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Needed someone to stay with Samson and build a partnership: Sangakkara

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Rajasthan Royals director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara rued the fact that there was no one in the side to build a partnership with skipper Sanju Samson, which would have helped the side beat Delhi Capitals in a low-scoring match here on Saturday.

Superb bowling on a slow pitch where batting was difficult helped Delhi Capitals outplay Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs and move to the top of the points table in IPL 2021 at the Shaikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Rajasthan skipper Samson (70 not out, 53 balls) waged a lone battle, keeping the scoreboard moving with singles and twos through small nudges and touches interspersed with trick shots, reverse sweeps, and scoops, hitting boundaries here and there. But in the end that proved too little and too late as Rajasthan fell well short of the target.

“Well, it was a tough one for the skipper (Samson), he was batting so well. All we needed was someone to stay with him and unfortunately losing wickets so regularly, didn’t allow Sanju to cut free early on,” said Sangakkara.

“154 was a great total to limit Delhi Capitals to, [what] we needed to do was not be careless in the first 10 overs. Unfortunately, Delhi came hard at us, they bowled smartly and we weren’t up to it,” the Sri Lankan said.

While the batting didn’t click, Sanga believes it’s not something he is worried about given the quality of the batting line-up. He has backed the players to do well as the tournament goes forward.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about the lower middle-order, they got us out of a lot of trouble in the first half of the IPL this season, and I am sure they will come good, as we go along,” he added.

Sanga further added that RR won’t necessarily be making a change in the eleven because of the defeat. Samson, too, said that a decision on the playing XI will be made when the emotions from the defeat have dried up.

“It is not just about making changes, it is about whoever does play, to kind of stick to the game plan and understand what is happening and assess conditions,” Sanga said.

“I thought the total was chaseable but we lost too many early wickets and weren’t able to get any momentum in our chase. We might consider changes for the next game, but it is too early now. We have to remove all emotion before that,” Samson said.

After their defeat to the table-toppers and Punjab Kings’ win over SRH, RR have slipped to seventh in the table. They will look to bounce back against SRH on September 27 without overthinking this loss, considering there’s barely any time in between.

International

Mark Zuckerberg strikes gold against jiu jitsu fighters, posts pictures on Instagram

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In the past, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has appeared helpless in front of the US Congress where he has been slapped by fines, and fired 11,000 vulnerable employees after being hit by falling revenues. But outside the business arena where Meta is facing tough competition from TikTok and other rivals, Zuckerberg is a huge mixed martial arts fan.

Contrary to setbacks in the tech sector, the Facebook founder has tasted victory in jiu jitsu.

Striking gold, but in a different arena

  • The billionaire who has trained with UFC fighters, posted pictures after winning jiu jitsu matches for the first time.
  • The billionaire who tried his hand at martial arts, revealed that he won a gold medal in the Gi categroy and a silver medal in the No-GI category.
  • His post on Instagram received comments from UFC featherweight and bantamweight category champions, as well as jiu jitsu hall of fame member Bernardo Faria.

Competitive or short tempered?

  • The entrepreneur turned sportsperson, who also enjoys surfing, was seen getting into a heated argument after losing a contest during the tournament in California as well.
  • On the work front, Zuckerberg’s firm Meta also surprised the markets by bouncing back with strong earnings, after struggling with loss of ad revenue.
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Al Hilal swoop in with bumper €400 million per year salary deal amid reports of Lionel Messi leaving PSG

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Paris Saint Germain forward Lionel Messi is reportedly planning to cut short his time at FC Barcelona and eventually join Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia. This comes after Messi was suspended for two weeks for travelling to the Kingdom without PSG’s Qatari owners’ permission.

End of Project Messi

Messi had hoped to stay at PSG beyond the end of the current season. However, with recent events, the situation has changed drastically. Given his incredible record with FC Barcelona and PSG, Messi’s potential move to Al-Hilal would undoubtedly shake the football world.

While Messi’s priority remains to play in Europe, transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano reported that Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal has offered the Argentine superstar a bumper contract with a record-breaking salary worth €400 million per year. The potential deal will lead to Messi surpassing his eternal rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, who earns €223 million per year at Al Nassr.

Hindrance to Messi’s Barcelona return

There is strong speculation that Messi may return to his former club, FC Barcelona. However, the club is facing difficulties in shedding the €200 million ($220 million) required from their wage bill to make the deal viable. Despite this challenge, Barcelona is trying to convince La Liga that they have a workable plan to make the numbers work for a potential deal with Messi.

Consequences of Messi’s Suspension

Messi’s suspension was imposed because he went to fulfill his duties as a tourism ambassador. The Argentine will also be docked two weeks’ pay, which Forbes’ recently-published list of the World’s 10 Highest-Paid Athletes 2023 estimated to be around $2.5 million. As a result, Messi will miss games against Troyes and Ajaccio.

In addition, PSG has reportedly cancelled a contract renewal offer to Messi, whose current agreement at the Parc des Princes expires on June 30. The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner will be free to negotiate with other clubs starting in January 2023.

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Saudi Arabia to host FIFA Club World Cup 2023

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Saudi Arabia has been named the host of the FIFA Club World Cup 2023, scheduled to take place from December 12-22.

“In relation to the FIFA Club World Cup 2023�, which is due to be played under the current format with seven clubs, the FIFA Council unanimously appointed the Saudi Arabian Football Federation as tournament hosts from 12 to 22 December 2023,” the FIFA said in a statement on Tuesday night.

The unanimous decision was made at a FIFA Council meeting and came only a few days after Real Madrid lifted the trophy in Morocco, following a thrilling 5-3 win over Al-Hilal, the first Saudi club to reach the final of the tournament.

Saudi Arabia will be only the sixth host of the competition since its inception in 2000.

The Gulf nation, earlier this month, was awarded the hosting rights of the men’s Asian Cup 2027 and is also bidding to host the Women’s Asian Cup for the first time in 2026.

The FIFA Council also confirmed a change in the format of the tournament from June 2025 — to expand the FIFA Club World Cup from 24 to 32 teams — with 12 teams from Europe involved along six from CONMEBOL, while CONCACAF, CAF and the AFC will each have four, with one place for the OFC and another for the hosts.

In addition, the Council also confirmed that the hosts of the FIFA World Cup 2026, namely Canada, Mexico and the USA, will qualify automatically as the joint hosts of the tournament, with their slots, therefore, being deducted from the overall allocation of six assigned to Concacaf.

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