Shafali Verma, the No. 1-ranked T20I batter in the world, said she took her non-selection in India's ODI squad for the recently concluded home series against South Africa in her stride, but at the same time felt driven to iron out any potential shortcoming in her batting that may have kept her out of the reckoning.

The youngest player to have represented India in T20Is, Verma, 17, opened up on her plans for the 50-over format, in which she is still uncapped, after her blistering 30-ball 60 in the third and final match of the T20I leg of South Africa's tour of India. Following up on her 22-ball 23 and 31-ball 47 in the first two matches, Verma made short work of a 113 chase on Tuesday as India romped to a nine-wicket victory and averted a 3-0 sweep in Lucknow.

"When I didn't get a call-up for the one-dayers, I thought there might still be some inadequacy that I need to address. But I didn't ask anybody - neither the captain nor the coach - about my non-selection," Verma said after the match when asked if she had spoken to any senior player or the head coach to identify the areas she could improve in to strengthen her case for an ODI call-up.

"I made up my mind I will work more on my fitness and make sure to play according to the balls whenever I get an opportunity in the format," she said. "When my name didn't come up for the one-dayers, I tried to keep my confidence up and motivated myself to play better so I can make it to the 50-over team as well. I wasn't much disappointed; I just made sure I focused on working harder."

Since making her international debut in the T20I series against South Africa at home in September 2019, Verma has emerged the frontline choice for Smriti Mandhana's opening partner. In her 22 innings in the format, she has made 617 runs at an average of 29.38, her strike of 149.31 the key to India's brisk starts.

In last year's T20 World Cup, she topped the run-chart for India, and was arguably the foremost reason for their run to the final given she found little support from other top-order batters. However, as India prepared to return to international cricket after a 364-day spell of almost complete inactivity, the absence of her name from the ODI squad for the South Africa series raised eyebrows.

Verma said when an ODI debut does come by, she would aim to make the most of the preparations she is putting in now.

"The focus would be on spending as much time on the wicket as possible and score as many runs as I can, " she said, "so I can create a good report of myself.

"No matter what position I get to play in, I will try to extend my innings for as long as possible and score well.

"Whenever I go to my hometown, [while training] I try to choose balls that I think I should hit and pay attention to rotating the strike by taking singles and doubles. For one-dayers, too, I think shot-selection based on the merit of the balls has been my focus."

In the opening over of India's chase on Tuesday, she cracked three fours and a six off Shabnim Ismail, the No. 2-ranked bowler in women's T20Is, and helped propel India to 71 for 0 in the powerplay. Her fifty came off just 26 balls, the fourth-fastest in the format by an Indian woman, and by the time she fell, in the 10th over, India, requiring just 17 runs, were poised to seal a comfortable victory.

"When I went in to bat, I wanted to make sure I bat well because this is the last match for me," she said. "There is some time before the next series, so I wanted to do my best and do well for the team and score well."

"Whenever we [she and Mandhana] go out to at together, we try to hit the loose balls well and convert them into boundaries and play as long as possible, so we can maximise our scoring opportunities," Verma said.

Sinalo Jafta, the South Africa wicketkeeper-batter, also heaped praise on Verma's attacking style of play.

"Firstly, you took the word out of my mind: fearless. T20 cricket is about expressing oneself and the way she expresses herself, I have to commend her. She is just 100% fearless. That's the one word."

Mandhana, too, commended Verma's performance as well as her bowlers'.

"Being the winning captain, I think it was a good show over all. Our bowlers did extremely well to restrict them to 112 in the first innings," Mandhana told host broadcaster Star Sports after the match. "And then Shafali just stole the show. She was brilliant. But I think this victory definitely goes to the bowlers."

Mandhana also said the series-deciding final-ball defeat on Sunday was a demotivating blow for the hosts to overcome but their head coach WV Raman enthused them to take the field on Tuesday with a professional approach.

"After losing the series in the second match it needs a lot of motivation to come out there for the third match," she said. "We all came as a group. Raman sir told us, 'Nevertheless, this is an international match and we have to go out there and win the match.' We are going to go back home with a positive mind and then we will be in a positive frame of mind whenever we play the next series, so this match in that context is really important for us."

Eoin Morgan and Sam Billings are in doubt to play in Friday's second ODI against India after picking up injuries in the series opener.

Morgan split the webbing between his right thumb and index finger while fielding and needed four stitches before heading out to bat in England's 66-run defeat on Tuesday. He made 22 as England were bowled out for 251 in pursuit of India's 317 for 5. Billings was also able to bat - he contributed 18 - after spraining his collar bone as he dived in vain to stop a boundary.

While Billings' injury was unrelated to the dislocated left shoulder that required surgery and ruined his hopes of playing in England's triumphant 2019 World Cup campaign, Morgan said the pair faced a 48-hour wait before a decision is made on their fitness for the next game, a must-win for England if they are to keep the three-match series alive.

"We're going to wait a while, and then give them as much time as needed to hopefully be available for Friday," Morgan said. "I think two different instances, obviously when you have a split webbing fielding is a concern, and with Sam obviously landing while he's fielding, being able to play the shots that he does."

Morgan was yet to ask Billings whether he had felt the injury while batting but he admitted to feeling some discomfort himself during England's run-chase.

"I haven't spoken with Sam about his batting so I don't know in his instance," Morgan added. "In mine, It's never going to be at 100%, but it's not that I can't hold a bat."

But Morgan said he expected to make some changes to the team ahead of the next match, also in Pune. That means Liam Livingstone, who took a strong catch running in from deep cover to dismiss Shreyas Iyer off the bowling of Mark Wood while on as a substitute fielder on Tuesday, is in line to make his ODI debut. He played two T20Is, when England hosted South Africa in 2017.

Similarly Matt Parkinson could add to his two ODI caps earned on the tour of South Africa more than a year ago, having travelled with England since their Asian tour began in Sri Lanka in early January, and Reece Topley could make his first international appearance since the ODI series against Ireland last August.

"Absolutely, we're going to try and give the majority of the players within the squad an opportunity to play 50-over cricket for us, as it has been the vehicle to grow our squad," Morgan said. "We will try and move beyond our best 11 players on the field so there will be opportunities for guys coming in."

The sight of Billings sitting on the outfield, holding his left arm in an awkward position as team medical staff attended to him, brought back memories of his shoulder dislocation during a Royal London Cup fixture for Kent in April 2019, his first appearance of that year's county season after a stint at the IPL. His re-emergence with the bat brought some relief for England and, possibly, Delhi Capitals, with whom he will link up for the next edition of the IPL straight after this series.

The same could not be said for Billings' Delhi Capitals team-mate and captain, Iyer, who was taken for scans after subluxating - partially dislocating - his left shoulder while fielding. Iyer was ruled out of the rest of the match, as was Rohit Sharma after he had been struck on the elbow while battng, although Sharma didn't require a scan.

The National College Players Association said Tuesday that NCAA president Mark Emmert has informed a group of basketball players who started a social media campaign to protest inequities in college sports that he will meet with them after March Madness.

NCPA executive director Ramogi Huma said in a statement that he received a letter from Emmert in response to the advocacy group's request for a meeting between the head of the NCAA and three players who led the #NotNCAAProperty protest that started last week.

Through the NCPA, the players had requested to meet with Emmert and one of the NCAA's top lobbyists on Tuesday morning.

Michigan's Isaiah Livers, Rutgers' Geo Baker and Iowa's Jordan Bohannon are pushing for the NCAA to change its rules restricting athletes from earning money for personal sponsorship deals, online endorsements and appearances.

In a letter responding to Emmert, the three players expressed their disappointment that he was waiting until after the tournament to meet and that he would be meeting only with the three players.

"Thank you for responding to our meeting request. We are disappointed that you intend to delay this important conversation for at least two weeks," the players wrote in the letter that was sent to Emmert by Huma. "From our perspective, it's difficult to imagine any higher priority you may have at this time than addressing concerns that are at the core of state and federal college athletes' rights legislation, an upcoming US Supreme Court ruling on college athletes' economic freedoms, and the NCAA's ongoing discriminatory treatment of female basketball players in its tournament. Can you please explain what you will be doing over the next two weeks that is more important than addressing these matters?

"In addition, we are disappointed with your apparent attempt to narrow the participation of this meeting to only the three of us. To be clear, we are requesting a meeting with you that will also include other men's and women's basketball players as well as NCPA Executive Director Ramogi Huma so that we have someone present who is an athlete advocate with expertise in these areas.

"We look forward to receiving confirmation that you will meet with the group we have described, and that you will demonstrate on behalf of your organization and membership that these issues are in fact a priority by meeting with us by Friday of this week."

NCAA spokesperson Stacey Osburn said the organization had no comment Tuesday.

The NCAA has committed to changing its rules regarding name, image and likeness rights, but the process has bogged down amid warnings from the Department of Justice about possible antitrust violations in the association's proposal.

An NCAA case involving an antitrust ruling is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court next week.

The NCAA has asked for help from federal lawmakers in the form of a national NIL law that would preempt dozens of state laws under consideration that would create different rules for competing schools.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Oregon State University president F. King Alexander has resigned amid backlash related to his role in the sexual misconduct saga at Louisiana State University, where he previously served as president.

The OSU board of trustees met and accepted his resignation Tuesday. The move is effective as of April 1. Last week, the board voted to place Alexander on probation.

"When the Board of Trustees adjourned last week, we believed it was possible for President Alexander to repair the broken confidence and trust in his ability to lead OSU," board chair Rani Borkar said in a statement. "After listening to and hearing important input from diverse members of our community and reflecting on our own values and experiences, we now know that rebuilding trust is no longer possible."

An independent investigation released earlier this month into allegations of sexual misconduct at LSU found a "serious institutional failure" and detailed systemic failures by LSU to appropriately report incidents of athletics-related sexual misconduct and abuse.

Former LSU athletic director Joe Alleva recommended in 2013 that Les Miles be fired as head coach of the football program after accusations of inappropriate behavior with female student workers, according to the report, which revealed that Alexander knew of the allegations against Miles when he was hired as president in 2013.

Alexander left LSU at the end of 2019 and started in his role at OSU in July 2020.

After Alexander was placed on probation last week, calls for his termination escalated, including a vote from the OSU faculty senate on Thursday asking for Alexander and several members of the board of trustees to resign.

According to the investigative report, which was handled by Husch Blackwell, Alleva sent an email on June 21, 2013, to LSU's legal counsel and Alexander. Alleva wrote, "one more time I want us to think about which scenario is worse for LSU. Explaining why we let him go or explaining why we let him stay."

According to the Corvallis Gazette-Times, Alexander has said that he was advised by attorneys not to fire Miles and that he was unable to dismiss him because the LSU governing board had made the decision to retain Miles before Alexander took office.

HOUSTON -- Deshaun Watson's lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said in a statement that his law firm has "strong evidence" showing that one of the lawsuits alleging sexual assault by the Houston Texans quarterback is false and that it "calls into question the legitimacy of the other cases as well."

Hardin added that he believes "any allegation that Deshaun forced a woman to commit a sexual act is completely false."

There are currently 14 lawsuits filed by Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee against Watson alleging sexual assault and inappropriate conduct. The 14th lawsuit was filed Monday night and appeared on the Harris County District Clerk's website on Tuesday morning.

In his statement Tuesday, Hardin said that Buzbee has "orchestrated a circus-like atmosphere by using social media to publicize 14 'Jane Doe' lawsuits," and that the lawyer has also refused Hardin's requests "to confidentially provide the names of the plaintiffs so we can fully investigate their claims."

Regarding the case that was singled out by Hardin in his statement, Watson's attorney released a signed affidavit from Watson's marketing manager, Bryan Burney. In that declaration, Burney said he spoke with an individual he believes is the plaintiff in the third case filed by Buzbee.

"In January of this year, a woman attempted to blackmail Deshaun by demanding $30,000 in exchange for her 'indefinite silence' about what she stated was a consensual encounter," the statement said.

The lawsuit referenced alleges that Watson sent a direct message to the plaintiff over Instagram and then scheduled a massage for Dec. 28, 2020, at an office building in Houston.

After leaving the room, the massage therapist alleges that she returned to find Watson lying on the massage table on his stomach with just a small towel covering his buttocks. She alleges that when Watson turned over midway through the massage, he "got more aggressive, forcefully telling her to move her hand down to his pubic area."

The plaintiff alleges that she felt "intimidated and threatened" and "was afraid of what someone like Watson could do if she did not submit to his demands." She says in the lawsuit that Watson made it clear, repeatedly, that he could "help, or hurt, her career." The lawsuit alleges that Watson forced the woman into oral sex and says that she "did not consent."

Burney said in the declaration that the woman said she wanted to be paid $30,000 "for what she referred to as 'indefinite silence' about her encounter with Deshaun." Burney said in the declaration that the woman told him it was "a consensual encounter."

In an Instagram post Saturday, Buzbee said he would submit affidavits and evidence from several women to the Houston Police Department and the Houston district attorney Monday morning. He also said he will request that a grand jury consider the evidence and determine whether charges should be brought against Watson by the state of Texas.

Dane Schiller, a spokesperson for the Harris County district attorney, said Monday that it would be "inappropriate" for the DA's office to comment on the lawsuits against Watson.

"It would be inappropriate for the District Attorney's Office to comment on a civil lawsuit, and we refrain from publicly discussing allegations in any matter until and if a criminal charge is filed; we do this out of fairness to all," Schiller said in a statement.

Last week, NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said "the matter is under review" pertaining to the league's personal conduct policy, and the Texans said in a statement that they would stay in close contact with the NFL during its investigation.

Charlotte Hornets rookie guard LaMelo Ball underwent surgery Tuesday to repair a fractured right wrist and remains unlikely to return to the lineup this season, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Ball, 19, suffered the injury on a fall in a 125-98 loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles on Saturday. Sources said the injury was in the area of the thumb on his shooting hand.

The Hornets, when announcing the injury Sunday evening, said Ball would be out indefinitely.

Ball, the No. 3 pick in the 2020 NBA draft, was considered the front-runner for NBA Rookie of the Year. He averaged 15.9 points, 6.1 assists and 5.9 rebounds this season.

The Hornets, at 21-21, currently hold the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Houston Rockets are progressing on several fronts in talks to trade guard Victor Oladipo, and there's strong confidence they'll execute a deal ahead of Thursday's NBA trade deadline, sources told ESPN.

The Rockets are increasingly comfortable with the offers on Oladipo in the marketplace, which include young players and first-round pick combinations that the franchise believes are suitable returns to make a deal, sources said.

Oladipo, who can become a free agent this summer, has a longer-term interest in joining the Miami Heat, which is well known around the league, sources said. Miami has the salary-cap space to sign Oladipo as a free agent this summer, which has inspired a reluctance on the Heat's part to make a premium offer to Houston for a trade, sources said.

Oladipo has a mutual interest in the New York Knicks too, sources said, and New York -- armed also with summer cap space -- has been reluctant to make an aggressive trade offer on Oladipo too, sources said.

Several teams bidding on Oladipo are without the salary-cap space to sign him this summer, but they could try to retain him using his Bird rights after acquiring him in a deadline deal.

There has remained some reluctance in the marketplace on Oladipo based on his recent history of injury and missed games. He suffered a ruptured quad injury in January 2019, but has shown flashes of his old self in performances with Indiana and Houston this season. Oladipo has averaged 21.2 points in 20 games with the Rockets, although his efficiency has been suboptimal.

He arrived in Houston as part of a four-team trade that delivered All-NBA guard James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets. The Rockets offered Oladipo a two-year, $45 million contract -- the maximum offer that they were available to make during the season under the collective bargaining agreement -- but Oladipo declined it, sources said.

Houston ended a 20-game losing streak Monday night with a victory over Toronto, and is in a mode of gathering young players and pick assets as it moves toward a rebuild.

Oladipo, 28, is in the final season of a four-year, $85 million contract.

Milwaukee Brewers reliever Josh Hader expects to remain more of a traditional ninth-inning closer this season after occasionally working multiple innings earlier in his career.

"The closer rule is a good fit, especially with the bullpen arms we have,'' Hader, a two-time All-Star, said Tuesday from the Brewers' spring training site in Phoenix.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Hader will fill largely the same role as last season. Hader acknowledged that working multiple innings can be a grind and said he appreciated the more defined ninth-inning assignment last season.

"The ups and downs are what's more taxing than anything, especially the amount of pitches,'' Hader said. "That's something that wears and tears on you over the course of the season.''

Hader, who turns 27 on April 7, pitched just 19 innings in 21 games last season. The left-hander had worked 81⅓ innings in 55 games in 2018 and 75⅔ innings over 61 games in 2019.

Milwaukee's bullpen depth should afford the Brewers the opportunity to enable Hader to stick to the ninth inning.

Devin Williams returns after allowing just one earned run and striking out 53 batters in 27 innings last season to earn NL Rookie of the Year honors. The Brewers also have Eric Yardley (2-0, 1.54 ERA last season), Brent Suter (2-0, 3.13), Drew Rasmussen (21 strikeouts in 15⅓ innings), Justin Topa (0-1, 2.35) and Brad Boxberger (1-0, 3.00 with Miami) among others.

"The closer rule is a good fit, especially with the bullpen arms we have,'' Hader said. "Having Devin being able to fill the gap in the seventh and eighth, and the other guys as well. There's a lot of options out there to bridge the gap.''

Hader went 1-2 with an NL-leading 13 saves and a career-high 3.79 ERA that was impacted by two bad outings in a pandemic-shortened season. He walked five and gave up two runs in one-third of an inning Aug. 29 against Pittsburgh, and he allowed four runs in one inning Sept. 12 against the Chicago Cubs. He yielded just two earned runs in his other 17⅔ innings of work.

He did that while starting to diversify his approach, something Hader is continuing this year. Hader has been willing to add new pitches to complement his fastball, and Counsell believes that decision should enable the left-hander to remain effective for a longer period.

"This is a real credit to Josh and seeing the big picture, long-term, and really understanding himself very well, understanding matchups in the game and giving himself options,'' Counsell said. "That's really what he's trying to do.''

TORONTO -- Blue Jays reliever Kirby Yates is expected to have season-ending surgery on his right elbow, general manager Ross Atkins said Tuesday.

The Blue Jays also reported two other injuries: Outfielder George Springer will miss the next four or five days because of a strained oblique muscle and left-hander Robbie Ray will skip at least one spring training start after slipping on a staircase and bruising his elbow.

Yates was expected to be Toronto's closer after signing a $5.5 million, one-year deal in the offseason. On Monday, the team said Yates would miss several weeks because of a strained muscle in his forearm.

Yates last pitched Saturday against Philadelphia, striking out two in one scoreless inning. It was his second outing of the spring and his first since March 11.

The 33-year-old Yates was an All-Star with San Diego in 2019, when he posted a 1.19 ERA and led the NL with 41 saves. He pitched in six games for the Padres last season and had a 12.46 ERA before surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow.

Springer signed a $150 million, six-year deal in the offseason. The 2017 World Series MVP with Houston, he was scratched from a game on March 9 because of tightness in his abdominal muscles.

Springer had an MRI after experiencing persistent tightness, but Atkins said Toronto's prime acquisition still feels good and isn't expected to be out of action for long.

"The MRI revealed an injury that he is able to play baseball with," Atkins said. "He is extremely motivated and driven to be ready for Opening Day."

Atkins said Ray was carrying his child down the stairs at his rental home when he slipped and fell. Ray's child was uninjured in the fall, Atkins said.

"Part of the injury was making sure that that was the priority," Atkins said.

The lefty is expected to throw a bullpen session in the next few days.

Right-hander Nate Pearson, who has missed time because of a strained right groin, has resumed throwing and feels good, Atkins said, while right-hander Thomas Hatch, who left a spring outing last week because of a sore elbow, "is not going to be missing significant time."

London Marathon race director believes GB runners can dominate the world if their talent has world-class support structures

Great Britain can become a global “powerhouse of endurance running”, according to Hugh Brasher, the race director of the Virgin Money London Marathon.

“I don’t think anyone’s doing it particularly well in the world,” he suggests, “so why can’t we do it incredibly well?”

Brasher was speaking shortly after the announcement that London Marathon will be funding 29 of Britain’s leading distance runners in 2021 such as European indoor medallists Amy-Eloise Markovc and Verity Ockenden, plus the in-form Marc Scott and nine of the competitors in Friday’s Olympic trials, as part of its ongoing commitment to supporting domestic distance running.

This adds to the London Marathon’s support of talent hubs for student athletes in Birmingham and Leeds together with it’s long-term backing of parkrun, the Daily Mile for primary school children and of course the Virgin Money Giving Mini London Marathon for teenagers.

“It’s an ongoing development,” says Brasher says of the support packages. “Sport moves, strategies need to move and you need to do things differently and this is another piece of the jigsaw.

“You’re trying to create a pathway of support to make Great Britain the powerhouse of endurance running. It’s quite a big statement but it’s what Great Britain used to be so why can’t it be that now?”

British endurance running certainly seems to be heading in the right direction. At 800m the current generation includes Elliot Giles, Dan Rowden, Jamie Webb, Jemma Reekie and prodigious Keely Hodgkinson and Max Burgin. In the 1500m there is Laura Muir and Laura Weightman, Jake Wightman, Josh Kerr and Charlie Grice, among others.

Over 5000m and 10,000m there is the US-based Marc Scott and Sam Atkin, together with Andy Butchart, Eilish McColgan, Melissa Courtney-Bryant and of course Mo Farah.

The marathon, meanwhile, has seen Charlie Purdue and Jess Piasecki run 2:25 in the last couple of years, whereas there is also Steph Twell, Jonny Mellor and a number of others who will be racing the Olympic trials this week at Kew Gardens.

In fact, of the 29 runners who the London Marathon have committed to supporting this year, the following are in the Olympic trials on Friday – Mo Aadan, Natasha Cockram, Charlotte Arter, Ben Connor, Steph Davis, Sarah Inglis, Tish Jones, Lily Partridge and Chris Thompson.

READ MORE: London Marathon funding boost for British runners

The London Marathon support ranges from young children through to runners in the twilight of their career. Brasher says it’s not unusual for teenage middle-distance runners to eventually excel in the marathon and he says he never thought the young Farah would end up running a marathon.

“Eliud Kipchoge started out winning a world title on the track too back in 2003,” he adds. “You don’t just ‘become’ a marathon runner.

“You’ve got to look long term,” he continues. “Athletics is not something you’re suddenly good at overnight. Some people say some athletes ‘come out of nowhere’ but they don’t.”

Brasher says Olympic and world medals aren’t the be-all and end-all either. “British Athletics talk a lot about the podium at the worlds and Olympics but there are some pretty important podiums in between that such as the Commonwealths and Europeans,” he says.

“Athletes need support and encouragement and not everyone makes that immediate jump to be right up there at global level. We’re trying to support athletes who are at the transition stage.”

He adds: “Eilish McColgan was supported through this programme,” for example. “She nearly broke her mum’s 5000m Scottish record recently and she could be a phenomenal marathon runner in future.”