in truth, they had much to shout about that night. India beat Pakistan in a feisty encounter, ending Pakistan’s defence of their World Cup title and their dreams of lifting cricket’s biggest trophy on their own patch, at the Gaddafi Stadium, where the final was held.The 1996 World Cup was perhaps the last major cricket tournament of a sepia-tinted era, before modernity arrived on cricket’s doorstep at the turn of the century. Aaqib, and Pakistan, look upon it with a special kind of fondness for a very particular reason: it remains – at least until the Champions Trophy kicks off on 19 February – the last ICC event Pakistan has hosted.”I have good memories of that WC,” Aaqib says. “We played a few matches in Lahore. It was completely normal in terms of security, both in India and Pakistan. When we went to India, it was all very relaxed there too.Aaqib has good reason for his happy memories. Pakistan were among the strongest starters in the tournament, and played all their group matches at home. They won all four games he played in, losing just the one to South Africa where he was absent, and finished second in their group.Aaqib Javed, Pakistan’s white-ball coach, doesn’t have fond memories of the 1996 quarter-final In Bangalore, where Pakistan were knocked out of their home World Cup•AFP via Getty ImagesMuch of the feel-good factor had little to do with the cricket itself but where it was played. The subcontinent was a nascent cricketing power hub at the time. Pakistan and India co-hosted the 1987 World Cup; this time around, Sri Lanka joined them. Pakistan’s fans had begun to enjoy the taste of high-profile cricket they were getting, Lahore, Karachi and Gujranwala were packed to the brim; according to Aaqib, there wasn’t any standing room left. Pakistan believed the floodgates would open in the years that followed. A parching drought, instead, has seen them go more than a generation without a similar event, to the extent that most Pakistanis have no memories of what hosting such a tournament is like.Ehsan Mani, a recent PCB chairman and former president of the ICC, does. He was directly involved in the management of the 1996 World Cup. As a member of the Pak-Indo-Lanka Joint Management Committee (PILCOM), the advisory committee for the tournament, he has fond memories of what he remembers as a constructive relationship with his counterparts in India and Sri Lanka.”In 1987, India took the lead,” he says. “In 1996, Pakistan took the lead. We played a big part in actually getting the hosting rights. The difference at the time was, India wanted to work with us, and there was a lot of mutual respect between us. The world was different. India-Pakistan matches were the largest in the world then too, but India didn’t have as much money in those days. In fact, Pakistan was more or less equal in reserves and profits to India. The dynamics were very different.”Mani views his partnership with the late Jagmohan Dalmiya as instrumental to the success of that 1987 tournament, recalling they used to speak “four or five times a day”. Dalmiya worked on the commercial side and Mani handled the media aspect. The tournament ran into headwinds early, with an issue Pakistan have over the years become accustomed to needing to handle: security concerns.Back then, though, those concerns affected Sri Lanka, which was in the midst of a civil war, with Australia and West Indies refusing to send their teams to the country. Mani recalls how Pakistan and India stood up for South Asia’s new emerging cricketing nation.In February that year, Pakistan and India put together a joint team – six Pakistanis and five Indians, captained by Mohammad Azharuddin, who played an ODI against a Sri Lankan XI in Colombo, to show how safe the country was for cricket.Work on the Gaddafi Stadium’s renovations races against time early in February 2025•Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images”It was about personal relationships with our counterparts” Mani says. “We got on well with each other. There were certain government policies that made things complicated, but when you get on well at board level, it eases things.”In the end, Australia and West Indies didn’t go to Sri Lanka anyway, but the tournament ticked along nicely. Sri Lanka won their other three matches and eased into the quarter-final, as did Pakistan and India, who met each other in that Bangalore cauldron. Pakistan captain Wasim Akram famously pulled out of that match.”Pakistan were looking very strong at the time,” Aaqib says. “In that India game, Wasim Akram dropping out at the last minute was a huge blow. We found out at the toss he wasn’t playing. When your captain, and a bowler like Wasim Akram, is suddenly unavailable, it has a huge effect on morale because we had no strategic or mental way of preparing for it. I don’t understand what happened there but it definitely hurt us.”There was a further flashpoint when Aamer Sohail sledged Venkatesh Prasad during a strong Pakistan response to a stiff target, only to be cleaned up next delivery and for Pakistan’s chase to eventually fall apart. In Akram’s absence, Aaqib says ” we just conceded too many runs. 280-odd was too much. We could have coped around 250-260 – at the time that was what was considered chase-able.”While any animosity between the two sides remained on the field, Mani believes all of that had changed markedly by the time he became chairman in 2018. “Our relationship aged poorly. When Sourav Ganguly became BCCI president, we felt he was effectively a frontman for Jay Shah [who served as the Asian Cricket Council president at the time]. Things were not very good.”The PCB was awarded the 2025 Champions Trophy weeks after Mani left the PCB. Pakistan had also put in a joint bid for a T20 World Cup with the UAE, as well as for the 2031 ODI World Cup with Bangladesh, but neither ultimately ended up successful. It is something Mani says he’s disappointed the PCB did not actively follow up on after he left.Ehsan Mani (second from left) remembers a more cordial age of India-Pakistan cricket relations: “It was about personal relationships with our counterparts”•Getty ImagesAs a result, the PCB, as well as Pakistan at large, have thrown their entire investment – financial and emotional – into the Champions Trophy. Though stadium upgradations were left until the 11th hour, no expense was spared in razing Gaddafi Stadium to the ground and building it anew, while renovations of varying degrees have taken place in Karachi and Rawalpindi. At the same time, the PCB pushed India harder than they ever have in the past in an attempt to ensure the entire tournament took place in Pakistan.It didn’t ultimately happen, and the UAE had to be roped in as a venue for all of India’s games. As such, Pakistan find themselves in a farcical situation: Lahore hosted the 1996 World Cup final, a tournament Pakistan co-hosted with India and Sri Lanka, but may not host the final of this event, officially awarded solely to Pakistan.”As soon as the ICC awarded events to India and Pakistan, the ICC should have got involved,” Mani says. “It [the negotiation about India] should have nothing to do with the PCB. It was an ICC event. Greg Barclay [then ICC chairman] should have dealt with it.”If you remember, Pakistan and India were not playing cricket before 2004 for many years. Pakistan had Mr Shaharyar Khan as the chairman, who was highly respected by the BCCI and everyone else. I went to India as ICC chairman and said we should not mix cricket with politics. And when I went to meet the ministers in India, the BCCI board members used to come with me to these government meetings and support what I was saying. It was a different world.”Though 1996 remains Pakistan’s most recent reference point, Aaqib in his position as the current side’s coach cautions against assigning too much weight to it. “The biggest mistake you can make in such an event is when you start treating it as a special event. You end up making the wrong team and break your continuity. Look at the T20 World Cup last year – we brought back players who haven’t played in ages. Mohammad Amir came in, Imad [Wasim] came in, Shadab [Khan] batted at four, Imad at five, it became a bit of a mess.”When we were kings: 1992 marks a high point in Pakistan cricket that remains a magnet for nostalgia•PA Images via Getty ImagesIn a quirk of fate, Pakistan are official hosts of an event they go into as defending champions, just as they were last time around, in 1996. And though Pakistan have long viewed that ’90s side as something of a quixotic ideal, Aaqib thinks at least part of the reason why it is regarded that way is nostalgia.”That side had bigger names,” he concedes. “Those huge names are absent from our current side. But when Wasim didn’t play that quarter-final, there was a huge drop-off in terms of quality. Now you won’t feel one absence forces you to drop so far down skill-wise. Javed Miandad and Saleem Malik were fading away, and that was an ageing team that hadn’t been refreshed after 1992.”It is also the time, perhaps, from which disillusioned Pakistan cricket followers hail in their greatest concentration. Pakistan is a young country; the average age is less than 21. Stories of Pakistan’s cricket team from the ’90s – one of cricket’s most charismatic and enigmatic sides – are often filtered through the lenses of former fans, who rode the high of ’92, enjoyed the optimism of the rest of the decade, and signed off when it became clear Pakistan were not so much on the cusp of a golden age as on the crest of a wave that was soon to crash. Current fans have heard, but cannot verify, that that was when following Pakistan cricket was truly worth it.The 1996 World Cup, when cricket came home, is perhaps something of a psychological shortcut to that time, one not available to those who came after. “I think cricket fever is just as high now, if not higher,” Aaqib says. “Especially with social media and the hype that it can create. And the average fan’s cricket sense has increased. When cricket’s on, everything else shuts down, TV dramas, other programmes and all the rest.”And unlike those who saw that tournament through a heady, optimistic lens of what the future held, Pakistan now know how rare these moments are. There isn’t another men’s ICC event slated in the calendar for them to host, and each one invariably comes with the added complication of India’s refusal to travel.So if Aaqib believes Pakistan shouldn’t treat it as a special tournament, he will have his work cut out convincing everyone else.

India captain sees larger picture too, praising Radha and Pandey for their valiant fight to put up a testing total for the Capitals

S Sudarshanan27-Mar-2023The feeling of falling short of expectations can hurt in varying degrees. Ask a student failing an exam by two marks, who would perhaps be hurting more than one who has a bigger margin. Or a Formula 1 driver, who’s been overtaken in the last lap just before the safety car has been deployed and, as a result, came a close second. Or an athlete who keeps turning up and competing and yet losing against the same opponent by different margins. Or simply, ask Harmanpreet Kaur.The joy when she threw punches in the air after Amelia Kerr hit the second of the two fours to get the asking rate below a run a ball was unmissable. Her run to the centre after Nat Sciver-Brunt hit the winning runs to help Mumbai Indians win the inaugural WPL title was akin to a kindergarten kid running towards their parent after a day at school. It was as raw as it was delightful.India have regularly challenged Australia’s dominance in women’s T20Is in recent times but have a bare trophy cabinet to show. As India’s captain, Harmanpreet has often seen the match slip away and fall short against Meg Lanning’s Australia – be it in the Commonwealth Games gold-medal match or the semi-final of the Women’s T20 World Cup last month, to name a few. She knows how it feels to fall short after being in control. Therefore, the win over the Lanning-led Delhi Capitals was a feeling she was longing for.”I was waiting for such a moment for a long time… when as a captain I can win something which is so important for women’s cricket,” Harmanpreet beamed with the WPL trophy glittering beside her at the post-match press conference. “I want to keep doing this in future also. I was waiting for a long time to win a tournament on a good platform. Whatever I have learnt from this tournament I want to share the experience with my Indian team mates.”Related

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Briefly in the chase though, there was a sense of déjà vu. Thirty seven were needed in the final four overs when the Mumbai supporters at the Brabourne Stadium were silenced with Harmanpreet’s run-out. It brought back memories of her run-out against Australia in the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final with India needing 40 off 33. A set Sciver-Brunt and an experienced Kerr wouldn’t let Lanning’s Capitals claw back.”Both [the run-outs] were disappointing,” Harmanpreet said. “Today it was different because Nat was there. She was already well settled and knew who is going to bowl and how they were bowling. Amelia is always there for the team and she was in good touch. Apart from them Pooja [Vastrakar] and [Issy] Wong were there. We were positive and knew we would finish the game one or two overs before. But after I got out, we thought we should go by how the situation is.”Despite the high of the title win in the first edition of the WPL, Harmanpreet was quick to put the success into larger perspective. She was the first Indian to be signed up for the Women’s Big Bash League in 2016, a move she termed “turning point in my life”. Having played about seven years of international cricket upto that point, Harmanpreet wanted to add another string to her bow, challenge herself and get out of set routine. With a home-grown league in place, she hoped the Indian domestic players benefit similarly.”At this level it’s about learning how to keep calm and handle the pressure and do well for the team,” Harmanpreet said. “Otherwise in terms of skills everyone works hard. Fitness also they are doing so well. It’s about how mentally strong you are and how you can do on the field. These are the things domestic players need to learn from international.”As the captain of the Indian team, Harmanpreet was also pleased to see Radha Yadav and Shikha Pandey impress with the bat for the opposing team. Capitals were reduced to 79 for 9 in the 16th over when Radha and Pandey got together. They added 52 in the last four overs with both finishing unbeaten on 27 to take Capitals to a respectable score. In the WPL, Pandey picked up ten wickets, the third most by a seamer. Apart from her knock in the final, she was also involved in a 35-run stand with Arundhati Reddy in Capitals’ narrow loss against Gujarat Giants.”I was actually very happy the way they were batting,” Harmanpreet said eliciting laughter in the room. “I always told Radha, you don’t need to take singles because singles (leave strike rotation to someone else). I was actually happy when she hit those sixes at the end. Even after the match I spoke to her and said I want to see the same batting when you join the Indian team.”Shikha was bowling brilliantly throughout the tournament. And today when the team needed batting, she took time and then executed it brilliantly.”Harmanpreet finished the competition with 281 runs, the fourth highest run-getter. In a tricky chase on Sunday, she added 72 with Sciver-Brunt to help Mumbai be in command after they lost the openers relatively early. On the eve of the final, she spoke about how Lanning always led her teams from the front and on the D-day, Harmanpreet herself did the same.”We’ve seen Lanning do well for her country for so many years but it was different here,” she said. “For me it was important to get everyone together and make them understand why they are here and what they can do best for the team. Everybody was so mature. It didn’t come across even once that they didn’t understand what we were talking.”A line in the peppy WPL anthem goes, (I am a daughter of this age, I accept the battles)!” That sportswomen have to face stereotypes, stave off inequality and distasteful jokes, all while being multitaskers who fight rivals on the field is almost a given. With the platform of the WPL, there’s belief that little of this is done away from the public glare.The WPL title win could well be a start of a period where Harmanpreet – and in extension India – move away from the feeling of falling short in global tournaments.

Unbroken partnership with Nat Sciver underlines current gulf between 2017 World Cup finalists

Valkerie Baynes27-Jun-2021″You have a choice.” It’s a mantra that has served Tammy Beaumont well this year and the benefits were there for all to see again as she guided England to an emphatic eight-wicket victory in the first of three ODIs against India in Bristol.Beaumont scored 87 runs off as many balls, having shared an unbroken partnership worth 119 for the third wicket with Nat Sciver, whose run-a-ball 74 was as brutal as Beaumont’s was clinical.It was the fourth consecutive ODI innings in which Beaumont had passed fifty after scores of 71, 72 not out and 88 not out on England’s winter tour of New Zealand and followed her 66 in England’s only innings of the drawn Test between these two sides at the same ground just over a week ago.Related

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Beaumont has also scored two centuries in her past 10 ODI innings, against Pakistan in December 2019 and during the Ashes series the previous English summer, but she said her work with Phoebe Sanders, the team’s sports psychologist, earlier this year proved a turning point.”The day before the first game in New Zealand she said to me, ‘you know you have a choice how you go about it’,” Beaumont said on Sunday. “Ever since then her voice has been in my head as I’m walking out, ‘you know you have a choice how you approach it, you can kind of go with the flow and see what happens or you can go out and try to dominate and try to be relentless’.”And it’s not about dominating like how other people might do it, my dominating is making sure that I put away every bad ball I get and make them really work hard to get me out and it seems to be working so hopefully it’ll continue.”There was a period during her latest innings when it seemed like Beaumont only dealt in fours.She survived almost being run out on nought when she set off for a run after being struck on the pad and Ekta Bisht’s throw to the non-striker’s end from cover point was wayward, then an India review when she was given not out lbw on the same ball – the DRS showing Shikha Pandey’s in-ducker was sliding down the leg side.After Lauren Winfield-Hill’s campaign to cement a place as opener ahead of next year’s World Cup was off to a fleeting but entertaining start when Jhulan Goswami had her edging behind, Beaumont seemed to continually find the boundary.She struck back-to-back fours off Pandey, through point and driven in front of square, and then off Pooja Vastrakar with a wonderful straight hit back over bowler’s head followed by a precision cut through point as she and Heather Knight took 13 off the over.Beaumont then hit twin sweeps to the boundary off Bisht so that at the end of the first Powerplay, England were 61 for 1 compared to India’s 27 for 2. By the time Beaumont had racked up 39 runs off 30 deliveries, she had eight fours to her name.Even with spin stemming the flow of runs somewhat, and Bisht ending a 59-run partnership with Knight with a beautiful delivery that took the top of off stump, Beaumont’s strokeplay was all class. She brought up a 48-ball fifty with a four swept off Deepti Sharma and struck Vastrakar to the point boundary with perfect poise and timing.”The main thing is I’ve stopped believing in form,” Beaumont said. “Once you get to a certain age you’ve worked on your technique, you know what works and it’s just a case of sticking to it and doing the tinkering with it if something’s going wrong.”But if it’s going right then for me it’s all about your mindset… that’s what I’ve really been working on, being ruthless and relentless as much as possible and it seems to be working at the moment.”Nat Sciver pulls one away•PA Photos/Getty ImagesSciver settled in with a couple of fours off Bisht before being dropped on 12, off Harmanpreet Kaur, and beaten four times in succession by Pandey.Appointed permanent vice-captain ahead of this multi-format series after standing in for the injured Anja Shrubsole on the tour of New Zealand, Sciver scored a valuable 42 in the Test and the runs came in abundance on Sunday as she punished bad balls and good in powerful fashion.With the rain that had been threatening to arrive all day starting to fall in a sparse drizzle, Sciver struck the tenth four of her innings off Kaur followed two balls later with a thumping six down the ground as it looked like she might overtake Beaumont.”Once Nat starts to unleash there’s no stopping her and at one point I thought I wasn’t going to get to face another ball,” Beaumont said. “But she was very kind to me in the end. For me, today was all about getting the job done and being not out at the end. If I tried to keep up with Nat there’s no chance, she’s just an unbelievable talent.”After pulling Goswami for four, the petite Beaumont, who stands about a foot shorter than Sciver, weighed in with a six of her own, launching Kaur over long-on to level the scores. Kaur’s next ball was a wide to seal the result in something of an anti-climax, given the batting display by England to that point.The margin of defeat was also something of a let-down for India, who had lost a thrilling World Cup final by just nine runs the last time these two sides met in an ODI on English soil, in 2017. And as preparations for the next World Cup begin in earnest, this match gave both teams plenty to ponder.

James Wood put on a show during his first round performance at the 2025 Home Run Derby.

The Washington Nationals star crushed 16 home runs in the first round to open up the competition. One of those homers flew outside of Truist Park in Atlanta—yes, you read that right—to go a whopping 486 feet.

Woods's blast went further than any homer has gone during the 2025 season so far. Mike Trout currently holds that lead with a 484-foot home run he hit earlier this season.

This home run sparked a lot of good reactions from Woods's fellow MLB stars. His Derby opponent Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins had a spot-on reaction when the camera panned to him. His jaw was dropped, similarly to how a lot of MLB fans at home looked when Wood crushed that ball.

Although Woods's homer was extremely impressive, it's not the farthest hit home run in Derby history by any means. That record is held by Juan Soto, who hit a 520-foot homer in 2021. There's been quite a few 500-plus foot home runs recorded in Derby history.

In December of 2012, a two-way high school star named Shohei Ohtani shocked Japan by announcing he was signing with the Nippon Ham Fighters, the team that drafted him, rather than signing with a Major League Baseball team as an international free agent.

“When they first selected me, there was zero chance of me signing with them,” Ohtani said then.

Hideki Kuriyama, the Fighters manager, challenged Ohtani to establish himself as a two-way professional in Japan, rather than accept the specialization that likely awaited the teenager in the states.

“He told me that he wanted me to travel down a path no one else walked down,” Ohtani said then.

Since then, Ohtani has spent his entire professional life taking the road not taken. He did it again Saturday with career home run No. 250.

Another milestone, another new path.

Having swiped his 150th career base in April, Ohtani reached 250 home runs and 150 stolen bases faster than any player in history: 945 games, or 929 games if you don’t count the games in which he pitched but did not hit.

He leads his league in home runs, slugging, total bases and OPS for a third straight year while on pace to become the first player in 94 years to score 160 runs—and, oh, by the way, while throwing simulated games as he recovers from elbow surgery so he can join the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation … which will happen Monday night!

That’s right, on Sunday night the team suddenly announced the National League home run leader and Dodgers’ leadoff hitter will make his Dodgers pitching debut at Dodger Stadium against the San Diego Padres on Monday. Two-way Shohei is back. It will be his first time pitching in any kind of competitive game in 662 days—no minor league rehab starts for The Unicorn!—and he will do it against the NL West rival Padres.

The vibe will be electric. We have never seen a greater all-round talent in baseball. And now Ohtani is back to what he calls his “norm” as a two-way player. He is not stretched out yet to go more than three or four innings, but the Dodgers are adding a dominant arm at a time when they need one. Let the fun begin.

But for now, let’s use the 250-home run milestone as a marker to take stock of where Ohtani ranks .

Who are the best historical comps for Ohtani?

The home run/stolen base combo is nice, but let’s go full card here, since Ohtani is the rare offensive player who has power and speed at elite levels. Let’s find the only players through 945 games with 200 homers, 150 steals, 150 doubles and 40 triples.

Here is the entire list. I threw in extra-base hits just to reinforce how alike Ohtani is to Willie Mays as a hitter at this point in their careers:

Through 945 games: 200 HR, 150 SB, 150 2B, 40 3B

	HR	SB	2B	3B	XBH
Willie Mays	221	156	168	78	467
Shohei Ohtani	250	156	178	41	469
Mike Trout	207	167	203	40	450

What kind of pitches does Ohtani hit most for home runs?

Ohtani has hit slightly more than half his 250 home runs off fastballs, 54.4%. That’s not a surprise because he sees 52.6% fastballs (well below the major league average of 57.2% over the course of his career).

The surprise is that Ohtani sees 29% breaking pitches, but hits 32.4% of his home runs off breaking pitches, his biggest difference in power by pitch types.

Ohtani by pitch type, career

	HR	HR %	Pitch %	Difference
Fastballs	136	54.4%	52.6%	+1.8%
Breaking	81	32.4%	29%	+3.4%
Off-speed	33	13.2%	18.2%	-5%

Ohtani is a in-zone breaking ball hitter. Over the past three seasons he slugs .834 on in-zone spin. Next best in MLB is Gunnar Henderson, who is nowhere near him at .712 (minimum 5,000 total pitches).

How has Ohtani evolved as a hitter?

Ohtani is only now entering his prime power years. He has become a more dangerous power hitter in recent years by mastering the art of getting the ball airborne to the pull side.

Check out this growth chart when it comes to pull-side power:

Ohtani pulled home runs

	HR	Percentage of HR
2018–20	11	23.4%
2021–23	58	46.8%
2024–25	40	50.6%

How did he pull off this evolution into a pull-side monster?

Let’s compare two pull-side Ohtani home runs, one from 2020, before he began to truly grow into his pull power, and his 250th home run from Saturday:

Setup: The changes are more subtle than drastic, but they are significant. He is now more upright, more open with his feet, the head is more turned to get both eyes on the ball easier and his back elbow is slightly higher to better pre-set the load position of his wrists.

Swing: He now stays behind the ball (which you can tell from his head position), has a much firmer front side (he eliminated the drift into the ball you see in 2020), has more extension through the ball and holds off rolling his top wrist much later to create more backspin. It’s a much more powerful, efficient swing.

How else has he evolved as a hitter?

By starting more upright and keeping his head behind the baseball, Ohtani has become the best high-strike slugger in baseball. Do not try to challenge this man with high fastballs.

Ohtani vs. high strikes

	No. of pitches	HR	SLG	MLB SLG Rank
2018–21	759	12	.500	86
2022-25	1,107	37	.807	1

What is the Tropic of Ohtani?

It’s the key latitude for pitchers. Think of a line two feet off the ground, defining roughly the bottom quarter of the strike zone. Call it the Tropic of Ohtani. To limit Ohtani’s power, a pitcher must execute at this line and lower.

Why? Ohtani is a tall hitter who hits from an upright posture. When he struggles, he swings at too many low pitches before two strikes. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts likes Ohtani to take pitches down, even if they are strikes, early in the count. He knows Ohtani should hunt pitches where his slug is—and that’s not down. He does pitchers a favor by not waiting for something even slightly elevated.

If you want to turn Ohtani into a .192 hitter, keep the ball on the bottom rail of the strike zone. Here is your map of the Tropic of Ohtani:

Ohtani by pitch height, 2021-25

What are Ohtani’s chances of hitting 500 home runs?

Ohtani is the 65th hitter to reach 250 home runs by his age 30 season. Eight are still active (Ohtani, Nolan Arenado, Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Matt Olson, Giancarlo Stanton and Mike Trout).

Of the 57 retired players who reached 250 homers by age 30, only 24 of them hit another 250 homers. That’s only 42% of the young sluggers who get halfway there by age 30 who make the 500 Home Run Club.

The 30U members of the 250 Club who finished with the fewest home runs were Prince Fielder and Jay Bruce (319), Troy Glaus (320) and Justin Upton (325). The biggest head start by those who came up short were Andruw Jones (368 though age 30), Juan Gonzalez (362) and Adam Dunn (354).

So among players who get halfway to 500 by 30, more players fall short than get in the 500 Club. Historically speaking, that would seem to put the odds against him. But if we’ve learned anything about Ohtani it is that he is one of one. Precedent does not apply. With his evolution as a hitter, Ohtani is on his own road toward 500 and beyond.

تحدث باولو جازانيجا حارس مرمى جيرونا بعد تعادل فريقه أمام ريال مدريد بهدف لمثله، ضمن منافسات الدوري الإسباني لكرة القدم.

وقال جازانيجا في تصريحات نشرتها صحيفة “آس” الإسبانية: “كنا نريد النقاط الثلاث، لأنه كان واضحًا أن الفريق كان يرغب بهم”.

وأضاف: “حصلنا على فرص في المباراة أكثر من ريال مدريد، لكن التعادل مع منافس مثل ريال مدريد أمر جيد”.

اقرأ أيضاً.. موعد مباراة ريال مدريد القادمة بعد التعادل مع جيرونا في الدوري الإسباني

وواصل عن تحسن جيرونا بأدائه في مباراة اليوم: “نحن نتحسن شيئاً فشيء، الأمر يتعلق بمواصلة النمو والتقدم للأمام”.

وتابع حول احتلال جيرونا قاع الترتيب في الدوري الاسباني: “الوضع متوتر للغاية، علينا أن نستمر على هذا المنوال، ستبدأ الأمور في السير في صالحنا قريبًا”.

وختم عن توتر أعصاب لاعبي جيرونا في مباراة ريال مدريد: “لعبنا ضد فريق يجعلك تعاني من البداية للنهاية، لكننا تعاملنا مع الأمر بشكل جيد وفي النهاية استمتعنا به”.

Glasgow Rangers sporting director Kevin Thelwell made a bold move during the summer transfer window when he swooped to sign Youssef Chermiti from his former club Everton.

The Light Blues paid £8m to sign the Portugal U21 international from the Premier League side, which is the highest fee they have paid for a player since the £12m move for Tore Andre Flo in 2000.

Because of that transfer fee, Chermiti’s performances for Rangers his season have been under the spotlight, and he has failed to justify the huge outlay as of yet.

Pundit Michael Stewart described his finishing as “so poor” against Celtic in the League Cup semi-final earlier this month. Fellow pundit Ally McCoist also noted on TNT Sport that the striker is “showing nothing” to prove he was worth the fee paid for him.

Chermiti has scored one goal in 13 appearances in all competitions for the Light Blues this season, per Sofascore, which may be why pundits like Stewart and McCoist have been harsh on him.

However, the former Premier League flop is not the only summer signing who has struggled at the top end of the pitch this season, as Bojan Miovski has failed to live up to expectations.

Why Danny Rohl should drop Bojan Miovski

Danny Rohl should ruthlessly ditch the summer signing from Girona from the starting line-up because he struggled once again in the 3-0 win over Dundee last weekend in the Scottish Premiership.

The Macedonia international was handed the chance to led the line at Dens Park, but was removed by the German head coach at half-time after a dismal first-half display, with zero shots and two out of nine duels won, per Sofascore.

Miovski was signed from Girona for a fee of up to £4.2m and arrived with a big reputation in Scotland, thanks to his form for Aberdeen in the past, as shown in the graphic below.

However, pundit Charlie Mulgrew recently noted that there is more pressure on him at Ibrox. The ex-Celtic defender said: “When you play for Aberdeen, you can get away with not scoring for three or four weeks. At Rangers, you don’t get six or seven games to find your feet. You’re in the spotlight and you need to hit the ground running, and that’s why there are question marks around him.”

Miovski, who was described as “non-existent” by one Rangers podcaster, has struggled to deal with the pressure of leading the line for the Gers, as shown by his form this season.

Appearances

8

4

Goals

1

0

Minutes per goal

506

N/A

Big chances missed

3

1

Big chances created

0

0

Assists

0

0

Ground duel success rate

32%

44%

Aerial duel success rate

29%

17%

As you can see in the table above, the left-footed marksman has not offered much in the way of quality in front of goal or reliability out of possession in the Scottish Premiership or the Europa League.

Miovski should be in the prime years of his career at the age of 26, but his performances for the Scottish giants suggest that the opposite is true, as he has struggled badly in comparison to his previous form in the division, with just one league goal.

This is why Rohl should ditch him from the starting XI, and possibly even from the club in the January transfer window unless he can turn his form around in the next few weeks.

However, as aforementioned, Chermiti has also failed to impress since his £8m move from Everton, which is why the manager may need to get creative with his team selection.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

With this in mind, Rohl should ruthlessly drop Miovski from the starting line-up by unleashing Mikey Moore in a brand-new role as a centre-forward at Ibrox.

Why Rangers should play Mikey Moore as a striker

Rangers signed the England youth international on a season-long loan from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer and he endured a difficult start to life at Ibrox.

The 18-year-old forward did not provide a goal or an assist in his first five outings in the Premiership, but he has registered a goal and an assist in his last four matches, per Sofascore, which shows that the youngster has been improving.

Moore started as a right-midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 against Dundee at Dens Park last weekend. However, it was by drifting into a central position that he created and scored his first goal of the season.

The teenage whiz looked far more comfortable playing quickly and directly in a central position through the build-up to this goal, which suggests that Rohl could get more out of him by playing the Spurs loanee in a new role.

In fact, his overall career statistics, for Spurs at first-team and academy level, indicate that he is more likely to deliver goals and assists when playing in a central position.

Left wing (19)

4

6

Attacking midfield (10)

6

4

Centre-forward (7)

11

4

Right wing (10)

1

0

Left midfield (1)

0

1

Right midfield (1)

1

0

As you can see in the table above, Moore has scored 17 goals and provided eight assists in 17 starts as a striker or as an attacking midfielder, whulst his numbers as a winger, on either flank, are not as impressive.

With this in mind, the English attacker could thrive if unleashed as the striker in the team ahead of Miovski and Chermiti, given his goal at Dens Park and his record for Spurs at youth level.

Danilo played as the number ten against Dundee, behind Miovski, and the Brazilian could interchange roles with Moore as a fluid front two in that 4-2-3-1 system, with both players capable of switching between striker and attacking midfield throughout matches.

That could cause problems for opposition defenders, who could get confused about who to step out to or who to mark, and create some interesting dynamics in the final third when Rangers are building attacks.

Rohl can unearth bigger talent than Gassama in £3.5m Rangers flop

Danny Rohl could unearth a bigger talent than Djeidi Gassama in this Rangers flop.

ByDan Emery Nov 15, 2025

Therefore, Rohl should ruthlessly drop Miovski from the starting line-up in order to unleash Moore in this new role, as it could be an exciting tactical change for the Light Blues.

Highest individual score of 2025 competition confirms knockouts spot

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay22-Aug-2025Gloucestershire 343 for 7 (Bracey 186) beat Nottinghamshire 291 (Hameed 80, Haynes 57) by 52 runs Gloucestershire confirmed their qualification for the knockout stages of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, making it six wins from six matches after James Bracey pummelled Notts Outlaws with a magnificent 186, the highest individual score of the 2025 competition to date.The 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter – dropped on 58 – numbered six sixes and 20 fours in an exhilarating 150-ball innings and though no other Gloucestershire batter made fifty, with skipper Cameron Bancroft’s 46 the next highest score, the Group A leaders still piled up 343 for 7 in their 50 overs.It was 52 too many for the Outlaws, bowled out for 291 in the 48th over, their qualification chance hanging by the thinnest of threads, if not mathematically dead. Matt Taylor, Jack Taylor and Craig Miles took two wickets each.Rob Lord (2 for 60) was the pick of the home attack but it was with the bat that the Outlaws needed to shine. Skipper Haseeb Hameed made 80 from 88 balls and Jack Haynes continued a good run of form with 57 from 66 but a relatively inexperienced batting line-up needed more from both.Bracey’s score is the second highest in his county’s List A cricket history – bettered only by his own unbeaten 224 against Somerset two years ago. He led partnerships of 121 for the first wicket with Bancroft and 101 with Ollie Price for the second.The left-hander looked sharp from the outset, punishing Lord with a pull for six and three back-to-back fours as Gloucestershire cruised to 50 without loss in 10 overs.After reaching 51 from 51 balls, his one big moment of good fortune came shortly afterwards as Ben Slater put him down at long-off and a breakthrough for the home side did not happen until the 23rd over when Bancroft was taken at mid-off. He and Bracey had shared their second three-figure opening stand of the campaign.Bracey completed his fourth List A hundred, the first of this season, from 98 deliveries, needing only another 30 to turn it into 150. His partnership with Price ended when the latter top-edged to mid-off for 34 but at 256 for 2 with 10 overs left, Gloucestershire had the platform for a substantial score.In the event, the home attack landed a few blows, Lord taking two in two to dismiss Ben Charlesworth and Miles Hammond, James Hayes deflecting Graeme Van Buuren’s drive into the stumps to run out Jack Taylor and having Daaryoush Ahmed caught on the boundary.Bracey was ultimately caught at short fine leg reversing James, who conceded 20 from his last over towards a total that looked daunting enough.An early wicket apiece for Matt Taylor and Josh Shaw did not improve the outlook for Notts as Slater was caught at slip and Ben Martindale chipped to mid-on.It left much responsibility on the shoulders of Haynes and Hameed. Haynes responded with his fifth half-century in seven innings in the competition but was caught behind off the glove attempting to pull Miles, by which time Gloucestershire’s bowlers were applying the squeeze.James was caught on the cover boundary off Ahmed, the right-arm seamer who is the least experienced of this Gloucestershire bowling attack and with the required rate pushing towards 11 an over, Sammy King perished for 21, caught at the second attempt by Ahmed behind square on the leg side off Miles, before van Buuren picked up a well-deserved wicket on his 35th birthday as Hameed miscued to extra cover.Jack Taylor removed Joe Pocklington and Dane Schadendorf (28 off 22), Matt Taylor dismissed Lord (27 from 18) and Price wrapped up the win as Brett Hutton was caught on the long-on boundary.

Former Real Madrid attacker and club legend Gareth Bale was "disappointed" by the displays of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior as Los Blancos fell to a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League. Bale claimed that he was frustrated because the Madrid forwards tried to "overcomplicate things" in a rather timid display at Anfield on Tuesday evening.

• Toothless Madrid fall to Anfield defeat

  Real Madrid faced their first defeat in the Champions League this season – and only their second defeat overall – after slipping to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday evening. A second half goal from Alexis Mac Allister from a Dominik Szoboszlai set piece was enough for the Reds to register only their third win in their last nine fixtures. 

  It was a homecoming to forget for Madrid manager Xabi Alonso and club icon Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose late introduction was drowned out by a storm of boos and whistles from the stands. The Englishman could not make an impact upon his return to Merseyside, as Madrid had Thibaut Courtois to thank for an outrageous performance which kept the scoreline to just 1-0.

  The focus ahead of the game was on the likes of Vinicius and Mbappe, the latter especially in ridiculous form having scored 18 goals in 14 games ahead of the game. However, the duo had little to no impact on the proceedings, thanks to Liverpool's brilliant structure out of possession coupled with their immense hunger and dedication.

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  Bale blames Vinicius and Mbappe for overcomplicating things

  Speaking on , Bale said: "I think it was that spark that [Thierry] Henry and I were talking about, that we didn't see Mbappe and Vinicius in the final third work a bit of magic and bring Madrid back into the game. It was a bit disappointing that in that final third there wasn't really that kind of quality that you expect from Real Madrid players." 

  Bale also pointed out that Alonso's side lacked a physical presence inside the box. "It's frustrating, I think they overcomplicate things," said the five-time Champions League winner. "Sometimes they just need to try and test the defender. They are clearly faster than anyone else on the pitch. But I think maybe they don't do it because there's no one else in the box waiting for the crosses. Maybe they need that reference number nine." 

• Henry critical of Madrid's attackers

  In the same segment, former Barcelona and Arsenal forward Henry also provided his thoughts and explained what Real Madrid and their attackers could have done better. "I don't understand it," he said. "You have to play with what's in front of you, you have to play the moment. And even if there's nobody in the box, as you said, at least the opposing team has dropped back 30 meters and then you can give the ball to your midfielder, who might have a shot from outside the box. But I don't know, sometimes people try to be clever when there's no need to be."

  He specifically talked about Vinicius:  You have an opportunity at the beginning, for example, Vinicius had Conor Bradley for the first five or seven minutes, and then he let him breathe. Why do you let him breathe? Keep trying until he gets a yellow card and then he can't defend the same way, but it didn't happen that way.

  "Vinicius received the ball one-on-one after a good battle in the first five minutes against Conor Bradley, and he passed it back to his left-back to receive it again… and now it was a one-on-three. Then he attacked alone against the three, and I thought, wait, do the math. You had a one-on-one, try to see what you can do with that. Why do you move the ball back so it comes back to you and you can play a one-on-three? I just don't understand it sometimes."

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  When do Real Madrid play again?

  Los Blancos will take on neighbours Rayo Vallecano at the Estadio de Vallecas this weekend, which is the final game before the upcoming international break. Alonso's troops currently hold a five-point lead at the top of La Liga and will hope to brush aside the Liverpool loss by getting maximum points on Sunday. Post the break, they will face surprise package Elche on November 23.

أثار جوسيب ستانيسيتش، لاعب الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي بايرن ميونخ غضب جماهير باريس سان جيرمان بعد تصريحاته الساخرة من إصابة أشرف حكيمي.

واستضاف ملعب “حديقة الأمراء” مباراة باريس سان جيرمان وبايرن ميونخ، في إطار منافسات الجولة الرابعة من مرحلة الدوري لبطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا.

وحقق بايرن ميونخ فوزًا رائعًا أمام باريس سان جيرمان بثنائية مقابل هدف في المباراة التي جمعتهما أمس، الثلاثاء.

وشهدت اللحظات الأخيرة من عمر الشوط الأول، في الوقت المحتسب بدلًا من الضائع، تعرض النجم المغربي أشرف حكيمي لإصابة خطيرة بعد تدخل عنيف من لاعب بايرن ميونخ، لويس دياز.

وتعتبر تلك الضربة هي الثانية لـ باريس سان جيرمان حيث اضطر عثمان ديمبلي إلى مغادرة الملعب، في الدقيقة 25، بسبب الإصابة.

وتدخل لويس دياز بعنف وقوة على ساق أشرف حكيمي، مما جعل الأخير يسقط أرضًا ويبكي بشدة من تأثير الألم الذي يشعر به وغادر الملعب وهو يبكي من قوة الإصابة.

لم يُشهر الحكم البطاقة الحمراء مباشرةً لكن حكم تقنية الفيديو طلب منه العودة للنظر مرة أخرى إلى اللعبة وبالفعل لم يستغرق وقتًا طويلًا وأشهر البطاقة الحمراء للكولومبي.

وأصبح موقف أشرف حكيمي مهددًا بقوة في المشاركة مع منتخب المغرب خلال كأس أمم إفريقيا والتي تحتضنها دولته والمقر إقامتها في ديسمبر المقبل، (للمزيد من التفاصيل اضغط هنا)

وفي ضوء ذلك، أثارت تصريحات مدافع بايرن ميونخ غضبًا واسعًا على مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي، حيث أشار العديد من الجمهور إلى افتقاره للروح الرياضية.

وعندما سأله الصحفي حول تقديم اعتذار لأشرف حكيمي من لويس دياز بعد التدخل القوي، أجاب في تصريحات نقلتها صحيفة “ليكيب”: “لا، لم يفعل، شكرناه (يضحك)، أمزح بالطبع، كان سعيدًا مثلنا جميعًا”.