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After getting back to winning ways against Falkirk in the Scottish Premiership, Celtic and Martin O’Neill have now been handed some positive injury news on Kieran Tierney.

The Bhoys were in ruthless form as they dispatched Falkirk in comfortable fashion, welcoming veteran manager O’Neill back to the dugout in style. Given that shock league leaders Hearts also dropped points in a 2-2 draw, there’s no denying that it was the perfect evening at Celtic Park.

Things haven’t quite taken a turn for the better off the pitch, however, and Celtic have already been dealt their first blow on the hunt for their next manager. According to Sky Sports’ Anthony Joseph, the Hoops’ pursuit of Ange Postecoglou is now unlikely to progress.

The Australian, who was recently sacked by Nottingham Forest after just 39 days in charge, had been linked with a return to Celtic before reports shut those rumours down.

With their former manager off the table for now, Parkhead chiefs have been left to choose from the remaining names on their shortlist, which reportedly includes Craig Bellamy and Kieran McKenna.

McKenna would be a particularly interesting choice despite how his Ipswich Town side have struggled as of late. He famously took the Tractor Boys to back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League, before suffering instant relegation last season. Now, a big move could finally be calling.

In the meantime, it remains O’Neill’s job to steady the ship and potentially take Celtic into the Scottish League Cup final with Tierney’s injury return only helping that cause.

Kieran Tierney set to return for Celtic vs Rangers

As revealed by O’Neill, Tierney is in line to return for Celtic vs Rangers this weekend after missing out on his side’s 4-0 thrashing of Falkirk. The left-back is no stranger to injury problems, but does not face a period on the sidelines this time around ahead of a crucial cup clash.

The return of the former Arsenal defender should provide O’Neill with an instant boost. His experience, alone, proves crucial in moments like these and in the Old Firm derby, of course.

Despite how Celtic have struggled this season, Tierney has enjoyed some much-needed consistency. The Scot has started seven of 10 Scottish Premiership games to begin putting his injury history behind him.

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Dubbed “unique” by Rodgers in his very first Celtic spell, Tierney now has the chance to make his mark the second time around as an experienced member of O’Neill’s squad. And that could start against Rangers in the Scottish League Cup this weekend.

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West Indian legend also highlights the responsibility of the board to make playing for the team financially attractive

Abhimanyu Bose07-Oct-20255:49

Bishop: Want WI batters to stop being satisfied with 20s and 30s

Former West Indies captain Brian Lara highlighted lack of funds and technology as factors in the team’s recent decline, but also called upon the players to show more passion in order to compete better.After West Indies’ defeat to India in the first Test in Ahmedabad, Test captain Roston Chase highlighted “infrastructure problems” and the continuous “struggle for finances” in the Caribbean. This was touched upon by the cricket strategy and officiating committee of Cricket West Indies, of which Lara and Chase are both a part.”If you want to get things done, you have to have the capital to do it. So that is a major part,” Lara said on the sidelines of the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai on Tuesday. “But at the same time, I would like to ask Roston Chase and the other guys to… do they have the cricket at heart? Do they really want to play for West Indies? And that is the most important thing because you would find a way.Related

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“I mean we did not have better facilities 30-40 years ago. Viv Richards didn’t bat on any better practice pitches or anything. We had to do the same thing, the same grind; but the passion was different. The passion to play for West Indies was different. So I urge the young players to realise that this is a wonderful opportunity. And I am almost sure that every single one of their parents would have had in the back of their mind, their son playing for the West Indies, their son doing well for the West Indies because it meant a lot back in those days.”So I agree with [Chase on West Indies’ struggles for finances], but I still believe there is an onus on each young player to create that love and desire to play for West Indies.”Saying that, Lara also acknowledged that the players should not be blamed for seeking lucrative deals in franchise cricket, and that CWI needed to find a way to make it financially attractive for them to represent the region.”I can’t blame any single player for wanting to pursue cricket as a career outside of the West Indies – because the disparity in what’s happening, playing five or six franchise leagues, compared to playing for the West Indies, is different [in monetary terms],” Lara said. “And you have to have empathy with that player. But you also have to feel that what can we do at home to make sure that that player, or future players, understand that playing for the West Indies is also very important.5:02

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“The IPL has carved out a period of time where it’s exclusive to the IPL. But there’s six or seven different leagues that’s popping up around the world, and everybody’s wanting to do it. So I think the onus is on Cricket West Indies to find a way to create, unify the efforts of the young players who want to go out, but also have them playing for us.”And a series against India, we want to play good cricket against the best team in the world. So you want your best players out there. You don’t want your best players in America or somewhere else around the world.”Lara used an example of football legend Lionel Messi, who has spent his entire club career outside of his home country, but has been an integral part of Argentina’s national team.”I mean if you look at Argentina, Messi grew up in Europe, but he plays for Argentina. But he played for Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, and he was allowed [to play],” Lara said. “And there’s a lot more South American footballers that do that, and eventually go back and play for their country, and have the pride to do so.”Australia is able to do it. England is able to do it, to keep their players loyal to their country. So we have to find a way to do that and there’s no pointing any fingers at anybody. It’s just that we’ve got to come together as a team, as administrators, as coaches, as players. And really and truly if you have West Indies cricket at heart, you will find a way to move forward.””I am hoping I would like to see a stronger first-class performance before you get into the international scene” – Brian Lara•Associated PressBatting has been one department where West Indies have struggled. The squad touring India don’t have a single batter who averages 30 in Tests. They have had promising talents like Alick Athanaze, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Kavem Hodge and Mikyle Louis break into the team, but none of them has been able to establish themselves as a regular.”I believe that if a player is being picked on potential only and he does not have the stats to go with it, it is very difficult for him now to get to this higher level, and [to] expect so much from him,” Lara said. “I believe that because of that situation, you would find players that are maturing later on. So it is either you stick with them – age 22, 23, 24, 25 hopefully reap the benefit when they get into their late 20s – or you look at players that are seasoned, Jason Holder and the guys who may have matured.”And if you remember, Graham Gooch scored the majority of his runs in his 30s. A guy like Adam Gilchrist, Mike Hussey, all these guys started playing late, and they came out to be some of the best in the world. So you are going to find, once in a lifetime, the Tendulkars. Age 16, 17, Afridi, the Garfield Sobers who were in their teenage, they were able to cope with it immediately. Everybody is not going to be blessed with that sort of talent.”So I am hoping that I would like to see a stronger first-class performance before you get into the international scene. Back in my day, you had to break records. You sat and watched cricket for two years, 20 Test matches, carry the towel, carry the water before you finally got in. And during that period of time, you grew, you matured. And some mature faster than others.”

Kranti Goud picked up 3 for 20 to continue her rapid rise with India’s ODI side

Shashank Kishore05-Oct-20254:12

Goud, Deepti, Ghosh make it two from two for India

Kranti Goud, 22, was informed of her India debut at the R Premadasa Stadium in May 2025. She had largely been picked as an apprentice, with India waiting on two senior players – Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar, both injured and in rehab.It was an unremarkable debut, for figures of 5-0-22-0. But among the many things she did right was hitting Chamari Athapaththu, a ferocious puller of the cricket ball, on her ribs. That tiny moment, lost amid Smriti Mandhana’s century and Sneh Rana’s four-for, encouraged India’s selectors to take a punt on her for the England tour.When she picked up a six-for in Durham, hooping the ball and leaving England’s top order gasping en route to an impressive series victory, it was fairly evident Goud had sealed her World Cup spot, irrespective of whether the injured senior pacers returned. Renuka has, Vastrakar hasn’t, but Goud has made herself undroppable after just two outings.Related

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A week after she opened the 2025 World Cup with 1 for 41 in India’s win over Sri Lanka, Goud stung Pakistan’s top order in a fiery new-ball spell. She finished with 3 for 20 in India’s 88-run win in Colombo, one that her neighbourhood watched on a giant LED screen they’d installed back in Ghuwara, a town in rural Madhya Pradesh.”The talk is about focusing on line and length only,” Goud said after winning the Player-of-the-Match award. “I haven’t thought of doing much extra. Variations like bouncer or slower balls, those depend on the situation. The coaches told me to pull my lengths back a little based on the conditions and surface, that’s what I did.”It wasn’t merely Goud listening to her coaches that did the trick. She also got the captain to give her the fields she wanted most times. In the 12th over, with the ball losing some of its shine, Harmanpreet Kaur pulled out Deepti Sharma from the slips, only for Goud to wheel her back to where she’d been.The result? Aliya Riyaz was defeated by late movement to get a healthy edge through to Deepti at second slip. A jubilant Goud immediately turned to her captain, who ran towards her to acknowledge her contribution.”The ball was swinging early on, I couldn’t understand what was happening,” Goud said with a chuckle when asked about her first spell. “One ball came in a long way. Then when the ball was old, Harman wanted to take the slip off, but I said, ‘no didi, let’s keep the slip for this over.'”I had that feeling from within that I could get a wicket, and I got it off the first ball. They found it tough to play our pacers. Because the ball was moving in and out, that’s why I had a lengthy first spell.”Goud bowled six unchanged overs with the new ball. The other small contribution she made to India’s win was her crucial lower-order runs with Richa Ghosh. Coming in with India 226 for 8, the ninth-wicket pair added 21 to haul India to 247.Goud’s contribution was 8 off 4 balls, including two fours: a cover drive off her first ball, against left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal, and then a boundary off Diana Baig when she got inside the line to help a short delivery past short fine leg.”Richa told me, if there’s a ball to be hit, go for it. But if you’re not able to, just give me a single,” Goud said. “Because only a few overs were left, we needed to score as many as we could. First ball itself was hittable, so I hit a four. Then she told me, play like this only. The second [boundary] was a short ball, so I went for it. Look forward to playing well like this.”Goud would perhaps acknowledge tougher tests await, but the stage on Sunday wasn’t to be scoffed at, even if India did come in with a 11-0 record over Pakistan in women’s ODIs. With the men’s Asia Cup having been played in an environment far from the bonhomie the teams have shown in the past, the focus was on the women’s game to see if some of the hostilities would spill over. It didn’t, even though the teams didn’t shake hands before or after the match.But the off-field noise was far from Goud’s mind. “I wasn’t thinking of India-Pakistan or other things,” she said. “My duty is to bowl, and I was doing just that.”

Stats highlights from the match between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam

Sampath Bandarupalli30-Mar-20256 Dismissals for Travis Head against Mitchell Starc across all formats. He’s faced Starc on nine occasions, scoring only 34 runs off 47 balls. After the IPL 2025 match between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam, Head’s record against Starc in the IPL is ten runs off 7 balls for two dismissals in two innings.5-35 Starc’s figures against SRH – his first five-wicket haul in his 144-match T20 career. He also completed 200 wickets in T20s on Sunday.3 T20s in which Starc has taken three wickets in the powerplay. Two of those have been against SRH – in Ahmedabad in 2024 and Vizag on Sunday.3 Player-of-the-Match awards for Starc in his last three games against SRH – ten wickets at an average of 8.30.12 Sixes Aniket Verma has hit in the 57 balls he’s faced so far in the IPL – the most any batter has hit in their IPL career at this point. Jake Fraser-McGurk hit 12 sixes in his first 60 balls faced in the IPL, while Deepak Hooda (11), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (10) and Romario Shepherd (10) struck ten or more sixes.350.00 Aniket’s strike rate while playing the lofted shot on Sunday, as per ESPNCricinfo’s ball-by-ball logs. He scored 63 runs off 18 lofted shots, hitting all five of his fours and six sixes before holing out on the boundary. The rest of the SRH batters played 15 lofted shots for 23 runs, with eight resulting in dismissals.