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Birmingham City’s move for a “technical” player is now as much as “95%” complete, according to a positive update from journalist Sebastiao Sousa-Pinto.

Who do Birmingham want to sign?

The Blues know the importance of building on their League One title win and cementing their place in the Championship next season, with new signings required to take Chris Davies’ side to the next level, perhaps following Ipswich’s lead after their back to back promotions.

The financial influence of Tom Wagner and Tom Brady has aided Birmingham greatly in recent years, and supporters are understandably excited to see what the next step will be at the club this summer.

Luton Town centre-back Teden Mengi has been linked with a move to St Andrews in recent days, following a solid 2024/25 season from the former Manchester United player that saw him average 3.9 clearances per game across 20 Championship appearances.

Meanwhile, NEC winger Sontje Hansen has also been mentioned as an exciting target for Birmingham in the summer window, with the 23-year-old representing the Netherlands across five different youth age groups, winning a combined tally of 46 caps. Now, it looks like one player is very close to securing a move to the Midlands.

Birmingham's move for midfielder "95%" done

Speaking on his YouTube channel [via Sport Witness], Sousa-Pinto claimed that midfielder Kanya Fujimoto’s move to Birmingham from Gil Vicente is nearly complete, with the Japanese set to join on a free transfer.

“I’m talking about Kanya Fujimoto, the midfielder whose contract with Gil Vicente ended and who is now a free agent and, as far as I can tell, 90%, 95%, has been agreed with Birmingham City. The clock is still ticking to seal the deal. We’ll have to keep waiting, but the feeling has been very positive for a few weeks now.

“The feeling is still very positive for the transfer to be completed, but we’re still taking it one step at a time until we can close this deal, and Kanya Fujimoto can then join the Championship team as a free agent, once again after his contract with Gil Vicente ended.”

This is great news for anyone of a Birmingham persuasion, with Fujimoto a player who has now proven himself at a high level, making 156 appearances in the Primeira Liga.

The 25-year-old has scored 12 goals and registered 20 assists in Portugal’s top league, while analyst Ben Mattinson has hailed his “technical” quality.

Fujimoto has represented Japan in six age groups, further highlighting his pedigree, and he is a player who could be an instant hit for Birmingham, adding so much quality in midfield areas.

Japan Under-20s

5

0

Japan Under-19s

3

0

Japan Under-18s

6

0

Japan Under-17s

9

0

Japan Under-16s

10

0

Japan Under-15s

1

0

It’s been another quiet week at Ibrox for Rangers, although is that about to change?

So far, the most noteworthy Rangers event of the past few days was Cyriel Dessers’ goal for Nigeria, on target on Wednesday in a friendly tournament against West African rivals Ghana.

Elsewhere, on Tuesday, Rangers confirmed they will face Club Brugge and Middlesbrough in pre-season friendlies at Ibrox in July but, for now at least, there’s still no news as to who will be in charge for those games, or indeed, more importantly, the start of Champions League qualification either.

Well, 95 days on from Philippe Clement’s sacking, could the 49ers finally be about to land their new manager?

Rangers ramping up managerial hunt

A whole host of names have been linked with a move to the Ibrox dugout in recent months, with fierce speculation suggesting Steven Gerrard could be on his way back to Scotland after a failed stint in Saudi Arabia.

Also of interest to the Rangers hierarchy are the likes of Russell Martin and Brian Priske. Yet, there’s another name who looks like he may be edging closer to filling the vacancy.

Manager Focus

Who are the greatest coaches in the land? Football FanCast’s Manager Focus series aims to reveal all.

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According to a report by Guillem Balague for BBC Sport, the Rangers hierarchy have ‘held fresh talks’ with Davide Ancelotti this week, adding that ‘further discussions’ are scheduled to take place ‘over the next few days’.

Davide has been a long-time assistant to his father Carlo, working at Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton and Real Madrid.

This month, Carlo left los Blancos by mutual consent to become the new Brazil manager and, at his unveiling, he confirmed “Davide is currently in negotiations with a European team… if he goes to a club, I wish him the best, and if not, he can come back to us.”

Now, it appears increasingly likely that Ancelotti will become the new Rangers head coach, with former Rangers manager Mark Warburton saying that, should he take the job, it would be a “huge step up”, going from being an assistant to occupying the “number one role”.

Well, speaking to STV, Guillem Balague believes Davide to be one of the “most sought-after assistants” in world football, firmly believing he will be a success at Ibrox, so would his arrival be great news for a certain Rangers stalwart?

Why Ancelotti can reignite Tavernier's Rangers career

When James Tavernier joined Rangers from Wigan Athletic for a reported £200k in 2015, the Light Blues were still an SPFL Championship club.

Fair to say, a lot has changed in the subsequent decades, and this has proved to be, inarguably, one of the bargains of the century.

To date, Tavernier has made 513 appearances for the club, only ten men have accumulated more in a Rangers jersey, as the table below outlines.

Rangers players with the most appearances

Players

Career

Appearances

John Greig

1961-78

755

Sandy Jardine

1964-82

674

Ally McCoist

1983-98

581

Sandy Archibald

1917-34

580

David Meiklejohn

1919-36

563

Dougie Gray

1925-46

555

Derek Johnstone

1970-86

546

Davie Cooper

1977-89

540

Peter McCloy

1970-85

535

Ian McColl

1945-60

526

James Tavernier

2015-present

513

All information courtesy of Fitba Stats

Tavernier captained Rangers to the Premiership title in 2020/21, subsequently lifting the League Cup and Scottish Cup too, as well as being the talismanic figure en route to the Europa League Final three seasons ago, scoring seven times during the knockout phase.

However, he has come in for some criticism this season, with Nick McPheat of BBC Sport questioning if he is ‘no longer first choice’, while interim manager Barry Ferguson trialled him as both a centre-back, as part of a back three, as well as at wing-back.

Nevertheless, if Davide’s playing style is at all akin to that of his father, a fluid approach that encourages maximum creativity, this appointment could reinvigorate Tavernier.

Right-back Dani Carvajal was such a prominent attacking figure for Real Madrid, so let’s asses how he compares to Tavernier, with the caveat that the Spanish international has not featured since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament against Villarreal in early-October.

James Tavernier vs Dani Carvajal

Statistics

Tavernier

Carvajal

2024/25 season

Goals

5

1

Assists

13

1

Big chances created

20

0

2023/24 season

Goals

24

6

Assists

12

5

Big chances created

19

4

2022/23 season

Goals

18

0

Assists

10

5

Big chances created

14

4

2021/22 season

Goals

18

1

Assists

17

4

Big chances created

18

7

Stats courtesy of Transfermarkt and Sofascore

As the table outlines, Tavernier’s attacking output has been absolutely off the scale, notably registering 52 assists since the 2021/22 campaign. Taking you back to that point about an Ancelotti side favouring creativity and you can begin to see why he could take quite a liking to the Gers captain.

While Carvajal’s’s numbers are not quite so astronomical, Tobi Peter of Breaking the Lines documents that his ‘attacking contributions are crucial’ for Real Madrid.

So, with the incoming Ancelotti likely to want his full-back to operate high and wide, this could be exactly the appointment 33-year-old Tavernier needs to reinvigorate his career in Govan.

Related Same agent as Gerrard: Rangers want cheap deal to sign £1m int'l defender

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Posts ByTom Cunningham May 28, 2025

Sheffield United’s automatic promotion dream is now over with Burnley and Leeds United confirmed as Premier League-bound on a disappointing Easter Monday for the Blades.

Earlier in the day, before United’s pivotal showdown with the Clarets, Leeds resoundingly thumped Stoke City 6-0 in the Championship, with Daniel Farke and Co then needing Chris Wilder’s men to slip up and lose to seal a return to the top-flight.

Their wish would come true to the dismay of the away side at Turf Moor, with their pain only intensified when you consider the hosts also clinched a dramatic passage back up to the top-flight when beating the visitors 2-1.

Anel Ahmedhodzic suffered from a rare off-day in Lancashire, with his clumsiness right before the half-time whistle gifting Josh Brownhill the decisive spot-kick that sent the Clarets up a league.

Ahmedhodzic's off-day at Turf Moor

Ultimately, United’s dismal run of four losses from their last five Championship outings has cost them the glory of automatic promotion, but the Bosnian brute certainly didn’t help matters when putting in a rare bad performance.

The number 15 was definitely fired up for the crunch contest, but it resulted in his overall game looking rash and hot-headed rather than focused, culminating in him clattering into Hannibal Mejbri to gift the home side a golden penalty.

Brownhill would calmly tuck away the opportunity to juxtapose Ahmedhodzic’s reckless approach, with the out-of-sorts 26-year-old going on to commit four fouls in total, on top of uncharacteristically winning just 33% of his duels.

Wilder will need his usually reliable colossus to be more switched on ahead of some huge playoff clashes to come, but whilst Ahmedhodzic did cost his team dear, there was one underperformer for the Blades who was just as bad as the defender in offering very little throughout.

The Blades dud who was just as bad as Ahmedhodzic

It was always going to be a tough ask for the Blades to get the better of a dogged Burnley side, considering the stern hosts have only shipped 15 strikes all season long.

Tom Cannon did manage to break his goalscoring duck at Turf Moor to raise a smile, but it was the efforts of Ben Brereton Diaz down the right wing that would have worried away spectators, irrespective of the ex-Leicester City man managing to salvage some personal pride.

Brereton Diaz’s performance in numbers
Stat	Ben Brereton Diaz
Minutes played	60
Goals scored	0
Assists	0
Touches	16
Shots on target	0
Accurate passes	5/9 (56%)
Total duels won	0/4
Stats by Sofascore

The numbers from the table above do make for some dire reading, with the Chilean only managing a meagre 15 touches of the ball from his forgettable 60-minute stint.

On top of that, Brereton Diaz also failed to register a single on-target effort at James Trafford’s formidable goal, alongside only managing to muster up a weak five passes of the ball that found their intended target.

Whilst Ahmedhodzic was notably poor, he did manage to at least win three of his duels during the contest, with Brereton Diaz then unsurprisingly hooked off by Wilder for Jesurun Rak-Sakyi to gain a run-out.

After all, Rak-Sakyi had at least bagged in United’s last away contest before this miserable outing to Lancashire, with his late efforts at Turf Moor seeing him conjure up one successful dribble among other promising moments.

If the Blades are to bounce back from this agonising promotion near-miss, Wilder could now have to axe Brereton Diaz from his forthcoming lineups, knowing full well that lethal displays are needed in the lottery of the playoffs.

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All the stats highlights from India’s win against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final

Sampath Bandarupalli28-Sep-20253:17

Which Indian spinner had the biggest impact?

9 – Asia Cup titles for India, the most for any team. The 2025 edition is India’s second Asia Cup title in the T20 format, following their previous win in 2016. They have seven titles in the ODI format – in 1984, 1988, 1990, 1995, 2010, 2018 and 2023. Sri Lanka have won six titles (five ODIs and one T20) at the Asia Cup, while Pakistan have won two (both ODIs).9-0 – India’s win-loss record while chasing against Pakistan in T20Is. These are the most matches for a team with a 100% chasing record against an opponent. It also extended the unbeaten streak of the chasing team winning in India vs Pakistan T20Is played in Dubai. Of those six meetings, India have won four and Pakistan two.127 – Runs India needed at the fall of their third wicket. It’s the second-highest they have successfully chased in a T20I after losing three wickets. The most is 134, also against Pakistan, at the 2022 T20 World Cup, where they were 26 for 3 in a chase of 160.113 – Pakistan’s total at the fall of their second wicket, the highest from which any team have been bowled out for under 150 in men’s T20Is. The previous highest was 112 by Cayman Islands against Bermuda earlier this year, when they were bowled out for 142.33 – Runs added by Pakistan’s last eight partnerships, the fewest by the team in a men’s T20I. Pakistan’s previous fewest was 56 against Australia in Hobart last year.Kuldeep Yadav got three wickets in an over•Asian Cricket Council5 – Four-wicket hauls for Kuldeep Yadav in T20Is, the joint most for India alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Three of Kuldeep’s four wickets on Sunday came in his last over, the fifth instance of him taking three (or more) in an over. Only Rashid Khan (6) has done it more often than Kuldeep in men’s T20Is (where data is available).69* – Tilak Varma’s score against Pakistan on Sunday. Only four players have scored more from No. 4 or lower in a men’s T20I final. It is also the second-highest individual score in the T20 Asia Cup finals.36 – Wickets for Kuldeep in Asia Cup across ODI and T20 formats. It’s the most by a bowler, surpassing Lasith Malinga’s 33. Kuldeep has taken 17 of them in T20 Asia Cups (all in this edition), the joint-most by any bowler.3 – Sixes hit by Sahibzada Farhan off Jasprit Bumrah in T20Is – the most by any batter against Bumrah. Farhan scored 51 runs off 34 balls against Bumrah across three innings this Asia Cup. No Pakistan batter had hit a six off Bumrah in the 14 overs he had bowled against them in T20Is before this tournament, but they hit four across 11.1 overs through this tournament.

A recap of what’s happened with the pink ball at the Gabba, and someone overall numbers for Australia in day-night Tests

Andrew McGlashan24-Jan-2024 vs Pakistan, 2016-17Asad Shafiq almost pulled off a miracle for Pakistan, getting them to within 40 of what would have been a world-record chase. Adding 71 with Yasir Shah into the final afternoon, Australia were getting nervous before a brute of a delivery from Mitchell Starc removed Shafiq for a brilliant 137.For the majority of the game, it never looked like being so close. Australia were in the early stages of rebuilding their batting order after the series loss to South Africa a few weeks earlier. Peter Handscomb had scored a maiden Test century in a stand of 172 with Steven Smith, while fellow newcomer Matt Renshaw made 71.In reply, Pakistan were blown away under lights on the second evening as Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird wreaked havoc. Hazlewood was on a hat-trick when he removed Babar Azam and Younis Khan.After opting not to enforce the follow-on Australia quickly built their lead before leaving a target of 490. There was more top-order resistance this time, but at 220 for 6 a comfortable victory was on the cards, particularly with another night session to come. That wasn’t how it worked out.vs Sri Lanka, 2018-19Pat Cummins and Jhye Richardson enjoyed themselves against Sri Lanka five years ago•Getty ImagesDespite Australia coming off a series defeat to India, Sri Lanka were predictably overwhelmed by their pace attack. Pat Cummins led the way with what remains his career-best match figures while Jhye Richardson made a mark on his Test debut.It was Nathan Lyon who claimed the first wicket of the Test, but from then on it was the home side’s quicks who got to work. Sri Lanka were bundled out in little more than two sessions on the opening day, although Australia didn’t initially have it all their own way with the bat.Early on the second day they were 82 for 4 before Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head – at the time junior members of the team – added 166 for the fifth wicket.Cummins struck with the final ball of the second day and Australia did not even need the assistance from the night-time session to complete victory with Cummins taking the first four wickets of the innings.Key statsAll of Australia’s bowlers have formidable records with the pink ball, led by Starc in terms of the wicket tally.Australia have never lost a day-night Test with their batters finding a way to score enough runs, and sometimes filling their boots. Labuschagne and Head have been particularly profitable.Although the sample size is small with just the two matches, the third session of the day has the lowest bowling average in day-night Tests at the Gabba. In Adelaide, which has hosted seven day-night Tests, it’s the first session of the day.

ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent tries to make sense of the latest mismatch between these two teams

Andrew Fidel Fernando06-Mar-2022A scene from a principal’s office, somewhere in IndiaAh yes, you. Come. Come. Sit down, please.You know why you’re here, no?, please. Of course, we both know why we’re here.It is fine for you to be good at cricket. Something to be proud of even. That we can understand and allow. But why must you always take it to this extent? Why can you not sense when enough is enough?What do I mean? WHAT DO I MEAN? Thrashing that poor Sri Lanka team is what I mean. This is not the first time. Or the second time. Don’t think we have not noticed.Related

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Look here. Nagpur 2017 – an innings and 239 runs. Pallekele 2017 – an innings and 171 runs. Galle 2017 – ah, there you won only by 304 runs. Verrry kind. Do I have to go on? Ah, you want me to check the ODI file?You know what Sri Lanka has to deal with, don’t you? This, you should know by now. Their home circumstances…Lowers voice. Listen, they haven’t kept a coach for more than two years. It’s a very pathetic situation. More than ten coaches in ten years. Like a revolving door only…Let’s not even talk about their board. In this match, you hit 574 runs in the first innings. Between all of their top-level officials, they can’t even muster that many brain… I feel so unkind to even say these things. But you get the picture.And your Ravindra Jadeja. My god. By himself, he is scoring 175 not out. You’re not letting them score even that much for the whole team in the first innings. As if that wasn’t enough he takes nine wickets. NINE. Can you imagine? In more than 129 overs, all of Sri Lanka took eight, . Can you possibly explain this behaviour? These people are your neighbours. Some dignity they must have, no?Scoring all these runs even after they obviously chose the wrong attack for this pitch, and their fast bowler Lahiru Kumara broke down on the first day. Three times in the last three years he has injured himself in the middle of a Test. For years we know they’ve had these problems, no? Did you know they have banned bum-pats in their team because they are worried they will do a career-ending injury?What are India going to do after this? Throw rocks at puppies? Please stop•BCCIHey. Do not laugh. Do NOT laugh. This is not funny.We have also got news today from our sister school that the women’s team has also thumped a neighbour today. Niiiice little operation you have got going between the two of you, no? Well done.Look, just have some mercy, no? Even your No. 8 has five Test centuries. Their No. 7 – this Dickwella fellow – has collected four more ICC demerit points than centuries.Look at your attack, also . You have R Ashwin who is the best offspinner India have produced. You have this crazy Jadeja fellow. Then if that’s not enough this wicked Bumrah character who will bowl full overs full of yorkers, and send some nasty bouncers, and if that wasn’t enough, bowl his vicious little cutters and slower balls. What a twisted mind this fellow must have. And fast-bowling uncle Shami to skid balls into the pads also. You saw, no? How he bowled one at off stump and got the Sri Lankan captain – their best batter – into such a tangle he edged it to the keeper?What will you do after this match? Go and throw some rocks at some puppies? Get together and poke fun at chubby children? Please stop. Please, please know when to stop.What?You’re doing what in the next week?You’re going to play them in a pink-ball Test?!With your attack? Against their top order? Get out. I can’t bear the sight of you. Get out of my room immediately.

LOS ANGELES — Two hours after the best player in the history of baseball played the best game in the history of baseball, he headed home from the office. Shohei Ohtani was not holding the National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player award or the 2025 World Series swag he had earned that night; the half-dozen members of his agency and his security team trailing him could handle that. And besides, his hands were full: He was pushing a Nuna stroller containing his six-month-old daughter and, in the basket below her, his Nederlandse Kooikerhondje. 

Almost more impressive than the feats Ohtani achieves on a nightly basis—the devastating splitters, the towering home runs, the fact that sometimes, as on Friday, three minutes pass between the two—is this: He is both the most and least normal person at the ballpark. 

The former posture helps him attain the latter performance. He spent two weeks listening to reporters, fans and his own manager question whether his pursuit of pitching greatness was hindering his mastery of hitting greatness. After an excellent regular season—a league-leading 1.014 OPS, plus a 2.87 ERA in 47 innings—he scuffled at the plate in the playoffs. In the National League Division Series, he was 1-for-18 with nine strikeouts, and his swing decisions mystified his bosses. 

“We’re not going to win the World Series with a performance like that,” manager Dave Roberts lamented before the NLCS began. 

Through the first few games of the series against the Brewers, the results weren’t much better: two hits and five strikeouts in 11 at-bats. The people around Ohtani began to see frustration, which he leavened with humor, but they say that—short of taking batting practice on the field at Dodger Stadium for the first time all year, during which he parked half the pitches he saw in the stands—he did not change his metronomic routine at all. On his start days, Ohtani tends toward “a little bit more focused and quiet,” says hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc, but otherwise, says first baseman Freddie Freeman, he’s “goofy.” Ohtani plays pranks on coaches, drops swears in English at the perfect moments and teases teammates and opponents alike. He practices his Spanish with Dominican right fielder Teoscar Hernández. He plays video games on his phone. He hangs out with his family and stages photo shoots with his dog, Decoy. When he joined the Angels from Japan in 2018, and again when he joined the Dodgers last season, his teammates were most astonished not by his extraordinary abilities as a player but by his seeming ordinariness as a person.

That was who they saw amid his slump. He did the same hitting drills and the same scouting work. (His participation in hitters’ meetings typically amounts to reminding his teammates to look for a pitch “middle-middle.”) He reminded himself—and anyone who asked—that opponents were attacking him with lefties, and that although he was struggling, that strategy allowed the Dodgers’ right-handed stars, among them shortstop Mookie Betts and Hernández, to hit with the platoon advantage. 

When Japanese reporters asked Ohtani about Roberts’s comments, he said in Japanese, according to the , “The other way to say it is that if I hit, we will win.”

If that confidence ever wavered, he kept his doubts to himself. And why would he change anything? “I do feel like,” he pointed out through interpreter Will Ireton before NLCS Game 3, “I was able to just have a pretty good season offensively.” Teammates began predicting he would break out in Game 4—not because anything had changed, but because nothing had. 

You already know the rest: three home runs, six-plus innings of two-hit, 10-strikeout ball to set records no one even knew existed and to help the Dodgers capture the pennant. By the fourth inning, his teammates had stopped cheering and started laughing. Fans chanted M-V-P, presumably only because they could think of no higher award to grant him.

“A lot of times when you have expectations like he has, they’re just unattainable and you just never realize them,” said Roberts afterward. “Certainly the way he was struggling this postseason and not to let it affect him and keep his psyche, his confidence the same is really impressive. So we knew that he was going to come through at some point.”

Meanwhile, Ohtani made it less than 20 minutes before he left the champagne celebration to retreat to the clubhouse, shower, don a dry 2025 World Series T-shirt and baseball cap, and address the media. “There were times during the postseason where Teo and Mookie picked me up,” he said. “And this time around it was my turn to be able to perform.”

He returned to the field to celebrate briefly with his teammates, then shouted to his wife, Mamiko, who was waiting for him in her suite above the third base line. He trotted down the steps into the bowels of Dodger Stadium to reunite with his family. They gathered their passengers, both human and canine, and left the site of his most recent triumph, at which point he turned to his next task: selecting two photos of Decoy in front of a fall-themed backdrop to add to the 67-image gallery labeled “デコ” (a nickname for the pup) saved to his Instagram profile. The superhuman part of Ohtani’s night was over. He was back to being human.

India go into the next T20I World Cup as strong favourites, but their captain isn’t fully buying into that talk

Sidharth Monga08-Nov-20254:36

It was fire and fire today: Abhishek on his stand with Gill

India have now won each of the seven T20I series they have been part of since winning the 2024 T20 World Cup. They hold a 26-4 win-loss record over this period. They still have two bilateral series at home, where they will defend their crown in about three months. Surely they are favourites given their strengths, experience and current record, but their captain Suryakumar Yadav is aware you can never say all the bases are covered.”I’m very lucky to have all these boys with different-different skills,” he said after the Brisbane washout when asked if India had all bases covered. “They bring very different-different things to the table. When we chat around about the bowling, batting, and fielding… You must have seen a lot of energy on the ground. People enjoy when they go together on the ground.”But yeah, from a batting point of view, definitely what we’ve been doing in the last six to eight months, I think we’re sticking to that, not changing anything. These guys are doing it really well. The way they bat at the top of the order, it puts a smile on everyone’s face when they’re batting together.Related

India seal T20I series 2-1 after Brisbane washout

“And also from a bowling point of view as well, people are taking responsibility. Having an experienced bowler like [Jasprit] Bumrah around in the team and everyone chatting with him, learning a lot of skills, tricks and trade of the game, I think that’s a good thing. So there’s good friendship building up in that as well.”So we are trying to get there. There’s never anything like all bases covered. We always learn from this game, every game we play. Yeah, till now things look good, touch wood, let’s continue that.”Abhishek Sharma became the fastest batter to 1000 T20I runs by balls faced•AFP/Getty Images

One of the top-order batters responsible for putting said smiles on faces sat next to Suryakumar as the Player of the Series. During the course of this Australia tour, Abhishek Sharma became the quickest to 1000 T20I runs in terms of balls faced. He also played a more sedate innings when he judged the pitch to be a tricky one. India defended 167 successfully in that match.Suryakumar was impressed with that aspect of Abhishek’s game, joking that sometimes even a tiger has to turn herbivorous. “If the wicket is difficult, the quicker you adapt the better it is,” Suryakumar said. “The wicket was good today so they went back to normal, scoring 50-plus in four-and-a-half overs. But it was important in the last game to read the wicket well. These two [Abhishek and opening partner Shubman Gill] did that well. At this level, you only learn from experience. The way he adapted so quickly, if in the future also if we get such a wicket in the subcontinent, it won’t be something new for him.”They communicate well. They run well. They are learning quickly. Yes, there are just 120 balls, but often you have more time than you think. Sometimes if they take four-five balls extra to figure out the conditions, they are so skilled they can cover up easily.”Abhishek credited all his success to the absolute freedom given to him by the team management, who, he said, told him he will still be in the side if he scores 15 consecutive ducks. “I knew there’s gonna be extra bounce and pace, but, from a team point of view, I had a plan that I have to play the same way I’ve been playing. Because as an opening batter, it’s very easy for you to understand your role.”But I feel when you’re playing like this, when you want to dominate the opposition, you have to have that confidence and that ability. I think the captain and coach always backed me in that. I practised really hard on this because it’s not easy to come to Australia and beat them in white-ball cricket as well. So I wanted to play the same brand of cricket because we have been following that since before the Asia Cup.”

Head coach believes 50-over struggles are in a category of their own as attention shifts to Perth

Cameron Ponsonby01-Nov-2025Brendon McCullum conceded that England “clearly need to improve” in one-day cricket after they fell to a 3-0 clean sweep against New Zealand. ‘Go harder’ has been the mantra of this England team, with Harry Brook imploring his side to double down in their efforts with the bat after his side’s first collapse in Mount Maunganui a week ago. Two matches and two further batting failures later, however, McCullum has reset the party line and called for England to adopt a more considered approach.”Harry’s said before that we need to put pressure back on the bowlers, and there are times when we do need to be a little braver and put some pressure on the bowlers,” McCullum said following the defeat in Wellington. “And then there are other times where we’ve got to adjust to their lengths and lines.”Not necessarily in a high-risk sort of way but just by being brave enough – whether that’s coming down the wicket or moving around the crease – just get things going a little bit more and bounce off one another.”Across the series, England lost 11 wickets in the opening 10 overs of the innings, compared to New Zealand’s four, and were bowled out in all three matches. Their innings in Wellington was their longest of the trip, batting for 40.2 overs before they were all out.”I think when we’re confronted with good, flat wickets, we’re a very, very good cricket team,” McCullum said. “I think we play a high-octane style of cricket and those conditions suit us. When the wickets have a little bit in them and they’re a bit more challenging, whether that be spin or seam or swing, we probably can’t quite adapt our tempo quick enough.Fewest runs by a team’s top four•ESPNcricinfo Ltd”We’ve got some talented players but, unfortunately, our performances at the moment in this form of the game aren’t quite up to scratch and we need to rectify that.”England’s top order combined for an historically poor series, managing just 84 runs between the top four, the lowest tally in one-day international history. Of the top six, only Brook, Joe Root and Jos Buttler made a score of 20 across the three matches.McCullum, however, does not believe it is a concern heading towards the Ashes, where Australia are expected to serve up similar styles of wickets. In the longer format, he argues that England have been able to counter different conditions well.”I like to separate it,” McCullum explained. “I think in T20 cricket we’re going really well and in Test cricket we have a pretty decent idea of where we’re at – and I think we’ve performed reasonably well, albeit we have a huge challenge ahead of us.Related

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“One-day cricket is clearly the area we need to improve, and my comments are more directed at one-day cricket. I think when we do come across the trickier conditions in Australia and Test cricket, we have a pretty good understanding of how we’re going to go about it. It doesn’t guarantee us anything but it gives us a level of confidence going into that series.”He also believes that, despite a number of players experiencing a poor run of scores, the likes of Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett and Root will be “better for the run” after getting a number of games under their belt.”They’ve marked centre a few times and gone through the process and I’m sure they’ll be better for it. With the prep that we’ve had with the other Test guys who’ve been here for a while too, we’ll have no excuses come Australia.”McCullum identified Jamie Overton as England’s “huge win” for the tour, after the bowling allrounder contributed with the bat in all three matches and put together his finest performance in ODI cricket in Wellington, scoring 68 runs and taking two for 32 with the ball.”I think there’s times when we think he’s a better player than he does,” McCullum said. “And on this tour he’s fully believed in the player he can be at this level. There’s not too many players around the world who can bowl 140kph, field the way he does and hit the ball as cleanly. It’s been a huge series for Jamie…he’s incredibly well liked within the group and we’re all delighted for him.”England’s next competitive fixture will now be in Perth, with the long-awaited Ashes series finally around the corner after years of build-up.”I’m proper excited,” McCullum concluded. “We’re incredibly respectful of the challenge Australia is going to present us and we know how hard that tour is going to be.”It’s going to require a team to stay together right throughout, to be as strong as we can to try and block out any of the outside noise. But we’re very respectful of who we’re coming up against, we’re so excited to get over there and we can’t wait to get started.”

Liverpool look more and more unlikely by the game that they will retain the Premier League title.

Of course, collecting the top-flight trophy two seasons on the trot is a difficult feat even when you’re all guns blazing.

But, it’s definitely made more tricky when you assess how quickly the wheels are falling off Arne Slot’s title defence right now.

The Reds are already up to five defeats in league action this season, with newly promoted Sunderland only on two losses, in stark contrast.

Slot was also significantly backed in the summer, with the summer transfer business at Anfield no doubt catching the eye, when you consider a jaw-dropping £415m was splashed out by the Merseyside giants.

The likes of Alexander Isak and Milos Kerkez have really struggled to get going, having cost a substantial £165m alone to get through the door.

But, there is one high-profile name that is in very real danger of becoming Slot’s own Naby Keita. Yes, things really do look that bad at the moment.

The numbers behind Keita's Liverpool disaster

When Keita arrived at Anfield in 2018, there was a lot of fanfare surrounding his high-profile signing.

After all, Jurgen Klopp boldly announcde that the Guinean was the “best player in the league” in the Bundesliga when leaving behind RB Leipzig for a shot in England for a whopping a whopping £48m.

In Klopp’s defence, Keita had collected 16 goals and assists combined across all competitions for Leipzig during his swansong campaign and the former Reds number 8 did score some beautifully taken goals during his stint on Merseyside, as can be seen watching the entertaining highlight reel above.

But, with all the hype that had surrounded the capture at the time, it would have been Keita’s constant in-and-out presence in the treatment room that would have irritated Liverpool fans the most, with a staggering 122 games missed through injury for club and country across his five seasons in England.

In the end, he was let go at the expiry of his contract with Werder Bremen, with just 11 goals and seven assists to shout about.

Slot will pray he doesn’t have another Keita-like situation unfolding right now as Liverpool struggle for consistency, with another mega-money signing at risk of fading into the background.

Liverpool's Naby Keita repeat

The failed signing of Keita still stands as Liverpool’s eighth most expensive signing of all time.

Thankfully, above the hot-and-cold 30-year-old’s name in the rankings are the likes of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alisson, and Virgil Van Dijk, who are all figures Slot knows he can rely on.

Unfortunately, the same is yet to be applied to Florian Wirtz, who comes in as the Reds’ second most expensive capture at an astronomical £115m fee.

The German’s arrival from Bayer Leverkusen met with the same Keita-level hysteria, having been dubbed a “generational” talent by sports media professional Christian Nyari just last season.

With 57 goals and 65 assists under his belt for Leverkusen, it can be rationalised as to why Liverpool blew such a large chunk of their budget on Wirtz instantly coming good.

Indeed, Reds journalist Bence Boscak pleaded in the summer that Slot and Co needed to land his signature “whatever” the price may be.

Games played

16

Minutes played

1119 mins

Goals scored

0

Assists

3

Yet, much like they found out with Keita, blistering form in the Bundesliga doesn’t necessarily mean they will instantly hit the ground running on English shores, with Wirtz still yet to collect a single goal or assist in Premier League action.

Wirtz was particularly ineffective last time out as Liverpool were reminded of how far they’ve fallen in such a short space of time against Manchester City, with an unmemorable 39 touches of the ball seeing the German fail to amass one single key pass.

It’s even clearer from the graphic above how much the number 7 has been “struggling” – as journalist Mark Ogden has noted – in his new surroundings, with both his take-on success percentage rate and duels being won per ninety minutes success rate taking a significant hit.

Analyst Darnish Iqbal has even branded the deal as a “disaster”, with it not being a stretch to state that it is Liverpool’s biggest disappointment in the transfer window since Keita joined way back in 2018. Perhaps the Reds should avoid the Bundesliga for now?

Wirtz, hopefully, won’t fall victim to Keita’s same fate in leaving for cheap though, with glimmers of his quality here and there – as seen in the playmaker amassing five key passes against Real Madrid – meaning Liverpool will hold onto him for the time being, praying he hits his Leverkusen heights on a consistent basis down the line.

Not Wirtz or Isak: Liverpool's "nervous wreck" at risk of becoming Nunez 2.0

Liverpool have fallen by the wayside under Arne Slot’s leadership this season.

ByAngus Sinclair Nov 12, 2025