All posts by h716a5.icu

The Yankees beat the Blue Jays on Sunday to take their weekend series and move within two games of the first-place team in the AL East with three weeks to go in the regular season.

Max Scherzer gave up four runs and threw 93 pitches in 4 1/3 innings and took the loss. New York did not score after Scherzer left the game because he was presumably replaced by a bullpen that was not tipping pitches.

During the first inning Aaron Judge appeared to signal to batter Ben Rice at the plate during a 10-pitch at-bat where he fouled off four pitches and ended with a home run.

Toronto manager John Schneider seemed to confirm the tipped pitches after the game as he complimented the Yankees on their ability to identify and relay that kind of information during games.

"Yeah, they were relaying. Yeah, yeah, they're good at it," said Schneider. "You know, Max has got to be a little bit better. It was obvious in the changeups. Rice just missed the one you know, foul, homer. It's fair game. Major League Baseball knows the Yankees are good when they got something. I'm not the only one that's going to say it publicly, but gotta do a better job of making sure we're not giving anything away. At the end of the day you gotta be tight. You gotta make pitches. Yeah, it was pretty clear Bellinger was giving it to Judge and Judge was giving it to Rice."

It's been a notable season for both these teams and they may have to meet in the playoffs to determine which franchise really is a first place team.

Diego Simeone has stirred the Champions League conversation by boldly naming Inter as the competition’s “strongest team” even after Atletico Madrid edged them with a dramatic 93rd-minute winner at the Wanda Metropolitano. The Argentine’s remarks come as Arsenal maintain a perfect record in the tournament, adding further intrigue to a campaign where momentum, form and perceptions are shifting every week.

Atletico stun Inter but Simeone points praise elsewhere

Los Colchoneros kept their Champions League hopes alive with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Inter, decided by Jose Maria Gimenez’s towering 93rd-minute header. The Uruguayan rose highest to meet Antoine Griezmann’s corner, finishing off a gripping contest that had swayed back and forth all night. Earlier, Julian Alvarez opened the scoring for the hosts before Piotr Zielinski equalised for the Nerazzurri, setting the stage for a nail-biting finale. The win, Atleti's third in the competition, pushed them up to nine points, keeping alive their slim but real hope of reaching the last-16 round without having to navigate a knockout play-off tie. The visitors, meanwhile, suffered their first Champions League defeat of the season under Cristian Chivu. Yet Simeone’s post-match tone was anything but triumphant.

Despite Arsenal defeating Bayern Munich 3-1 to remain the only team with a perfect record and despite Atleti being thrashed 4-0 by the Gunners earlier in the campaign, Simeone refused to name Mikel Arteta’s side as Europe’s benchmark. Instead, he offered a firm and unexpected verdict on who leads the pack heading into the decisive phase of the competition. As the celebrations at the Metropolitano tapered off, the Argentine shifted the focus from the result to the bigger European picture and his comments set up the perfect moment for his headline-grabbing declaration.

AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'Inter are the strongest team in the Champions League' – Simeone

Before celebrating the magnitude of Atletico’s win, Simeone made it clear where he believes the real power lies in Europe right now. Speaking to after the final whistle, he said: “There’s no doubt about it. Inter are the strongest team in the Champions League right now.”

He then reflected on how Atletico approached the match and the impact of his substitutes: “That’s why we played a first half to hinder their play. We knew that in the second half we could express our full repertoire, with top-class players like Griezmann, [Alexander] Sorloth, and Nico Gonzalez, who came on very well and allowed us to score in the final move. It was very nice, but the idea, regardless of the result, was the same. I don’t know how to live in my comfort zone; I prefer to stay that way. You have to work with faith, love, and quality. I have players who follow me, and that’s crucial for every coach. Today, there were strikers on the bench who wanted to start, and when they came on, they showed their worth.”

Praise from their future manager?

The 55-year-old's admiration for Inter did not come out of nowhere. His connection to the Nerazzurri remains deep and he had already stirred headlines on the eve of the match. When asked openly about the possibility of managing Inter in the future, the Atletico boss offered one of the most candid answers of his career.

With calm confidence, he said: “It doesn’t depend on just me, but in my coaching career I can imagine myself managing Inter one day. I think it will happen one day.”

Those comments, paired with his glowing praise after full-time, underline the esteem in which Simeone holds the Serie A club. It also places his verdict in context: Atletico may have beaten Inter, but he still views them as Europe’s most complete and balanced side, even ahead of Arsenal, whom he notably did not select despite their perfect start to the Champions League.

Los Rojiblancos themselves have been erratic in Europe this season, mixing strong wins with heavy setbacks, and Simeone’s words reflect both respect for Inter’s structure and recognition of his own squad’s inconsistency.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

Getty Images SportAtletico back in the hunt but tougher tests await

Atleti's late winner lifts them to nine points, keeping alive their slim but realistic hopes of reaching the knockout rounds. The victory comes at a crucial time, as their Champions League campaign had been hanging in the balance. Simeone will now look to carry that momentum into domestic action. Atletico return to La Liga on Saturday with a home fixture against Real Oviedo, aiming to stabilise their league form and build confidence ahead of their next European challenge.

The Champions League journey resumes on December 9, when they travel to face PSV, a match that could define whether this revived campaign becomes a genuine knockout run or another season of missed opportunities. For now, though, the Argentine has made his stance crystal clear: Inter are the team to beat, and beating them only reinforced his belief.

Second round of the Ranji Trophy starts on October 25

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Oct-2025Ravindra Jadeja is set to play for Saurashtra in the second round of the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy starting October 25.Jadeja’s inclusion will strengthen their attack against Madhya Pradesh at home in Rajkot, on the same pitch where spinners took for 31 of the 35 wickets to fall in last week’s fixture between Saurashtra and Karnataka.Jadeja, the top-ranked Test allrounder, is currently on a break, having most recently played in the two home Tests against West Indies earlier this month. He scored his sixth Test hundred – an unbeaten 104 – in the first Test in Ahmedabad and took eight wickets in the series as India won 2-0.He wasn’t selected in India’s ODI squad that is currently in Australia, which Jadeja said was “not a surprise” after the team management spoke to him about their decision.”It is a good thing that they communicated the reason behind my omission,” Jadeja had said during the Delhi Test against West Indies. “I am happy about that. But whenever I get a chance next, I will try and do what I have done all these years.”If I get a chance in the World Cup and there are many ODIs before and if I do well there, it will be a good thing for Indian cricket. Winning a World Cup is everyone’s dream. We narrowly missed out last time, so next time we will try and make up for it.”When he plays against Madhya Pradesh, Jadeja will reunite with his Saurashtra spin twin Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. Dharmendrasinh picked up a match haul of 10 for 203 as Saurashtra earned points for taking the first-innings lead against Karnataka.Jadeja had most recently featured for Saurashtra in the previous Ranji season. He took 12 wickets in two matches – both all against Delhi – including a best of 7 for 38.

The highs of euphoria and the depths of despair were not for New Zealand’s long-serving former cricket coach. Here he looks back at the highlights of his tenure with the team

Interview by Alex Malcolm02-Aug-2025New Zealand are playing their first Test series of 2025 in Zimbabwe, and they’re doing so without long-time coach Gary Stead for the first time in seven years. He called time on his illustrious coaching tenure with New Zealand in June. Stead speaks here in detail about his time in the role, winning the inaugural World Test Championship final in 2021, beating India 3-0 in India last year, and his coaching style.You’ve had a little bit of time to reflect on leaving the role after such a lengthy tenure. How are you feeling about that chapter of your coaching journey coming to a close?
It’s sad in a way but other opportunities may present themselves as well. I always stepped into the role knowing I wouldn’t do it forever. But I’ve been really privileged and fortunate to be around this group of players and staff for nearly seven years, and I look back very, very positively. It’s been a really exciting time for New Zealand cricket, the way that we’ve played our cricket, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given.If you look back at the first Test XI you coached in 2018, and even the ODI World Cup team from 2019, compared to the current Test team and the XI from the Champions Trophy final this year, you’ve overseen a massive period of change in New Zealand cricket and a huge turnover of players and yet remained competitive throughout. How do you reflect on that?
Probably something I’m most proud about with our group is, we’ve continued to manage to find a way to keep competing with the very best teams in the world. I knew when I was stepping into the role that some players were getting [towards] the end of their career, and you want to help them transition out of it. Sometimes you’ve got to make tough calls and say, hey, we think it’s time you finished. That probably is the thing that weighs on your mind most as a coach, because it is about trying to keep strong relationships and trusting relationships with people. I hope that they know that you’ve always got the best interests of the team at heart, and sometimes as a coach, you do have to front up and have those tough conversations.Related

Stead signs back with NZC as high-performance coach

Stead gets two-year extension as New Zealand head coach

'Still need to have that conversation with him' – Stead on Boult's international future

'I'm not sure if even we believed it' – The NZ whitewash that came out of nowhere

Stead calls time on seven-year tenure as New Zealand coach

How did you manage those, and how much did your own experience as a player shape how you dealt with them?
As a player I went through that transition myself. And it’s not easy. I remember back to my time when I’d made the decision to retire from playing, and it was a very, very, emotional time. You think about how much the playing side has given you for so long. So you try and do it with some empathy and understanding for the player, but also you’re clear that you believe you have to make those calls. It’s not just a one-person decision. These things are normally talked about with a wider group of staff and selectors, but it’s often you that delivers that message.During your tenure, New Zealand, like a number of countries, was heavily affected by the growth of franchise T20 cricket in terms of how it impacted the player pool. New Zealand have managed that better than most. Can you give some insights into how you worked through that challenge and how that impacted your coaching style?
There’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. It is about having flexibility. And I think our contract system is very flexible. I think it’s about understanding the players’ desires and where they’re at in their careers. Also, you’re clear that there are a lot more opportunities out there. Our premise is, when the players come back to the Black Caps, they still see this as the preferred place to be – the preferred place to work, if you like. We try and make sure our environment is well looked after. Everyone chips in for that, to make sure it is the environment we want, that it still is seen as a place that you can improve and get better. To be playing international cricket at the peak of your powers is a place that most people dream of still.Matt Henry’s career resurgence, combined with the rise of Will O’Rourke, means New Zealand’s fast-bowling stocks are strong•Hannah Peters/Getty ImagesHow much did the role of the head coach change during your time? And did your coaching philosophies or core principles shift with that?
The role has definitely changed and become a little bit more complicated, just with the advent of franchise cricket. There is a lot more management around the edges of, as I touched on before, what players’ desires are as well. But you keep your core principles of what we’re trying to achieve. It’s been going on for a while now. Colin Munro went down that track, then Trent Boult, and now you’re seeing a number of other players that are shifting into that space. But one of our principles is to try and look after our players and show that we do have care for them. And even though they go [the franchise cricket] route, it may be we still want them to play in some of our competitions. Keeping that strong relationship is still very important.Outwardly you are an extremely calm and level individual, and it is a trait of several of your leaders, including Kane Williamson and Tim Southee. Was that a key part of the environment you tried to create to help get the best out of the playing group?
It is something we talked about, not getting too low or too high. We play professional sport and it’s nigh on impossible to win every game, although you are trying to go out and obviously do that. But sometimes you’re not quite at your best. Other times you can play at your very best and still be beaten. And that’s the great thing [about] the highest level of sport. You still do need a little bit of luck to go your way, whether it be a toss or a bit of weather, that type of thing. That’s the beauty of Test cricket, in particular, that it has all those things in one match.There were some heartbreaks, particularly the 2019 World Cup final, but even the 2021 T20 World Cup final and the 2025 Champions Trophy final. How did you manage the emotions of the group after those results and get them back up and going for the next challenge?
In some ways it’s easy. Because of the amount of cricket that’s being played, you are usually straight into another tour. The 2019 one, for example, I know we went home for a week or so and then we were straight off to Sri Lanka for a Test series. I think it comes in your DNA a wee bit as well. And again, it falls back to that [thing of] not being too high, not being too low. But I think back to 2019 and one of the things I’m most proud of is the way we handled it.Led by Kane, the team showed real graciousness. It was hard to accept what happened, but it did, and we were one run short in the end. You can go back and look at probably a hundred different things that happened in the match, but if you start doing that, I think you’ll end up beating yourself up and become a nervous wreck. But still, what an amazing game of cricket to be part of. Arguably, perhaps the best one-day game there’s been in a World Cup final. To be part of that is still, I think, a real privilege.Winning the WTC trophy in 2021, making two World Cup finals, winning 3-0 in India, finishing runners-up in the 2025 Champions Trophy – New Zealand have a formidable list of achievements under Stead (second from left)•Getty ImagesOn the ODI theme, 50-over cricket shifted quite a bit in your time. New Zealand consistently made semi-finals and finals over that period and adapted and evolved with it. What has been the key to that?
I think one of the keys is understanding the competition, for a start. In my view, in those competitions, yes, you’ve got to be at the business end, but you’ve got to start the tournaments really well. We knew in England in 2019 that you play every team. We had a reasonably favourable draw. It so happened we bowled Sri Lanka out in the first game pretty cheaply. I think we were only chasing 130 or 140, so we made the call in the dressing room that we were going to go after it quick and try and make sure we had a real boost in our net run rate, because we thought it could have come down to that when it comes to semi-final spots. It could have been easy to say, oh, we’ll just ease into this game and make sure we get over the line. But while we had a brilliant start, we also had Colin de Grandhomme padded up to come in very early and try and just take the game away from the opposition quickly to get that net run rate right up. I think understanding those little things around tournaments and what might give you that little one-to-five-per-cent sort of advantage is really important.There have been some great triumphs. Were there any other little bits of planning that you’re proud of that turned out to be really important for a success that you had?
I think the most obvious one to me is the series win we had against India. We’d come off a 2-0 series loss in Sri Lanka prior to that, and bar a couple of bad sessions, we’d actually played some pretty good cricket [in Sri Lanka]. But one of the things we’d planned around beforehand is the way we wanted to bat, the way we wanted to apply pressure back to the opposition, understanding the games weren’t likely to go five days. That it was about how many runs you got, not necessarily the time you were taking up in the middle. While we lost those matches, the template of the way we wanted to play was laid out. It was the second Test in Sri Lanka, the first innings, we went back into our shells and that just highlighted to us that the track we were on was the right one from a batting perspective. We had to apply pressure, and we were prepared to take risks early in our innings to try and put the pressure back on. It helped us when we went to India and the way we played there in the next series.How fulfilling is it as a coach when you reinforce those messages, and then the guys go out and execute in a series like that one against India under immense pressure?
It’s highly satisfying when you put the plans into action and the players go out and trust the plan is the right way to go. That just doesn’t happen because you sit around and talk about it. You practise it, you train for it, and you reflect on it as well. I think the innings we were bowled out for [88] in Sri Lanka [second Test] laid the foundations for saying that’s not the way we want to play in India, and we will not fall into that trap again.Goodbye is not forever: of the trend of players going freelance, Stead says, “It may be we still want them to play in some of our competitions. Keeping that strong relationship is still very important”•Getty ImagesAs the series win unfolded in India could you believe what was happening? What were some of the other things that you planned for and implemented that came to fruition?
We lost the toss in the first Test, which was a blessing in disguise because we would have batted as well. It did feel just a little bit damp on top, but it just took one session to put us right on the front foot. The way Matt Henry and Will O’Rourke bowled that day was fantastic. And then we just went about our play.That first Test in Bangalore was a little bit different because the wicket was pretty good. While it nipped early, it did flatten out, and we probably got the best of the batting conditions there. Then it was really a war of attrition after that when we bowled again just to stay in the game and make sure their lead wasn’t too big, because cracks were opening on the pitch, and it could have been pretty difficult in that last innings.I guess we looked at it and thought, you win one Test in India, it’s as good as what most teams do over there at times. But then we really shifted our attention to Pune and that was a very, very different-looking wicket. We knew it would spin from the very start. But that and then the game in Mumbai is where I think the lessons from Sri Lanka really gave us the opportunity just to be really clear on the way we wanted to play. We won a couple of tosses, which helped. We got probably the best of the conditions. Though they were never that easy. I thought we bowled really well, just to keep applying pressure and keep the heat on the Indian players. They’re obviously tough to beat over there, their record shows that. For me, it’s probably the greatest achievement of my time from a results point of view that we had.No doubt then that the second best was the World Test Championship title in 2021 with a different group. A different style of victory. But you played some great cricket for a long period of time to build up to that one. What were some of the things that you did well with that group?
It was different. We played on some reasonably spicy home wickets. I remember talking to the guys when we had four Tests left in the cycle – two against West Indies and two against Pakistan – and sort of said, while we don’t talk about the big goal too much, here’s the carrot for you: we win four Tests, we’re a good chance of making the final. It was largely a seam-dominated type attack, not a lot of spin bowling.New Zealand lost the series in Sri Lanka 0-2, but they set the template for their momentous India win there. “We had to apply pressure, and we were prepared to take risks early in our innings to try and put the pressure back on,” Stead says•AFP/Getty ImagesEven in the final, we went in with four seamers plus Colin de Grandhomme, so five seamers really, and didn’t play a spinner, which as a tactical decision was a hard one to make because we did think the pitch would spin a bit, but we thought India would struggle more against the seam bowling than spin.That group of guys, a lot of them had had the heartbreak from 2019 [World Cup]. And it was a difficult time because of Covid, and people were in isolation at different times. We had guys coming from the IPL. We had a little bit of preparation with two Tests versus England beforehand, which was instrumental in us finding some cricket rhythm leading into that final as well.You mentioned that attack of Southee, Boult, Kyle Jamieson and Neil Wagner, but you built a lot of depth underneath. Matt Henry is having a career resurgence. Will O’Rourke and Ben Sears have been finds. How have you built that depth while keeping a strong core across all three forms?
I think a big part of it is trying to play as much New Zealand A cricket as you can and giving guys experiences in different conditions. That for me is a little bit of a stepping stone to international cricket, where you get to test players that you think could be involved in the future at that next level. Pace bowling to me is a little bit like being an openside flanker in rugby in a way that, you’re going to get niggles and you’re going to get injured at times, but I think the resilience of our group has been very good. I think you can probably put a lot of that down to [strength and conditioning coach] Chris Donaldson and the work that he does around the guys as well to have them ready.You’ll continue to be involved with coaching within the New Zealand system for some time to come but is there a legacy you hope you’ve left for the national team?
I’ve never really thought it’s my legacy or anything like that. For me international cricket, when you play around the world, and especially at home, when you see the places full and cricket being still talked about a lot, and fans wanting to engage with our team, that’s the thing that I think cricket is still about. If you don’t have your fans there, then you’re probably not going to feel the same about it. I know our guys love playing in front of people and showing off their skills. For me, it’s more about what the team has managed to keep doing, keep throwing punches and keep finding ways to succeed at some of these world events. There’s never any given when you go into those tournaments, but I think our New Zealand teams have done really well. While we obviously want to win them, everyone wants to do that, we’ve certainly given ourselves a good chance by getting up there and being among the best most of the time.

With Rangers currently fourth in the Scottish Premiership and rock-bottom of the gigantic Europa League table, they need wins and fast.

On Saturday, Danny Röhl’s side will go in search of a fourth successive league victory when last-placed Livingston visit Ibrox.

This is followed by a European clash with Braga and, considering the Gers are currently pointless halfway through the league phase, they really could do with a victory over the Archbishops from Northern Portugal.

However, potentially dealing with something of a defensive injury crisis ahead of Saturday’s game, how could Röhl combat his new injury problems?

Rangers' defensive injury crisis

The news any club supporter and indeed manager fears during an international break is reports that their players may have suffered an injury while away with their countries, but this may be exactly the reality Rangers are facing.

First, ahead of Scotland’s historic World Cup qualifying victory over Denmark at Hampden on Tuesday, mere minutes before kick-off, centre-back John Souttar withdrew from the starting lineup after suffering an injury during the warm-up.

The extent of the injury is currently unknown, but it is always a concern when it comes to Souttar, considering he has ruptured both anterior cruciate ligaments in the past.

This season though, he has been a near-ever-present in Rangers’ back line, starting 23 of the Gers’ 24 matches, rested against Alloa, as well as ten of Scotland’s last 11 competitive fixtures prior to Tuesday night.

Later that day, in the middle of the night UK time, further bad news emerged given that Derek Cornelius was withdrawn just 33 minutes into Canada’s 2-0 friendly victory over Venezuela in Fort Lauderdale.

Since arriving on loan from Marseille, the 27-year-old has cemented himself as a key figure, especially since Röhl has switched to a back three, given the scarcity of alternative centre-back options.

Similar to Souttar, it is not yet publicly known if Cornelius will be available for the weekend, but this has to be a concern.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Nevertheless, given bottom of the table Livingston are the visitors to Ibrox, neither should be risked if not 100% fit, hence why Röhl should entrust his forgotten “colossus” with a start.

How Rangers can solve their defensive injury problems

Of Rangers’ 13 new recruits during the summer, Emmanuel Fernandez is often forgotten and overlooked by supporters.

The 6 foot 4 central defender arrived from Peterborough United in July, having bounced around the lower division in England, representing non-league clubs including Sheppey United and Spalding United.

This move north of the border was supposed to be the 24-year-old’s big breakthrough, but he’s so far been more of a lesser-spotted species than an integral figure.

Fernandez scored on debut against Alloa Athletic, starting at St Mirren the following weekend, but has seen just one minute of action since 24 August, introduced late during the last-gasp, hard-fought victory over Hibernian at Easter Road, an unused substitute on 11 occasions.

This is despite the fact that the Englishman boasted impressive statistics in EFL League One last season, as the table below documents.

Goals

5

2nd

Tackles *

1.24

63rd

Interceptions *

0.91

46th

Clearances *

6.83

19th

Passing accuracy %

85.35%

20th

Passes *

65.93

5th

Aerial duels won *

4

27th

Aerial duels won %

62.24

25th

Ground duels won *

2.87

35th

Note: rankings are defenders only.

These performances for Posh last season led to Peterborough Chairman Darragh MacAnthony describing the central defender as a “colossus”, also noting that he is a “gentle giant” as well as a “great organiser and talker”.

His most spectacular moment came when he scored an astonishing long-range goal against Exeter City.

Also worth highlighting is that, according to Global Football Rankings, EFL League One is the 41st strongest division in the world, just eight places below the Scottish Premiership, suggesting Fernandez would be more than good enough to start, particularly against Livingston at home.

With fixtures coming thick and fast, and a must-win European match against Braga right around the corner, Röhl surely cannot risk either Souttar or Cornelius exacerbating their injury issues, emphasising that he has to trust Fernandez to start as the middle man in his back three at the weekend.

Ferguson 2.0: Rangers' "best player" is now more important than Tavernier

Rangers’ “best player” who is reminiscent of Barry Ferguson has emerged under Danny Röhl and it is not captain James Tavernier.

ByBen Gray Nov 14, 2025

LOS ANGELES — The digital clock on the wall of the Dodgers’ clubhouse read 12:10 a.m., only 20 minutes after the most exhausting World Series game ever played, and Shohei Ohtani, hair tousled and uncombed from a quick towel dry, clad in shorts and a T-shirt, hurried out a back door. His first World Series start on the mound was approaching later the same day, just 17 hours away.

Maybe Ohtani was headed toward a phone booth to restore his superpowers. Or maybe he is the modern Chiron, the centaur whom the ancient Greeks believed when wounded by Hercules invented modern medicine to heal himself.

We know not how he does it. All we know is that those 17 hours, like the eye of a hurricane, define the sheer wonder of Ohtani as definitively as the whirlwind of what he does on the field. Somehow after reaching base nine times in the 18 innings of madness that was Game 3—three more times than anybody ever did in a postseason game—and refusing to leave the game as cramps wracked his legs, Ohtani planned to take the ball as the starting pitcher in Game 4.

The Dodgers outlasted the Blue Jays, 6-5, on a merciful home run by Freddie Freeman that put an immediate stop to 18 innings, 19 pitchers, 31 hits, 399 minutes, 595 pitches and innumerable thrills, many of which were the consequences of awful baserunning and shaky fielding interspersed with moments of grandeur. It was a night you needed the organist to sign off with Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus,” the way Fenway Park’s John Kiley did 50 years and six days previous when Carlton Fisk presaged Freeman. But nothing rose above the sublime and the ridiculous like the industriousness and unique greatness of Ohtani.

When I asked him on the field immediately after the game how he felt, he said quietly, “I need to go to bed.” The most active game anybody ever played in the World Series was played by the next day’s starting pitcher. Just the idea of that, like most everything Ohtani does, was unfathomable until he came along.

“I mean, I threw two innings, and I feel like I’m dead,” Dodgers reliever Emmet Sheehan said. “So, it’s really just a testament to everything he does behind the scenes, like taking care of his body. He’s one of a kind. And yeah, if anybody can do it, play a game like that and pitch the next day, it’s him.”

Shohei Ohtani’s Record-Setting Night

Running a depleted staff, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has little choice but to stick with Ohtani on the mound for Game 4. Given how exhausted and hobbled Ohtani looked over the back half of Game 3, maybe Roberts would do well to allow him to pitch only—and give him some rest while somebody else takes his DH spot. But such an impact hitter is Ohtani that giving his four or five—or nine—plate appearances to anybody else is doing the Toronto Blue Jays a favor.

How is this for spending the day before your start on the mound:

First player to reach base nine times in a postseason game.First player in 119 years to swat four extra-base hits in a World Series game.First player with a third multi-homer game in one postseason.First player with four intentional walks in one postseason game.

By the 11th inning, so worn out was Ohtani that Roberts, upon seeing him dead-legged hobble from first to second, offered to take him out of the game to rest for his Game 4 start on the mound. Ohtani told him he wasn’t going anywhere.

“It’s really crazy to put it in words what he did,” said Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas, “but the biggest thing is he didn’t want to come out of the game. He got the opportunity to. When he was cramping and he was feeling discomfort on his legs, he got the opportunity to come out of the game knowing that he needs to pitch tomorrow.

“But he talks a lot about like the commitment and the effort that everybody’s doing. Like he’s seeing his teammates out there and the pitchers going extra mileage, like a guy [pitcher Will Klein] who maybe never threw more than 25 pitches or 30 pitches in a game in his life. With Shohei, that’s kind of like his aura and who he is. He will never come out of the game because he wanted to win today. And regardless of what happened tomorrow, we got this one. And that’s the most important part.”

Right there in the gallantry department with Ohtani, Klein, Freeman and exhausted catcher Will Smith, who caught all 18 innings and blocked more pitches than a Hollywood show-runner, was Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Only two days earlier, the 5-foot-10 Yamamoto became the smallest pitcher to post a World Series complete game win since Billy Pierce of the 1962 Giants. Yet around the 16th inning, just after Roberts told me he would have to use a position player after Klein, Yamamoto, still with his sneakers on, approached pitching coach Mark Prior in the dugout with the interpreter Will Ireton. He volunteered to pitch in relief.

His Wanindu Hasaranga celebration might stay in the memory, but what Abrar Ahmed achieved with the ball against Sri Lanka was nothing short of stupendous

Danyal Rasool24-Sep-2025Wanindu Hasaranga is barely a year older than Abrar Ahmed, but looked like an older man gently putting down a young upstart. Abrar, with a slightly impudent grin on his face, seemed to be convincing Hasaranga he had meant no offence. Not that Hasaranga, who wore a grin at least as equally broad, needed much convincing.He gave Abrar a pat on the head, the two men slapped each other’s chests and shoulders, and Abrar walked away still sporting the smile as he savoured successfully ribbing his ounterpart. Hasaranga gave him a parting pat on the back of the head and, as things tend to be between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, everything was swiftly all right once more.Perhaps the interaction took that slightly paternalistic tone because it is so easy to infantilise Abrar – and he appears to revel in it. He was the baby-faced 17-year-old who broke in at the PSL in a different lifetime. Even when, several years and debilitating back injuries later, he made his debut in Pakistan’s Test side, he was the smooth-faced boy with the slightly kooky action and the glasses. So he got stuck with Harry Potter.Related

Shaheen Afridi brushes off criticism as Pakistan eye Asia Cup final

Talat: Middle-order batting the hardest job in T20s

Asalanka: Sri Lanka have to 'get combinations right'

Nawaz and Talat trump Sri Lanka in nervy chase

A couple of years on, something resembling a beard was beginning to take shape and the glasses were replaced by contacts when he cleaned up Shubman Gill with a legspinner’s dream of a delivery at the Champions Trophy. By now, it was the wantonly provocative celebration, a flick of the head to send the batter on his way, that set the stage for both imitation and mockery, which Hasaranga deployed as such an effective counter to Abrar’s decision to appropriate the Sri Lankan’s celebration when he dismissed him earlier.It is pictures of that interaction that will dominate the way this game is committed to memory. Just like in 2022 when Abrar’s look – rather than the fact that he had become the first spinner to take five wickets in a session on debut in a Test match, is the dominant recollection from that day. Just like his unique send-off – rather than the quality of the ball that undid Gill – is what anyone remembers of that dismissal. Just like it will invariably be little more than a footnote that Abrar had delivered the most economical spell for a spinner in Asia Cup T20 history – eight runs in four overs.While a lot of players strain to imbue their game and personality with gravitas, Abrar is much more content hiding his behind the joy he takes from the game. It should not, however, detract from how valuable his role is to his side, or how seriously he takes it.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Asian Cricket Council (@asiancricketcouncil)