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Indian coach lauds “exceptional leader” Rohit Sharma for “giving so much of his time and energy in the dressing room to the boys”
Yash Jha19-Nov-20235:24
Dravid: ‘We gave it everything we had’
India fell “30-40 runs short” of a good total in the final, but it wasn’t because of a safety-first approach in the middle overs – that’s the line Rahul Dravid took in the wake of his team’s defeat to Australia in the 2023 World Cup title bout in Ahmedabad.”I won’t agree that we played with fear. We had 80 runs in ten overs. We had lost wickets, and when you lose wickets you have to change your strategy,” Dravid said at the post-match press conference.Rohit Sharma’s 31-ball 47 had set India on their way, with the team reaching 80 at the end of the first powerplay. But they only managed four boundaries in the rest of their innings to eventually finish on 240. Dravid attributed the slowdown to the loss of wickets at regular intervals, and not a lack of intent.Related
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“We haven’t played any fearful cricket in this final. In the middle overs, they bowled really well and we had lost three wickets. So a period of consolidation was needed, and every time we thought we could get on the attack, we would lose a wicket,” he said. “If you lose wickets, you have to rebuild. We didn’t set out to play defensively.”While Australia eventually coasted to the target with seven overs to spare and six wickets in hand, Dravid reckoned the game would have played out differently had India got 30-40 more runs on a surface he believed was tougher to bat on in the afternoon.”Just felt like the ball was stopping in the afternoon a little bit more than it did in the evening,” he said. “It felt like the ball came on to the bat a lot better in the evening. There was that period where the ball was stopping and we weren’t able to get boundaries. We were able to rotate the strike but we weren’t able to get those boundaries.”If we had got to 280-290 and they were 60 for 3 then it might have been a very different game. But 240, I think they were always one partnership away from getting there.”Sunday’s loss extended India’s run of near-misses at global events; in the last 13 months alone, they have faced a semi-final exit at the T20 World Cup, lost the World Test Championship final, and now the ODI World Cup final.”I’ve been involved in three… and I think we haven’t played really well on the day,” Dravid said. “I thought we were a bit short in Adelaide, in the semi-final [of the T20 World Cup, against England]. We lost the first day in the World Test Championship [final]. We didn’t bowl particularly well after Australia were three down. And here we didn’t bat well enough.”There’s not one particular reason you can pin it down to. I didn’t feel at any stage going into this game that there were any nerves or the guys were intimidated by the game. I thought the energy and the mental space the boys were in leading into this particular game was spot on.”Dravid, whose two-year contract as head coach runs out this month, heaped praise on Rohit for his leadership and his batting throughout the World Cup.”I think he has been an exceptional leader, always felt he’s led this team fantastically well,” Dravid said. “He’s given so much of his time and energy in the dressing room to the boys. There’s been a lot of planning, a lot of strategy, he’s always committed to those things.2:06
Should one of Kohli or Rahul have taken charge?
“His batting as well, I thought it was fantastic the way he set the tone for us. We knew that we wanted to play a certain way, we wanted to play a positive, attacking brand of cricket, and he was very committed to doing that. He wanted to lead by example, and I thought right throughout the tournament he was superb. Can’t speak more highly of him, as a person and a leader.”Dravid, who had made the walk towards the press-conference room even as Australia were being handed their winners’ medals, admitted that emotions were running high in the Indian dressing room.”There was a lot of emotions in that dressing room. It was tough to see as a coach, because I know how hard these guys have worked, what they’ve put in, the sacrifices they’ve made,” he said. “But that’s sport. That happens. It can happen. And the better team won on the day. I’m sure the sun will come up tomorrow morning.”We’ll learn from it, we’ll reflect, and we’ll move on. That’s what you do as sportsmen. You have some great highs in sport, and you have some lows in sport. And you keep moving on. You don’t stop.”
A star turn from 17-year-old Jaydn Denly helped Kent Spitfires to a 60-run victory over Essex in the Metro Bank Cup at Canterbury.Jack Leaning hit a brilliant 137 from 127 balls and Ben Compton made 65 as Kent recovered from a middle-order collapse to post 287 for eight, but it was Denly, playing in the same team as his uncle Joe for the first time, who stole the show by claiming a wicket, a run-out and an outrageous catch, as well as finishing as Kent’s third-highest run scorer with 37.Will Buttleman made an unbeaten 50 and Feroze Khushi hit exactly 50 for Essex but the visitors lost wickets too frequently to mount a credible run chase and they were all out for 227, with 5.1 overs remaining.Grant Stewart, Hamid Qadri and Matt Parkinson all took two wickets for the Spitfires.History was made at the Spitfire Ground on Sunday, where Joe and Jaydn became the first uncle and nephew to play since the modern club was formed in 1870, and the first since Fuller Pilch and his nephew William appeared together for the “Grand Old Kent XI” 41 times between 1838 and 1854.In front of a crowd of 2400 Kent chose to bat, but for a third consecutive game they threw away a promising start, having been 130 for one at halfway.With Daniel Bell-Drummond back on Hundred duty, Uncle Joe opened, but he was the first wicket to fall when he edged Aaron Beard behind for 17.Compton and Leaning put on 98 for the second wicket, but after what by his standards was a fairly rapid half-century the former was caught behind off Beau Webster in the 25th.Webster then bowled Alex Blake for one and Beard strangled Harry Finch down the leg side for seven.Jaydn Denly joined Leaning to steer Kent past 200 but he was bowled for 37 attempting to sweep Webster and Kent’s hopes of passing 300 vanished in the 43rd over, when Aron Nijjar struck twice.Grant Stewart was out first ball when he played on and Hamid Qadri had made just one when he chipped the bowler to Webster.When Matt Quinn then drove Richards straight to Nijjar at mid-on four wickets had fallen for five runs in 10 balls, 250 looked a long way off and Leaning was in danger of running out of partners until Jas Singh came in and played the Jack Leach role. Smart running between the wickets saw Leaning to the brink of three figures, which he reached when he punched Beard for a single through mid-on and he then launched an assault in the last two overs.The 29th, bowled by Ben Allison, went for 13 and a pivotal 27 then came of the 50th, with Leaning hitting Beard for three leg-side sixes and Singh ending on two not out after a match-turning unbeaten stand of 69 from 44 legitimate balls.Essex were 33 without loss in reply when Luc Benkenstein was run out by Jaydn Denly chasing a second.Quinn then nearly had Tom Westley caught behind for a duck and although the ball came lose as the diving Finch hit he ground, he was caught behind off Stewart for two in the next over, the seventh.Webster came in and put some pressure back on the bowlers, but he was out for 26 from 25 balls when Jaydn Denly had him caught at long on by Blake.The younger Denly then produced what was arguably the game’s champagne moment when he took a sensational diving catch to remove Khushi, who’d just reached 50 and was trying to hit Matt Parkinson through cow corner.Hamid Qadri struck with only his fourth ball, when he had Noah Thain caught by Stewart at mid-off for 141, before claiming the key wicket of Charlie Allison, lbw for 44.Parkinson trapped Ben Allison lbw for seven in the 38th and in the next over Beard went in the same fashion to Leaning for two.Leaning then caught and bowled Jamal Richards with his next delivery and although Buttleman hit the hat-trick ball for six Kent sealed the win when Stewart had Nijjar caught by the sub fielder Nathan Gilchrist.Kent remain in the hunt for a place for the knock-out stages, but will probably need to win at Hampshire on Tuesday and hope results elsewhere in Group A go their way.
Having turned 35 last month, Ajinkya Rahane says he still has a “lot of cricket left” in him, but is firmly focused on living in the moment instead of looking too far into the future as India begin their new WTC cycle with the two-match Test series against West Indies beginning July 12 in Roseau.Call it a quirk of fate, and Rahane has been named vice-captain of the Test team, even though he was making a comeback to the side only last month after more than a year away. In that game against Australia – the WTC final no less – he was India’s best batter, with scores of 89 and 46.”I’m still young and there’s a lot of cricket left in me. In the last one year or so, I’ve worked a lot on my fitness,” Rahane said after rain cut short India’s training session for a second day in a row at Windsor Park. “There were a few points in my batting that I’ve worked on. I’m enjoying my cricket a lot, enjoying my batting. I’m not thinking too much into the future. Every game is important, personally and also from the team point of view. I’m focusing on just that.”Related
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Rahane sends team-mate Jaiswal off the field for disciplinary reasons
Since being left out of the Test side in February 2022, Rahane has focused on deriving joy out of the game without setting any expectations. He captained Mumbai across formats in the 2022-23 domestic season, leading them to the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 title, while also throwing in some compelling performances with the bat.In all first-class cricket since September 2022 until February this year, he scored 884 runs in 16 innings with three hundreds and a half-century at 58.93. The numbers, excellent though not world beating, were a sign that he had kept himself in the hunt should a spot open up.As it turned out, India needed experience for the WTC final in Shreyas Iyer’s absence. And when Rahane got the call, he was batting in the manner few expected him to in the IPL, going from an anchor to a full-blown boundary-hitter.The turnaround was remarkable because Rahane wasn’t in Chennai Super Kings’ original plans. His IPL career seemed to have hit a dead end; he hadn’t hit a fifty in the tournament since the 2020 edition. And like at the Indian team, a spot opened up for Super Kings because Ben Stokes was injured and Moeen Ali unwell. He vindicated the backing in his second game, scoring a match-winning 61 off just 27 balls against Mumbai Indians.”Playing under Rohit Sharma is great. We share a great equation” – Ajinkya Rahane•BCCI
“Nothing has changed,” Rahane insisted when asked of this latest turn in his career. “CSK gave me a role, and you try to fulfil that role. Prior to that, my role was of an anchor, [and] I played according to that. CSK told me, ‘You have freedom, go out and play according to that’. I’m actually a stroke-maker, I always look for runs. The role has changed, nothing else has changed. I’ve always said I’ll fulfil the role the team gives me. That’s what I’m focusing on.”The WTC final last month was Rahane’s first match under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy for India, even though they both go back a long way, having grown up playing together for Mumbai through the age-group circuit and then the first-class format.”The role Rohit gives me, I’ll fulfil that. Playing under Rohit is great,” Rahane said. “He gives freedom to the players, and then backs them. They’re signs of a great captain. I’m feeling good. We share a great equation. I’m used to this role [as vice-captain]. I did the job for almost five years, but I’m really happy to be back in the team. Really happy to be back as vice-captain.”Rahane was particularly chuffed for another Mumbai boy – 21-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal, who Rahane captained in domestic cricket all through 2022-23, where Jaiswal made heads turn with his temperament and stroke-play. In all, Jaiswal has a first-class average of 80.21 in 26 innings, and scores of 213 and 144 in his most recent first-class game, in the Irani Cup in March.Having been a part of the reserves for the WTC final, Jaiswal has now been given an elevation into the main squad. It’s likely he will be handed a cap to slot in either at the top or at one drop in place of Cheteshwar Pujara.”I’m really happy for him. He’s an exciting talent,” Rahane said. “He’s done really well for Mumbai, [and] did well in the IPL. Most important [is] the way he’s batting in red-ball cricket. His record is good, he did well in the Duleep Trophy last year and for Mumbai as well. My message will be to just go out there and express himself the way he’s batting, and not think too much about [the stage of] international cricket. It’s about going in the middle and playing with freedom.”Rahane also didn’t think India fielding a pace attack with just 88 Test wickets between them was a concern. While Mohammed Siraj will be India’s spearhead in the West Indies with 52 wickets so far in Tests, Jaydev Unadkat, who made a return to the format after 12 years against Bangladesh last December, has been India’s most consistent red-ball bowler in domestic cricket for the last four seasons.In two of them, Unadkat led the team to a title and in one season – 2019-20 – picked up a record-breaking 67 wickets, the most by a fast bowler in a single Ranji season. In 2022-23, he featured in just four Ranji games owing to national call-ups. Unadkat led the side in all those fixtures, and took 26 wickets at an average of 13.88. His best performance came against Delhi, in which he took a hat-trick in the first over of the match on his way to career-best figures of 8 for 39.”Siraj is there as a senior bowler, [and] Jaydev has a lot of experience. The other two guys [Shardul Thakur and Navdeep Saini] are pretty much experienced, so it’s an opportunity,” Rahane said. “[Mohammed] Shami is our senior bowler who has really done well for us, but with a long season ahead, need to give him a rest as well.”At the same time, we are not underestimating West Indies. We don’t know what people are saying on the outside, but we are definitely not taking them lightly. Their performance at home in Tests has been good in the last one to two years. We’ve had good preparation in Barbados before coming in, so we’re well covered. It’s all about starting well now.”
Mason Greenwood scored a stunning individual goal to help secure Marseille a return to the Champions League in style.
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Marseille win 3-1 at Le HavreGreenwood scores stunning goalSecure Champions League qualificationFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Marseille looked like they would drop points in the Champions League qualification race on Saturday at Le Havre, but ex-Manchester United man Greenwood rifled in a superb strike from 25 yards to settle the away team's nerves. They went on to win the game 3-1, which meant with one game remaining, they cannot drop out of the top four and the Champions League spots.
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Greenwood has now scored 20 goals in his debut season for Marseille, but this campaign has not been without its troubles. The forward has been criticised for his "nonchalant" attitude, benched by head coach Roberto De Zerbi for a perceived lack of effort, and reports have suggested he could make a Premier League return due to homesickness. But his efforts have secured Marseille their return to Europe's elite competition for the first time since 2021 and that should not be overlooked.
AFPWHAT NEXT?
Marseille, who sit second in Ligue 1, will try to finish the season on a high when they host Rennes next Saturday. They are currently one point ahead of third-placed Monaco.
Chelsea are now ready to make an opening offer for Palmeiras forward Allan, but there could be competition for his signature from two of the world’s biggest clubs.
The Blues have already added one young Brazilian forward to their ranks in recent times, with Estevao emerging as a first-team regular this season, and the 18-year-old got off the mark in front of goal in the 2-1 victory against Liverpool last month.
With the likes of Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens also on the books, Enzo Maresca already has plenty of exciting youngsters at his disposal in attacking areas, and the west Londoners have now started running the rule over forwards with more top-level experience.
Maresca’s side are now ready to launch a January move for Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr, amid tensions with manager Xabi Alonso, although a deal could be on the expensive side, considering he is regarded as one of the best wingers in the world.
Chelsea ready to bid for Palmeiras forward Allan
Vinicius is not the only Brazilian forward Chelsea are looking to sign, however, with a report from Spain revealing BlueCo are also ready to bid for Palmeiras’ Allan, but there could be competition for his signature from Manchester United and Real Madrid.
The 21-year-old is protected by a release clause of nearly €100m (£88m), and with the Brazilian club determined to receive a large fee, akin to the money raised by selling Estevao and Vitor Reis, so a deal may need to break the bank.
With Palmeiras extending the youngster’s contract until 2029, however, they remain in a strong negotiating position for the time being.
The starlet has impressed at times for Palmeiras, being described as their “standout” player by journalist Leandro Boudakian earlier this year, and he is extremely versatile, having featured in central midfield, on both wings, and in attacking midfield for the Brazilian club.
Not only that, but the Florianopolis-born attacker has regularly displayed his dribbling and creative talents over the past year, ranking in a very high percentile on both metrics, when compared to his positional peers.
Statistic
Average per 90 (past year)
Successful take-ons
2.93 (99th percentile)
Progressive carries
2.93 (98th percentile)
Assists
0.42 (99th percentile)
That said, the Palmeiras academy graduate didn’t exactly set the world alight in the 2025 Brazilian Serie A, chipping in with just one goal and two assists in 21 appearances, which suggests he may be some way off first-team level at a club like Chelsea.
Allan is still very young, but the Blues have already signed a plethora of youngsters in recent times, including Gittens, Garnacho and Estevao, so it would not be the end of the world if they missed out on another.
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ByDominic Lund Nov 2, 2025
A fixture that was once dominated by Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo is now being reinvigorated with younger, fresher blood
Matt Roller07-Apr-2023Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are Indian cricket’s versions of Real Madrid and Barcelona, the biggest and best teams in the IPL’s history. Even after propping up the table in 2022, they are the rivals whose meetings still attract more interest than any other fixture in the tournament.But Saturday night’s marks a changing of the guard, one that could be detected in their most recent meeting at the Wankhede. That night, with both teams languishing at the wrong end of the table, Dwayne Bravo played his 116th and final match for Chennai, bowling two wicketless overs; Kieron Pollard, a Mumbai stalwart since 2010, was dropped from their side, never to return.For all the brilliance of MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, those two men, who grew up 10 miles apart from one another in North-West Trinidad, have defined this rivalry. At least one of Bravo and Pollard has featured in each and every one of Mumbai and Chennai’s 36 previous encounters, 34 of them in the IPL and two in the Champions League T20. In those games, nobody has taken more wickets than Bravo, and nobody has hit as many sixes as Pollard.Related
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This weekend, they will sit in their respective teams’ dugouts as bowling and batting coach. Both men still play around the world, and lined up together for one of Mumbai’s team in the UAE’s ILT20 earlier this year, but announced their retirements from the IPL in late 2022 and have taken up roles on the support staff.”I look forward to my batters coming up against DJ and his bowlers,” Pollard said on Friday evening. “Hopefully we can see how that goes, and who can be singing at the end of it – or who will be singing, and who will be crying.” History is on his side: Mumbai have won 21 times and lost 15 against their rivals.If Chennai have not yet identified a long-term successor to Bravo, Mumbai’s replacement for Pollard is clear. The end of last season’s basement battle offered a glimpse of the fixture’s future: Mumbai’s low-key victory was sealed by a 6ft 5in power-hitter, who faced seven balls and swung two of them over midwicket for towering sixes; this time, it was not Pollard but Tim David who clinched the points.The pair worked closely last year. As Pollard’s own form fell away, David became Mumbai’s designated finisher, after unexpectedly finding himself out of the side during the middle of the season.Confronted with the realisation that he was no longer in the franchise’s strongest XI, Pollard took it upon himself to act as David’s mentor.Kieron Pollard has slipped into a new role, as batting coach, at Mumbai Indians•Mumbai Indians”Polly did the role for 12 years for Mumbai Indians, and did an unbelievable job – but Tim has got a very similar skillset,” Aaron Finch, who as Australia captain played a role in the selection of David ahead of Steve Smith at the start of last year’s T20 World Cup, told ESPNcricinfo. “They can chip in with the ball and are always in the hotspots in the field, and with the power that they’ve got, you feel as though the game’s never out of reach when you’ve got guys like that in your side.”Mumbai shelled out INR 8.25 crore (A$ 1.5 million approx.) to sign David in 2022 and while they only picked him eight times last season, his strike rate of 216.27 was enough to earn him a retention for 2023. David made a false start at the Chinnaswamy on Sunday night with a 7-ball 4, but on Saturday he returns to a ground where he faced 36 balls across last season, and hit ten of them for six.”Over a 14-game IPL season, you’re backing those guys to win you two or three games,” Finch added. “I don’t think Tim will ever be a guy that you’re banking on to consistently get 500 runs in a tournament – but you don’t buy him for that. You buy him to have a huge impact, a huge strike rate.”The similarities between the pair extend beyond the field of play. David attended Scotch College, a prestigious private school in Perth’s western suburbs. But unlike Cameron Green, three years his junior at the same school, he was not a childhood prodigy who had been marked out as a future international.Instead, he forced his way on to the franchise circuit by taking up every opportunity that came his way during the pandemic and becoming a freelancer – just as Pollard had, more than a decade ago. David is an outlier in the Australian system, playing for the national team without a central contract, or even a state one.2:22
Moody: ‘There are too many holes amongst the Mumbai team’
There is mutual admiration between them. “Polly has been a pioneer with his career, David told this website last year. “I definitely look up to him and I love the brand of attacking cricket that he plays.”Pollard passed on not only specific batting advice, but also tips as to how David could stay “fresh throughout a two or three-month tournament – and also when you’re playing all year round”.”Tim is a very, very intelligent young man, who knows what he wants to do,” Pollard said. “He has taken a different path as an Australian. He’s gone around the world, trying to get experience in different conditions. Now he’s entrusted with a job here at Mumbai Indians, and he’s doing it.”As I know, batting at that number, sometimes it’s not the greatest position to be in,” Pollard added with a smile. “If things don’t happen, they blame you; if things go well, you go dormant and no-one praises you. He has great power. He can hit the ball, he’s a strong guy, and it’s just a matter of trying to do that consistently whenever the team needs him.”The nature of the position means that there is no guarantee David will succeed on Saturday, as the Wankhede welcomes back a capacity crowd for an IPL game for the first time since 2019. But if he does, he could become the new poster boy of a fixture that is evolving in front of our eyes.
Next season is set to be another new dawn for Tottenham Hotspur.
Daniel Levy and Co. made what looks to have been the unpopular decision to sack Ange Postecoglou last Friday and, in his place, hire Thomas Frank.
While fans might’ve liked the club to back the manager who ended their trophy drought, the Danish coach is an exciting appointment, as he took Brentford up from the Championship and turned them into one of the most exciting teams in the Premier League.
Unsurprisingly, then, the North Londoners have been linked with one of the Bees’ best players, Bryan Mbeumo, but if reports are to be believed, they could decide to sign someone else, someone better.
Before getting to the star in question, it’s worth looking at some of the other talented players touted for a move to Spurs in recent weeks, like Eberechi Eze and Xavi Simons.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
The former has been a long-term target for the North Londoners, and while his £68m release clause would represent a significant investment, his tally of 14 goals and 11 assists in 43 games this season suggest he’d be more than worth it.
Likewise, the £67m it would reportedly take to secure Simons’ services this summer may sound like a lot – because it is – but when you consider he’s still just 22 years old and was able to score 11 goals and provide eight assists in just 33 games this year, it doesn’t sound so bad.
However, another Premier League-proven attacker has entered the frame for the North Londoners, someone who could be better than Mbeumo: Antoine Semenyo.
Yes, according to a recent report from Sky Sports, Spurs have maintained their intense interest in the Bournemouth star, even though that interest originated prior to Postecoglou’s sacking.
The report does not mention a potential price for the Cherries ace, but stories from earlier this month claimed that he could be available for close to £70m.
It would likely be a costly and complicated transfer to get over the line this summer, but given Semenyo’s immense ability, it’s one Spurs should be all over, especially as he could be an even better signing than Mbeumo.
Okay, so we know that Mbeumo is one of the most talked-about targets in England at the moment, and understandably so, as in 42 appearances this season, he was able to score 20 goals and provide nine assists.
But for our money, Semenyo would be the better signing, and there are several reasons why.
Firstly, while he wasn’t able to produce quite as many goal involvements, the Ghanaian international was still an incredibly effective attacker, scoring 13 goals and providing seven assists in as many appearances for Bournemouth.
Moreover, as we all know, a winger is and should be judged on more metrics than just his goals and assists in the modern game, and when we take a look under the hood at their underlying numbers, the Cherries ace starts to come out on top.
For example, while the former Troyes gem does better in some metrics like shot and goal-creating actions as well as progressive passes, the former Bristol City star comes out on top in the majority of relevant metrics, such as non-penalty expected goals plus assists, progressive carries, shots and shots on target, passing accuracy, tackles and more, all per 90.
|
Semenyo vs Mbeumo |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Statistics |
Semenyo |
Mbeumo |
|
Non-Penalty Expected G+As |
0.44 |
0.42 |
|
Progressive Passes |
3.06 |
3.72 |
|
Progressive Carries |
3.93 |
3.43 |
|
Shots |
3.49 |
2.08 |
|
Shots on Target |
1.11 |
0.94 |
|
Passing Accuracy |
73.4% |
66.1% |
|
Non-Penalty xG |
0.28 |
0.20 |
|
Shot-Creating Actions |
3.71 |
3.80 |
|
Goal-Creating Actions |
0.37 |
0.53 |
|
Tackles |
1.54 |
1.29 |
|
Blocks |
1.88 |
0.69 |
|
Successful Take-Ons |
1.94 |
1.37 |
|
Ball Recoveries |
4.44 |
4.12 |
|
Aerial Duels Won |
1.85 |
0.90 |
|
All Stats via FBref for the 24/25 EPL Season |
||
Moreover, on top of being the more statistically well-rounded player, the 25-year-old “monster,” as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson, is incredibly versatile.
For example, thanks to him being ambipedal – equally able to use both feet – he’s more than happy playing off the right as he is on the left and can even play up top or in midfield if he’s needed to.
Therefore, the dynamic “maverick,” as dubbed by Mattinson, could come in and fill in wherever he’s needed, in turn giving Frank far more tactical flexibility than he’d get from someone only dangerous off the right.
Ultimately, either Mbeumo or Semenyo would be excellent additions for Spurs, but thanks to the latter having the more impressive and promising underlying numbers, combined with his ability to play almost anywhere, we reckon he would be the better signing for the North Londoners.
Alongside Son: Frank must axe £165k-per-week Spurs "monster"
It would be best for Spurs to cash in and help Frank kickstart his time at the club.
3
By
Jack Salveson Holmes
Jun 13, 2025
LAFC GM John Thorrington says that the South Korean’s club jersey has become the world's best-seller
Son's jersey sales have exceeded all other athletesLAFC reports unprecedented demandClub's retailers scrambling to meet consumer interestGetty Images SportWHAT HAPPENED
Son Heung-Min’s jersey has become the highest-selling of any athlete in the world, according to LAFC co-president and GM John Thorrington. The recent LAFC signee's shirt sale dominance extends beyond soccer, currently outselling the likes of NBA superstars LeBron James and Stephen Curry and fellow MLS icon Lionel Messi.
Thorrington noted that those sales figures represent real-time data since Son's signing announcement.
"This is now the second week where we're not just talking about the highest-selling football jersey in the MLS," Thorrington told talkSPORT. "It is the highest-selling jersey of any sport in the world right now. I'm talking about Son. If you take from when he signed at LAFC to now, he has sold more jerseys than any athlete in the world."
AdvertisementWHAT THE LA DODGERS POSTED
The Los Angeles Dodgers also announced that Son will throw the ceremonial first pitch at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 27 when they host the San Diego Padres. LAFC invited supporters to attend the MLB game to witness their new player's introduction to another Los Angeles sporting institution.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Son's scheduled Dodgers appearance represents the latest example of MLS clubs leveraging mainstream American sports platforms to maximize the visibility of international signings.
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Following his MLS debut against the Chicago Fire, Son Heung-Min will likely be a part of LAFC’s next MLS fixture against the New England Revolution on Saturday.
The BCB president Faruque Ahmed has said that Shakib Al Hasan is unlikely to play in the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan in Sharjah. Faruque stated it was Shakib’s decision to opt out of the Afghanistan ODIs, while also hinting of an emotional element about his failure to play what was supposed to be his farewell Test in Dhaka against South Africa from October 21.Shakib has not played any cricket in nearly a month since the second Test in India and it is expected he will feature in the Abu Dhabi T10 League for Bangla Tigers to get some game time before the Caribbean tour.After the three ODIs against Afghanistan, Bangladesh will leave for the West Indies for two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is. Shakib has retired from Tests and T20Is so he will be available for the ODIs in the Caribbean and later the Champions Trophy in February 2025. Shakib hasn’t played ODIs since the World Cup in India last year.Related
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“After Shakib couldn’t come to play his (farewell) Test, he wasn’t doing much practice,” Faruque said at a press conference on Thursday. “I think he needs some time to regroup. We haven’t taken a final decision but he looks unlikely to play the next series (against Afghanistan). He is likely to miss the series. He could be playing a T10 tournament soon. I feel he can still play for Bangladesh in the 50-over format. There are three ODIs against West Indies before the Champions Trophy.”Faruque, however, said that the board will consider Shakib for the rest of the ODIs this season, if the selectors feel that his training and franchise tournament is sufficient preparation. “Shakib has played for 17 years and he is part of the generation that plays a lot of franchise cricket. They know the drill. They play, sleep maybe a few hours and turn up for training. So he is geared for such situations.”It is the definitely the best possible thing to train with the team but we will consider him if the selection committee thinks that he can still deliver by training or playing tournaments abroad.”The national selectors haven’t yet announced the Bangladesh squad for the ODIs against Afghanistan starting November 6, as the board president is also going to hold a meeting with Najmul Hossain Shanto who recently expressed his reluctance to lead the side.Meawhile, Faruque said that the decision for Shakib to skip the Dhaka Test last week came from the government, with the BCB not part of the decision-making process.”The BCB wasn’t a part of the decision of Shakib not coming to Bangladesh,” he said. “Our sports adviser informed the media at the time that there’s a problem if he comes. I didn’t have to make a statement. I heard that there was security till 3 or 4pm, and then there were clashes between the two sides.”