Ireland have made four changes for Saturday's Autumn Nations Cup game against England as Bundee Aki, Keith Earls, Ross Byrne and CJ Stander are drafted into the starting line-up.

Wing Keith Earls replaces Munster team-mate Andrew Conway with flanker Stander taking over from Josh van der Flier.

Ulster pair Jacob Stockdale and Iain Henderson are named on the bench.

Both were late withdrawals for last weekend's win over Wales because of injury after originally being selected in the starting line-up.

Hugo Keenan remains at full-back for the match at Twickenham, with Connacht's Quinn Roux again partnering James Ryan in the second row.

Ryan will captain Ireland from the start after taking the armband during the first half of last Friday's game when Sexton was forced off.

Fly-half Byrne will earn his ninth cap after Sexton's hamstring injury ruled him out earlier this week.

Jamison Gibson-Park retains the scrum-half jersey as Conor Murray is named on the bench.

Ulster fly-half Billy Burns is named in the replacements after earning his first cap when replacing Sexton in the opening half last weekend, before a head injury assessment led to his departure in the 65th minute.

Burns' Ulster team-mate Rob Herring is also included in the replacements as he takes over from Connacht hooker Dave Heffernan.

Ireland: Keenan; Earls, Farrell, Aki, Lowe; R Byrne, Gibson-Park; Healy, Kelleher, Porter; Roux, Ryan (capt); Stander, O'Mahony, Doris.

Replacements: Herring, E Byrne, Bealham, Henderson, Connors, Murray, B Burns, Stockdale.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Coming up through the ranks in the earliest years of his racing career, Buddy Kofoid idolized Kyle Larson.

In recent years, Kofoid has gotten the opportunity to compete head-to-head with Larson on occasion in midgets and sprint cars.

However, during Tuesday night’s NOS Energy Drink November Classic at California’s Bakersfield Speedway, the two competed as teammates for the first time on the venerable Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports team.

The fact that Larson was someone he looked up to and was also his teammate was no deterrent in Kofoid’s desire to go toe-to-toe with Larson and defeat him.

That Kofoid did, ultimately prevailing in a spirited duel that lasted the duration of the second half of the 30-lap event, with the winning move made just four laps from the finish.

“I can’t believe we just beat Kyle,” Kofoid exclaimed. “Kyle is one of the best in the world and really good in midgets. As a younger kid coming out of California and racing outlaw karts, I always looked up to him. Everyone already knows how good he is, and racing with the best helps you become better.”

For Kofoid, it was his second consecutive NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget feature victory, and the third of his career, after reigning victorious in Saturday’s Western World Championships at Arizona Speedway.

Kofoid lined up fifth in the 24-car field while Larson was slotted outside the front row, making it a fairly tall task for the Penngrove, Calif., rookie to win. But Kofoid was game for the challenge.

Larson withstood a pair of uppercuts served his way via polesitter Chase Johnson, who slid his way to the lead briefly on the opening two laps in turn one before Larson cut back under to grab the lead each time off turn two.

Kofoid raced to third by the second circuit, then traveled high and low around the third-mile dirt oval to reach his way to the second position past Johnson on the 15th lap.

In the thick of the race through traffic, Larson held the upper hand over Kofoid by a two-plus second margin when KKM teammate Daison Pursley flipped in turn two on the 19th lap. Pursley was uninjured.

The tide began to turn when racing resumed and Kofoid went on the offensive, slide jobbing Larson right off the bat in turn one. Larson answered by crossing over and trekking back under Kofoid as the two headed side-by-side into turn three.

Larson muscled Kofoid off the low line, but Kofoid returned to the front with a cutback underneath Larson exiting turn four.

The slider swapping continued between the two on the ensuing lap, with Larson able to get back by with a down and under maneuver past Kofoid in turns one and two, then closed the door at the entry on the bottom of turn three.

However, with the red flag displayed for a Kaylee Bryson turn two flip on the 21st lap before the lap was scored, Kofoid reassumed his position at the head of the field with Larson just behind.

Twelfth-running Thomas Meseraull found trouble on the first lap-21 restart when his mount received heavy front-end damage, forcing him to a stop near the outside wall in turn three, out of the race.

Back and forth they went from there, with Larson able to find an answer for every strike Kofoid delivered.

But with four laps to go, leading man Larson beelined to the bottom of turn three where he made a rare error, which scooched him up to the middle of no man’s land and losing momentum, while Kofoid raced around the outside to put his name atop the leaderboard.

Larson made one final run at Kofoid on the final lap in turn four, but Kofoid was undeterred in closing out a .552-second victory over Larson.

“We’ve been really strong as of late and the team gave me a hell of a car,” Kofoid noted of his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian/Mobil 1/JBL Audio/TRD-backed Bullet/Speedway Toyota. “I had an issue with that last restart when he got the lead back and I kind of stumbled.

“I figured out what I needed to do and, man, that was a lot of fun.”

Third through fifth were Tyler Courtney, Chase Johnson and Spencer Bayston.

Behind the race for the win was the race for the NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series point lead.

Sixth-finishing Chris Windom emerged ahead of Courtney in the standings by a single point at the checkered flag after charging forward from 20th following a wild final lap.

With Courtney running third at the white flag and Windom sitting seventh, Windom needed to move up one more spot to take the point lead, and contact between he and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. that spun Stenhouse around allowed Windom to do just that.

Though there are two more races on the calendar at Merced (Calif.) Speedway, they pay appearance points only, meaning Windom is – in effect – the champion elect and simply needs to turn a competitive lap on Friday and Saturday nights to lock up the title.

The finish:

1. Buddy Kofoid (5), 2. Kyle Larson (2), 3. Tyler Courtney (3), 4. Chase Johnson (1), 5. Spencer Bayston (4), 6. Chris Windom (20), 7. Tanner Thorson (6), 8. Cannon McIntosh (16), 9. Justin Grant (14), 10. Carson Macedo (21), 11. Jonathan Beason (8), 12. Emerson Axsom (12), 13. Clinton Boyles (10), 14. Ethan Mitchell (11), 15. Kaylee Bryson (7), 16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (9), 17. Andrew Layser* (24), 18. Michael Faccinto (13), 19. Tanner Carrick (15), 20. Cole Bodine* (23), 21. Bryant Wiedeman (19), 22. Frankie Guerrini (22), 23. Thomas Meseraull (18), 24. Daison Pursley (17). NT

Lap Leaders: Kyle Larson 1-18, Buddy Kofoid 19-20, Kyle Larson 21-26, Buddy Kofoid 27-30.

Hard Charger: Chris Windom (+14)

India's Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha was back at the team's nets in Sydney on Wednesday. Saha showed signs of recovery from his hamstring injury with four weeks still left for the much-anticipated December 17-21 Test series opener against Australia in Adelaide.

Saha had injured both his hamstrings during a short but successful IPL campaign for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, in which he scored two match-winning half-centuries that took them to the playoffs.

ALSO READ: Ishant Sharma 'looking good' after long spells in front of Rahul Dravid, Sunil Joshi

Because of the injury, the 36-year-old wicketkeeper missed the eliminator as well as the second qualifier of the IPL.

On Wednesday, Saha was seen facing throwdowns at the nets from the Sri Lankan left-arm specialist Nuwan Seneviratne and Indian right-arm bowler Dayananda Garani for a considerable period of time.

Look who is batting in the nets today. Hello @Wriddhipops! #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/GEzLKcSdVF

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 18, 2020

He didn't keep wickets though and the extent of recovery couldn't be ascertained from the video uploaded by the BCCI media.

There wasn't any pronounced forward press or footwork involved while driving the half-volleys. However, Saha, who has so far played 37 Tests and scored 1238 runs, didn't look uncomfortable during his time at the nets. From the video it seemed that both the throwdown specialists didn't go full tilt at the batsman, who is trying to gradually get into the groove after the injury.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had recently expressed confidence that Saha would be fully fit before the first Test with physio Nitin Patel and strength and conditioning coach Nick Webb working on his injury management.

During the last Test series in New Zealand, Saha was confined to the sidelines with Rishabh Pant getting an opportunity for his superior batting skills. However, this time Pant's patchy batting form in the IPL has not helped his cause. Pant was left out of the ODI and T20I squads - with Sanju Samson preferred over him - but was picked in the Test squad along with Saha.

RENTON, Wash. -- Russell Wilson referenced a Vince Lombardi quote Tuesday when asked about his message to his Seattle Seahawks teammates in the aftermath of their third loss in four games, a stretch that has coincided with the worst turnover funk of the quarterback's career.

"You may slip and fall a little bit," Wilson said. "You've got to just keep climbing. I think Vince Lombardi said something about that one time. I think he talked about the man who's on top of the mountain didn't just get there. It's so true. I think that as a team, there's always challenges ... The guys that can keep getting up and keep swinging, those are the players and those are the teams that keep overcoming. What I do know about myself is I'm an overcomer. I've been doubted before. One thing about me is I'm going to keep swinging."

Wilson threw two interceptions Sunday in the Seahawks' loss to the Los Angeles Rams. He also lost a fumble after a bad snap. That brought his turnover total since Week 7 to 10, his most in a four-game stretch since he entered the league as a third-round pick in 2012. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Wilson's 13 turnovers are his most through the first 10 games of any season in his career.

The Seahawks have gone from 5-0 and first place atop the NFC West to 6-3 and in a three-way tie with the Rams and Arizona Cardinals, who each have a win over Seattle. The Seahawks host Arizona on Thursday in the rematch at CenturyLink Field, a game the Seahawks need to win to avoid their first three-game losing streak since 2011.

Wilson, meanwhile, has lost his early-season grip on the MVP race.

"He needs to play better," Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. "He knows that. We can't turn the ball over."

Schottenheimer has taken the blame for some of Wilson's recent mistakes. One was the first of his two interceptions in Week 9 against Buffalo. Schottenheimer said that it was a bad playcall and that Wilson had to throw the ball somewhere on fourth down. He chalked up Wilson's second interception against the Rams to a nice play by cornerback Darious Williams.

Schottenheimer described Wilson's other interception against the Rams as the result of a bad decision to force the ball into the end zone when he had room to run.

Wilson's 10 interceptions are one shy of his career high.

"The turnovers, he knows he has to be better with that," Schottenheimer said. "He knows that. We coach him no different than everybody else. It's nonnegotiable. You have to take care of the football. There's big momentum swings. We always want to be one of the top teams in the league at taking care of the football. He's always going to be a guy that's been that way. He's normally a single-digit interception guy. He understands that."

Wilson and coach Pete Carroll have been asked multiple times in recent weeks whether the quarterback is pressing because of the way Seattle's defense has been struggling at a historic rate. His recent funk has also coincided with the absences of running backs Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde. Wilson has been sacked 11 times in the past two games while taking 23 additional quarterback hits.

Asked Tuesday if he's healthy, he said he feels great.

"I think that I've just got to make clearer decisions," he said. "I don't want to overcomplicate it."

Schottenheimer said that he talked to Wilson about simplifying his thinking on the field.

"We completely trust Russ," he said. "Russ will get through this. I really believe that."

So does Wilson.

"I think he's been saying it all week: It's not going to last," linebacker Bobby Wagner said. "There's times where you have stretches where you're not playing as well as you want to or you're not making the plays that you were making, but his confidence is unshakable. Nobody can shake his confidence, and that's something that you admire and appreciate as a teammate because everybody handles adversity. He always handles it head-on, so you respect it, you appreciate it, and it's inspiring, for sure."

The New York Knicks are moving up in Wednesday's NBA draft, acquiring the Utah Jazz's pick at No. 23 in exchange for the No. 27 and No. 38 selections, sources told ESPN.

The Knicks will now hold the No. 8 and No. 23 picks in Wednesday's draft, the first for the team under new president of basketball operations Leon Rose.

The Jazz will also send the Knicks the draft rights to 2008 second-round pick Ante Tomic, 33, who isn't expected to join the NBA.

Even before Julien Gauthier got to the NHL, he was a fascination to many NHL teams.

"Every year at the scouting combine, there are players everyone is curious about," said one NHL team exec. "In 2016, one of those guys was certainly Julien Gauthier. He was a late birthday and already played for Canada at World Juniors and three years in the [QMJHL], so he's a guy we had seen a lot of. But what stood out was his unique background."

Gauthier's father, Martin, is a bodybuilder who was named Mr. Canada in 1984. Gauthier's grandfather, Denis, was a professional wrestler and Mr. Canada in 1964, as well as a runner-up for Mr. Universe. Gauthier's uncle, Denis Jr., played 554 games as an NHL defenseman. But league evaluators were equally fixated on the fact that Gauthier's grandfather married Joanne Rougeau, a member of one of Canada's most famous wrestling families whose brothers were the 1980s World Wrestling Federation tag-team duo the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers.

Gauthier, who was 6-foot-4 and 224 pounds at age 18, began lifting weights when he was 9 thanks to a robust home gym. According to Martin Gauthier, his son was able to squat 405 pounds by his late teens. "And not quarter squats," Martin said. "Really decent, full, squats with good form. With four plates on each side. He could do four, five reps."

When Julien Gauthier arrived at the scouting combine, it's all anyone wanted to discuss with him.

"Everyone knew working out was my thing," he said. "So that's what they focused on." As he fielded question after question about his body, Gauthier served back a stock response: "I don't lift weights to look good without a shirt on. I train to be powerful and strong at hockey."

The Carolina Hurricanes drafted Gauthier at No. 21 overall in 2016. The power winger scored 43 goals in his first two seasons with their AHL affiliate in Charlotte, however he didn't make the NHL roster out of training camp last season. According to sources, the team wanted him to round out his defensive game.

"It was hard, because I was ready to make the team; I felt like I was ready for it," Gauthier said. "It was hurtful, but I had two choices: You complain or you put your head down and you dig deeper."

Gauthier scored 26 goals in his first 44 games with the Checkers last season, which helped the Hurricanes to trade his rights.

In February, Gauthier was sent to the New York Rangers in exchange for Joey Keane, one of the Blueshirts' top defensive prospects. For Gauthier, it was a lifeline, a chance to make a name for himself as an NHL player.

The Rangers have engineered a full rebuild, with only one player, Chris Kreider, remaining from their 2014 Stanley Cup Final team. New York has one of the youngest rosters in the NHL, brimming with talent and positioning the Rangers to be sustained winners over the next several years. However, one area they deeply struggled with last season was depth scoring.

Enter Gauthier. At age 23 -- big and powerful, with a shoot-first mentality, decent speed and a strong power-play net presence -- he is a compelling breakout candidate for next season and will get a prime opportunity in New York's middle six. Despite the uncertainty of the 2020-21 season, Gauthier is preparing as he always has: following a program created by his father.

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A post shared by Julien Gauthier (@gauths12)

When Martin Gauthier first introduced his son to the gym at age 9, they began with twice-per-week sessions, 40 minutes at a time. "I showed him how to train slowly," said the elder Gauthier, who is now a chiropractor. "He really picked it up. After that, it was a matter of discipline, and he always had the discipline to continue."

At school, everyone knew about Julien Gauthier's famous family.

"The Rougeau Brothers were really popular in Quebec," he said. "When they were wrestling, there were four [main] channels, like the Weather Channel and wrestling, so people always watched them." Gauthier viewed old matches on the internet, as well as some featuring his grandfather (who quit wrestling in 1975 to open a gym).

While Gauthier loves wrestling, he never had interest in doing it himself; the same goes for bodybuilding. Hockey was always his passion, so his father adjusted the workouts accordingly.

"I've been training for 40 years, I'm also a chiropractor and studied biomechanics, so it was kind of easy for me to know what he needs," Martin Gauthier said. "Let's say you were a dancer. I could come up with a program for you in a few hours based off what you're doing and what you need."

While Martin Gauthier's bodybuilding workouts were all about pumping as much blood as possible into the muscles, he designed programs for his son to work on explosiveness in his skating and on-ice movements, adding in cardio and agility exercises. He also preached the importance of smart food and rest. While teammates would snack on chips or sugary drinks after games, Martin Gauthier would always meet his son at the rink with dried fruit and nuts.

Julien Gauthier signed with CAA Hockey, and agents typically help players find offseason trainers with whom they'll work. Pat Brisson at CAA determined that if Martin Gauthier could train his son this well this far, he should continue.

Julien Gauthier said he typically takes 10 to 15 days after the season to relax. Other than that, it's extremely rare for him to take a day off from the gym. "I try to do something every single day during the season," he said. "Even if it's like 15 to 30 minutes."

In Charlotte, it was not uncommon for coaches to see Gauthier in the gym, alone on an off day, doing power cleans. Gauthier said his transition to New York was easy, in part because his temporary housing was attached to a gym. According to his father, in his off time Gauthier likes to go fishing and eat at fine restaurants. According to Gauthier himself, he really likes to meal prep. Perhaps the biggest shame of his career not working out in Carolina is that he never got to work out with Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour, another famous gym rat.

Gauthier had a bit of a whirlwind following his trade. He played 12 regular-season games for the Rangers before the shutdown, then three more in the play-in round, coincidentally against the Hurricanes. After that, it was back to his home province of Quebec to get ready for 2020-21.

Once Quebec went into a second set of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gauthier knew he wouldn't be able to access the rink or gym to train properly, so he made alternate accommodations before he heads to New York in December. Gauthier is currently preparing for the season by renting a condo, by himself, in Sarasota, Florida.

He said he excited to properly introduce himself to Rangers fans after just a 15-game preview last season. A self-produced scouting report, Gauthier said, "I'm a big guy that can skate and shoot. I go really hard to the net; that's my thing. I try to hang around the net as much as possible, crash the net hard, play physical, and that's pretty much it."

While Gauthier didn't inherit a flair for the dramatics like his bodybuilding and wrestling family members, he is an exciting player to watch. In juniors, Gauthier often imitated Alexander Radulov's signature goal celebration, complete with a stick twirl. If all goes according to plan, he'll have his own signature goal celebration for Broadway this season.

FIFA is to push ahead with trials of Artificial Intelligence-driven semi-automated VAR offside technology, aimed at speeding up the process and making it more accurate.

Three technology providers will move into the next development phase in 2021, with FIFA hoping it can be rolled out fully by 2022 and be used at the Qatar World Cup.

VAR offside has caused huge controversy across all the top European leagues, with players having goals disallowed due to being millimetres ahead of the last defender, even though there is clear doubt over the system's reliability.

The availability of the correct frame to show the point the pass was made, as well as the subjective nature of the VAR manually placing measurement points on each player, means no two VAR offside decisions can offer the same level of accuracy.

- Bamford offside & other VAR controversies
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The time taken to make an offside decision, in some cases in excess of four minutes, has also been criticised but the semi-automated VAR offside technology would aim to cut this down to seconds and "provide the VAR with additional and more accurate information to assist the decision-making process of the referee and to make the review process as efficient as possible."

Sweden-based company ChyronHego is leading the development using its Emmy Award-winning optical tracking system.

The first offline tests with limb-tracking and automated ball detection technology were held at the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup. Solutions to improve the accuracy of the kick point include tracking data from sensor technology and video data from camera systems, while a player's skeleton will be modelled to be precise to the tip of a player's boot.

"The goal is to develop a supportive tool similar to goal-line technology: Not designed to make the decision, but to provide evidence instantly to the referees," Johannes Holzmuller, FIFA's director of football technology & innovation, said.

While the technology would provide the images, the VAR would still determine if the correct player was being used and that the player was active for offside.

World football's governing body created Working Group of Innovation Excellence in 2019, featuring representatives from 13 competition organisers around the world, with three primary objectives: semi-automated offside technology, low-budget VAR system to be used in leagues which cannot afford the full-grade version, and improved communication to fans.

The group is also discussing ways to improve the visualisation of the close offside incidents which have caused so much controversy.

Liverpool's injury crisis has worsened with the news Rhys Williams was left out of the England under-21 squad as a precaution due to a hip injury.

Manager Jurgen Klopp is without two members of his first-choice back four for the foreseeable future with Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez sidelined due to knee injuries while Fabinho, who was deputising in central defence, is also missing.

- Stream LIVE games and replays on ESPN+ (U.S. only)

First-choice full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson are also doubtful for Sunday's clash with Leicester and Klopp may also have to do without Williams.

"He had a very minor stiff hip," England U21 manager Aidy Boothroyd said of the 19-year-old. "It was in his best interests to get him back to Liverpool.

"With all the players, if there's any potential injuries or niggles then our medical staff is in contact with the club.

"Rhys wasn't actually on the bench so I thought the best thing was to get him back to Liverpool."

Williams has made five appearances for Liverpool this season and has played in all three of their Champions League group-stage matches so far.

With so many key absentees in defence, he could have been in line for his first Premier League appearance on Sunday, but that is now in doubt.

Van Dijk was injured following a clash with Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford during the recent Merseyside derby while Fabinho was taken off after 30 minutes of Liverpool's 1-0 win at Ajax. Gomez sustained his knee injury during training with England.

In attack, Liverpool will also be without Mohamed Salah, who tested positive for coronavirus while on international duty with Egypt.

Moeen Ali has acknowledged he hasn't "got that long left in international cricket" but has resolved to "give my all" in the time remaining.

Moeen, now aged 33 and uncertain of his place in a first-choice side in any of the formats, admits he went through a stage where he "lost a lot of hunger". But, having had time to reflect and recover, he is adamant he wants to "play as much I can". And that includes Test cricket.

"I know I haven't got that long left in international cricket," Moeen said from the team hotel in Cape Town on England's first full day in South Africa. "But I'll try my best to do as much as I can to get to the level I want to get. I've had enough of a break from Test cricket.

"I think I was hungrier when I was younger. I think everyone is hungrier when they are trying to play Test cricket [for the first time]. I guess a year-and-a-half ago I definitely lost a lot of that hunger. But over the last six months I feel like it is coming back and I want to play Test cricket and play as much as I can.

"I've not played for a while now and, having spent time with the family and thought about my game, if the call did come, I'd be quite keen to be on it. I've not retired or anything. It was just to take a step back from a format of the game."

ALSO READ: England plan full schedule, return of crowds for 2021 home summer

Moeen's availability will encourage the national selectors. He was either top or joint top wicket-taker on both his last two Test tours - to Sri Lanka and the Caribbean - and with Adil Rashid having doused hopes of a Test return, England were looking light on options ahead of tours to Sri Lanka and India.

But there are still doubts about his form. He is averaging 11.20 in eight Tests since the start of that last tour to Sri Lanka in November 2018 and, while his ODI economy rate remains impressive (it's 4.89 in his most recent eight games), he has taken just two wickets in that period. As a result, Jack Leach and Dom Bess may well be ahead of him in the race for Test selection and Rashid is England's first-choice white-ball spinner.

If Moeen is able to rediscover his best form, however, there's little doubt he would be a huge asset. It's not so long ago - 2016 - that he hit four Test centuries in the calendar year and, at the time he was dropped (in August 2019), he was the top wicket-taker in Test cricket in the previous 12-months. He could yet add depth to England's batting and bite to their bowling, but he knows he has some work to do on his game to get back to those levels.

"It's been frustrating for me mentally," he said. "That hunger has not been there in the last year or so. There have been glimpses but I know deep down I haven't done well over a period of time.

"It's my job now to go out and perform. I need to get into a good mental space, which I have been working on for the last four or five months. It's been difficult. But it's about clearing everything out and starting afresh.

"My priority is to try get my game to the level I know I can get it. There's so much cricket and so much success to have. There's an opportunity there to be one of the greatest sides ever and be part of that. That's something I want to do. It's such an exciting time moving forward. For me, right now, to play as much cricket as I can and do the best I can. I can give my all in the next couple of years to try and be part of this."

Meanwhile Moeen welcomed news of England's tour to Pakistan in October 2021, calling it "a massive moment for cricket".

"It's massive," Moeen said. "Having been there not so long ago, it was an amazing experience to play the PSL there. We can't wait to go there in the future. It's a massive moment for cricket going forward.

"The teams that came to England this summer - West Indies and Pakistan - helped massively. They went through the whole bubble thing when cricket was on the edge. They helped massively with that. I think it's right we go back after such a long time for the game itself and for Pakistan and cricket in the country."

Bengal captain Abhimanyu Easwaran, former India batsman Manoj Tiwary, and up-and-coming allrounder Shahbaz Ahmed will lead three of the six teams at the inaugural chapter of the Bengal T20 Challenge, to be played at Eden Gardens in "a bio-bubble eco-system" from November 24.

Each of the teams (all clubs) - Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Tapan Memorial, Town, Kalighat and Customs - have 15 players in their ranks; seven of these were retained by the teams from their existing squads, and eight were picked up at a draft, with four more players named as stand-bys. There will be a total of 33 games in the tournament, with each team playing the others twice, followed by the semi-finals and the final, with a "majority" of them under lights. The schedule is expected on Saturday.

"Majority of the matches will be played under the floodlights at Eden Gardens. All the players, coaches and match officials will continue to remain in the bio bubble during the entire course of the tournament," Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Avishek Dalmiya said after the draft, conducted on Tuesday at a Kolkata hotel. "The thought process behind this tournament is to nurture the talents of the state of West Bengal and also enable this competition to act as a talent feeder to the various age groups representing the association."

On the absence of corporate-owned teams, and the decision to field prominent cricket clubs of the region, Dalmiya said, "This tournament is a CAB property and it will continue to remain the same without franchises. We are trying to ensure all the top brands are associated, top players are associated. We took suggestions from our think tank, the Bengal support staff and the coaches."

"By the time we start the season, a couple of board tournaments are over and for the selection process we have to look into last year's performance. I believe you can do a great service to Bengal cricket if you can dislodge the entrenched players, they are the ones under pressure not the youngsters" Arun Lal

Similar T20 tournaments have been organised by some of the state cricket associations around the country over the past few years - Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Saurashtra, Jharkhand, Andhra, Mumbai, for example - and, like them, the CAB is also hoping to make the competition an annual affair. This year, though, the Covid-19 situation has made things slightly more complex that it would be otherwise.

"These are very difficult times and to make this tournament successful, we must adhere to the (Covid-19) guidelines and protocols," Dalmiya said. "There will be health officers who will be ensuring that the bio-bubble norms are followed and if anyone's out of the bio-bubble, he's out of the tournament."

For the duration of the tournament, expected to be around three weeks, all the players, support staff, and everyone else associated with the tournament will be stay in a city hotel and not interact with anyone from outside the "safety zone".

The timing of the tournament is a good one from the point of view of Bengal-based cricketers, as it will end before the BCCI's domestic season kicks off - on January 1, according to board president Sourav Ganguly.

"If one can perform here, he can open the gates to greater opportunities. I have been telling the marquee players that this is a godsent opportunity; this has never happened to any of the Bengal players before. By the time we start the season, a couple of board tournaments are over and for the selection process we have to look into last year's performance," Arun Lal, the state team coach, was quoted as saying on the CAB's Facebook page. "I believe you can do a great service to Bengal cricket if you can dislodge the entrenched players, they are the ones under pressure not the youngsters. This is a great opportunity for the youngsters and the players who are forgotten."

While Mohammed Shami and Wriddhiman Saha, senior Bengal players, are in Australia with the Indian side and Ishan Porel, the young quick, has also travelled with the team as a net bowler, there is no dearth of prominent players in the teams. Apart from Abhimanyu, Tiwary and Ahmed, there are the likes of Shreevats Goswami, Abhishek Raman, Mukesh Kumar, Anustup Majumdar, Debabrata Das, Akash Deep, Sudip Chatterjee and Aamir Gani scattered among the six teams.