Bengaluru FC started their Indian Super League campaign with a 1-0 win over East Bengal with 19-year-old Vinith Venkatesh scoring in his debut match on Saturday. Venkatesh’s 25th-minute strike was the difference between the two teams. It was a fairytale ISL debut for Bengaluru FC academy graduate Venkatesh. He showed glimpses of his brilliance in the recently concluded Durand Cup and carried that momentum into the new ISL season. It was a cagey start from both sides with plenty of tackles flying in, mostly to disrupt the momentum. Nandha Kumar was guilty of a mis-timed challenge in the third minute when he brought down Suresh Wangjam. The East Bengal FC winger received a yellow card for his reckless tackle. Despite the caution, tackles kept flying as Lalchungnunga and later Hector Yuste also joined Nandha into the referee’s book.

The first real opportunity of the game came when Jeakson Singh collected a loose ball outside the penalty area. He launched a thumping effort towards the goal, forcing Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to come up with his best to thwart away the danger.

Six minutes later, Bengaluru FC had an opportunity of their own when Roshan Singh picked Mohammed Rakip’s pocket in a dangerous area, starting a counterattack. He squared the ball to Edgar Mendez in space, probably expecting a return pass from the Spaniard. But the experienced striker decided to test Prabhsukhan Gill from long range.

Mendez’s eventual effort went skimming over the post.

The Blues finally went ahead courtesy of an excellent move from Mendez, who picked Venkatesh in space on the right. The youngster created space with an exceptional touch before firing the ball into the bottom corner in the 25th minute.

The second half saw more of the same aggressive football between the two teams with many challenges flying in, especially in the middle of the park. Nandha had the golden opportunity to bring East Bengal back into the game when Hijazi Maher played him into space. However, his thunderous effort from just outside the box was kept out by Gurpreet.

Carles Cuadrat decided to turn to star signing Madih Talal at the expense of Dimitrios Diamantakos in the 57th minute while Gerard Zaragoza also brought on the likes of Jorge Pereyra Diaz and Ryan Williams to inject more energy upfront.

In the 69th minute, the substitution almost paid off when Diaz found the back of the net but moments later he was flagged offside.

On the other end, substitute Vishnu PV combined well with Talal but the former’s effort was too tame to trouble Gurpreet.

The visitors continued to push forward in the final quarter as Cleiton Silva found himself in space but the Brazilian’s shot was way over the target.

Their hopes of salvaging something from the match took a severe hit when Lalchungnunga was given marching orders in the 87th minute following a second yellow card for a poor challenge on Williams. Eventually, East Bengal FC fell short despite creating several openings throughout the match.

East Bengal FC will be on the road as they will travel to Kochi to face Kerala Blasters on September 22 whereas Bengaluru FC will host Hyderabad FC next on September 19.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir will push for an aggressive approach and will not allow the opposition to take the initiative in the upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh, feels former batter Ajay Jadeja. India host Bangladesh for a two-match Test series beginning in Chennai from September 19, to be followed by three T20Is. “It is very clear, his approach is aggressive. One thing is sure, there will never be a dull moment with him around, he will always try something. He will do what he believes,” Jadeja told reporters when asked about the Indian team’s approach under Gambhir during the upcoming series.

“He (Gambhir) will not be somebody who will sit back and let things flow. He will be out there, he will try things like we saw Suryakumar Yadav becoming captain suddenly. I am looking forward to the excitement we are going to see this year.”

The 53-year-old Jadeja, who’s mostly remembered as a top ODI batter with 5359 runs from 196 matches at an average of 37.47, was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Cricket Association of Bengal’s annual awards function.

Asked whether he will offer suggestions to Gambhir, Jadeja said, “I hope he does not take suggestions. The reason why he is there is because of what he did and how he looks at it.

“I hope he does not take anybody’s advice and change his approach because what has made you who you are is something that you should believe in and stick to. He can always get better.” Jadeja served as mentor of the Afghanistan team during the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.

Bangladesh are coming after a historic Test series win in Pakistan but Jadeja said India is a “far superior” team.

“Any team which has come just after winning will always think they can win. But there is a difference between the Pakistan team at the moment with the India cricket team. The Indian team is a far superior team.

“But yes, from their (Bangladesh’s) point of view, they will believe that since they have beaten Pakistan, why cannot they (beat India). But we are a better side, but they will definitely be a handful. They play spin well, they bowl spin, so conditions suit.” Asked about the Indian team’s prospects in the upcoming Test tour of Australia beginning in November, Jadeja said, “November is far off but we have done well in Australia in the past. Why should we not think that we will do it again.

“We should only get better from there,” he added.

Title-chasing McLaren driver Lando Norris remained hopeful of success on Saturday despite qualifying in a lowly 17th place for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Briton, knocked out of the first qualifying session for the first time since the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, lost his best lap when he eased off due to a yellow flag, but said he would do his best to limit damage to his championship challenge. Norris is 62 points behind three-time champion and series leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull with eight races, and three sprint races, remaining with the Dutchman qualifying in sixth place for Sunday’s race.

Verstappen has failed to win in six races, but showed improved form in practice and qualifying in Baku after a dismal run of form.

“I’m not expecting a lot from 17th,” said Norris.

“But we will put in a good plan tonight and do our best.”

He said his lap, interrupted by the yellows, had been “easily good enough” before he “had to back off”.

His race engineer Will Joseph said: “Mate I’m sorry” on team radio, suggesting he felt that he could have advised him sooner of the spin by Williams’ Alex Albon that led to the yellow flag.

“I hope I’m wrong,” said Norris. “And I hope there are plenty of chances to overtake, but I’m not expecting it. It’s a very low downforce track which makes it pretty much impossible for overtaking.

“It’s worse than people think and not easy, but I’ll do my best.”

Norris’s flop effectively rendered redundant any likely use of team orders this weekend to boost his hopes of victory with support from team-mate Oscar Piastri who starts from the front row alongside pole-sitter Charles Leclerc of Ferrari.

Piastri said: “I got a little bit close to the walls on my last lap — I was just trying to get the most out of it. This track rewards commitment and, last lap in Q3, I knew I had a little less to lose so I just tried to maximise the car.

“It was feeling good all the way through.”

Looking ahead to the race, he said: “Following around here is really tough so it’s good to get soe clean air. We’ll see what I can do. Our race pace is good, but again the Ferraris are not slow.”

Behind Piastri, Carlos Sainz will start from third place in the second Ferrari ahead of Sergio Perez of Red Bull, Mercedes’ George Russell, Verstappen and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)