“Want to win gold in Asian Games”: Boxers Ankush, Narender set eyes o…

New Delhi [India], August 4 (ANI): Indian pugilists Ankush Panghal and Narender Berwal, who secured the gold and silver medals at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2026, now have their eyes on the Asian Games gold after their success in Glasgow. macnevers-and-co.beer

The Indian boxing contingent, which pulled off the country’s best CWG 2026 medal haul with seven gold medals and overall 10 medals, received a warm welcome at the Delhi Airport.

Ankush and Narender spoke to ANI upon their return to India.

Ankush said, “I am feeling very good. Keep supporting us like this, we will keep winning more medals for our country. I cannot describe that feeling when our National Anthem played. Now I want to win gold in the Asian Games."

Panghal delivered India’s seventh gold medal in boxing, defeating England’s Dimeji Shittu 4-1 in a split decision in the men’s 80kg final.

Narender, a silver medalist at CWG 2026, who captured the 10th and final medal for the Indian team in boxing, also vowed to deliver even better in the upcoming Asian Games in Japan from September 14 onwards, saying that the preparations are going well and the government support is also really good.

“Everyone performed well. This was my first performance in CWG, and I prepared fully, but won silver. Asian Games is in 2 months and I will try to perform my best in it. The entire team is preparing well, and the government is also completely supportive."

In the men’s 90+kg final, Narender was beaten by England’s Damar Thomas, losing 0-5 in a unanimous decision to settle for the silver medal. Despite the defeat, his podium finish capped a memorable campaign for the Indian boxing contingent.

Another silver medalist, Jadumani Singh, also expressed his happiness with the reception on coming back home, saying, “We feel great after receiving this sort of welcome after playing a major competition."

In the men’s category, Jadumani Singh finished with a silver medal after going down 0-5 to Australia’s Jye Dixon in the men’s 55kg final.

The 2026 Games were hosted under a compact format, leading to the removal of major Indian medal-earning events like shooting, wrestling, and badminton.

India finished fourth in the medals table at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with 39 medals, including 13 gold, 17 silver and nine bronze. India officially began its journey towards hosting the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Amdavad as the Commonwealth Games Flag was ceremonially handed over during a spectacular Closing Ceremony that celebrated the conclusion of Glasgow 2026 and looked ahead to the historic centenary edition of the Games. (ANI)

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Vinesh Phogat and other wrestlers will appeal Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's acquittal. The trial court found insufficient evidence and noted witness inconsistencies in the case. Wrestlers faced sustained pressure and intimidation throughout the legal proceedings. They expressed deep sadness over the court's decision regarding the allegations. Their legal battle for justice continues with a planned appeal.

Team India is set to clash against Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series. The first game is scheduled to be played from August 15 at the Galle International Cricket Stadium near Galle Fort.

Ahead of the series, the visitors will miss the services of their lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah. He has been ruled out of the series due to an injury. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has named Auqib Nabi as his replacement.

Following Nabi's maiden call-up to Team India, former cricketer Irfan Pathan has heaped praise on the pacer by saying that a pace of around 133-135 can be expected from the Jammu and Kashmir bowler.

"The optimum pace to get the ball moving is around 135 kph. If you can get it to swing, that too late, then you are good. And with the rhythm and with the kind of action he has, he can touch 133-135 kph on a regular basis. That's what I believe," he said.

The former cricketer then said that Nabi showcased his exceptional skills during the Ranji Trophy season, where he troubled batsmen like KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer with his bowling.

"Does the bowler have the ability to get the batters, the top-quality batters, out while defending? This is the other quality you seek. We have seen that in the Ranji Trophy final, he troubled KL Rahul, he didn't even get a wicket. In that too, he defended normally and dismissed the batsman," said Pathan.

"In Mumbai, I saw the match, Shreyas and our current players, he was dismissing them the same way. So, on different pitches, the top-quality batsmen defend and get dismissed. That means he has the ability," he recalled.

Pathan feels that receiving a call-up to Team India as a replacement bowler will still give Nabi a lot of confidence.

"For Auqib to be in the squad right now, even though he was not the first choice, he came as a replacement of Jasprit Bumrah, it will still give him a lot of confidence. Because being in the squad is a big thing," said the former cricketer.

India's squad for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka

Shubman Gill (C), KL Rahul (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sai Sudharsan*, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, Auqib Nabi.

(With PTI Inputs)

Ben Stokes is reportedly set to become the Big Bash League's highest-paid player. The Sydney Sixers are leading the race to sign the former England captain. Stokes retired from international cricket earlier this year and wants to play franchise leagues. A record-breaking contract worth around AUD 600,000 is on the cards. Scheduling conflicts and other global leagues remain potential challenges for him.

IND vs SL 2026: Team India will begin a two-match Test series against hosts Sri Lanka in Galle on August 15. It will be the first series in the World Test Championships (WTC) 2025-27 calendar for Shubman Gill’s side this year after facing Afghanistan in a one-off Test in June. The game against Afghanistan wasn’t part of the WTC schedule.

Team India cricketers don’t want to leave any stone unturned to win comprehensively to win this away Test series. After India’s 2-0 loss to South Africa at home last year, Shubman Gill’s side need to win 7 out of the remaining 9 Tests to stand a chance of reaching the WTC 2027 final next year.

Team India Test opener KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been going through the paces in Mumbai ahead of their departure for Sri Lanka from the city on Tuesday evening. According to a report in Cricbuzz website, both Rahul and Jaiswal were seen training at an academy ground in Bandra amid intermittent rain in the city.

The report states that Rahul and Jaiwal were seen batting at Wings Sports Centre in Bandra West, a multi-sport facility with a specialized cricket nets managed by former India cricketer and BCCI selector Jatin Paranjape. The report added that both Indian openers had special focus on batting against spin, considering that the Lankans may field a spin-heavy attack against the visitors.

Rahul is India’s 2nd highest run-getter in the WTC 2025-27 behind only skipper Shubman Gill. The Delhi Capitals batter has scored 796 runs in 9 Tests at an average of 49.75 with 3 hundreds and 3 fifties to his name. He scored a century against Afghanistan in the one-off Test but it was not part of the WTC calendar.

While his opening partner Jaiswal managed to score 713 runs in 9 Tests at an average of 41.95 in this WTC cycle with 3 hundreds and 3 fifties. The Rajasthan Royals will look to improve his form as he had scored 1798 runs in the WTC 2023-25 cycle in 19 Tests with 4 hundreds and 10 fifties.

KL Rahul with youngsters. pic.twitter.com/JPHftqs6Sh

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 3, 2026

Rahul and Jaiswal faced a group of Mumbai spin bowlers including all-rounder Tanush Kotian at Bandra apart from a range of left-arm spinners, leg-spinners and off-spinners.

“They’ve been coming here regularly over the past few days. Jaiswal was here two days ago, KL came yesterday, and today they trained together,” Paranjape was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz website.

“It’s not surprising that they were practising against spin, given the conditions they expect to encounter in the series,” the former BCCI selector added.

Kotian added that Rahul and Jaiswal chose to train at Paranjape’s academy as the surfaces here provide plenty of assistance to the spin bowlers. “I train regularly at Jatin Sir’s academy. It’s one of the few facilities where we can practise during the monsoon. The wicket there offers plenty of turn, and Yashasvi and KL have been training with us over the past few days,” Kotian was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz website.

Tanush Kotian, Vipraj Nigam and Harsh Dubey travelling to Sri Lanka as net bowlers

Meanwhile, Kotian will be part of group of spinners including IPL stars Vipraj Nigam and Harsh Dubey as well as Shivang Kumar will be travelling with Team India Test squad as net bowlers. All of them are spin bowlers along with spinners Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain, who are part of the squad.

India’s updated squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka

Shubman Gill (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sai Sudharsan*, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, Auqib Nabi.

(* Subject to fitness)