Plays of the Day from the Asia Cup clash between Bangladesh and India
Karthik Krishnaswamy in Fatullah26-Feb-2014The collisionThe stumps weren’t the only thing Varun Aaron knocked over on Wednesday•AFPHaving opened Shamsur Rahman up with a back-of-a-length delivery that straightened and bounced, Mohammed Shami’s eyes were fixed on the ball looping up off the leading edge. So glued were his eyes to the ball that Shami didn’t notice Ambati Rayudu running in from cover to claim the same catch. The two collided, but Shami’s focus had been so unwavering he came out of it clutching the ball triumphantly. Both bowler and fielder were unhurt.The yorkersIndia have seldom used Bhuvneshwar Kumar at the death. Two days before this match, though, he had been spotted diligently aiming yorkers at a dummy batsman in an open net. All of that practice showed when he came on for the 47th and 49th overs of Bangladesh’s innings and fired eight out of those 12 balls into the blockhole.The forehand swatAnamul Haque had already jumped down the track and smacked Varun Aaron for a six. Seeing him leave his crease once more, Aaron banged the ball in short. It rose shoulder high and on an off-stump line, but Anamul didn’t care, and went through with the shot, swatting the ball hard and high over the deep midwicket boundary.The beamerAaron wasn’t having a good day. He was going at over nine an over, and Mushfiqur Rahim had smashed two fours and a six off his last four legal deliveries. His radar had been all over the place. But now, Aaron’s waywardness went beyond merely line and length. The ball slipped out of his fingers, and struck Mushfiqur Rahim on the chest, on the full. Aaron had already bowled one waist-high full-toss at Anamul. The second meant he could play no more part with the ball.The yorkers (part two)In his fourth over, Rubel Hossain uprooted Shikhar Dhawan’s leg stump with a superbly directed yorker. Unfortunately for the bowler, this was a free hit. Rubel’s efforts would get their reward in due course, however, even if it was too late in India’s innings to make any difference to the result. In his final over, Rubel bowled his second unplayable yorker of the day, a ball good enough to bowl Virat Kohli out for 136.
ESPNcricinfo understands CSA was not intending to stop Lee from participating in the Hundred, but was concerned with a perceived lack of discipline
Firdose Moonda17-Jul-2022
Lizelle Lee announced her international retirement on July 8•Getty Images
Lizelle Lee has accused Cricket South Africa of threatening to deny her an NOC to participate in the Hundred and said national coach Hilton Moreeng was aware of the organisation’s actions, which contributed to her retirement. Both Moreeng and CSA have rejected Lee’s assertions.The opening batter stepped away from international cricket on July 8, saying she was “ready for the next phase of my career”, and would continue playing franchise T20 cricket but provided no other reasons for quitting until today. After Moreeng was asked at a press conference whether CSA’s alleged refusal to let Lee play in the Hundred led to her premature retirement, he said, “No comment, I was not aware of that.” Lee, however, tweeted that Moreeng “was definitely aware”. She also said, “I told him in person and it was said in a meeting with CSA”, but clarified that Moreeng “was not in that meeting.”Lee later reiterated to ESPNcricinfo that Moreeng was aware of the development.ESPNcricinfo understands that CSA was not intending to prevent Lee from participating in the Hundred, but was concerned with a perceived lack of discipline, including not being on time for the team schedule and having a disrupting influence on others. Efforts to bring Lee in line with her team-mates were attempted but failed, leading to her retirement. Sources confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that CSA is willing to provide NOCs to all its players contracted to teams in the Hundred, as usual. The tournament does not clash with any of South Africa’s other engagements.Related
Marizanne Kapp: Lizelle Lee's retirement has been 'mentally tough' for South Africa
Lizelle Lee, leading woman cricketer in the world in 2021
Lizelle Lee retires from international cricket
Lee, who missed South Africa’s recently completed series in Ireland as she recovered from Covid-19, travelled to England and played in the one-off Test. She also played in the warm-up match against England A on July 4. Four days later, she announced her retirement, which blindsided everyone from Marizanne Kapp to Moreeng. “The retirement came as a shock for everyone. It’s not anything anyone expected to happen, especially on a tour that we were looking forward to,” Moreeng said. “It caught everyone by surprise.”Moreeng went on to praise Lee’s contribution over the last nine years, which included two Tests, 100 ODIs and 82 T20Is and, at one stage saw her ranked No.1 in the world among batters in ODI cricket.”Like she highlighted in her statement, she has given her all for the country, she’s enjoyed it and we also enjoyed having her as a player, the players have enjoyed having her as a team-mate and she had an incredible career,” Moreeng said. “At the end of the day, we need to respect the player’s decision although it is tough on everyone, because we didn’t foresee it was going to happen so quickly. We knew that one of these days it’s going to happen and now it’s for us to respect it and just give her some space. She’s made her decision. We thank her for the time she has given to the Proteas and she will always be remembered as one of those that played incredible cricket for the country.”Lee’s absence has affected South Africa’s batting and headspace, as Kapp confirmed after their loss on Friday night. South Africa have been bowled out for under 225 in both matches and their line-up has appeared listless. Moreeng recognised their shortcomings but stressed that it would be difficult to find someone in Lee’s mould immediately.”To try and replace Lizelle is not something that can happen overnight. There are players that are capable and they can still take the game forward but they need to be scoring consistently,” he said. “Lizelle is not a player you can replace overnight because of how explosive and dynamic she was. In the future hopefully we will find a similar player who can go out and be as explosive as her.”
Phoenix batter downplays efforts, suggests Henry Brookes deserved match award
ECB Reporters Network11-Aug-2022Will Smeed expressed his joy at becoming the first-ever centurion in the Hundred’s history, after his stunning 101 not out helped Birmingham Phoenix to a dominant 53-run victory over men’s champions Southern Brave at Edgbaston.The 20-year-old struck his ton from just 50 balls to make him the owner of the highest individual total in the 100-ball format, eclipsing the 92 made by both Liam Livingstone and Jemimah Rodrigues last season.”I never really felt like I was close to a hundred until right at the very end,” he said. “I knew they were going to bowl wide to me, and I just tried to hit the ball.”I think my role is to just try and smack it at the top. I didn’t get off to a flier but I caught up and kept going from there.”Smeed, who recently made his England Lions debut against South Africa, was keen to heap the praise onto his teammates.”Everyone stuck their hand up today, everyone’s doing their job,” he said. “It felt like we were above par, it felt like if we bowled well and fielded well and stuck to our plans, we’d win the game, and we obviously saw that.”The way we’re set up, we’re looking to play positive, so if a few people can come off every game then that should leave us in a good position. There’s a lot of belief in the group that everyone playing can do a job for the team.”Will Smeed leaves the field of play unbeaten on 101•ECB/Getty Images
Seamer Henry Brookes took 5 for 20 on his Hundred debut, and player of match Smeed wasted no time in making sure his efforts didn’t go unnoticed.”Brooksy bowled amazingly. I feel like I’ve stolen [the award] off Brooksy,” he chuckled. “He got five wickets and two catches, but it’s a team game at the end of the day and we’ve all contributed. He should get all the plaudits.”The England prospect is now – quite understandably – looking forward to continuing his side’s momentum for the rest of the competition.”It was nice to get going, obviously we didn’t lose a game here [at Edgbaston] last year so let’s keep that going,” he said. “We had a couple of training sessions and that sort of made me feel good again, so whether we’re playing or training I don’t really mind.”
Australia quick Tayla Vlaeminck has returned to Melbourne Renegades, signing a two-year deal despite the fact she is unavailable for next season’s WBBL due to a foot stress fracture.Vlaeminck returns to Renegades where she started her WBBL career and played three seasons before moving to Hobart Hurricanes. She has returned to Melbourne to rejoin close friends Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham at the club.”I’m really excited that I’ve decided to come back to the Renegades,” Vlaeminck said. “It’s enticing to be back at home and close to family and friends. I’ve grown up with ‘Soph’ and ‘Wolf’ and a lot of the girls. I obviously played at the Renegades with a lot of the girls beforehand as well, so I know everyone really well and hopefully, it’s going to be an easy transition back into the team.”Vlaeminck has been ruled out of cricket for a year following another navicular stress fracture in her foot which she suffered in January during the early stages of the Ashes and meant she missed the ODI World Cup. It was the second consecutive global event injury had curtailed for her after she withdrew from the 2020 T20 World Cup.She will not play in the WBBL for Renegades in the first year of her two-year deal but will rehab under their watch. Part of her recovery to strengthen her feet has included working with The Australian Ballet.”We’re starting to make good progress now, which is nice,” Vlaeminck said. “I obviously won’t be playing this season but hopefully I’ll be able to contribute off the field, still get around the girls and help out some of the bowlers and look to play the following year, which is exciting.””Training at the ballet is something completely different…it’s been kind of cool to get into a different high-performance environment to see how that works and grab a few little things here and there which I can hopefully bring back to cricket.”Melbourne Renegades general manager James Rosengarten said Vlaeminck’s signing was a long-term investment.”Tayla won’t play this year as she continues her recovery, but we’re committed to supporting her through this period,” Rosengarten said. “She already has strong relationships at the club and we know she will be a great asset to our group off the field too.”Our list strategy is not only about building our squad for WBBL08, but to set us up to challenge over a sustained period. To have the likes of Tayla, Sophie and Georgia locked in beyond this season is fantastic and we look forward to adding more talent ahead of the season.”
Arsenal were denied a famous victory at The Etihad on Sunday as John Stones struck in the 98th minute to secure a 2-2 draw for Manchester City. There was a full Gunners debut for Riccardo Calafiori at left-back and it was a mixed evening for the Italy international, who arrived from Bologna in the summer.
Savinho beat him with ease on the half-turn to set up Erling Haaland for the opener but he reacted to that by scoring a stunning goal from distance to level the game at 1-1.
Calafiori started due to a slight injury concern with Ben White, who then came on at half-time, and the England international is not the only player Mikel Arteta may be worried about.
Latest Arsenal injury news
After the 2-2 draw with City, the Spanish head coach revealed that his coaching staff did not want the versatile English defender to feature at The Etihad, but they turned to him at the break after Leandro Trossard’s sending-off. White made it through to the end of the match without any major issues, fitness-wise, and Arsenal will now be hoping to have him fully fit for their next Premier League clash with Leicester City.
However, the Gunners may have a new injury concern to be worried about after goalkeeper David Raya was spotted limping with a bandage around his knee after the match.
The Spaniard has a wrapping around his right knee and was not walking comfortably, whilst declining to speak to reporters in the mixed zone. The former Brentford man did drop to the floor before a goal kick in the second half and needed treatment on the pitch, which gave Arteta a chance to speak with his players. Hopefully, the bandage was a precaution.
Losing David Raya would be a big blow
If Arsenal do end up being without Raya for any period of time, it would be a blow for the Premier League giants as he has been in fantastic form this season.
The 29-year-old stopper made a whopping nine saves in the 2-2 draw with City and came into that game off the back of an extraordinary double save against Atalanta in the Champions League.
He has kept three clean sheets and prevented 1.36 xG in five appearances in the Premier League so far this season, whilst his ability to claim crosses has also been extremely valuable for Arsenal.
Last 365 days (Big 5 leagues + European competitions)
David Raya
Percentile rank vs goalkeepers
Goals against per 90
0.76
Top 1%
Clean sheet percentage
48.9%
Top 1%
Percentage of crosses stopped
12.1%
Top 1%
Average distance of defensive actions
16.9 yards
Top 8%
Stats via FBref
As you can see in the table above, Raya ranks incredibly highly against his positional peers in the top leagues across Europe in a number of key statistics, including claiming crosses. The Spaniard is quick off his line to sweep up danger, whether that is from through balls to crosses, to take some of the pressure off William Saliba and Gabriel.
Therefore, losing a player of his immense quality, as a shot-stopper and a dominant force in the box, would be a blow for Arteta and his defence.
Fewer touches than Raya: Arteta must drop 3/10 Arsenal star after Man City
Not everyone in red and white was up to the task against Manchester City.
Real Madrid have sent a letter to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) complaining about refereeing standards after their 1-0 loss to Espanyol.
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Madrid lost in controversial Espanyol clash
Club sent letter demanding refereeing reforms
Called for officials to be removed
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WHAT HAPPENED?
La Liga leaders Madrid lost 1-0 through a late goal from Carlos Romero, who was lucky to escape a red card earlier in the second half for a harsh challenge on Kylian Mbappe. Espanyol committed 14 fouls to Madrid's three and were given two yellow cards over the 90 minutes at the RCDE Stadium on Saturday.
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
Madrid have since sent an official letter of complaint to Spanish football's governing body saying that the refereeing system is being "discredited" by decisions that the club argue have gone beyond "human error". The letter also called for the audio recordings of various VAR reviews during the match.
WHAT REAL MADRID SAID
"The events that occurred in this match have exceeded any margin for human error or referee interpretation. What happened at the RCDE Stadium represents the culmination of a completely discredited refereeing system, in which decisions against Real Madrid have reached a level of manipulation and adulteration of the competition that can no longer be ignored. The two most serious refereeing decisions in this match have once again revealed the double standards with which Real Madrid is refereed," the letter states.
"The brutal challenge on Kylian Mbappe, from behind, on the calf and with no possibility of contesting the ball, carried out in the 60th minute of the match by the Espanyol player who would later end up scoring the winning goal for his team, deserving of immediate expulsion as highlighted by the world press, ended with the decision of the referee, Alejandro Muniz Ruiz, to only show a yellow card without the VAR, with Javier Iglesias Villanueva as responsible, intervening to correct a manifestly erroneous decision, leaving unpunished an aggression that in any other competition would have been an exemplary sanction."
The complaint continued: "Real Madrid cannot accept that the competition continues to be governed by a discredited refereeing system, whose main officials, far from being removed, continue to exercise decisive functions in decision-making. It is not enough to make superficial changes or to replace some directors; the only way to restore the credibility of Spanish refereeing requires a comprehensive reform that includes, as an essential element, the replacement of those referees whose connection with stages under suspicion compromises the legitimacy of the system and perpetuates its lack of transparency."
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WHAT NEXT FOR MADRID?
The Spanish giants will await a reply from the RFEF and hope that reforms are soon adopted. Despite the controversial loss, Madrid are still top of La Liga and a point clear of Atletico Madrid, who they face on Saturday just three days after they meet Leganes in the Copa del Rey.
The decision will allow the batter to play tournaments like the Road Safety Series and overseas T20 leagues
ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2022Suresh Raina, the former India and Uttar Pradesh batter, has announced his retirement from “all formats of cricket,” confirming the end of his IPL and India domestic career. Raina, 35, had already retired from international cricket, announcing that decision on August 15, 2020 shortly after MS Dhoni had retired.”It has been an absolute honour to represent my country & state UP. I would like to announce my retirement from all formats of cricket,” Raina posted on Twitter on Tuesday.The decision will allow Raina to play tournaments like the Road Safety Series, for which he has already been confirmed, as well as overseas T20 leagues. “I want to continue playing cricket for two or three years,” he was quoted as saying by . “There are some exciting youngsters who are coming through the ranks of Uttar Pradesh cricket. I have already taken my No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA). I have informed BCCI secretary Jay Shah and vice-president Rajiv Shukla about my decision.”I will play in the Road Safety Series. T20 franchises from South Africa, Sri Lanka and UAE have contacted me but I am yet to take any decision.”Raina had not played any first-class or list A cricket since 2018, and his last IPL game was in October 2021. Raina was a key figure for the Chennai Super Kings, whom he represented for 11 seasons between 2008 and 2021. He won four titles with CSK in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021 and still remains their top-scorer with 4687 runs from 176 matches. He was released by Chennai Super Kings ahead of the 2022 player auction, where he was not bought by any of the ten franchises.Raina retires having scored 6871 runs in 109 first-class games, 8078 runs in 302 list A games, and 8654 runs in 336 T20 matches. He began his senior domestic career for UP back in 2002-03, and made his international debut in 2005. Raina played 226 ODIs, 78 T20Is and 18 Tests for India, and was part of the squad that won the ODI World Cup in 2011. He was the first Indian batter to score a century in all three international formats.
كشف هشام آيت منا رئيس نادي الوداد المغربي، حقيقة المفاوضات لضم البرتغالي كريستيانو رونالدو لاعب نادي النصر، للمشاركة مع الفريق المغربي في كأس العالم للأندية.
وسيشارك نادي الوداد المغربي في بطولة كأس العالم للأندية التي تقام في منتصف الشهر المقبل، بالولايات المتحدة الإمريكية، ممثلاً عن القارة الإفريقية بجانب أندية الأهلي والترجي التونسي وصن داونز الجنوب إفريقي.
ويوجد الوداد المغربي في المجموعة السابعة بكأس العالم للأندية 2025، مع أندية مانشستر سيتي الإنجليزي ويوفنتوس الإيطالي والعين الإماراتي.
طالع | تقارير: الوداد يتعاقد مع صفقة جديدة لتدعيم صفوفه قبل كأس العالم للأندية
وقال هشام آيت منا خلال تصريحات عبر صحيفة “الاقتصادية السعودية: “النادي على استعداد لفتح أبوابه أمام كريستيانو رونالدو لاعب نادي النصر، للمشاركة في بطولة كأس العالم للأندية 2025، بشرط ترجيب النجم البرتغالي بالانضمام إلينا، دون شروط مالية ضخمة”.
وأضاف: “من المستحيل تحمل نفس قيمة راتب رونالدو الحالي مع النصر (نحو 16 مليون يورو شهريا)، لكن أهلًا به إذا أراد الانضمام إلينا في كأس العالم للأندية لأننا نعرف أنه نجم ليس هدفه حصد الأموال فقط”.
وأكمل: “إذا كانت لدينا فرصة 1 بالمليار للتعاقد مع رونالدو لخوض مونديال الأندية، فسنتحرك من أجلها”.
يذكر، أن عقد رونالدو ينتهي مع النصر بنهاية الموسم الجاري، ويتقاضى اللاعب 200 مليون يورو سنويًا كأغلى راتب في تاريخ كرة القدم.
da betway： Celtic moved back to the top of the Scottish Premiership table on Sunday with a convincing 3-0 win over Motherwell away from Parkhead at Fir Park.
da luck： The Hoops had temporarily dropped down to second in the division after Aberdeen had won their eighth match of the season on Sunday, but they have returned to the top on goal difference.
Goals from Luke McCowan, Alistair Johnston, and Adam Idah were enough to secure all three points for the Scottish giants against Motherwell, as they kept yet another clean sheet.
Kasper Schmeichel has now kept seven clean sheets in nine Premiership games for the Hoops since his move to the club on a free transfer from Anderlecht in the summer transfer window.
He was relatively untroubled against Motherwell, making just two saves in total to keep a clean sheet, and did not have to do all that much to preserve the shut-out.
Kasper Schmeichel
This meant that the Denmark international was not one of the top performers on the day for Brendan Rodgers, as a number of other players took centre stage for the Bhoys.
Celtic's top performers against Motherwell
McCowan was handed a big opportunity to shine from the start after an injury to Callum McGregor opened up a space for him in the middle of the park.
The Scottish dynamo, signed from Dundee in the summer, certainly grasped his chance – scoring a brilliant goal to open the scoring for Celtic, weaving inside and out of challenges before finding the bottom corner.
He also completed 100% (2/2) of his attempted dribbles and created one chance for his teammates in the rest of his 75 minutes on the pitch.
The other star of the show for Celtic was the captain for the day – Johnston. The Canada international did score, with a header, in the second half but it was his defensive showing that really caught the eye.
Vs Motherwell
Alistair Johnston
Sofascore rating
9.0
Duels won
8/10
Tackles won
4
Interceptions
1
Dribbled past
1x
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, the right-back was dominant in his defensive duels, winning 80% of his physical contests, and was only dribbled past once.
The former MLS star also created one ‘big chance’ for his teammates, that they failed to take, and could have come away from the match with an assist to go along with his goal.
Whilst Johnston and McCowan were the stars of the show for Rodgers, there was at least one Celtic player who did not show the best of his abilities – Kyogo Furuhashi.
Kyogo Furuhashi's performance against Motherwell in numbers
The Japan international was selected to lead the line on Sunday and struggled to make an impact at the top end of the pitch, whilst also offering very little in the build-up.
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It is no secret that Kyogo is not a traditional centre-forward who is going to hold the ball up and win flick-ons, or battle defenders to link play for his teammates.
This means that his final actions at the top end of the pitch need to be telling when he does get involved to make up for that. Unfortunately, that was not the case against Motherwell.
Vs Motherwell
Kyogo Furuhashi
Minutes played
75
Passes made
1/3
Shots
4
Assists
0
Big chances created
0
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, Kyogo only completed one pass in 75 minutes on the pitch, failing with his other two attempts, and took four shots without scoring.
The Japanese attacker managed one shot on target and saw the other three blocked, whilst he also had fewer touches (ten) than goalkeeper Schmeichel (37), which illustrates his lack of impact.
These statistics show that the 29-year-old striker had a difficult day at the office, as his decision-making and quality in the final third left a bit to be desired and he failed to get involved in the build-up, with his one pass.
The experienced forward was then upstaged by the man who replaced him for the final 15 minutes of the match, as Adam Idah caught the eye off the bench.
Signed from Norwich in the summer, the Irish marksman scored, with a composed close-range finish, completed all four of his attempted passes and created a ‘big chance’ in those 15 minutes.
Rodgers must now consider brutally ditching Kyogo from the starting XI after a few underwhelming displays from the attacker in recent weeks.
Why Celtic should drop Kyogo Furuhashi
The right-footed striker should be taken out of the line-up when the Hoops face Dundee at Parkhead in the Premiership on Wednesday night.
He has produced one goal and one assist, both of which came in the first half against Aberdeen, in his last five appearances in all competitions for the Hoops.
Kyogo Furuhashi
Kyogo completed 12 passes in those five outings and this shows that the attacker has not offered much outside of his work in the final third, which has also been lacking aside from the opening 45 against the Dons at Parkhead.
Therefore, Rodgers must ruthlessly ditch the striker from the starting XI and offer an opportunity to Idah to lead the line in the Premiership on Wednesday night, hopefully motivating Kyogo to fight hard to win his place back for the game against Dundee United at the weekend.
24/25 Premiership
Adam Idah
Appearances
7
Starts
2
Goals
2
Big chances created
1
Passes made per game
4.7
Aerial duels won
60%
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, Idah has shown promise in his limited minutes on the pitch this season, with two goals in two starts in the Premiership.
He has also averaged more passes completed per game (4.7) than Kyogo (4.4) has managed in seven starts out of nine games, which suggests that the Irishman offers more to the team in build-play play.
His aerial duel success rate also shows that Idah is a valuable asset to Celtic when they need to play longer passes under pressure, as he has the physical qualities to win headers and hold the ball up.
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Therefore, Rodgers must now ditch Kyogo from the starting XI to give his number nine a chance to stake a claim for his place in the team moving forward against Dundee.
The UAE’s excitement over hosting the IPL has been well documented, but the fuss expected on the eve of the opening match was rather muffled
Karthik Krishnaswamy in Abu Dhabi15-Apr-2014It’s hard to tell if it’s one hoarding or two. They are the same size, they sit next to each other, and they share the instantly identifiable colour scheme of the same soft drink brand. Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Robin van Persie, Jack Wilshere, Sergio Ramos and David Luiz strike menacing poses in one of them, while Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Shane Watson and Rohit Sharma smile out of the other.All the above names are, in their own way, superstars. But the difference between the two groups of faces can be summed up very simply. The cricketers probably know all there is to know about the footballers, and follow their careers closely. The footballers are unlikely to have heard of the cricketers.What does it say, though, that the two worlds have collided on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road? How big, and how visible, is the IPL in its new, temporary home?The eve of the tournament provided conflicting answers to that question. It had taken over Gulf News’ sports supplement, filling up its centre-spread and the pages either side of it. There was no mention of it, though, in the evening sports bulletin on , which instead focused on the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, and news of Red Bull Racing’s failed appeal against the disqualification of one of its drivers at the Australian Grand Prix.One plausible explanation is the difference in target audience. And understandably so in a society as massively multicultural as the UAE’s.On Tuesday evening at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, players, backroom staff and a special list of invitees waited to board coaches that would whisk them away to an undisclosed location where, rumour had it, they would be entertained by Bollywood’s most famous names at a private dinner.In India, on days such as this, reasonably large crowds of fans mill around hotels to catch a glimpse of the players. Here, only a scattering of Indian expatriates hung around, despite the fact that the papers had been full of news about this tournament-eve party. It seemed that attending the matches – most of the early games are sold out – and watching the cricket would be more than enough IPL for Abu Dhabi’s cricket fans.At one point, Virat Kohli (carrying his suit on a hanger), MS Dhoni, Kevin Pietersen, Shane Watson, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir walked out of the hotel entrance and strolled down towards its lawns to catch a glimpse of the skyscrapers, backlit by the setting sun, on the opposite side of the road. They went more or less unmolested, and the handful of camera-toting enthusiasts who followed them quickly gave way when a security guard gestured with a hefty arm.A group of Russian tourists sat on the steps as the cricketers walked past, completely oblivious to who they might have been. It must have been refreshing, but also a touch unsettling, for the players. It certainly wouldn’t have happened to Messi, Aguero and van Persie.Asked what the evening promised, a former India player said Shah Rukh Khan was expected perform. Turning to a friend by his side, the cricketer added: “I hope it gets over soon.”