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Manchester City are racing a number of other Premier League sides for an “insane” midfielder, whose club are now demanding €60m (£51m) for his services, according to a report.

City set sights on new midfielders

Pep Guardiola is expected to continue the rebuild of his squad this summer, given their drop-off in the Premier League, although they still have a good chance to make a success of the campaign by winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Champions League.

One area in which Guardiola is keen to strengthen is midfield, with Kevin De Bruyne set to leave at the end of the season, and the Blues are preparing to make a super offer for River Plate attacking midfielder Franco Mastantuono.

There may also be a desire to overhaul the central midfield options, given that Ilkay Gundogan is in the twilight years of his career at 34, while Mateo Kovacic is set to turn 31 in just a few days’ time.

Development: Man City now close in on move to sign "world-class" £54m star

The Blues have received a boost in their pursuit of a defender, who they are expected to make a move for this summer.

ByDominic Lund Apr 29, 2025

Galatasaray’s Gabriel Sara has recently emerged as a surprise target, with the Blues making contact over a deal for the Brazilian, and they also have their eye on a Bundesliga star.

That is according to a report from Germany (via Sport Witness), which states Man City are now racing a number of their Premier League rivals for Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Hugo Larsson.

A deal for Larsson will be on the relatively expensive side, however, with the report stating that Frankfurt are set to hold out for a fee of €60m (£51m) for his services.

Frankfurt are keen to keep hold of the Swedish maestro, but it may be difficult to turn down a big offer from one of the Premier League’s top clubs, with Arsenal and Liverpool also in the race for his signature.

"Insane" Larsson compared to Gundogan

Football scout Ben Mattinson has compared the 20-year-old to Gundogan, claiming he is “similar” to the German midfielder due to his ability to make late runs into the box and score goals.

Scoring goals is clearly the Sweden international’s forte, given that he ranks in the 90th percentile for non-penalty goals per 90 over the past year, when compared to his positional peers, but there are signs that he is a well-rounded midfielder.

Mattinson claims the youngster has “insane running power & stamina”, while also singling him out for praise due to his ability to win back possession.

With Gundogan now in the latter stages of his career, Guardiola may be keen on bringing in a like-for-like replacement, and there are plenty of signs that Larsson could be exactly that.

Like every IPL season, this one too had players grabbing their opportunities and making a name

Ashish Pant27-May-2024Phil SaltPhil Salt went unsold at the auction and might not even have been part of IPL 2024 had Jason Roy not pulled out of his Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) gig. Along with Sunil Narine at the top, Salt was responsible for getting KKR off to blazing starts. He hit 296 of his 435 runs inside the powerplay, at a strike rate of 185.00. His approach didn’t change much in the middle overs, where he struck at 175.94. Salt finished the season as KKR’s second-highest run-getter and played a critical role in taking them to the playoffs as the top team in the league stage.Mayank Yadav left a lasting impression despite playing just four games in the season•BCCIMayank YadavAfter playing just four matches across two seasons for Mumbai Indians (MI), 23-year-old Tristan Stubbs was picked up by Delhi Capitals (DC) at the auction and became their designated finisher straightaway. Stubbs was DC’s second-highest run-getter in IPL 2024, smashing 378 at a strike rate of 190.90 while averaging 54.00.Related

Harshit Rana credits Gautam Gambhir for his success 'above everyone else'

IPL 2024 – have batters ever had it better?

Stubbs – superb against spin, destructive at the death

Jake Fraser-McGurk, the ideal T20 batter

A top-order whirlwind India has never seen before

The newest version of the 360-degree player, Stubbs found runs in all corners of the ground, and with power. He was as brutal on the pull or slog sweep as on the cover drive or reverse and as proficient against pace (strike rate of 198.30) as against spin (180.00).Stubbs finished with a death-overs strike rate of 297.33 – the highest for any batter with a minimum of 100 runs in an IPL season. Between overs 17 and 20, Stubbs faced a total of 75 balls, of which only two were dots.Harshit Rana excelled with the ball in all phases•Associated PressHarshit RanaRarely has a youngster made an impact on an IPL season as quickly as Jake Fraser-McGurk did this year. The 22-year-old was picked by DC two weeks into the season as a replacement for Lungi Ngidi, and he swiftly turned all eyes towards him. He faced all of 141 balls this season and still finished as DC’s third-highest run-getter with 330 runs at a barely believable strike rate of 234.04.Fraser-McGurk struck four fifties: two off 15 balls, one off 19, and his slowest coming off 31 balls – that was on IPL debut. He finished with a powerplay strike rate of 250.94, the highest for any batter to have played two overs or more in the phase.A staggering 296 of Fraser-McGurk’s 330 runs came in boundaries (32 fours and 28 sixes). “If I get ones and twos, it’s only either because I’ve mis-hit it or maybe it’s the last ball of the over,” he said after his 27-ball 84 against MI. A boundary percentage of 89.70 is solid proof of that.Shashank Singh helped Punjab Kings achieve the highest successful chase in a men’s T20•BCCIShashank Singh”Shashank Singh” had left Punjab Kings confused at the auction, but there were not doubts about his abilities once he got going in IPL 2024. One of the few bright sparks for PBKS, Shashank finished the season as their highest run-getter with 354 runs in 14 games, striking at 164.65. He first showed his finishing skills against Gujarat Titans with an unbeaten 29-ball 61 before threatening to pull off another win against SRH five days later with a 46 not out off 25 balls, only to see his team fall short by two runs. Shashank’s finishing act of a 28-ball 68 not out against KKR was key to PBKS overhauling the highest-ever T20 target of 262.Travis Head was unstoppable in the powerplay in the league stage this season•AFP/Getty ImagesTravis HeadIt’s unusual to see someone who has been in the international circuit for eight years and has scored centuries in the WTC final and the ODI World Cup final on this list. But such has been Travis Head’s IPL graph that 2024 was the first year where he truly broke through in this competition.Before this, Head played two seasons in 2016 and 2017 with meagre returns. This year, along with Abhishek Sharma, he revolutionised powerplay batting. The highest run-getter for SRH, Head struck 567 runs this season at 191.55. Of these, 402 came in the first six overs at a strike rate of 208.29. No other batter scored more runs than Head in the phase and he didn’t even start the season for SRH.Head holds the record for three of the four fastest fifties by an SRH batter, while his century against RCB off 39 balls was the fourth-fastest in IPL history.Some shots might not have been textbook, but Abishek Porel was extremely effective for Capitals•BCCIAbishek PorelAbishek Porel came in as an Impact Sub at No. 9 in DC’s first match of the season and scored an unbeaten 32 off ten balls. Since then, the 21-year-old became a regular in the DC set-up and made the most of the opportunities at the top of the order, even keeping Prithvi Shaw out of the team. Porel ended the season with two fifties in his last three innings – a 65 off 36 balls against RR and 58 off 33 balls against Lucknow Super Giants, both coming in winning causes. In all, Porel scored 327 runs in 12 innings, at an average of 32.70 and strike rate of 159.51, finishing as DC’s fourth-highest run-scorer.Nitish Kumar Reddy has impressed with his ability as well as athleticism•BCCINitish Kumar ReddyNitish Reddy is only 21, but has shown enough proof of how good an all-round player he can be. In just his second innings of the season, he scored a crucial 37-ball 64 against PBKS, a game that SRH won by a narrow two-run margin. He also played a key role in SRH’s one-run win in a group game against RR at home, scoring 76 not out off 42 balls in the first innings. In all, Reddy recorded 303 runs in 11 innings, averaging 33.66 and striking at 142.92. He also picked up three wickets with his medium pace.The other thing on Reddy’s side is that he is a terrific outfielder and supremely fit. In a video posted on the SRH social handles, he was seen racing against Glenn Phillips, and came up short only by a whisker.

The opener’s 137 in Durban was an exercise in patience, sticking to the plan, and great mental strength

Mohammad Isam02-Apr-2022Mahmudul Hasan Joy was born in Chandpur on November 13, 2000, the same day Bangladesh crashed to 91 all out and lost their inaugural Test in Dhaka, some 115 kilometres away to the north.It was an uplifting time, Bangladesh had just become the ICC’s tenth Full Member. But the cricket team has had to evolve considerably over the years, in fits and starts, and has taken a long time to compete with the higher-ranked teams. So, when 21 years on, Mahmudul dominated South Africa in Durban, it was a giant leap forward, especially for Bangladesh batting.The 137 was Mahmudul’s second significant knock for Bangladesh. After his 78 in Mount Maunganui blunted the New Zealand attack for close to five hours. Then, it allowed Bangladesh to bat big, and keep New Zealand under their thumb for the rest of the game. He missed the rest of the Test series because of a finger injury, so this effort at Kingsmead was his next Test innings.Mahmudul picked up where he had left off in Mount Maunganui, batting time, letting plenty of balls go, and forcing the bowlers to bowl to him. He was the last man out with Bangladesh on 298, having batted for seven hours and 22 minutes this time. There was not one phase of the innings when he didn’t play according to the situation or the team’s blueprint. Not many batters could really give him the necessary support, but Mahmudul kept his part of the bargain.

“We are really proud of the way he batted. Batting through the whole innings is special for Bangladesh. I am not sure there have been many better innings for Bangladesh in Test cricket”Jamie Siddons

The TV commentators talked about how he had changed tactics on the third morning by attacking Simon Harmer, South Africa’s best bowler on the second day. Despite being an opener, Mahmudul farmed the strike smartly with the tail. And his attack on Wiaan Mulder at the end added priceless runs for Bangladesh, who only conceded a 69-run first-innings lead. What went somewhat under the radar was how Mahmudul soaked up the pressure when Najmul Hossain Shanto got stuck at one end against Harmer for a long period during their 55-run stand for the second wicket.Those were all impressive performances at different phases of the game. Other young Bangladesh openers, over the years, have shown little stomach for a fight in any of those junctures, let alone four or five of them. Mahmudul looks like he is made quite differently.There will, of course, always be an asterisk next to this show, since South African are without their top bowlers. But Mahmudul is playing his first Test in South Africa, and that’s important to note.”Things might have fallen into place for him with the spinners having to bowl most of the afternoon yesterday,” Jamie Siddons, Bangladesh’s batting coach, said afterwards. “There was only ten overs of new-ball bowling. But you rarely see his levels of patience from our batsmen. There’s always some loose batting. Although in this innings, the batsmen didn’t play a bad shot to get out. It was all really good bowling and one bad run-out. Everyone was patient and played to their strength.”Mahmudul manipulated the field quite well. He hit over the top when the field was up. When they put a fielder back, he knocked it for one. He believed he could bat for six hours. All the young players have self-belief. We just need bigger scores more often from them.”Mahmudul Hasan Joy was last man out, after scoring 137 runs•Gallo Images/Getty ImagesHaving arrived in Bangladesh only in early February this year, Siddons hasn’t seen much of Mahmudul apart from a few knocks in the BPL and net sessions in Gary Kirsten’s cricket academy in Cape Town ahead of this Test series.”I am only here for two months, and he is one of the boys who really caught my eye in terms of talent, work ethic and patience when he bats – the dedication to working on his game,” Siddons said. “I think it is only his second [third] Test, so no one really knows a lot about him, unless you’ve been watching Bangladesh’s domestic cricket.”Today’s innings was one of patience and a great game plan. He stuck to what he knows. He didn’t try to play any expansive shots that weren’t in his repertoire. We are really proud of the way he batted. Batting through the whole innings is special for Bangladesh. I am not sure there have been many better innings for Bangladesh in Test cricket.”The first glimpse of Mahmudul’s mental strength was during his match-winning century against New Zealand in the 2020 Under-19 World Cup semi-final, in South Africa. It was the first time Bangladesh had reached the tournament final, which they went on to win. Test captain Mominul Haque said a couple of months back that the 78 against New Zealand suggested Bangladesh had a “superstar” in their midst.If you have followed Bangladesh’s cricket in recent years, Mominul’s hyperbole wouldn’t seem out of place. Finding an opening partner for Tamim Iqbal has been a long-drawn search, and the right result has never really come. Of late, Tamim’s absence has given the likes of Mohammad Naim, Shadman Islam and Saif Hassan opportunities, but none of them could grab those like Mahmudul has. If he can stay the course, he could well be the answer to one of the Bangladesh team’s biggest problems.

Oftentimes, after MLB managers are ejected, the absolute last thing you'll hear from them is some sort of mea culpa:

It just doesn't happen.

But something to that effect occurred following the Red Sox' 4-1 loss to the Houston Astros on Wednesday, during which Boston's manager Alex Cora was ejected in the seventh inning.

Cora's protestations began in the top of the sixth inning with Astros righthander Hunter Brown on the mound. After Brown walked Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, he was called for a balk. Two batters later, Brown switched from the full windup to the stretch mid at-bat, prompting the Red Sox to object to ultimately no avail.

An inning later, Cora emerged from the dugout to further discuss the call—or lack thereof—with the umpires, who then ejected him. Cora explained what led him to emerge from the dugout and even surprisingly admitted that the umpires were correct in their ruling.

"First of all, they got it right," Cora said. "They got the call right. The only thing for me is that we've seen that situation before, that guys who have a regular windup and they ask the guys to declare. You don’t have to declare if you have a hybrid windup; that’s when you have to declare, because that way you’re not deceiving the runner.

"But throughout the last two years, we’ve seen situations that is a regular windup, and they’ve asked the pitcher to declare, that was the only thing. I went out there to educate myself to be honest with you. That’s what I told him. I want to learn. I don’t know if he took it that I was being sarcastic. I wasn’t. I was walking back, and he threw me out.”

Cora's ejection seemed to stem from a miscommunication with the umpire, as he insisted to reporters after the game that he wasn't trying to get tossed from the contest.

"…I hate getting thrown out," Cora continued. "My job is to be in the dugout and help this team to win games from the dugout. This whole thing about rallying the troops and getting thrown out—that's bull—-. My job is to be in the dugout…"

Heat’s only point came from an abandoned fixture while Thunder have just three wins from nine matches

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2025A half-century from Phoebe Litchfield trumped Sarah Glenn’s four-for to secure a win for Sydney Thunder over Brisbane Heat. Set 154 to chase, Heat never looked in contention to chase the target – they were reduced to 10 for 3, then 30 for 4, inside the first half of their innings.To add to Heat’s troubles, Chinelle Henry retired hurt on 10 after she was hit on the jaw by a Shabnim Ismail bouncer. Annie O’Neil provided some late impetus to the chase, scoring 33 off 21. She was caught off the last ball of the innings, giving Georgia Voll her second wicket and Thunder a 23-run win.Heat’s loss keeps them at the bottom of the table, having earned just one point – from an abandoned game – this year.Earlier in the evening, Thunder were victims of a collapse themselves: they were reduced to 33 for 4 right after the powerplay, and 93 for 6 by the 13th over. It was only thanks to Litchfield’s rear-guard effort – she hit eight fours and one six during her 43-ball stay at the crease – that Thunder recovered. She fell in the 17th over, after which, a boundary-laden 26 not out off 19 from Em Arlott took them past the 150-run mark.Heat’s Glenn took three of Thunder’s first four wickets, and finished with figures of 4 for 18 from her four overs. However, she ended up on the losing side.

Gavin Larsen is empowered to brief, advise, collaborate with, and challenge the NZ head coach Rob Walter, who retains the ultimate decision-making authority

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2025Gavin Larsen has been appointed selection manager of New Zealand men, filling the gap left by the departure of Sam Wells. Larsen, in conjunction with head coach Rob Walter, will be responsible for selecting the New Zealand men’s senior team, and the New Zealand A and New Zealand XI squads.”I feel absolutely honoured to be stepping back into the BlackCaps and the national high performance environment,” Larsen said. “I’m hugely passionate about cricket in this country and to be given another opportunity to contribute at the highest level is really exciting. I can’t wait to get started this summer and hopefully help play a part in continuing the success of the BlackCaps.”Larsen, who played eight Tests and 121 ODIs for New Zealand as a medium pacer between 1990 and 1999, was the chief executive of Cricket Wellington and the cricket operations manager ahead of the 2015 ODI World Cup, held in Australia and New Zealand, before being appointed New Zealand’s selection manager from 2015 to 2023. He then took on the role of performance director at Warwickshire County Cricket Club before returning to New Zealand and accepting the role of commercial manager for basketball team Nelson Giants.

“While Rob will make the final decisions as the chief selector, we want Gav preparing him with as much intel as possible, and challenging his thinking and decisions. This requires a strong relationship between the two parties and we’re confident Gav has the soft skills, and the acumen to make it work”Daryl Gibson, NZC chief high-performance officer

NZC chief high-performance officer Daryl Gibson said Larsen would be responsible for managing the selection processes as well as working with domestic scouts and the major association coaches to stay up to date on the domestic scene.”Gavin’s familiarity with the role and his understanding of the requirements played an important part in his appointment,” Gibson said. “But we were also impressed with his passion and energy, and his desire to get back into the game and help make a difference.”Gibson confirmed that the selection model would remain unchanged, with Larsen empowered to brief, advise, collaborate with, and challenge Walter, who retains the ultimate decision-making authority.”While Rob will make the final decisions as the chief selector, we want Gav preparing him with as much intel as possible, and challenging his thinking and decisions,” Gibson said. “This requires a strong relationship between the two parties and we’re confident Gav has the soft skills, and the acumen to make it work.”Larsen will begin his role officially on November 3.

The international break came at a good time for Glasgow Rangers boss Danny Rohl, as it has provided him with time to assess his first block of six matches in charge of the club.

Having arrived at Ibrox last month to replace Russell Martin, the former Sheffield Wednesday head coach did not have a pre-season or any real time to assess the squad and what he wants to do moving forward.

The main focus has been on short-term results, which has resulted in three straight wins in the Scottish Premiership, most recently with a 3-0 win over Dundee at Dens Park.

This international break, however, will have provided Rohl and Kevin Thelwell time to sit down and map out the longer-term plan, so that the next steps can be taken to set foot on that path, in the next few weeks and in the January transfer window.

Part of that longer-term plan should include finding a way to create a better pathway from the academy to the first-team so that the Gers can develop homegrown stars, instead of constantly needing to splash money on new signings to bolster the squad.

Unfortunately, there have not been too many recent examples of stars who have broken through from the B team to the first-team to make a name for themselves at Ibrox.

The most valuable former Rangers academy players

Whether it is changes at academy or first-team level, the Light Blues should look to address the lack of quality academy graduates that have come from the youth set-up in recent years.

19-year-old starlet Findlay Curtis has shown promise this season, with a return of three goals in 11 appearances in all competitions, but he has not started any of his four outings in the Premiership, per Transfermarkt.

The Scottish youngster is currently valued at around £400k by Transfermarkt, which is understandable given his lack of starts at first-team level, and that means that he does not rank within the top ten most valuable former Gers academy stars at this moment in time.

Billy Gilmour

£18m

Nathan Patterson

£11m

Greg Taylor

£5m

Ross McCrorie

£2m

Lewis Morgan

£2m

David Bates

£1m

Robbie Ure

£1m

Ryan Hardie

£1m

Malcolm Ebiowei

£1m

Ross McCausland

£1m

As you can see in the table above, the most valuable former academy talent is Napoli central midfielder Billy Gilmour, who is who is worth as much as the next three highest combined.

Unfortunately, the Scotland international did not play a single game for the Light Blues at first-team level because he opted to sign for Chelsea at the age of 15, with a development fee of at least £500k paid to Rangers.

When asked why he decided to move on from Ibrox, Gilmour later said: “It was between Rangers and Chelsea. Most of my family are Rangers fans and I love the club. I’ll always be thankful for everything they did. But when Chelsea showed me my development plan, I couldn’t turn it down. Everything about the club was amazing and it’s where I wanted to be.”

Whilst the pull of a Premier League title winner and regular Champions League contender will always be big, the midfielder’s comments about a ‘development plan’ were interesting.

In The Pipeline

Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.

Without knowing what goes on behind the scenes, it is hard to know whether or not the Gers are doing enough to convince young talent that they have a development plan that will turn them into a star at Ibrox.

One academy graduate who has seemingly not had a clear pathway to being a regular in the first-team is Bailey Rice, which is why Rohl must avoid him becoming a Gilmour repeat.

Why Danny Rohl should unleash Rangers teen Bailey Rice

The Gers youngster is not in the exact same situation as Gilmour, because he is four years older and has had experience in the first-team, but the club may run the risk of him wanting to move on if his lack of game time persists.

Thelwell, as shown in the graphic above, made it clear on Saturday that he wants the talented academy graduates at the club to be given chances at Ibrox, but that has not happened for Rice this season.

The 19-year-old star has played 45 minutes of football, against Alloa Athletic in the League Cup, for the Light Blues in the 2025/26 campaign, which means that he has not played a single minute in the Premiership.

In the summer transfer window, Rangers swooped to sign 30-year-old central midfielder Joe Rothwell from Bournemouth to bolster Russell Martin’s options in the defensive and central midfield positions.

That signing has played a part in blocking Rice’s pathway to playing minutes in the Premiership, and the experienced midfielder’s performances so far suggest that they may have been better off giving those chances to the youngster.

Appearances

8

Starts

5

Minutes

412

Goals

0

Assists

1

Tackles + interceptions per game

1.9

Dribbled past per game

0.4x

Ground duel success rate

46%

Aerial duel success rate

50%

As you can see in the table above, Rothwell has offered very little offensively or defensive in the middle of the park in his 412 minutes on the pitch in the league, losing the majority of his overall duels.

The English flop’s struggles suggest that the Gers would have been better off giving those 412 minutes to Rice to benefit his development and put him back on track to becoming a first-team regular, as Thelwell stated that he wants academy players to be given chances.

Rice made his first-team debut as a 16-year-old and was described as “a heck of a player” by former boss Michael Beale, as he made 14 first-team appearances in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 campaigns combined.

After a Europa League clash with Manchester United in January, Rio Ferdinand said that he liked Rice and hailed his composed play and “wonderful” passing in midfield, which shows that he impressed a former Premier League title winner and England international.

The teenage talent has only featured in seven Premiership games, starting once, in the subsequent 11 months, per Sofascore. This means that he has not had ample opportunity to nail down a place in the team.

Therefore, Rohl should avoid another Gilmour situation by finally handing Rice a chance to shine in the Premiership after the international break, to let him learn and develop, rather than continue to play Rothwell, who is at the opposite end of his career and has struggled this season.

£3m Rangers flop is becoming their biggest waste of time since Cortes

Óscar Cortés’ £4.5m move from Lens has been an unmitigated disaster for Rangers, but is their “creative” attacker in danger of becoming a repeat?

Nov 17, 2025

MatériaMais Notícias

A saída de Lucas Veríssimo para o Al-Duhail, do Qatar, pegou todos no Corinthians de surpresa. Mesmo sem o seu principal zagueiro, o Timão venceu o Guarani na estreia do Paulistão, e Mano Menezes exaltou a atuação de Félix Torres.

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

– O que mais me deixa feliz foi a atuação do Torres, que surpreendeu a todos nós, porque ele tinha acabado de chegar e feito poucos treinos com o grupo. Ele estava num ritmo muito bom e pôde ajudar muito a equipe com a qualidade que tem – disse Mano durante coletiva.

O treinador reiterou o discurso de Augusto Melo, afirmando que a permanência de Veríssimo estava encaminhada, e evitou criticar o zagueiro por escolher o futebol do Qatar.

continua após a publicidade

– O Veríssimo é um jogador que a gente tinha tudo alinhado. Ele tinha um contrato em vigor (com a gente) até o meio do ano, mas o futebol tem as suas surpresas — e os contratos que precisam ser respeitados da maneira que eles foram aceitos em outros momentos. O Veríssimo achou que deveria seguir a vida dele. Também seguimos em frente – garantiu Mano.

➡️ Veja os grupos e datas dos confrontos no Paulistão

O Corinthians volta a campo na quarta-feira (24), contra o Ituano, pela segunda rodada do Paulistão.

Shohei Ohtani is now a World Series champion, but it's clear he wants more.

Soon after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win the World Series in five games on Wednesday night, Ohtani ran into Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. He immediately made a promise.

When the Dodgers gave Ohtani and 10-year, $700 million contract, the goal was to win championships. According to , Ohtani found Friedman and said, "Alright. Nine more, nine more."

The nine he's referring to is World Series titles. Ohtani has nine years left on his contract. So the greatest baseball player on the planet was saying his goal is to win a title in each year he plays with the Dodgers.

After that interaction, Friedman said, "In his first year, he won a championship. He's like, 'This is easy. We're just gonna do it again nine more times.'"

It's hard to argue against Ohtani having the best first season with a new franchise in MLB history. He hit .310, with 54 home runs, 130 RBIs, an OPS of 1.036 and he stole 59 bases becoming the first player to ever notch 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. Then, to cap it off, he led his team to a World Series title.

It will be hard for Ohtani to top his 2024 campaign. But if anyone can do it, he can.

Four India A batters scored half-centuries in the second dig after Lions took a 30-run first-innings lead

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Jun-2025

Yashasvi Jaiswal scored an attacking 64•Bipin Patel

In the end, the first unofficial Test in Canterbury was mostly an extended batting session for both teams with bowlers toiling hard on a benign pitch. After England Lions were bowled out on the cusp of the lunch break on Monday having taken a 30-run lead, four India A batters scored brisk half-centuries before the teams agreed to a draw an hour after tea.Those picking some easy runs included the India A opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhimanyu Easwaran, as well as Dhruv Jurel and Nitish Kumar Reddy. Jaiswal and Abhimanyu got off to aggressive starts and got to the 50-mark without breaking much sweat. While Jaiswal would be slightly disappointed about playing a loose stroke for the second time in the match, he did not berate himself on his way out like his captain did.For Abhimanyu, tour matches are a sort of litmus test. He might have played for India A for several years, might have played 100-plus first-class matches, might have been picked in the India squad many times over the last few years, but his Test debut still remains a fair distance away. On the first day, after being asked to bat, Abhimanyu was back in the dressing room about half-hour into the morning, trapped lbw for 8. On Monday, he clipped a four off his legs and looked determined to score quickly and score big.Abhimanyu Easwaran played a stroke-filled innings•Bipin Patel

Lunging forward, he would hit successive fours through the covers against Lions’ seamer Zaman Akhter to move close to a half-century, which he reached with a steer for a single. On 68, though, Abhimanyu attempted to reverse a delivery from legspinner Rehan Ahmed, who pitched it outside leg. It was an erroneous decision as he saw his leg stump uprooted.Jurel, who walked in at one-down, and Reddy enjoyed some batting time before the game was called off. Both players are in the fray for spots in the first Test in Leeds starting June 20. Having missed out on the century by a mere six runs on the first day, Jurel once again showed his free-flowing strokeplay, and is likely to be competing against Karun Nair for a specialist batter’s position in the middle order.Reddy, on the other hand, will look to build on his bowling in the second match against Lions that starts in Northampton from June 6. Though cleared to play in March by the BCCI medical staff after he suffered a side strain, Reddy started to bowl only in the past few weeks and has been since then gradually building his workload. He bowled 14.5 overs in Canterbury while picking up one wicket, that of tailender Eddie Jack.