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Gambhir: Rahul can open if Rohit misses first Test
"At the moment, there is no confirmation but we will let you know exactly what the situation will be. Hopefully he's going to be available, but everything we're going to get to know at the start of the series," Gambhir said at a press-conference in Mumbai before the squad's flight to Australia.
A group of five players - Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Gill, Washington Sundar and Jaiswal - have already left for Australia, while the rest of the squad will leave later on Monday, but Gambhir didn't confirm if Rohit will be on that plane or not.
Which raises the question of who will open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal if Rohit isn't there.
"Once it gets closer to the first Test match, we'll plan and play the best playing XI that's going to do the job for us."
Prior to the fresh developments, Rahul looked set for a role as a middle-order batter in Tests, but Rohit's potential absence has put him back in contention at the top of the order.
"There are times when you go with the experienced players as well. And that is the quality of the man. That he can bat at the top of the order, he can bat at No. 3 and he can actually bat at No. 6 as well," Gambhir said of Rahul. "You need quite a lot of talent to be doing these kinds of jobs as well. And he's kept wickets in the one-day format as well.
"Imagine how many countries have players like KL who can open the batting and can bat at No. 6 as well? So I feel if need be, he can do the job for us, especially if Rohit is not available for the first Test match."
Rahul has plenty of experience facing the new ball in overseas conditions and is one of two Asian openers - Saeed Anwar being the other - to have scored Test centuries in Australia, England and South Africa.
"We will try and get the best combination possible who can do the job for us in Perth. And be it Shubman opening the batting or Easwaran or KL, it all depends on what we feel is the right combination," Gambhir said.
The Perth Test will begin on November 22.
Lakers' Davis ruled out vs. Raps with eye injury
LOS ANGELES -- Lakers forward Anthony Davis was ruled out of Sunday night's 123-103 win over the Toronto Raptors due to a left eye injury.
Davis went to the locker room midway through the third quarter after getting hit in the face while blocking a dunk attempt by Toronto center Jakob Poeltl.
Davis made a one-handed block of Poeltl's dunk attempt in the lane, but Poeltl's off hand hit Davis in the face and eyes.
While the Lakers' home crowd roared, Davis went down in obvious pain, rocking back and forth on the ground with his hands on his face. He stayed down for about a minute before getting up and walking to the Lakers' dressing room.
Davis suffered a corneal abrasion to that same left eye in March of last season.
Jaxson Hayes took Davis' spot in the Lakers' rotation and quickly contributed three dunks and a layup while the Lakers pulled ahead.
Davis is off to an outstanding start to the season, sparking early MVP talk for the nine-time All-Star. He had 22 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks before getting hurt against the Raptors.
Davis began the night leading the NBA in scoring at 32.4 points per game, along with 11.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He has six 30-point games already this season.
Davis missed last Wednesday's game in Memphis with a bruised left heel. The big man has a long history of injury problems, but he played in a career-high 76 games last season.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Salahuddin hopes to leave his imprint in short stint as Simmons' assistant
Salahuddin, who won the BPL four times with Comilla Victorians, has already started working with the Test cricketers in Dhaka while the team is in Sharjah for the ODIs against Afghanistan. He will travel for the Caribbean with the Test players on Monday.
"I think this is the right time [to work in the Bangladesh team]," Salahuddin said. "I might not be in coaching for much longer, maybe another four or five years. It will be great to help more generations of cricketers in my long coaching career - it won't be right if I just know everything but can't light a lamp. If I can do this job properly, it will be helpful for the team. If I can have even a minimum impact, it will be worth it, despite how much time I have till the Champions Trophy. I may not be able to cause dramatic change, but if something I say can cause a change, I will be happy."
"I have to understand the philosophy of the head coach, how he wants to run the team. I have to help him. I just hope our boys get a bit more confident. I will also keep an eye on their communication with the foreign coaches"
Mohammad Salahuddin
"I might have a different role this time. I have to understand the philosophy of the head coach, how he wants to run the team," Salahuddin said. "I have to help him. I just hope our boys get a bit more confident. I will also keep an eye on their communication with the foreign coaches."
Salahuddin was on the verge of being appointed as the team's batting consultant in 2017 only for the BCB to call it off at the last minute. It soured relations between Salahuddin and the BCB for several years, and Salahuddin being one of the foremost critical voices in Bangladesh cricket didn't help mend fences.
Salahuddin said that his long discussion with Faruque convinced him to wind down his coaching commitments elsewhere. "I asked for a bit of time. I was involved in a couple of places, so I needed a bit of time to leave those places. I have been speaking to Faruque bhai for three months, so it gave me time to settle those commitments."
Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, among others, both benefitted from their association with Salahuddin when he was the assistant coach earlier. He has subsequently played a role in the development of several cricketers as a coach at the domestic level - the likes of Jaker Ali and Mahidul Islam Ankon, who are new in the Bangladesh Test team, among them.
"Please don't be quick to label someone as a hero or a villain. When a player joins [the national team], they go through many processes and perform consistently to get into the team. They struggle a lot," Salahuddin said in a message to the media. "In international matches, some players may take a few games to find success, while others succeed right away. At that time, you make them heroes, but if they don't perform well in a couple of matches, you label them a villain."
Samuel cites frustration for 49ers sideline dispute
TAMPA, Fla. -- As kicker Jake Moody walked off the field following his third missed field goal of the game Sunday, San Francisco 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel was there to greet him near the sideline.
Samuel had just watched Moody miss from 44 yards after earlier failures from 49 and 50 yards. That came on top of Samuel's own frustrations about the offense's continued inability to finish drives with touchdowns rather than field goal attempts.
It all spilled over as Samuel confronted Moody, with long-snapper Taybor Pepper stepping into the mix as well. After some back-and-forth and small shoves between Samuel and Pepper, things calmed down.
"Normally I don't even get like that, but just frustrated in the heat of battle, a close game and I kind of got out of character a little bit," Samuel said. "But I'll talk to Moody and we'll get past it."
A little more than three minutes later, the tension between Moody and Samuel turned into a team-wide celebration. With three seconds left, Moody got his shot at redemption.
Going in the same direction from the same distance and on the same hash, Moody was able to factor in the wind that had pushed his previous try right. On the sideline, teammates including tight end George Kittle and linebacker Fred Warner couldn't watch.
Moody stepped up and squeezed the attempt inside the right upright for a 23-20 victory as time expired. It was the first walk-off kick of Moody's young career.
"[I] really, really wanted a chance to redeem myself and felt really confident, really good going that direction," Moody said. "[I] saw what happened with the previous one and was able to make an adjustment and put it through."
The kick sealed a much-needed road win for the 49ers, who improved to 5-4 and have won consecutive games for the first time this season. But it didn't come without plenty of drama, most of which centered on Moody and the special teams.
Making his return from a high right ankle sprain suffered in an Oct. 6 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, Moody had a strong week of practice before his Sunday struggles, coach Kyle Shanahan said.
"He looked great in the week," Shanahan said. "You're only as good as your last kick. He did a hell of a job winning that game for us at the end."
The Niners felt strongly enough about Moody's return that they released kicker Anders Carlson from the practice squad to give Moody, who was 13-of-14 before the ankle sprain, his job back. Carlson had gone 5-of-5 on field goal tries in Weeks 7 and 8, including a pair from 50-plus yards.
According to Moody, his first miss from 49 went wide left because the wind that had been pushing the ball back to the right died down. He said he pulled the 50-yard attempt just wide left, and then his miss from 44 yards was the result of the wind coming back and shoving the ball just right. It led to the heated moment with Samuel.
Pepper said Samuel's message to Moody was to "lock in," but Pepper wanted to defend his kicker.
"It's hard being a specialist," Pepper said. "Sometimes, it's feast or famine. ... Football is high emotion. Jake was having a little rough patch there, so standing up for Jake. There was still time on the clock, so the game wasn't over. Everybody knows what happened at the end. It's not over until the clocks hit zero. They all count three when it's a field goal. I've always got 4's back."
Indeed, the Niners got one more opportunity after a penalty-plagued defense allowed a game-tying field goal to the Bucs with 41 seconds left. San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy calmly completed four straight passes to get to Tampa's 26, setting the stage for Moody's winner.
For his part, Moody said "there doesn't need to be" any sort of apology or discussion, though Samuel said he planned to talk with Moody to ensure they can move on.
"I think he has a little dog in him," Samuel said. "I wasn't saying nothing crazy to him. I was just kind of frustrated at the time. But he went out there and won the game of course, and he wasn't bothered by it, so we move past it."
In the midst of the wild kicking day, the 49ers also welcomed back running back Christian McCaffrey from the Achilles tendinitis that kept him out the first eight games. McCaffrey wasn't exactly eased in, playing 57 of 65 offensive snaps and posting 107 scrimmage yards on 19 touches.
It was McCaffrey's fifth season debut with 100 or more scrimmage yards since he entered the league in 2017. Only Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill has more (six) in that span.
Despite the heavy workload after such a long layoff, McCaffrey said he came out feeling "pretty good," although he wanted to reserve judgment for Monday morning.
"I never go in expecting anything," McCaffrey said. "It's just if my number's called, I like to be out there. I think when I go back and look at the tape, I'm sure there's going to be some stuff that, just getting back into a feel of a real game, that's the third time I've had the pads on eight weeks. So just getting back into a groove, that was really good for me to do. I think there's a couple things that maybe I didn't feel like myself a hundred percent, but that's normal when you haven't played in a long time, and I'll learn and grow from those and just keep trucking along."
Lights out: Lamb calls for curtains after TD drop
ARLINGTON, Texas -- In a 28-point blowout, maybe a second-quarter touchdown would not have mattered much, but once again sunlight was a storyline in a Dallas Cowboys game at AT&T Stadium.
Trailing 7-3 and facing second-and-goal from the Philadelphia Eagles' 3, Cooper Rush had an open CeeDee Lamb in the end zone for a go-ahead score. One problem: Lamb could not see the pass because the sun was in his eyes.
The Cowboys settled for a field goal and would not score a point the rest of the game in a 34-6 loss to the Eagles.
After answering questions for a little more than five minutes, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones brought up the issue of the sun on his own.
"We do know where the damn sun's going to be at our own stadium," Jones said.
As he walked down the hall toward the elevators, more questions were asked.
Why not put up curtains?
"Well, let's just tear the damn stadium down and build another one? You kidding me?" Jones said.
There's no need to tear down the 15-year-old stadium that cost $1.2 billion to build, but the Cowboys have used curtains for concerts, basketball games and other events at AT&T Stadium.
"Everybody's got the same thing," Jones said. "Every team that comes in here has the same issues. They know where the sun's going to be. Every team has the same thing."
The Cowboys do not practice at AT&T Stadium. And the sun is an issue only in late afternoon kickoffs during the fall.
So should coach Mike McCarthy call plays differently knowing where the sun should be?
"I'm not saying. I'm saying the world knows where the sun is," Jones said. "We get to know that almost a year in advance. So someone asked me about the sun and what about the sun? Where's the moon?"
Initially it wasn't clear if Rush was throwing to tight end Jake Ferguson, who pulled his hands away from the pass, or Lamb.
"I was throwing to CeeDee," Rush said. "He's open over there coming across the middle. I didn't see. I threw and got hit. I didn't see what happened. I heard it was the sun. I don't know."
Television replays caught Lamb pointing at his eyes, as if he lost the ball in the sun.
Would Lamb be in favor of curtains?
"Yes," he said. "1,000 percent."
Will he bring it up to Jones?
"I mean y'all are doing my job right now," Lamb said.
It might not matter since Jones has been dug in on the matter since the stadium opened in 2009.
"We're fine," Jones said. "But everybody plays in the sun out here."
Texans WR John Metchie III scores first career TD after cancer battle
HOUSTON -- It was a long wait, but Houston Texans wideout John Metchie III scored his first career touchdown to put the Texans up 23-7 against the Detroit Lions.
Metchie, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2022 and missed his rookie season, has been waiting for his breakout performance and on Sunday it finally came.
The Texans were operating their two-minute drill and with 16 seconds left in the half. On third-and-10, quarterback C.J. Stroud found Metchie in the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown.
Stroud. Metchie. TOUCHDOWN!
That's his first career TD catch
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NFL (@NFL) November 11, 2024
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Metchie returned to football for the 2023 season but saw limited action and finished with 158 receiving yards. Early this season, his playing time decreased behind All-Pro wideout Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins.
But Collins (hamstring) and Diggs (season-ending knee injury) missed the matchup against the Lions and Metchie took advantage. Not only did he score his first career touchdown, he exceeded his career high in receiving yards (65) in the first half.
Lavelle, Gotham top Thorns, end Sinclair's career
Rose Lavelle scored in stoppage time as Gotham FC defeated the Portland Thorns 2-1 on Sunday to advance to the semifinals of the NWSL playoffs and put an end to the career of Canada star Christine Sinclair.
Gotham, the defending NWSL champions, will face the second-seeded Washington Spirit next weekend. The Spirit defeated visiting Bay FC 2-1 in extra time earlier on Sunday in the quarterfinals.
It was the final NWSL game for Thorns forward Sinclair, who is retiring after 12 seasons with the club.
"The competitor in me hates losing, so that's all I feel right now," Sinclair said after the game. "We played pretty well tonight, hit the post. The game could have gone either way, so that's pretty much all I'm feeling right now."
A club record 15,540 fans were on hand for the match at Red Bull Arena. Gotham finished the season with the third seed, going 17-4-5.
The Thorns struggled down the stretch but defeated Angel City in the final regular season match to secure the eighth and final seed.
Sophia Smith, who played for the United States at the Olympics this summer, appeared to put the Thorns up in the 43rd minute but she was offside.
There was a lengthy video review in the second half to determine if Portland defender Becky Sauerbrunn committed a handball in the box, which would have given Gotham a penalty. Ultimately it wasn't ruled a penalty.
Tierna Davidson broke through with her first goal of the season to put Gotham up 1-0 in the 67th minute. It came off a free kick that Lavelle sent into a crowd in front of the goal.
Rookie Reilyn Turner's goal on a header off a set piece in the 75th minute pulled Portland even. Morgan Weaver nearly put the Thorns on top but her shot caromed off the post before Lavelle scored the winner seven minutes into stoppage time.
"It's always nice to score in stoppage time so you don't have to go into overtime," Lavelle said.
Sinclair, 41, has played for Portland since the NWSL's launch in 2013 and has helped the Thorns win NWSL championships in 2013, 2017 and 2022. She has scored a club-record 65 regular-season goals with the team, ranking third all-time in the league
Sinclair retired from the Canadian national team last year as international soccer's all-time leading scorer among both men and women with 190 goals.
"Some of these teammates are some of my best friends," Sinclair added. "So it's important to share some moments with them, and then obviously the world of women's football is very small. The Gotham players were very kind as well. Just trying to soak it all in."
Shield winners the Orlando Pride, the top seed, will face the Kansas City Current next weekend in the other semifinal. The NWSL championship will be played on Nov. 23 at Kansas City's CPKC Stadium.
'Just go all out': Rodrigues looks to Australian mindset
"I think the last two innings of mine [in the WBBL] didn't go that well," Rodrigues said. "Grace Harris and Laura Harris both of them texted me and said, 'Jemi, your over extra cover drive is the best. Don't stop yourself from playing that. Even if you get out, it's fine. But just keep dominating'. So I think that really helped me in [the Strikers] knock just to have that kind of backing firstly from your team that the team still believes in you and at the same time, just they're like, 'No, we're still going to take the positive route. We're still going to play positive cricket and bat with intent'.
"So 100%, that mindset - just to learn from them [Australians]. There's a saying always that if there are two options, always take the positive one. So I think that is something I have also been really working on in my game and just to have people around you after two failures, I had those doubts - 'should I still play with this mindset or should I not?'. They were like 'just go all out' and that really helped me. This is something that I will take with me 100% hopefully bring it out with the Aussies and just continue to do well."
Rodrigues feels facing other international bowlers in leagues around the world is good for her confidence, especially with the ODI World Cup scheduled in less than a year.
"Playing these foreign leagues and playing the WPL, it does help because you play against the best in the world in all these leagues and at the same time you get to play in different conditions," she said. "Every ground is so different to the other and I think that is one of the best parts of playing franchise cricket that you get used to the conditions and you get to play the top bowlers in women 's cricket.
"Imagine just going out there and doing well, how much confidence you'll get coming back into the Indian team when you've taken on these bowlers. So I think it's a good preparation leading into the World Cup. At the same time, it's just good games because the more matches we play, the better we become. I think that's the best part about having WBBL, the WPL, the Hundred, the Caribbean Premier League, all the leagues."
"For me, nothing much changes in my technique," Rodrigues said. "Nothing much will even change in my mindset. I think I will still back myself to play positive cricket, but at the same time being more sensible because it's a longer format and trying to extend this innings even longer, scoring more and more runs for India. So I think that's the similar mindset. Again, it's about how I assess the conditions and assess the situation."
"I think that was a very good initiative by the ICC. I remember when I had gone in that line because sometimes social media can be harsh. At the end we all are humans, we all are we here doing our best, trying to do whatever we can. Some ways we are great. Some ways we are not. So it's just harsh when we see people just commenting all sorts of things on social media. But it was such a nice thing from ICC just to protect us and just to keep the game so pure. We [needed to] just go out there and play cricket and enjoy cricket than dealing with all these things. So it was, it was really nice from ICC."
Golden to coach Gators on Monday amid inquiry
Florida men's basketball coach Todd Golden, who is the subject of an ongoing school inquiry, will remain in charge of the Gators for Monday's home game against Grambling State, a spokesperson told ESPN on Sunday.
"Todd Golden's status as UF men's basketball coach has not changed," a University Athletic Association spokesperson said. "He will be coaching the game Monday night."
On Friday, a Title IX complaint showed the university was investigating Golden for allegations of sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, stalking and cyberstalking from multiple women. The complaint was filed Sept. 27 and alleged that Golden aimed these behaviors toward both current and former Florida students.
The complaint, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, includes allegations that Golden sent photos and videos of his genitalia, made unwanted sexual advances on Instagram and requested sexual favors.
On multiple occasions, Golden allegedly took photos of women walking or driving -- or of their cars in various locations -- and then sent them to the subjects of the photos. He also allegedly showed up to locations where he knew the women would be, according to the Title IX complaint.
Golden released a statement Saturday acknowledging the school inquiry and said he was considering "defamation claims."
"For the last month, I have actively participated in and respected the confidentiality of an ongoing school inquiry," Golden said in a statement posted on X. "I have recently engaged [attorney] Ken Turkel to advise me on my ability to bring defamation claims while this confidential investigation is ongoing.
"My family and I appreciate the support we have received and remain confident the university will continue its efforts to finish its review properly."
Florida hired Golden in 2022 to replace Mike White, initially giving Golden a six-year, $18 million contract. Golden and the university agreed in March to a two-year extension, tying him to the school through the 2029-30 season.
Prior to arriving at Florida, Golden spent three seasons as the coach of San Francisco, leading the Dons in 2022 to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1998. Golden also was an assistant under Kyle Smith at San Francisco for three seasons after assisting for two seasons apiece at Auburn and Columbia.
Texans RB Joe Mixon scores opening touchdown vs. Lions
HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans couldn't script a better start to their "Sunday Night Football" matchup vs. the Detroit Lions.
On the sixth play of the Lions' opening drive, Texans safety Jalen Pitre deflected a pass from Lions quarterback Jared Goff, and safety Jimmie Ward intercepted it.
The Texans wasted little time and marched into the end zone on an eight-play, 33-yard drive capped by an 8-yard Joe Mixon rushing touchdown. The score put them up 7-0 in the first quarter.
Joe Mixon getting the scoring started!
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NFL (@NFL) November 11, 2024
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Quarterback C.J. Stroud kept the scoring drive alive by converting a third-and-10 and a third-and-16 with passes to wideouts Tank Dell and John Metchie III, respectively.
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