Schedule for the AFC Women's Volleyball Championship 2026 has been released

Fans are eagerly anticipating the 2027 Cricket World Cup, which will take place in 2027. Despite the impressive performance of the Indian team at the 2023 World Cup, they failed to win the trophy.

However, just 18 months before the upcoming tournament, a new dispute arose due to a decision by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The ICC suddenly changed the format and qualification pathways for the 2027 World Cup.

The Cricket Boards of Scotland and the Netherlands issued a sharp statement criticizing the ICC. Both countries claim that this decision was made without consultation or discussion and effectively puts associated, or smaller, cricket nations at a disadvantage.

Indeed, on July 15, the ICC introduced a new rule for the 2027 World Cup. Although the total number of teams remained at 14, a new super series stage was added before the main round. Under the new rules, the three lowest-ranked teams will first play against each other, and only one of them can advance to the next stage. Then, the remaining 12 teams will be divided into two groups of six. Seven teams from these groups will qualify for the Super 7 stage, followed by semi-finals and a final between the top four teams.

The Netherlands, having shown excellent results at the 2023 World Cup, and the strong European team Scotland believe that this rule closes opportunities for smaller nations. Both boards stated in their declarations that making such significant changes just 18 months before the start of the tournament is completely inappropriate. They noted that while the ICC speaks of spreading cricket globally, it simultaneously denies chances to developing nations. Furthermore, major decisions were made without any discussion with associated nations.

Fans and cricket experts believe that this step by the ICC was taken to ensure the safety of major teams and guarantee broadcaster revenues. This reduces the risk of any major team being eliminated even in the initial stages. However, as a result, the smaller countries that have achieved a high level after many years of hard work will suffer.

The IPL has contributed to the career growth of many players, both in India and around the world. Players who score goals and hit sixes on the field often threw parties after matches. The atmosphere of glamour off the field and the cohesion between players and franchise owners make the IPL special.

Recently, two veterans of the Indian team, Keshav Pujara and Irfan Pathan, shared interesting stories from the early seasons of the IPL and the night parties.

Keshav Pujara, who won the title with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2021, appeared very composed on the field. Besides sports, Pujara was always punctual in his personal life. He recounted that his father had taught him to wake up early since childhood. However, the atmosphere in the IPL was completely different.

According to Pujara, the post-match parties would start around midnight or two in the morning. Being a punctual person, he would arrive first, but the other players would show up closer to three in the morning. Pujara would stay back a bit to sleep in his room, and in the morning, as usual, he would come to the dining hall for breakfast at 7:30 AM.

When Pujara first saw the other players at breakfast early in the morning, he thought they, like him, were used to waking up early. But later he learned the truth: the players weren't sleeping; they came to breakfast right after the night party, unrested, and planned to go to bed after eating.

During this conversation, Pujara also admitted that meeting Shahrukh Khan when he played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) was an important moment for him. On the other hand, Irfan Pathan told a funny story from IPL 2009. At that time, he played for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). The team was losing matches consecutively, and the atmosphere was tense.

At that moment, the team co-owner and Bollywood actress Preeti Jinta offered the players a unique condition to boost morale. Preeti told the team that if they won the next match, she herself would prepare potato porridge for everyone.

This amusing promise worked: the team won the next match, and Preeti Jinta personally prepared the porridge and treated the entire team. Pathan highly appreciated Preeti Jinta, noting that she never lost her composure despite the string of defeats and always maintained the players' morale.

Cabo Verde has awarded boxer David de Pina in recognition of his achievements. This athlete won the bronze medal in the 51 kg category, which is a historic achievement for the country.

The President of the Republic decreed that the athlete be awarded the Medal of Merit of the First Class, emphasizing the need to give due honor to the national boxer David de Pina for his significant achievement, which raised the name of Cabo Verde to the highest level.

The decree also notes that David de Pina's success, hailing from Santa Cruz, Santiago island, was not only the realization of a personal dream achieved through 'great sacrifices and overcoming,' but also an affirmation of the values of excellence and resilience.

The Olympic medal was perceived as a second embodiment of the aspiration that fueled the entire nation, surpassing the personal dream of the athlete from Santa Cruz.

David de Pina became the first Cape Verdean athlete to reach the Olympic podium, winning bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. This occurred despite losing in the semi-finals to Uzbek Hasangboy Dusmatov, as both losers at this stage receive the same medal in boxing.

Portugal was one of the countries that invited David Pina to represent it after the first Olympic medal for Cabo Verde in Paris 2024, but the athlete stated that he intends to represent the archipelago 'until death'.

After being honored in the city of Praia with the 1st degree Medal for sporting achievements in August 2024, the boxer reported that after receiving their medal, he received offers from many nations that highly valued his performance in Paris.