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Former Sunderland captain Max Power has backed his old club to gain promotion to the Championship ahead of their upcoming League One playoff final and says he is ‘gutted’ he couldn’t get the job done himself.

The Lowdown: Road to the final

The Black Cats are set to face Gareth Ainsworth’s side at Wembley Stadium this weekend after securing a 2-1 aggregate victory over Sheffield Wednesday in the semi-final to book their place in the ultimate showdown.

The 28-year-old, who currently plays for Wigan Athletic, recently helped the Latics claim the third-tier title, but is still showing support for his former club and believes that they will be able to join him in the promotion party.

The Latest: Power hopeful but ‘gutted’

Speaking during an episode of the Roker Rapport Podcast, Power admitted that he can’t envisage anything but a Sunderland win on Saturday, even though Wycombe are a difficult opponent to play against. He said:

“You look at both teams, I think for me and this is no disrespect to Wycombe at all, I think they have got some very good players and a very good manager and very much a different style to what Sunderland will bring on Saturday but, for me, I look player for player and I think Sunderland have got the better players.

“If there’s one team who can upset a game and cause issues and problems and are comfortable without the ball, it is Wycombe.

“I think Wycombe are very experienced and before, by the way, I meant no disrespect to them by saying Sunderland, for me, have got the better players, I stand by that. But I do think Wycombe can cause any team problems and I like I said, they are comfortable without the ball.

“I’m not going to sit on the fence, I do think Sunderland will win the game on Saturday.

“It’ll be interesting. I’m over in Ibiza, so I’ll find a bar to watch it in.

“Over the course of this season, I think anyone who knows me on a personal level knows I’ve no ill feeling towards Sunderland whatsoever. Obviously I’ve moved on and that’s football but I look back at my time with Sunderland, I am gutted it didn’t go how I wanted it to but I’ll be rooting for the lads on Saturday and I’m just glad I’m not involved to be honest!”

The Verdict: Advantage Sunderland

If the results from when the two sides met earlier on in the season are anything to go by, it’s looking like very happy reading for Alex Neil, whose outfit are yet to be defeated by their rivals.

The Black Cats recorded a comfortable 3-1 win at the Stadium of Light back in August, before playing out a 3-3 draw in the reverse fixture at Adams Park in January.

Over 44,000 Sunderland supporters have already booked their seat at Wembley, so it promises to be an amazing atmosphere and one that hopefully is enough to help get the Wearsiders over the line.

In other news… Sunderland have reportedly made an approach to sign one of their summer transfer targets.

Hardik Pandya is going to be one of several points to ponder as India pick their squads for New Zealand on Sunday

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Jan-20202:44

‘Conditions in New Zealand ideal to include a seam-bowling allrounder’ – Bangar

India will begin their new decade in Test cricket with two Tests in New Zealand, starting on February 21. The series, being part of the World Test Championship (WTC), is very significant for India; they would be fairly confident of making the inaugural WTC final in June 2021 if they were to win this series. On January 12, India’s selection panel, led by MSK Prasad, will pick India’s squads for this tour – there are five T20Is and three ODIs to play before the two Tests.The selectors and the Indian team management have agreed that they need to offer a long run to the pool of players they have been fielding in limited-overs cricket, so it is unlikely they will tinker much with those squads. The one big change on this front is likely to be the return of allrounder Hardik Pandya post his back surgery.But, keeping in mind the significance of the Test series, it poses a number of questions. Here’s what the five-man selection panel is likely to deliberate on Sunday.Who can be the third opener-cum-back-up batsman?
With Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal forming a good partnership at the top during the home Test season, the selectors will focus on picking a third opener who can also offer back-up elsewhere. There is more than one available option for this. Leading the way, clearly, is KL Rahul, who has been delivering in the limited-overs formats. Along with Hanuma Vihari, Rahul can also play the extra specialist batsman’s role in the top order.Others in the race would be the youth brigade comprising Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, Priyank Panchal and Abhimanyu Easwaran. All four were named in the India A side as part of the shadow tour. Shaw would have considered himself as a favourite, but an untimely shoulder injury might push him to the back of the queue. While Shaw was serving his doping ban, Gill was named in the Test squads for the West Indies tour, and the home Tests against West Indies and Bangladesh.Hardik Pandya reacts in the field•Getty ImagesWill Hardik Pandya return in whites?
After being forced to undergo a back surgery, Hardik has been included only in the limited-overs leg of India A’s tour of New Zealand. The last time Hardik was part of the Indian Test squad was during the 2018 England tour. Between then and now he has played one first-class match, in December 2018. The selectors might think it is too big a risk to rush the allrounder into the Test squad, especially with T20 World Cup scheduled later this year. This could mean India are likely to continue with R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as the two – spin-bowling – allrounders.A fifth fast bowler or a third spinner?
Usually on overseas trips, India have travelled with at least 16 players – such was the case on their last away trip too, to the Caribbean in July last year.Here, the selectors will keep in mind that there is just a three-day break between the two Tests. Also, importantly, the pitches in New Zealand over the last decade have slowed down. So do they pick four fast bowlers and a third spinner in Kuldeep Yadav, whom India coach Ravi Shastri had said would be his lead overseas spinner following the triumph in Australia last year? Or will they pick a fifth fast bowler in the absence of a fast-bowling allrounder like Hardik? If they go with the latter, Navdeep Saini is likely to be the primary choice although he will not feature in the two first-class matches India A will play prior to the Test series.Probable India Test squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav/Navdeep Saini

Stats highlights from Day 1 of the fourth Test between Australia and England

Gaurav Sundararaman26-Dec-2017 Centurion Warner129 Innings taken by David Warner to reach 6000 Test runs – the joint-fourth fastest Australian batsman to achieve this feat. Don Bradman (68), Ricky Ponting (125), Mathew Hayden (126) and Greg Chappell (129) are the others on the list. Warner also scored his 21st century in Tests, 15 of which have come at home. Warner now has consecutive centuries at the MCG, having scored just one fifty from nine innings from 2011 to 2015.ESPNcricinfo Ltd 2 Instances this year of Warner centuries contributing more than 75% of the team’s total runs to that point. Warner started off 2017 with a century before lunch against Pakistan at Sydney, and has finished the year with another century against England. Since 2001, his centuries feature twice in the top five of highest percentages of a team’s total.

ESPNcricinfo Ltd England bowlers strike back 415 Balls taken by Stuart Broad to add to his wicket tally, after picking up Mitchell Starc in the first innings of the Adelaide Test. Broad was wicketless in the second innings at Adelaide and for the entire third Test at Perth. He finally dismissed Usman Khawaja for 17.100 Ashes wickets for James Anderson. He becomes the 37th bowler to take hundred or more wickets against a single opposition. Anderson is also the eighth cricketer and fifth pacer from England to achieve this in Ashes Tests. Ian Botham leads the pack for England with 128 wickets from 32 Ashes Tests while Shane Warne is the highest for Australia with 195 wickets from 36 matches.ESPNcricinfo Ltd43 Runs from 26 overs in the second session of the Test. Australia lost David Warner and Cameron Bancroft in this session. Australia managed only four boundaries and faced 134 dots in this period. It was a stark contrast to the first session, in which Australia scored 102 runs, and 13 boundaries, without losing a wicket.39 Runs from 221 balls faced on a good length for Australia from the England pace bowlers. Australia also lost all the three wickets to the good-length deliveries and struggled to score from them. In the first session, Australia scored 73 runs from 79 balls that were not in the good length. However, post lunch with the older ball, even those runs dried up, as Australia managed only 75 from 157 balls from deliveries that were not in the good-length area. Warner, who had scored 59 from 46 non-good-length deliveries before lunch, managed only 17 from 34 such balls after the break.

Smith’s hunting ground 624 Balls since Steven Smith has been dismissed at the MCG. Smith now has scored 434 runs without being dismissed. By the close of play he averaged 140.60 with three centuries and two fifties from nine innings at this venue.

As the Carnival brings life to the Antigua Recreation Ground, nostalgia for its cricketing legacy envelopes you

Karthik Krishnaswamy27-Jul-2016At 11.43am Eastern Caribbean Time on April 11, 2004, Brian Lara swept Gareth Batty towards fine leg, towards the Antigua Recreation Ground’s scoreboard, and caused the number next to his name to change from 399 to 400.At 11.43pm, or thereabouts, on July 25, 2016, there are no names on the scoreboard, only vacant rectangular slots next to the batting positions, through which shines the feeble yellow-green light of streetlamps filtered through leaves. The scoreboard looms over the unlit side of the ground. The other side, separated by barricades covered with sponsor logos, is all light and noise and teenage hopes and aspirations.It’s Carnival time in Antigua and Barbuda, and tonight’s main event is Teen Splash, a talent pageant for boys and girls from schools all around the country.The turf that Lara bent to kiss is somewhere under a platform flanked by video screens. On the platform, and near-simultaneously on the screen, contestants have been singing, dancing and performing spoken-word poetry for about two hours.Not long before he got to 400, Lara had danced down the pitch and launched Batty into the Sir Vivian Richards pavilion to go from 374 to 380, going past 375 along the way. The numbers need no explanation. Now, just below the pavilion – flanked to the right by a packed Andy Roberts Stand – is a carousel, its riders rotating and revolving simultaneously around a central pole with rows of unlit bulbs on it, planets orbiting a heatless, lightless sun.Teen Splash, on the hallowed turf once graced by Lara, Viv•Karthik Krishnaswamy/ESPNcricinfo LtdThe words “cricket fan” are enough to convince a security guard to allow us into the visitors’ dressing room (the home one is shut). It should feel like a sacred place, a sanctum sanctorum, but it doesn’t. Lockers, a few worse-for-wear chairs; this could be a gymnasium locker room from a sitcom set in a high school. Of all the bits and pieces of this old, great ground, this place exerts the feeblest psycho-geographic pull. This away dressing room contains no ghosts of cricket past: no traces of blood from Anil Kumble’s jaw, no teardrops shed by all the bowlers ground into the dust by Lara, pummeled by Viv, defeated by the world’s flattest pitch.The strongest echoes of the past, strangely, though perhaps not, are to be found in the parts of the ground that have fallen into disuse, in the faded lettering of the scoreboard, the rusted, falling-apart staircase at the back of the double-decker stand, its entrance boarded up.This is no longer Antigua’s premier cricket venue. The new, modern stadium, clearly a stadium and not a ground, occupies, like so many new, modern stadiums around the world do, a patch of land that is, between matches, nowhere in particular. An in-between place that residents of Seatons or Willikies might drive past on their way into town. A place that isn’t far from anywhere – Antigua is a tiny, tiny island – but feels like it; a place that makes you wonder if it’s worth going all the way to watch a weak, meek West Indies side crumble without complaint against a good but by no means world-beating India.The dressing room: a ghost of the ground’s cricket past•Karthik Krishnaswamy/ESPNcricinfo LtdThe Antigua Recreation Ground, the ARG, or the “Rec”, is different. It is packed now mostly by teenagers who make you feel old, and who may or may not be into cricket. It feels like a Test match here might draw healthy crowds as well, though perhaps not as large or as young. You can imagine fans debating a player’s merits at the concession stalls behind the double-decker stand, leaving wet circles on the tables with the bases of their Wadadli bottles. You step out of the gates and you’re in the heart of town, right next to an arch welcoming you to St John’s.There are food stalls all around you, and lanes pulsing with life lead in all directions. It may not look like this on non-Carnival nights, but unlike at the new stadium, you will never step into desolation two hours after close of play, wondering how you’ll ever find a cab home, with a spectacular purple sunset unfolding uselessly around you.The festivities continue well past midnight, and as the Rec becomes a speck behind you, the pageant continues on the radio. It is time for the question-answer round, and the contestants, most of them only 16 or 17, are asked their views about everything from global warming to abortion. Some questions are more innocuous, such as the one posed to delegate number 17: “Do texting applications like WhatsApp ruin the ability of teens to construct proper sentences?”You pass the new stadium just as he begins his answer. The Test match is over. Nothing to see here, gents. The Wadadli inside you, the English Harbour, the hot dogs and the sticks of satay, begin to take effect and you drowse in the passenger seat. Good night, Antigua, and sweet dreams. Of prancing left-handed magicians launching sixes into dancing double-decker stands.

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Mar-2015Solomon Mire was pushed up the order but he did not last long either, nicking one off to MS Dhoni off Mohit Sharma•AFPBrendan Taylor and Sean Williams then repaired the damage, adding 93 for the fourth wicket•AFPThe partnership ended in the 29th over when R Ashwin held onto a low, return catch•Getty ImagesTaylor, playing his final ODI, powered on, reaching his century with a six in the 39th over…•Getty Images…and becoming the first Zimbabwe player to notch up two successive hundreds in a World Cup, It was an emotional century•Associated PressThe departure of Taylor, though, triggered a collapse as Zimbabwe lost their last six wickets for 52 and were bowled out for 287•AFPThis meant that India became only the second team after South Africa to skittle their opposition for the sixth successive time in a World Cup•Getty ImagesIndia’s chase began shakily with Sikandar Raza taking a sharp catch off Tinashe Panyangara to send Rohit Sharma back for 16•AFPThree balls later, the in-form Shikhar Dhawan dragged one back onto the stumps. India were 21 for 2 in the seventh over•Getty ImagesVirat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane then got together and hauled the chase back on track through a 50-run partnership…•Getty Images…until trouble resurfaced with Sikandar Raza in the thick of action again, this time running Rahane out for 19•AFPSuresh Raina and MS Dhoni, however, diffused the crisis and mounted another recovery•AFPThe pair rebuilt the innings with accumulation before attacking the bowlers, as the equation was broken down to 91 off 60•Getty ImagesRaina was the chief aggressor in the unbroken 196-run stand, bringing up his maiden World Cup ton off 94 balls•Getty ImagesMS Dhoni then delivered the finishing blow with eight balls to spare, smiting a six over backward square leg, as India made it six wins in six this World Cup•Associated Press

Stats highlights from the third day’s play at Dubai

Shiva Jayaraman25-Oct-2013 Younis Khan’s catch to dismiss Morne Morkel was his 95th in Tests – the highest by a Pakistan fielder in Tests . His catch to dismiss Graeme Smith earlier in the innings had equalled the record held by Javed Miandad, who took 94 catches in his Test-career. Click here for a list of fielders with most catches in Tests. This was Saeed Ajmal’s ninth five-wicket haul of his Test-career and his second against South Africa, but he was made to work for it. Ajmal bowled 55.5 overs in this innings, the most he has bowled in an innings in Tests. The 418-run lead that Pakistan conceded in the first innings was their second-highest ever in Tests while batting first. The 462-run lead conceded by them against West Indies in the famous Test in Jamaica in 1958 – in which Garry Sobers hit a then record-365 – is the highest they have ever conceded in the first innings while batting first. The 1958 series against West Indies also produced the highest first-innings lead conceded by Pakistan, overall, in Tests – they ended up trailing West Indies by 473 runs in Bridgetown in the first innings. Khurram Manzoor’s pair in this Test was the seventh by a Pakistan opener in Tests. The last time a Pakistan opener got a pair in a Test was Taufeeq Umar against Australia in Sharjah in 2002. The match against Australia in 2002 in Sharjah was also the previous occasion of Pakistan losing their first wicket without adding a run on the board in both the innings of a Test, before today. Including this match, there have been five such instances for Pakistan in Tests. Pakistan’s second innings was the eighth instance of both their openers getting out for a duck in an innings in Tests. This was the second such instance in 2013 – the previous instance also came against South Africa, earlier this year in Cape Town. Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers ended their partnership on 338 runs – this is the highest fifth-wicket partnership against Pakistan in Tests. They beat the 327-run partnership put on by Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting in Perth in 1999.

Plays of the Day for the fifth ODI between Sri Lanka and South Africa

Firdose Moonda at the Wanderers22-Jan-2012Celebration of the day
Graeme Smith has not had a moment like this since 2009. After mistiming, slamming with power but no placement and eventually settling into his usual rhythm of muscular blows and meaty punches, Smith nudged one around the corner to bring his first ODI century in 28 months. The joy overflowed as he ran to the edge of the circle, took his helmet off and pointed his bat at the South African changeroom for what seemed like the entire length of his cricketing career. On realising that Smith was not moving, AB de Villiers made to his way to his former captain to give him a congratulatory hug. When de Villiers released him, Smith stayed with his arms in the air and rotated around the whole stadium, saluting the fans who, at the start of the season, booed him at this very venue.The AB scoop
Unlike the Sri Lankan captain, AB de Villiers does not have a shot named after him, yet. After this innings he should. With a view to accelerating South Africa’s score when Albie Morkel was dismissed, de Villiers tested one of his more audacious strokes in the penultimate over. Thisara Perera tried to bowl full outside off but de Villiers had walked so far away from his stumps, he was almost on the grass. He swivelled, angled his bat and scooped the ball over fine leg for six. The next ball, just for good measure, he did it again. The AB scoop had arrived.Drop of the day
Morne Morkel has put down a few this series but one of his more difficult chances was the opportunity Upul Tharanga presented him with in his second over. He slammed a length ball straight back at Morkel. Although it was at catchable height, the force behind it was too much and the ball struck Morkel’s left hand hard. He couldn’t hold on it and immediately called for the physiotherapist. Not only did Morkel concede three runs but he had to leave the field to have the strapping put on. JP Duminy completed the over and Morkel returned for the next one, with his ring finger wrapped up.Mop up of the day
While neither bowling side could dry up the runs, the Wanderers groundstaff once again proved to be the most efficient mops. With Highveld thunderstorms expected at this time of year, when the skies darkened and the heavens opened, most of the locals nodded sagely, expecting a short, sharp shower. When the rain came down at 3pm, with no wind in the air, it seemed it would be much longer. Fortunately, a breeze soon arrived and conditions lightened. As soon as they did, the staff were in their positions, commandeering the super sopper and sweeping water off the covers. Within 55 minutes, the rain had stopped, the ground was dry and play resumed.Air snatch of the day
South Africa’s series has been characterised by superb catching and there was yet another during this match. Lonwabo Tsotsobe relied on variation to try and take wickets and tried the slower ball against Tharanga. The Sri Lankan opener slashed and found an outside edge that looped towards cover. Duminy had to turn around and run away from the pitch but had gone a little too far and eventually had to snatch the ball out of the air over his shoulder. He did to complete a picture-perfect dismissal.Deft touch of the day
With Kumar Sangakkara holding things together on his end, it was up to the rest of the Sri Lankan batsmen to whittle down the chase. None of them appeared overly panicked by the task and Lahiru Thirimanne’s shot at that start of the 36th over captured the relative calm. Tsotsobe bowled a slightly wide, length ball and the Sri Lankan No. 5 guided it off the face to third man. It was delicate and elegant, the way Sri Lankan greats like Mahela Jayawardene play the game.Game-change of the day
Robin Peterson threatened to perform the ultimate anti-choke when he took two wickets in three balls in the final over. But the match took its final twist in the tail when Sachitra Senananyake flat batted him for six. The youngster only made his debut one match ago and faced a loud Bull Ring crowd but kept his cool to win the match for Sri Lanka and take their margin of defeat in the series to just one.

George Binoy looks back at the turning points of the India-Australia series

George Binoy11-Nov-2008

Dhoni drops Hussey
India had just broken a 166-run partnership between Simon Katich and Ricky
Ponting, and Michael Hussey was playing his first Test innings in India.
Kumble bowled him a straighter one and Hussey prodded and got a thick
edge. The ball bounced off Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s thigh and fell short of
first slip. Hussey, on 1 at the time, went on to score 146 in
Australia’s total of 430 in the first innings in Bangalore.Zaheer and Harbhajan’s 80-run partnership
Australia were three wickets away from gaining a massive lead in the first
Test, having reduced India to 232 for 7. Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh
defied the visitors late on the third day with aggressive strokes that
cleared the infield. Harbhajan scored 54 and, after he was dismissed,
Zaheer went on to make 57. They came together with India trailing by
198 runs but their partnership whittled the deficit down to 118 and the last
few wickets reduced it further to 70. It denied Australia the leverage
they needed to put pressure on India in the fourth innings.Ganguly’s let-off
India’s brisk start to the second Test in Mohali was ruined by three
wickets falling for 17 runs. The innings needed repair at 163 for 4 and
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly had just begun building a partnership.
Ganguly was on 35, and India were 236, when Brad Haddin appealed for a
stumping off Cameron White. Rudi Koertzen didn’t refer it to the third
umpire but replays showed that Ganguly’s foot was just in the air. Ganguly
went on to score 102 and shared partnerships of 142 with Tendulkar and 109
with Dhoni. India scored 469.A debutant hero
Amit Mishra would not have played in this series had it not been for the shoulder
injury to Anil Kumble. Mishra played his first Test in Mohali and ended up
taking five wickets in the first innings and seven in the match. His most
crucial strike came late on the second day, when he went round the wicket
to Michael Clarke and trapped him lbw with the googly. The strike came in
the final over of the day and was a severe dent to Australia’s hopes.

Reverse swing
India set Australia a target of 516 in a little more than five sessions to
win the Mohali Test. The chase was already in trouble after the loss
of three quick wickets but Ishant Sharma struck a body blow late on the
fourth day. During a searing spell in which he got the ball to move late,
Ishant swung one delivery through Ricky Ponting’s bat-pad gap and hit the
stumps. A few overs later he pinned Shane Watson on the back foot leaving
Australia on 58 for 5 and with no hope of saving the Test.The two double-centurions
Australia’s bowlers had struck early in the third Test in Delhi, reducing
India to 27 for 2. Gautam Gambhir and Tendulkar consolidated but when
Australia struck again India had reached only 157. The passage of play
that stretched across the 72.1 overs, however, ensured that Australia
would not win the match. VVS Laxman and Gautam Gambhir both scored
double-centuries and their partnership of 278 took India towards their
total of 613.Dropped. Not once but thrice.
Australia were 350 for 4 on the fourth morning in Delhi, still trailing
India by 263 runs. Clarke was batting on 21 and Watson on 14. India needed
quick wickets to gain a substantial lead which they could build on in the
second innings. Clarke obliged, lofting Mishra hard and flat towards
mid-off. The catch flew to Ishant at head height but he couldn’t hold on.
Clarke gave India two more chances on 90 and 94 but Laxman and Mishra
dropped them. He went on to score 112 and helped Australia save the Test.Eight-one
India lost their last five wickets for 19 runs and collapsed for 441 in
the final Test in Nagpur when they looked good for 600 at one stage. They
lost further ground when Australia’s batsmen attacked and scored at nearly
four runs an over to reach 189 for 2 at the end of the second day. India
brainstormed overnight and came out with a plan to slow Australia down.
Dhoni placed eight fielders on the off side and instructed his fast
bowlers to bowl wide outside off stump. Australia were suffocated and
scored only 42, 49 and 75 in three sessions on the third day. They also
lost eight wickets and conceded a first-innings lead of 86.Dhoni and Harbhajan to the rescue
India had an 86-run lead in Nagpur and only a disastrous collapse in the
second innings could give Australia an opportunity to win the Test and
level the series. India’s openers added 116 runs on the fourth day,
extending the lead to 202 with ten wickets intact. The series was
virtually won. A stunning collapse ensued, during which India lost six
wickets for 50 runs. Suddenly India were only 252 ahead with four wickets
in hand. They were handed a lifeline by Ponting who bowled a part-timer
from one end after tea in order to make up for a slow over-rate. Dhoni and
Harbhajan took advantage of the release of pressure and began scoring
freely. Australia struggled to contain them and they added 108 runs for
the seventh wicket and succeeded in posting a target which was out of
Australia’s reach.

A former Premier League striker is fronting a proposal to usher in the first-ever Nigerian grand prix in Formula 1.

• Ex-Premier League player moves into F1
• Tries to launch first-ever Nigerian grand prix
• Old striker is key person in African bid

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  states that former Burnley and Watford man Marvin Sordell, who is co-chief executive of Opus Race Promotions, is chairing a F1 proposal that has 'early support' from the Nigerian government. The plan is to host a grand prix in the capital, Abuja, in addition to building a kart track, hotels, a technology hub, and more.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  South Africa has hosted F1 races before, between 1967 and 1993, but Africa has not welcomed the sport to its shores for more than three decades. The report adds that in April, Opus held discussions with the chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, and a month later, it was officially appointed to negotiate with F1 and the FIA, the sport's governing body, on behalf of the Nigerian government. There is still a long way to go, however, before this can become a reality.

• WHAT LEWIS HAMILTON SAID

  At the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton stressed the sport needs a race in Africa next.

  He said: "We can’t be adding races in other locations and continuing to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world just takes from. No one gives anything to Africa."

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  WHAT NEXT?

  While Nigeria hopes to host a F1 race one day, the report adds that the most likely new entrant is Thailand after the country's government agreed to provide around £890 million ($1.2bn) of funding for the race to take place in Bangkok. That street circuit could debut in 2028.

Shaheen Shah Afridi is the only specialist fast bowler in the Pakistan XI

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-20252:31

What is Oman’s best chance of challenging Pakistan?

Toss Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first on an exceptionally hot day in Dubai. Every game in the tri-series Pakistan won last week was won by the side setting a target. Salman Agha opted to keep following the pattern that worked for his side in Sharjah.In acknowledgement of the pitch’s partiality to turn, Afridi is the only specialist fast bowler in the Pakistan XI, while both wristspinners Sufiyan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed play.Oman captain Jatinder Singh said they would have batted first too, and also confirmed they opted to go with a “spin-heavy side”. This is Oman’s first game since February, and the first one since a pay dispute caused turmoil within the group. A large number of mainstays of the Oman side are no longer with the team.This is the first game of the tournament for both sides.Oman 1 Aamir Kaleem, 2 Jatinder Singh (capt), 3 Hammad Mirza, 4 Vinayak Shukla (wk), 5 Hassnain Shah, 6 Shah Faisal, 7 Mohammad Nadeem, 8 Zikria Islam, 9 Sufyan Mehmood, 10 Shakeel Ahmed, 11 Samay ShrivastavaPakistan 1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Salman Agha (capt), 5 Hasan Nawaz, 6 Mohammad Haris (wk), 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Sufiyan Muqeem, 11 Abrar Ahmed