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In the absence of shooting, India hopes to make 'surprise' gains in CWG 2022

Commonwealth Games will be threatened in shooting's absence while the Birmingham 2022 organisers would look to deliver a successful sporting spectacle after a challenging build-up. The opening ceremony at the Alexander Stadium on Thursday evening will mark the beginning of the sporting extravaganza that remains huge in scale but is fighting to remain relevant. The UK is hosting the mega event for the third time in the last 20 years with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) unable to attract new bidders out of the 56 countries that made up the sporting body due to cost constraints. The CGF has 72 members but is made up of 56 countries. Birmingham too was rather a late entry in the bidding for the the 2022 edition after South Africa expressing its inability to stage the event back in 2017. "We need to make the Games more affordable and take it to cities which are yet to host them," Birmingham 2022 CEO Ian Reid told PTI.

'Are we capable of beating Australia? 100% we are, but it's going to be super tough': Viren Rasquinha looks ahead to India's hockey medal chances at CWG 2022

The next assignment for both teams are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and both units will have a point or two to prove. In the last edition in 2018 India didn't win a medal in hockey. Neither team could make the gold medal match and then both lost the bronze medal match to English teams (the men lost to England 2-1, the women lost to England 6-0). Ahead of CWG 2022, former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha was a guest on Times of India's sports podcast Sportscast and talked about various things, including medal chances of both the men's and women's teams this time.

Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer Move Up In ICC ODI Rankings

Senior India batter Shikhar Dhawan on Wednesday moved up a place to joint 13th spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings on the back of his match-winning knock against the West Indies in the first match of the ongoing limited-over series. Dhawan, a left-handed batter, made 97 in the first ODI against West Indies last Friday at the Port of Spain. India won the game by three runs. Another India batter Shreyas Iyer, who struck back-to-back half centuries in the first two ODIs against the West Indies, moved up 20 places to the joint 54th among batters.

Babar Azam Achieves Another High, Now Only Player To Be In Top-Three Across Formats

Babar Azam is currently one of the best batters across formats in world cricket. The Pakistan cricket team captain recently got praised by none other that former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting. "I saw him up close and personal a couple of years ago out here in a Test series against Australia and I said it then, I thought the sky was the limit for this guy as far as Test match batting (was concerned) and, if anything, he's probably got better and better in the last couple of years," Ponting said on the ICC Review. Now, Babar has achieved yet another high.

Ireland stick with 14-man T20 squad for South Africa and Afghanistan T20 series

Cricket Ireland have kept faith with the 14-man squad that was whitewashed 3-0 by New Zealand for their upcoming T20 series against South Africa and Afghanistan.

CWG 2022: Indian Cricketers Pooja Vastrakar, S Meghana Test COVID Positive, Couldn't Travel To Birmingham - Report

Batter S Meghana and all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar have tested positive for COVID-19 and stayed back in the country ahead of the side's opener against Australia in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Friday. The India squad left on Sunday morning for Birmingham without the two players. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had earlier confirmed that one member of the touring party tested positive. The squad trained at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) ahead of the Games. Women's cricket is making its debut at the Commonwealth Games.

Celebrity Watch, Cricket And Chaos: Commonwealth Games Flavour In Birmingham

The Arena in Birmingham will be the home of Gymnastics events over the next few days. The third largest indoor stadium complex is also the home of journalists from 72 Commonwealth Countries and territories. From collecting accreditations to bibs to venue access guidelines, this is a journalist's must-go destination and is by far the busiest hub in the city as the event waits to open. Elsewhere it is a lull before the storm.

'Inclusive Culture' Can Inspire Indian Youngsters To Take Up Football, Says Premier League Legend Wes Morgan

Leicester City FC's Premier League-winning captain Wes Morgan believes aspiring Indian youngsters can take advantage of the globalisation of modern football to achieve their dreams. Morgan was optimistic about how Indian football can take forward steps through Football Sports Development Limited's (FSDL) partnership with the Premier League. "Hopefully the partnership with the Premier League and English football overall can inspire the youngsters in India who are playing and are fans of the game a lot. Surely many of them catch the games on television and they will have their favourite players and teams," Morgan said.

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India Sport News

In the absence of shooting, India hopes to make 'surprise' gains in CWG 2022

'Are we capable of beating Australia? 100% we are, but it's going to be super tough': Viren Rasquinha looks ahead to India's hockey medal chances at CWG 2022

Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer Move Up In ICC ODI Rankings

Babar Azam Achieves Another High, Now Only Player To Be In Top-Three Across Formats

Ireland stick with 14-man T20 squad for South Africa and Afghanistan T20 series

CWG 2022: Indian Cricketers Pooja Vastrakar, S Meghana Test COVID Positive, Couldn't Travel To Birmingham - Report

Celebrity Watch, Cricket And Chaos: Commonwealth Games Flavour In Birmingham

'Inclusive Culture' Can Inspire Indian Youngsters To Take Up Football, Says Premier League Legend Wes Morgan