Sports

KIGALI: The 2026 World Cup will have 104 matches instead of the traditional 64 games due to the expanded format with 48 teams taking part, global football governing body FIFA said on Tuesday after its Council meeting in the Rwandan capital Kigali. The 2026 edition, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, will be the first …

WELLINGTON: Tom Latham will lead New Zealand’s One-day Onternational team in the three-match series against Sri Lanka later this month with a host of Black Caps stars released to their Indian Premier League clubs. Latham will be skipper for the whiteball matches at Auckland’s Eden Park on March 25, Christchurch three days later and Hamilton on March 31, the same …

BENGALURU: India will monitor the workload of their players in the build-up to the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, with some of them set to play key roles with their teams in the Indian Premier League, captain Rohit Sharma said. Rohit, whose side sealed a 2-1 homes series victory over the same opponents to qualify for the WTC …

LAHORE: Political unrest in Lahore on Tuesday forced both Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans to cancel their training sessions. It’s hardly the buildup the two latest winners of the Pakistan Super League would’ve wanted ahead of their clash in the Qualifier on Wednesday. Both defending champions Qalandars and Sultans, the 2021 winners, were unable to travel to the Gaddafi Stadium …

BILBAO: Barcelona winger Raphinha secured a 1-0 win in La Liga for the second straight week this time at Athletic Bilbao as his side tightened their grip on top spot ahead of a potentially season-defining week in which they host second-placed Real Madrid. Repeating the combination of provider and scorer from last week’s 1-0 win at Valencia, Raphinha netted a …

DHAKA: Skipper Jos Buttler has defended Eng­land’s experimental selections after the world cham­pions lost the Twenty20 series in Bangla­­desh with a match to spare. The hosts won the first T20 by six wickets and followed it up on Sunday with victory by four wickets in Dhaka. It was a wake-up call for England’s usually ruthless white-ball unit with the 50-over …

AHMEDABAD: India won their fourth series in a row against Australia after a fourth and final Test lit up by an epic 186 by Virat Kohli ended in a draw on Monday in Ahmedabad. The hosts won the series 2-1 and the world’s two top-ranked teams will do battle again from June 7-11 at The Oval in the World Test …

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board interim management committee chairman Najam Sethi on Monday said that the government will take a final decision on whether the national team travels to India for this year’s World Cup. Sethi reiterated that the PCB will deal on a reciprocal basis with the Board of Cricket Control in India, which has said that it will not …

LAHORE: Pakistan chief selector Haroon Rasheed hinted at picking junior players who have lit up the ongoing Pakistan Super League for the three-match T20 International series against Afghanistan later this month. Haroon is due to announce the squad for the March 24-27 series in Sharjah on Monday. He told Dawn on Sunday that the process to finalise the team was in progress. …

AHMEDABAD: Virat Kohli ended his agonising wait for a Test century with a painstaking 186 as India racked up 571 to claim a lead of 91 in the fourth and final Test against Australia on Sunday. The hosts, who lead the series 2-1, strung together six 50-plus partnerships at the top to effectively put themselves in an unbeatable position heading …