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He has been one of the greats of the IPL, but freeing up his slot could lend greater balance to SRH

Nagraj Gollapudi01-May-2021Did David Warner voluntarily step down as the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain? Or was Warner told he had no choice?ESPNcricinfo understands Warner agreed with the team management it was better he stepped down to allow flexibility in team selection, which could potentially lead the Sunrisers to recover from their joint worst ever start in an IPL season. They are right now last on the points table, with a solitary win in six games.Related

• Warner 'shocked and disappointed' at being removed from SRH captaincy, reveals Moody

• David Warner: 'Harsh call by selectors' to drop Manish Pandey

• David Warner takes 'full responsibility' for 'very slow' knock as Sunrisers Hyderabad sink further

• Kane Williamson replaces David Warner as Sunrisers Hyderabad captain

Kane Williamson, who will now take charge of the Sunrisers, is understood to have once again readily stepped in for the sake of the team without placing any conditions. The final call to change the captaincy mid-season was taken by the Sunrisers’ team management comprising Tom Moody (team director), Trevor Bayliss (head coach), and the two mentors in VVS Laxman and Muttiah Muralitharan.The Sunrisers have had equally bad starts in terms of number of wins in their first six games twice before, in IPL 2014 and IPL 2015. Incidentally, those have been the only two seasons in which the Sunrisers have failed to make the IPL playoffs.Since then, Warner has steered the franchise to consistent highs, including leading them to their only IPL crown, in 2016. Williamson, however, matched Warner in both leadership and batting prowess when he took over as the captain in IPL 2018 while Warner was serving a ban, and then during the playoffs in IPL 2019 when Warner left early to join the Australian team before the 2019 World Cup.While both men have complemented each other well with Williamson being Warner’s ear piece as far as on-field leadership is concerned, the Australian’s reduced impact as a batter this season, where he has been circumspect, has been a sticking point. This season the Sunrisers chased totals on five occasions in their six matches and lost four times, including in a Super Over against Delhi Capitals.Warner has been Sunrisers’ second-highest run-getter so far this season with 193 runs, including two fifties, but at a weak strike rate of 110.28. In the Sunrisers’ last match – against the Chennai Super Kings – where they batted first for the first time this IPL, Warner struggled to time or place the ball while scoring a 55-ball 57. Meanwhile Williamson, who has played just three matches, has walked in with the pressure of upping the ante to overturn a slow beginning and yet managed 108 runs at a strike rate of 135, without being dismissed yet. Alongside Jonny Bairstow and Rashid Khan, Williamson has made a strong case to be a direct pick in the first XI.

Kane Williamson replacing David Warner as captain: right call from #SRH? #IPL2021

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 1, 2021

With Warner as captain, that left no room for any further overseas players. However, this season, one of the Sunrisers’ weaknesses has been in their fast bowling department. That is mainly due to losing Bhuvneshwar Kumar to a niggle for the past few matches, and having to do without T Natarajan’s services altogether after the left-arm seamer was ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury. In the absence of two first-choice pacers, the Sunrisers have had to rely on Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma, none of whom have had any significant success so far.The team’s other weakness has been a lack of batting depth after the top order, with an inexperienced middle order to follow. The Sunrisers have back-ups to fill these gaps on their bench in the form of Jason Holder, Jason Roy and Mohammad Nabi. Roy can link up with Bairstow to replicate their explosive partnership for England, Nabi provides depth and experience with bat and ball especially on slow, spinning surfaces. Holder, who was brought in as a replacement for Mitchell Marsh in IPL 2020 in the UAE, had emerged as an instant match-winner for the Sunrisers.The gap in batting and bowling would point to the Sunrisers needing either of Holder or Nabi in the playing XI, and that is likely to have been put forth to Warner during the meetings he had with the team management. It is likely that Warner was told that his position was not indispensable, despite his great deeds for the franchise in the past.The franchise remains confident Warner still has a big role to play for them, and will be utilised during the season both as a batter and part of the leadership group. “Nobody can write off Warner as he is a great player,” a franchise official said.Despite that, the call the Sunrisers’ team management has taken is a brave one. It is rare that IPL teams displace an overseas captain mid-season, even if the player in question has been struggling individually. Objectively, the Sunrisers’ decision is both bold and logical. Freeing up the slot taken by Warner allows the team better options for team balance.

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O Santos recebe a Portuguesa, neste domingo (17), pelas quartas de final do Paulistão. A bola rola a partir das 20h (de Brasília), na Vila Belmiro, com transmissão da TNT (TV fechada) e Max (streaming).

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➡️ Siga o Lance! no WhatsApp e acompanhe em tempo real as principais notícias do esporte

O Peixe terminou a fase de grupos do Paulistão com 25 pontos, tendo a segunda melhor campanha geral. Já a Lusa fez 10 pontos e entra no mata-mata com menos pontos conquistados.

Tem favorito? Com R$100, você fatura R$400 na Lance! Betting se Nova Iguaçu e Vasco empatarem!

✅FICHA TÉCNICA
Santos x Portuguesa
Quartas de final do Paulistão

Data e horário: domingo, 17 de março de 2024, às 20h (de Brasília)
Local: Vila Belmiro, em Santos (SP)
Onde assistir: TNT (TV fechada) e Max (streaming)

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⚽ PROVÁVEIS ESCALAÇÕES

SANTOS
João Paulo; Aderlan, Gil, Joaquim e Felipe Jonatan (Hayner); João Schmidt, Diego Pituca e Cazares; Otero, Furch e Guilherme. Técnico: Fábio Carille.

PORTUGUESA
Thomazella; Marco Antônio, Robson e Patrick; Borel, Leandro, Ricardinho, Zé Ricardo e Pedro Henrique; Henrique Dourado e Victor Andrade. Técnico: Pintado.

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The Premier League season is only 15 games old, but it’s already been something of a roller coaster for West Ham United.

For the first couple of months, with Graham Potter in charge, it looked like the East Londoners were destined for relegation and unable to buy a win.

However, over the last few weeks, new boss Nuno Espírito Santo has helped to turn the ship around, and while they’re still in the relegation zone, the Hammers have lost just one of their last six games.

However, there are still problems on and off the pitch, including the fact that they’ll likely have to sell Lucas Paqueta in the summer, but before they do that, West Ham should get rid of someone else in the winter window.

Why West Ham should sell Paqueta

Now, the first thing to say here is that, at his very best, Paqueta has a claim to be one of the most exciting and talented attacking midfielders in the Premier League.

However, the problem is that he hasn’t been at, or really anywhere near, his scintillating best for quite some time.

For example, while he managed a brilliant haul of 15 goal involvements in 23/24, he then followed that up with just five last season, and so far this year, he’s produced just four.

Appearances

36

14

Minutes

2536′

1217′

Goals

5

4

Assists

0

0

In other words, it’s hard to make a case that his performances over the last year and a half have justified his sizable £150k-per-week wage.

Speaking of his contract, the next reason the Hammers should probably be looking to sell the former Lyon star is the fact that he’ll have just a year left on his deal in the summer.

Therefore, he’ll either need to be handed another bumper contract or be sold to protect his valuation.

Finally, the 28-year-old revealed that he almost forced a move back to Flamengo in the summer. So it’s not impossible to imagine he’ll want to leave sooner or later, which comes back to the idea that the Hammers should be the ones to instigate his departure at the end of the season and protect his value.

With all that said, there is another player, someone far less important to the side, that West Ham should look to move on before Paqeuta.

The West Ham flop Nuno has to sell

With West Ham improving over the last month or so, fewer players are sticking out for the wrong reasons, but one who continues to disappoint is Max Kilman.

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The former Wolverhampton Wanderers star joined the Hammers for a whopping £40m fee in the summer of 2024.

Since then, while there have been the odd moments in which he’s looked like a quality centre-back, the Englishman has largely been a flop and someone who has been more of a hindrance at the back than a help.

For example, in the 2-0 defeat at home to Brentford earlier this season, the 6 foot 4 titan was partly to blame for both goals and looked miles off the pace and, in the words of one content creator, was “shocking.”

Worryingly, his former manager, Gary O’Neil, went into detail about some of his weaknesses and described him as someone who likes to “switch off” during games.

That does not sound like the kind of defender you want in the backline when fighting to stay in the Premier League, and, based on reports, it seems Nuno would agree.

According to a story from earlier this week, the Irons would be willing to part ways with the centre-back should someone make an offer of around £25m, and reports from earlier in the season claimed that Crystal Palace were interested in the defender.

On top of the eye test, another reason the club should perhaps lower their asking price is the fact that his underlying numbers are dire.

According to FBref, the Chelsea-born dud ranks in the bottom 45% of centre-backs in the Premier League for pass completion, the bottom 18% for tackles, the bottom 14% for progressive passes, and the bottom 9% for interceptions, all per 90.

Ultimately, while West Ham will likely need to sell Paqueta in the summer, they must sell Kilman first, as he simply isn’t good enough.

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Luke McCowan says Celtic need to show their character in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup final against St Mirren at Hampden Park.

Wilfried Nancy became the first Hoops manager to lose his opening two matches when Italian giants Roma won 3-0 at Parkhead in the Europa League on Thursday night, which followed on from a 2-1 home defeat to leaders Hearts in the William Hill Premiership last weekend.

Celtic fans, some of whom booed at the end of the defeat by Roma, are approaching the final against the Buddies with more nerves than they would have done before the Frenchman took over from interim bosses Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney, who in turn had taken over from Brendan Rodgers.

McCowan calls for players and fans to stick together

McCowan, the 28-year-old midfielder, who joined from Dundee in August 2024, called for unity and a demonstration of the traits that have made the Parkhead club so successful in recent times.

He said: “I can’t really talk for the fans, but we are fully bought-in. We need to buy-in, it’s kind of non-negotiable.

“We need to back everyone in this building, regardless of who’s been playing well, who’s not.

“We are a team and we need to back each other through the good and the bad because everybody’s all high-fives and cuddles when we are winning but this team doesn’t go through two or three bad results and this is where the true characters are shown.

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“So we need just to be together and I know I’ve said so many times, stick together.

“It’s when you go through bad spells – personally I’ve done it with Dundee and Ayr – then we just need to kind of have that same attitude of work hard, move on to the next game.

“The games are coming thick and fast in this period and it’s a good thing that if you get one win it can propel you to get a few hopefully and we just need to start with that on Sunday.

“We just need to get on top of it again.”

Switch-hitters are common across baseball, but have you ever seen a switch-pitcher? Well, if not, Seattle Mariners prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje is here to fix that.

The Mariners chose Cijntje with the 15th pick in the 2024 MLB draft. Now, the Mississippi State product is throwing for Seattle at Spring Breakout, a showcase event for the best prospects across MLB farm systems.

Friday night, Cijntje stood atop the mound and threw back-to-back pitches with opposite arms. First, he got Travis Bazzana, the top pick in the 2024 draft, to ground out with a 92-mph heater from his left arm. Then, he switched to the right arm for the next at bat, hurling a 95-mph fastball from the opposite side mere seconds later.

“That's something special,” Bazzana, the top Cleveland Guardians prospect, said of Cijntje via MLB.com. “You don't really see that ever. I think he's got a bright future, and it was cool to battle.”

After the initial out against Bazzana, Cijntje threw right-handed for the rest of his two-inning outing. He even struck out Bazzana with his right arm for the final out of his night.

Pat Venditte, who played in the big leagues from 2015 to '20, is the most recent pitcher to throw with both arms in the MLB. He pitched for six different teams as a reliever, mainly with his right arm against right-handed hitters while switching to the left for left-handed hitters. His unique style prompted a new rule requiring pitchers to indicate the hand he intends to pitch with before an at-bat, known as the "Pat Venditte Rule."

According to MLB.com, the Mariners intend to develop Cijntje as a right-handed starter because it's his better pitching arm with a deeper arsenal where he can reach a higher velocity. But he still has plenty of upside as a lefty, too.

Cijntje, who was born in the Netherlands but primarily grew up in Curaçao, grew up as a switch-pitcher. He pitched from both sides during the 2016 Little League World Series as a member of the team which represented his hometown of Willemstad, Curaçao.

One day, we'll likely see him as one of the rare pitchers who needs to keep the Pat Venditte Rule in mind on the mound.

Aston Villa scouts are being put through their paces ahead of the January window and may now have found a player worth pursuing in PSV Eindhoven midfielder Ismael Saibari.

The Villans struggled for goals in the early part of the campaign, and it is fair to say that their efforts to hit the target need to improve, given they are one of the lowest-scoring sides in the Premier League table.

Yet to hit double figures on that front, at the time of writing, much has been made of Ollie Watkins’ poor form at Aston Villa this season. The England international has hit the target in just one of 13 this campaign, failing to repeat the stellar form he showed in 2024/25.

Undoubtedly, January will be a time where finding potency will be prioritised. Hoffenheim striker Fisnik Asllani is on the Villans’ radar and may be pursued, with Unai Emery set on achieving even loftier goals than the accomplishments he has met during his three years in the West Midlands.

He said before the clash with Liverpool: “Still work to do, still objectives to set and work hard to achieve those objectives – collectively and myself as well, individually.

“One of them is some titles, but of course the title only is winning one, Premier League, the cups in England, and Europe, is the target we can set through to achieve some titles, and we are in this way.”

PSR may force Aston Villa’s hand as Liverpool plot a move for Ezri Konsa. Even then, there will be room to recruit more additions to offer Emery a greater sense of potency in his side’s hunt for continental qualification, something he may now find in his latest target.

Aston Villa scouts blown away by Ismael Saibari

According to TBR in conversation with Graeme Bailey, Aston Villa scouts were blown away by PSV midfielder Ismael Saibari after watching him in action against Feyenoord last weekend, where he scored a hat-trick.

Bailey said: “Saibari is attracting a lot of attention and his treble last week was special. He is one to keep an eye on for January, getting goals in January is something Premier League clubs especially are looking for and he could offer that.”

With ten goals and an assist to his name this term, the engine room operator is also wanted by Leeds United, West Ham United, Everton, Fulham and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Aston Villa eyeing Joshua Zirkzee to fill attacking void

Versatility is a key part of his game, something that could potentially signal several arrivals are imminent, given Saibari can feature as a ten, in central midfield or in a role shielding the back four.

Nevertheless, PSV hold the cards in negotiations due to having the Morocco international under contract until 2029. Aston Villa may need to shell out a premium to land his services, though could now be tempted by the prospect of a January bid.