Darpan Irani wins National Chess for visually challenged
BHUBANESWAR, April 7: The 18th National Chess Championship for the visually challenged saw an exhilarating finale with Gujarat’s Darpan Irani crowned the National Champion, edging past multiple-time winner Kisan Gangolli on tie-breaks after both players finished with 7.5 points. The top five winners of the championship were: Darpan Irani (Champion), Kisan Gangolli (Runner-Up), Aryan B Joshi (Third), Soundarya Pradhan (Fourth) and Milind Samant (Fifth) while players placed sixth to tenth also received recognition and rewards for their outstanding performance.The competition, organised by the All-India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB) in collaboration with the Odisha Chess Association for the Visually Challenged (OCAVC), featured 54 skilled players (52 men and 2 women) from 15 states and union territories, including top-ranked names like Aryan B Joshi, Soundarya Kumar Pradhan, Milind Samant and more. (IANS)
Harry Brook appointed as England’s white ball captain
LONDON, April 7: Harry Brook was on Monday appointed England white-ball captain following Jos Buttler’s exit from the role after a poor ICC Champions Trophy campaign last month.Brook, who was signed up by Delhi Capitals during last year’s auction, had withdrawn from the IPL 2025 to focus on his England career, and was subsequently slapped with a two-year ban from playing in the league.The 26-year-old has been a key part of England’s white-ball set-up since making his debut in January 2022, and has spent the past year as the vice-captain in both ODIs and T20Is.He also led England in the ODI series against Australia last September in Buttler’s absence.“It’s a real honour to be named England’s white-ball captain. Ever since I was a kid playing cricket at Burley in Wharfedale, I dreamed of representing Yorkshire, playing for England, and maybe one day leading the team. To now be given that chance means a great deal to me,” said Brook in a statement issued by the ECB.Brook, a former Young Lions and the England’s captain in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, so far has played 26 ODIs scoring 816 runs at an average of 34.00, with a top score of 110.In T20s, he has earned 44 caps and a highest score of 81 and was part of the team that won the ICC T20 World Cup in 2022. (PTI)
Bangladesh’s Nasir Hossain returns to competitive cricket
DHAKA, April 7: Bangladesh all-rounder Nasir Hossain, who was banned for two years by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the Emirates Cricket Board’s anti-corruption code in the 2020-21 Abu Dhabi T10 league, is now back to playing competitive cricket.Hossain’s return to competitive cricket came when he was included by the Rupganj Tigers Cricket Club in their Dhaka Premier Division League match against Gazi Group Cricketers at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Monday.Hossain played 19 Tests, 65 ODIs and 31 T20Is for Bangladesh from 2011 to 2018. But in September 2023, Hossain was banned from all forms of cricket for two years, with six months of it being suspended, as the ICC found him in breach of three charges during his association with the Pune Devils franchise in the T10 league.Charge number one against him was the breach of Article 2.4.3 of the Code, in that he failed to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official (without unnecessary delay) the receipt of a gift that was offered to him that had a value of over 750 US dollars, namely the gift of a new iPhone 12.The second charge was that Hossain failed to disclose to the designated anti-corruption official full details of the approach or invitation he received to engage in corrupt conduct via the new iPhone 12.The third charge against Hossain was that he failed or refused, without compelling justification, to cooperate with the designated anti-corruption official’s investigation. (IANS)