N Sriram Balaji was easily tamed by Elias Ymer while Ramkumar Ramanathan lacked the killer instinct even against a lower-ranked Leo Borg as India were left trailing 0-2 against Sweden in the Davis Cup World Group I tie, on Saturday. Balaji, who is a doubles specialist, found the going tough against Ymer, who raced to a 6-4 6-2 win in the opening singles. Ramkumar, who is a seasoned Davis Cupper now, was expected to bring India back into the tie but he lost to 603-ranked Borg, son of the legendary Bjorn Borg 3-6 3-6, in the second singles at the Royal Tennis Hall.

India were forced to field Balaji in singles as the country’s top singles player Sumit Nagal opted out of the tie due to a back injury. While Balaji did the job against Pakistan, playing someone of the calibre of Ymer was always going to be a tough task.

The onus to win a point for India on the opening day was on Ramkumar. He should have won his singles match against the 21-year-old Borg but he did not seem to have a way to go past the Swede.

Ramkumar’s challenge fell apart in just 58 minutes.

India now need to win all the remaining three matches on Sunday if the team has to make it to next year’s Qualifiers.

It remains to be seen if captain Rohit Rajpal goes with Balaji and Ramkumar in the do-or-die doubles, or changes the combination.

Most likely, Balaji and Niki Poonacha will take the court.

Twice in Davis Cup history, India have managed to win a tie after being down 0-2. In 2010, India beat Brazil, and in 2018, it won against China after trailing 0-2.

Ramkumar could not charge to the net in the opening set as was the plan but did comparatively better in the second set. Bjorg served well, made fewer unforced errors and found some good passing winners when Ramkumar approached the net.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

The Indian cricket team on Friday gathered at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium to prepare for the first Test against Bangladesh, starting September 19. It will be a two-match series between the sides with the second Test set to start on September 27. The Indian cricket team arrived at the Chennai Airport on Thursday night, while players took the ground on the very next day with head of Gautam Gambhir and bowling coach Morne Morkel also in attendance. Some fans also made their way to the ground to get a glimpse of the players and two of them even shared a heartwarming moment with Virat Kohli.

The fan shared his experience of meeting Virat through his Instagram story, which has gone viral on social media. Apart from getting an opportunity to click picture with the Indian star, the fan also had a ‘7 minute conversation’ with the batter, he revealed on Instagram. The fan praised Virat’s humility and called him a man with “0 % attitude”.

Check it here –

Rohit Sharma will continue to lead the Test side. Pacers Akash Deep and Yash Dayal received maiden call-ups, while dynamic wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has returned to Test cricket for the first time since his life-threatening accident in December 2022.

Notably, Kohli will also return to Test format for the first time since featuring for India during the South Africa tour in January this year. He missed out on India’s home Test series against England due to the birth of his son Akaay. Since then, he has gone through an underwhelming T20 World Cup and Sri Lanka tour and will be keen to return to find his rich vein of form.

KL Rahul has also made his return to the Test set-up after missing out on the bulk of the England Test series due to an injury. Along with Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah has also returned to the Indian team for the first time since T20 World Cup 2024 final.

The spin quartet of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav will provide the team with both the bat and ball. Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Yash Dayal will make India’s pace line-up.

(With ANI Inputs)

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to scrap the daily allowances of women players reporting for national camps. The decision to not give any sort of daily allowances to the players has left many disappointed and upset. “The players are not being given daily allowances because the board is now providing them accommodation and three full meals during the day,” a PCB official said. But the players, attending the training camp presently in Multan for the home series against South Africa women’s team, feel that the decision was not just as they had assembled from different parts of the country.

The South African team has already reached Multan and is preparing for the white-ball series from September 17, looked upon as a preparation for the ICC Women’s T20 Cup World Cup in UAE next month.

The interesting thing is that the players of Pakistan men’s team are offered the option of getting two full meals in a day and accommodation and a daily allowance.

A source aware of the developments said that until recently the board used to provide daily allowances to the women players.

The decision to change the policy comes at a time when the board is spending millions on various other projects including 5 million rupees monthly salaries to five mentors of the teams in the ongoing Champions Cup in Faisalabad.

The board is also spending around 12.8 billion on renovation on three Test venues in the country ahead of the Champions Trophy early next year.

“What difference of a few lakh rupees will make to the board is anybody’s guess, but it has potential to create discontent in women’s cricket,” a former Pakistan player said.

The board official said when the women players go into the series they will get daily allowances.

The women players are also still waiting for the board to announce their central contracts for the fiscal year which has already been delayed by more than a month.

Last year the board gave central contracts to 19 players.