With Perry, Patil and Asha all recuperating from injuries, RCB’s chances once again hinge on in-form Mandhana

Sruthi Ravindranath11-Feb-20253:58

‘RCB will be heavily dependent on Mandhana’

Where RCB finished in WPL 2024Champions. Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Delhi Capitals in the final to win their first-ever title. They finished third on the points table in the league stage and won the eliminator against Mumbai Indians to make the final.What’s new in WPL 2025?RCB have been hit by player unavailability and injury concerns heading into the season. Sophie Devine is on a break, left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux is out injured and Kate Cross has withdrawn from the season for injury rehab. Their star allrounder Ellyse Perry also recently sustained a hip injury during the Ashes but she has arrived in Bengaluru ahead of the team’s departure to Baroda. Spinners Asha Sobhana and Shreyanka Patil have been recuperating from injuries and haven’t played international cricket since October 2024. Devine, Molineux, Perry and Asha had all played crucial roles in RCB’s win last year.Related

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RCB have brought in England spin-bowling allrounder Charlie Dean as Molineux’s replacement, while Heather Graham and Kim Garth come in for Devine and Cross.Having released Heather Knight, Nadine de Klerk and Shubha Satheesh among others, RCB acquired four new faces during the auction: Prema Rawat, VJ Joshitha, Raghvi Bist and Jagravi Pawar. Medium pacer Joshitha is fresh off the U-19 Women’s World Cup win, while 20-year-old Bist recently earned her India debut. Legspinner Rawat, who was signed up for INR 1.2 crore at the auction, also showcased her big-hitting abilities in the Uttarakhand women’s T20 league. Offspinner Pawar meanwhile was key in Mumbai’s title run in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy 2023-24. Before the auction, RCB also traded in England opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge from UP Warriorz.RCB’s likely XI1 Smriti Mandhana (capt), 2 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 S Meghana, 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Raghvi Bist, 7 Shreyanka Patil/ Prema Rawat, 8 Georgia Wareham, 9 Kim Garth, 10 Kanika Ahuja, 11 Renuka SinghOther players: Ekta Bisht, Charlie Dean, VJ Joshitha, Jagravi Pawar, Asha Sobhana, Heather GrahamSmriti Mandhana has been in terrific recent form•BCCIKey players In the absence of several big names and a few injury concerns, RCB’s chances hinge on captain Smriti Mandhana’s form. Mandhana had a stellar 2024, and has started 2025 with scores of 41, 73 and 135 in the three ODIs against Ireland. She was the second-highest run-scorer for RCB last year behind Perry, with 300 runs in ten innings.Raghvi Bist is a perfect fit to provide the middle-order firepower along with Richa Ghosh. In the third T20I against West Indies in December last year, she ably supported on-song Mandhana and Ghosh by farming the strike and also scoring well-time strokes regularly while coming in at No. 4.Young one to watch: VJ JoshithaA swing bowler who is also a handy lower-order batter, Joshitha had an impressive U-19 T20 World Cup. In the domestic U-19 T20 Trophy in October 2024, she scored 144 runs at a strike rate of 175.60 and followed up with seven wickets in four matches to finish as the highest wicket-taker at the U-19 Triangular Series in December. In the opening match of the Women’s U-19 T20 World Cup against West Indies, she bowled a fiery opening spell, taking two back-to-back wickets in her second over to finish with figures of 2 for 5. She picked six wickets in the tournament.RCB’s league fixturesRCB will play the first match of the tournament, against Gujarat Giants in Vadodara on February 14. They’re then scheduled to play Capitals in a rematch of last year’s final on February 17 at the same venue, before moving to Bengaluru for fixtures against Mumbai Indians, UP Warriorz, Giants and Capitals for the home leg. They will then face Warriorz on March 8 in Lucknow and end the league stage by playing against Mumbai at the Brabourne Stadium on March 11.

The middle Curran brother talks about comparisons with Tom and Sam and representing the country where their father was born

Firdose Moonda20-May-2025″If they weren’t my brothers, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Ben Curran says. He’s only half-right.Perhaps if it wasn’t for Sam and Tom, who have made headlines for the last decade, ESPNcricinfo would not have requested to interview Ben ahead of Zimbabwe’s first Test in England in 22 years. But that’s not the only reason. Ben is playing for Zimbabwe, the country of his father Kevin’s birth, against England, the country of his and Sam’s birth and the place where his family have significant sporting connections.Kevin, who played 11 ODIs for Zimbabwe between 1983 and 1987, acquired English residency and played county cricket for Northamptonshire for eight years between 1991 and 1999. All three of his sons were born in that time: Tom in Cape Town, while Kevin was playing for Boland, and Ben and Sam in Northampton. By the year 2000, the family were all back in Zimbabwe, on the family farm halfway between Harare and Mutare, where Kevin began his coaching career. Initially, he was an assistant national coach, then had a stint in Namibia and at an academy before being given the main national job.Related

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The brothers were 9, 8 and 6 respectively when Kevin was put in charge of Zimbabwe as head coach, in 2004. It was a time of intense upheaval in the country, both politically and in sporting terms. That same year, the Currans’ farm was among those repossessed as part of Robert Mugabe’s land reform program and 13 of Zimbabwe’s white players staged a walkout over Heath Streak’s sacking as captain and a broader protest over quotas. The Currans survived both events, moved home and Kevin continued coaching, even when Zimbabwe took a self-imposed exile from Tests in 2006.Tom, Ben and Sam were too young to remember any of that in great detail but Ben knows that they were “always around cricket” and encouraged to enjoy it. “Whenever I see friends of my dad, they all tell me they remember me when I was knee-high. We were always there. He just wanted us to enjoy sport and if we wanted to work hard and practice a lot, he was there. He never said, ‘This is what you have to do’, it was up to us to decide if we wanted to go further.All three brothers were lured away from Zimbabwe by a scholarship from Wellington School in Surrey, where they stayed even after Kevin passed away unexpectedly in 2012. He never saw his sons play professionally but their mother, Sarah, has been a constant presence. Three years after Kevin’s death, Sam became the second-youngest player to represent Surrey in first-class cricket. Tom was already a regular in the team but Ben had to wait a little longer.”I didn’t have the immediate success my brothers did,” he says. “It took me until I was a couple of years out of school to get myself the opportunity to play on a professional level but everyone’s got their own path. It doesn’t really happen that quickly for a lot of people. If I take myself out of it, I know that if they weren’t my brothers, we wouldn’t be having the same conversation. There’s no timeline on anything and especially not in professional sport. Not everyone, not just in my family, but in general, has quick success. It just took me a little longer.”And unlike his brothers, Ben didn’t have his success at Surrey either but there was a synchronicity with where he ended up. At the age of 22, he was signed by Northants, the same team his father had played for. That had the potential to heighten the pressure on him even more but he didn’t let it. “As a professional, I distanced myself from the talk,” he says. “It was a lot easier to try and just focus on performing myself.”

“I definitely have an eye on the ODI World Cup. I’m playing in the 50-over side at the minute and I want to get myself into the T20 side. I actually played more T20 cricket in the UK. I definitely want to cement myself in all three sides”

Over the next four years, Ben played semi-regularly but did not have any breakout success. He averaged 25.82, never scored a hundred and, understandably, was never part of the national team conversation. Although eligible to play for England, without the numbers to back it up, he never seriously entertained the thought. “When I was playing county cricket, I was just trying to focus on performing there. I didn’t really think too far ahead about what may or may not come.”Then, in 2022, he lost his contract and decided to return home and try again. “It was a conscious decision I made to go back and I obviously had ambitions to represent Zimbabwe,” he says, aware of the challenges that would face him.”The pitches are a lot slower and with the Kookaburra ball, there’s not as much lateral movement, so it’s about getting used to that, so they might have ring fields instead of more fielders behind the bat and a lot of more dismissals might be in front of the bat. It was about realising that there might not be as many scoring options, but you’ve got to find a way.”In what may be as much of an indicator of the difference in standards between England and Zimbabwe as of Curran feeling more comfortable in a familiar environment, in his first season, he averaged 41.77 in Zimbabwe’s first-class competition and finished eighth on the run-charts. In his second summer, he was up to seventh and by the end of his third, Curran was the second-highest run-scorer in the Logan Cup, averaging 75.30, with three hundreds from seven matches.It was during the last of those that he was also selected for Zimbabwe and made his international debut at Harare Sports Club, in an ODI against Afghanistan last December. A Test appearance soon followed, in the Boxing Day match in Bulawayo. Now Ben is all but a regular and sees himself that way. “It feels like I’ve been playing for a lot longer than just [since] December,” he says.Curran scored a half-century on Test debut•Zimbabwe CricketIt helps that he has performed relatively well. In his first Test innings, Ben scored 68 and in his sixth ODI, he raised his bat in celebration of a century to a jubilant crowd, who showed him the appreciation every international dreams of.”What I have been trying to do is just stay really present and take it all in,” he says. “I remember when I was on about 90-odd and we were in a good position in the game and I looked at the grandstand and everyone was singing and cheering. That was a standout moment, and made me appreciate where I am and what I’m actually doing.”Zimbabwe won the match against Ireland by nine wickets and Ben was there at the end to seal a series victory that could become the building block for the 2027 ODI World Cup, which they are co-hosting. Zimbabwe have not played at a 50-over World Cup since 2015 – and have been through two heartbreaking qualifying campaigns which saw them miss out – and see 2027 as an opportunity to underline their importance among the game’s top nations. That includes being able to have some of the formats best players and Ben hopes to be among those, at least for Zimbabwe.”I definitely have an eye on the ODI World Cup. I’m playing in the 50-over side at the minute and I want to get myself into the T20 side. I actually played more T20 cricket in the UK. I definitely want to cement myself in all three sides.”He played 23 T20s for Northants and scored three fifties with a strike rate of 126.84 but has only played 12 in Zimbabwe, and none for the national side. Whether that changes as they look towards the T20 World Cup Qualifiers remains to be seen. For now, their focus is on Tests and they are due to play 11 this year – as many as Australia and more than anyone else – in the hope of forcing their case for a World Test Championship spot.A match against England, given its profile, puts the conversation centre stage and gives the players a brighter spotlight than usual. For Ben, it’s about that and much more. There’s a touch of sibling rivalry even though neither Tom nor Sam are playing. He expects both to be around the match and hopefully cheering for him. He also expects the comparisons to keep being made but is confident he is carving his own path in his own way. “I’m enjoying my cricket,” he says. “The environment, where the guys and the team are in a good place and really wanting to take Zimbabwe cricket forward. I feel as though the timing is right for me.”

Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon have more than 1500 Test wickets among them and are now looking to tick off another box: feature in a title-winning XI together

Andrew McGlashan08-Jun-2025They have 1508 Test wickets among them. Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon are among the finest bowling combinations that has played together in Test history.In 2024, Australia became the first team to field an attack with four bowlers having 250 Test wickets each when Hazlewood removed Alick Athanaze in Adelaide. At some point this year, they may field an attack where four of them have at least 300 wickets.Cummins needs just six to reach the milestone – he could well do that in the World Test Championship (WTC) final – while Hazlewood is 21 away, so the Ashes is perhaps more realistic for him. Starc is well past 300 and is 18 away from joining the 400 club. Lyon sits on 553 and is 11 away from becoming Australia’s second-highest wicket-taker of all time behind Shane Warne. For the record, the most Test wickets in an XI was the 1989 England had against Australia at The Oval in 2023.Related

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Barring late injury problems, the four of them are set to line up against South Africa at Lord’s – the 33rd time they will have done so, a mark of their longevity – where Australia will aim to defend their WTC title.Debates around the greatest Test attacks of all time need to be more nuanced – another Australian combination of Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Warne often pips the current generation when the topic is raised even before expanding it to other nations – and there are duos and trios that has carried teams to fantastic heights. But this quartet has earned the right to be in the conversation, and perhaps will only truly be appreciated once the alliance starts to permanently break apart.Australia certainly haven’t been unbeatable when they have joined forces, with eight defeats scattered among the 32 Tests to date and South Africa winners on two occasions in 2018. For comparison, the McGrath-Lee-Gillespie-Warne combination played 16 Tests together for ten wins, four draws and two losses. A great West Indian quartet of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Colin Croft were on the field together 11 times and lost once. The South Africa team that included Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Jacques Kallis lost just two of 18 Tests. There will be various other noteworthy combinations, but each of Australia’s four has a vast body of work that will stand the test of time.Pat Cummins is a master at hitting the top of off•AFP/Getty ImagesCummins is a supreme specimen of a fast bowler. Pitch off, hit off is one of his trademarks – Joe Root at Old Trafford in 2019 is never far from getting a run. Of bowlers with at least 250 wickets, only eight have got them at a lower average than Cummins. It is worth noting here that one of those, Kagiso Rababa, will be in the opposition at Lord’s. Cummins has also been a success story for fast-bowler captains; two WTC titles and an ODI World Cup would be quite the haul.Starc’s standing is a curious one. It sometimes feels he isn’t revered as much as he should be. He is, without doubt, a cross-format great while anyone capable of touching 400 Test wickets should be viewed among the highest echelon of players. When he reaches 100 Tests, which could come in Jamaica next month, he will be just the eighth fast bowler to hit that mark alongside 400 wickets.If things had fallen a little differently for Hazlewood, he would now be beyond 300 wickets. A run of injuries (and some spin-heavy selections on the subcontinent) meant he played just four Tests between 2021 and 2023. After stringing together ten in a row in 2023-24, injuries returned to hamper him last season against India. His Test average of 24.57 is at its lowest point since March 2017 when he played his 28th match.Then there’s Lyon, so often the glue that has held it all together for Australia from a bowling point of view. Before Australia returned to consistently playing an allrounder, when Cameron Green was first part of the side in 2020, Lyon’s ability to command a huge workload, while being both an attacking and defensive option, made the four-man attack work and it’s still often a role he carries. Since Lyon’s debut in 2011, no one has bowled more than his 34,103 deliveries in Test cricket.But there is a transition looming in the years to come, although no one is yet being pensioned off and the mega year of 2027 (including India and England away) remains a significant carrot.Mitchell Starc is 18 strikes away from 400 Test wickets, while Josh Hazlewood is 21 away from 300•Getty ImagesCummins is the youngest of the four at 32 – and is expected to lead the Test side through to 2027 – followed by Hazlewood (34), Starc (35) and Lyon (37). The first reserve, one of the best back-ups there has been in Scott Boland, is 36. A few more of the next rung are more experienced players, too, with Michael Neser 35 and Sean Abbott 33. Jhye Richardson (28) and Lance Morris (27) have fitness question marks over them. Brendan Doggett bridges the gap at 31. Fergus O’Neill’s domestic returns demand he is in the mix, and he has the makings of the next Boland, but may still have to fight perceptions around his pace. The recent Under-19 generation – led by Mahli Beardman and Callum Vidler – is very exciting but will need to be nurtured.Australia’s spin depth is as good as it’s been for some time – Matt Kuhnemann may again join forces with Lyon in the West Indies, while Todd Murphy and Corey Rocchiccioli are the next offspinners in line – but filling this void when the time comes could be the hardest one, as it was when Warne retired. There was a glimpse into that future during the 2023 Ashes when Lyon blew his calf at Lord’s. While Murphy held his own, particularly at The Oval, it was not the same and Australia even opted not to play a spinner at Old Trafford.”Our bowlers aren’t getting any younger,” head coach Andrew McDonald said in an answer specifically on the quicks before leaving for the WTC final. “So the ability for those four [Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood, Boland] to really coexist and manage the workload across the WTC in the West Indies, and then you’ve got coming back for an Ashes as well, a five-Test series…”The way that the bowlers were able to perform last year, in particular, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc getting through five Test matches, we keep saying it’s an outlier, but they keep doing it. I don’t think we can always bank on that.Nathan Lyon’s ability to both attack and defend has been crucial to Australia’s success•Getty Images”So that quartet, plus Michael Neser, Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett, we’ve got some real good depth coming in and around that. We’ve also got Jhye Richardson and Lance Morris waiting in the wings as well. We feel like [with those] the fast-bowling stocks, when that does shift on us, we’re well placed.”Rotation is a dirty word among the pace attack – “we field the same question every year: if you’re fit, you play and if you’re not, you don’t play. It’s as simple as that, no one rests a Test match,” Hazlewood said last season – but it’s a topic that is unlikely to go away. Australia have dipped their toe in that water, most recently at the 2023 Ashes where Hazlewood, counter to his own views on the topic, sat out the Headingley Test.The other part to this is, ideally, wanting a managed change of eras rather than a mass exodus. There was a glimpse of such a prospect at the Champions Trophy earlier this year when the big three quicks were all absent. There may be a temptation, however tough a sell it would be to the current group, to try and get a Test match or two into the next batch of pace bowlers. One of the fascinating challenges of elite team sport is moving between the generations and it will be an intriguing element, not just in the bowling, of an outstanding but ageing Australian team.But there is also the here and now, and that’s about Lord’s against South Africa. Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon have never featured in a title-winning XI together: Hazlewood missed the previous WTC final while Lyon wasn’t involved in the 2023 ODI World Cup or the 2021 T20 version. As events in recent years against India in Perth and West Indies in Brisbane have shown, having them together is no guarantee of victory, but they are an intimidating prospect to overcome.

The Lahore Qalandars batter played for the franchise as an emerging player, but his registration appears to have contravened the PSL’s own rules

Danyal Rasool10-Jun-2025What is the emerging category?Since the start of the PSL in 2016, the league developed a category to propel talented young players into the spotlight. Each side was required to field at least one in every game; current rules stipulate each franchise must have at least two in their squad.What classifies a player as an emerging cricketer?This is somewhat loosely defined, and, as a result, poorly understood; more than one franchise ESPNcricinfo spoke to said they were unclear on the eligibility. Basically, players need to be under 23, and should not have played in the Pakistan national team. More recently, the PCB made an exception for players discovered under their talent hunt programmes, such as the Lahore Qalandars Player Development Programme, which, in certain cases, permits players over the age of 23 to be registered as emerging players.Mohammad Naeem raised three half-centuries during the season•PCBDid those exceptions apply to Naeem?That’s what everyone believed. Naeem was Qalandars’ emerging player in the line-up for all but one game. Qalandars have said they picked Naeem through their player development programme, and invested in him over the years. Since he was registered under the talent hunt discovery programme, he was exempt from the age requirement. Naeem is 26.However, according to the players draft guide from 2017 – the most recent edition that is publicly available – any player to have played competitive domestic cricket becomes ineligible to be registered as an emerging player. At the time, the rules excluded anyone who played Under-19 cricket, too, which Naeem did in 2017. His profile on the PCB’s official website lists him as having played for the FATA Region U-19s.In 2023, before making his PSL debut, he also played senior competitive domestic cricket with regional side FATA.How was he registered as an emerging player, then?This is at the heart of the controversy. When ESPNcricinfo reached out to the PSL, they sent a document insisting Naeem was correctly registered as an emerging player. It said that Qalandars “nominated and protected Mohammad Naeem prior to his debut in competitive domestic cricket in December 2023”. It went on to say that the rules allowed for him to be “protected until the next draft cycle” and that no other franchises raised any concerns at the time.Related

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The rules mentioned by the PSL’s statement to ESPNcricinfo do not appear in any official document publicly available that concerns the rules governing emerging players. ESPNcricinfo could not find any official update to the draft guide in 2017, which is notable since the PSL’s statement referenced rules governing talent hunt discovery programmes over the past five years.A copy of the playing conditions from 2023 on the PCB’s website does not detail what constitutes an emerging player, and does not mention the talent hunt discovery programme.What do the other franchises think?Multiple franchises that ESPNcricinfo reached out to said they were not aware of this stipulation. Nearly all believed that Naeem’s inclusion under the emerging rules – as they understood them – was a mistake. Karachi Kings nominated and protected fast bowler Fasih Ali, and were under the impression he would lose his emerging status if he went on to play competitive domestic cricket over the next years, as Naeem did.The PSL’s statement mentioned three times that none of the franchises objected at the time of Naeem’s registration. Every franchise ESPNcricinfo spoke to accepted this, though more than one pointed out the obligation upon the PSL to enforce its own rules did not hinge on objections from the franchises.Did Naeem’s performances significantly help Qalandars?Demonstrably so. Naeem was the eighth-highest run-scorer of the tournament with 314 runs including three half-centuries. None of the seven who scored more matched his strike rate of 162.69.What happens now?Well, nothing. Other franchises told ESPNcricinfo they wished to put this behind them and move on, but hoped that the rules would be more clearly spelled out in future. There is no indication of any wrongdoing by Qalandars, given the PSL accepted the franchise’s registration of Naeem as an emerging player. Naeem will no longer be able to be registered as an emerging player in the PSL’s next edition.

All-time great innings comes after batter’s self-doubts following mid-tournament axing

Sruthi Ravindranath30-Oct-20254:31

Rodrigues: I wanted to be there till the end

Some of sport’s greatest tales are about comebacks. The kind that linger in memory, where moments of silence suddenly erupt into thunderous cheers. That’s what fans live for: those fleeting instants when hope turns noise into belief.At the DY Patil Stadium, Jemimah Rodrigues was on 82 when she slog-swept Alana King and got only a top-edge. The ball spiralled high toward midwicket, with King and Alyssa Healy converging under it. For a few seconds, the 35,000-strong crowd fell utterly silent.Rodrigues had been batting like a dream until then. It had been a game of nerves. India still needed 131 from 102 balls, but Rodrigues looked composed, piercing gaps and running hard between the wickets despite the suffocating humidity. Every run drew cheers, even well-timed dots found appreciation.Then came that silence. It was a familiar sight for India fans: a set batter dismissed mid-chase, momentum slipping away. They had felt that when Smriti Mandhana had fallen in the chase against England in the league-stage match at this World Cup.And then, the roar. Rodrigues had been dropped by Healy. Her face barely flickered, but the stands exploded for the reprieve.Moments later, silence again.Rodrigues was struck in front by King, and Australia confidently reviewed the not-out call. Thousands of eyes fixed on the big screen. Two reds, one green, ball passing over the stumps. The roar returned.From that point, Rodrigues’s mind was clear: capitalise. But the conditions were brutal. With humidity over 75%, she was hours into her innings and revealed later she felt drained.Jemimah Rodrigues and Amanjot Kaur embrace in the middle at the moment of victory•ICC/Getty ImagesYet this wasn’t just about one night. It was about the weeks, the months, the years that had led her here. This was the kind of story sport loves: a redemption arc written through grit.It began with heartbreak. A lean run of form had led to her being dropped for the 2022 World Cup. She clawed her way back, and by 25, had become one of India’s senior batters. But at this World Cup, things turned again. Two ducks. Two 30s. Then came another blow when she was dropped for the England game. It was, as head coach Amol Muzumdar put it, “one of the toughest decisions” to leave out, not just a senior batter, but also one of the team’s best fielders.Off the field, Rodrigues was struggling. Anxiety crept in. She spoke of “feeling numb”, of days when she cried a lot. The omission only deepened her doubts.”To be honest, when I was dropped and when I came in to this World Cup, I wanted to come out there, not prove a point, but do things so my team wins,” she said. “I kept reminding myself that, because it’s very easy to get into that mindset, and that mindset never has helped me. But I think today, today not just today, but from the last few games, all I thought about was, because I didn’t start off well, things just kept getting, worse and worse.”But sport, cruel as it can be, also offers another chance. Rodrigues returned to the XI against New Zealand, promoted to No. 3. The response was emphatic: 76 off 55 to guide India home. But that was just the beginning.Then came Thursday. Another promotion to No. 3, this time against the unbeaten defending champions, Australia. This wasn’t just any chase – it was a world-record one, in front of a home crowd. The kind of stage that tests every nerve.Harmanpreet Kaur, her captain and partner for much of the chase, had done this before. Her 171 not out against Australia in the 2017 semi-final had changed women’s cricket in India forever.Rodrigues’ innings completed the highest chase in W-ODI history•Getty ImagesMandhana’s early dismissal had silenced Navi Mumbai. Amanjot Kaur was listed at No. 3 on the team sheet, but Rodrigues instead walked out. She’d only known of her promotion five minutes earlier.For the first 11 balls, she played herself in. Then came a four, and the tension eased slightly. Questions loomed: would India go too deep again, as against England? Could they do it without Mandhana, their best batter in the tournament so far?Rodrigues knew they could. She believed India could chase 300-plus, and she batted like it.The turning point came with a cheeky, audacious scoop off Kim Garth in the eighth over. India had watched Phoebe Litchfield play such shots earlier, now Rodrigues answered back. Between deliveries, she talked to her partners, and to herself. “I was praying, I was talking to God,” she would later reveal.The classic Rodrigues shots began to flow: the loft over short third off Ash Gardner, the late cut past backward point, the flick through midwicket, those crackling sweeps of all kinds. India’s momentum was rising but so was the pressure.Related

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India make history as Rodrigues and Harmanpreet end Australia's reign

Rodrigues: Felt like a dream after a month of anxiety

With 150 needed off 20 overs, Harmanpreet shifted gears, unleashing a series of boundaries. Rodrigues applauded, raising her thumb after sharp runs, willing her captain on. When Harmanpreet fell for 89, cramped and spent, the silence, and a familiar dread returned: was another collapse coming?Not this time. Rodrigues, calm and steady, guided her partners.”I was telling Harry [Harmanpreet] that we both have to finish it and we can’t leave it for the end, just because we are set and we know we can take it through,” she said. “And when that happened [Harmanpreet was dismissed], it was like a blessing in disguise for me because I was kind of losing my focus because of my tiredness. But when Harry got out, I think that added more responsibility to me that, ‘Okay, I need to be here. Okay, she is out, I will score for her’. And I think that again got me in the right zone. Then I started just sensibly playing.”When her century came, off 117 balls, there was no wild celebration, just a quiet fist bump and a hug from Richa Ghosh. The job wasn’t done. The asking rate still hovered above a run a ball.Ghosh struck some heavy blows before falling for 26, and the stadium hushed again. But Rodrigues ensured the silence didn’t last. A four off Sophie Molineux, then two more off Annabel Sutherland. The equation was down to single digits and Amanjot Kaur finished it with two boundaries in the 49th over.Harmanpreet Kaur’s 171 not out in the 2017 semi-final was proof of what could be achieved against Australia•Getty ImagesRodrigues dropped to her knees, tears streaming, her team-mates hovering around her. The near 100-overs she spent on the field in punishing conditions was well worth it. There would be more tears later, during the presentation and at the press conference. But they told a story larger than any chase – the story of redemption.”I know how important this match is, and I wanted to be there to finish it off, so all I did was, you know, just kept telling [myself] to just stand here, amazing things can happen towards you, you never know what can happen towards the end of the match,” she said.”When I reached my fifty, when I reached my hundred, I didn’t celebrate, because, at that moment I looked at our hotel right here, and I said [to myself] tomorrow morning, what would make me happier? Would it be a fifty? Would it be a hundred? No, it would be India winning. And I want to wake up with that feeling, I want to sleep with that smile, that we are playing the finals, and I’m waking up to get ready for the finals.”In recent memory, few comebacks in sport have glowed quite like this. Perhaps Femke Bol’s redemption after her fall in the 4x400m mixed relay at the 2023 World Championships, returning with an astonishing effort to win Olympic Gold for Netherlands a year later, or a 35-year old Rafael Nadal’s impossible rally in the 2022 Australian Open final from two sets down against Daniil Medvedev.Rodrigues belongs among the great comeback stories, rising from self-doubt and tough times to lead her team past a side that almost never loses. In the end, at the DY Patil Stadium, she made sure all the silences turned to roars.

She began her career being mentored by Salma Khatun. Ten years later, she is the one helping the young Bangladesh players find their way

S Sudarshanan06-Oct-2025Nahida Akter vividly remembers the first time she met Salma Khatun. She was just 15 and her hands were trembling.Salma blazed a trail for Bangladesh in women’s cricket. She was their first captain in international cricket, and at the time of her last T20I in July 2023, their most capped player in the format. Now, she is Bangladesh’s first woman selector.”When I broke into the national team, I played under Salma Khatun, a legend of Bangladesh cricket,” Nahida tells ESPNcricinfo in Guwahati. “Watching her up close only deepened my love for the game. The growth of Bangladesh women’s cricket owes a lot to her, and I feel fortunate to have started my journey under her leadership.”The way she guided me is beyond words. My mother, father and brother were at home, but on the field, Salma looked after me like family. She made sure I stayed on the right path, and even today, if I make a mistake, she corrects me and helps me learn from it.”Nahida happens to be the one performing those roles now. Two days out from their second match of the Women’s World Cup, against England, she was the one guiding fellow left-arm spinner Sanjida Akter Meghla through her routines, and talking to legspinners Shorna Akter and Rabeya Khan about bowling grips and the right areas to target. It’s been a great 10 years.Nahida has grown to become Bangladesh’s leading wicket-taker across formats and is the vice-captain of the team now.

I’m the team’s lead spinner, and I have to make a bigger impact. It’s a challenge, but not a burden

She was born in Kishoreganj, a city about 100 kilometres away from Dhaka. But with her father working as a government officer, she has always lived in the capital. Until about 2012, Nahida knew little about cricket. She saw boys in her neighbourhood play but wouldn’t join them. Not until she started watching Bangladesh men’s internationals on the telly with her brother.After being rejected once, Nahida finally cleared the entrance exam to join Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (Bangladesh Institute of Sports Education, BKSP) in 2013, a residential academy where around 25 different sports are taught. That is where she played cricket with a leather ball for the first time.”Initially, I loved batting. But my coaches Mehdi Hasan and Dolly Dey saw something different in me,” Nahida says. “They thought I could become a good bowler. At that point, I couldn’t even rotate my arm properly to bowl. Back home, most of the cricket we played was soft-ball, short-format games where you didn’t have to bowl with a full action. My coaches literally held my arm and taught me how to bowl. They worked tirelessly to make me a proper bowler.”Nahida Akter: I want people to say Bangladesh reached this stage because of their bowlers•CWIWhile she was part of the BKSP squad that had seniors like Sharmin Akhter and Fargana Hoque, Nahida had to wait for her time. In the second year, she got her chance and showed her mettle with five wickets in her first match against Abahani. She finished with 18 wickets in that season and that resulted in a call-up to the national camp. But Nahida couldn’t attend. She had to sit her board exams.Related

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“At that point, I honestly didn’t know if I’d ever get another chance [to play],” she says. “To return to that level, I knew I’d have to perform again. That phase taught me the value of comebacks and the importance of mental strength. I realised that in sport, the only way back is through performance. I returned to BKSP, worked harder, performed better, and got called back to camp. This time, I was ready and in 2015, I finally earned my place in the Bangladesh national team.”Given Nahida’s quick rise, her initial years in international cricket were not just about performance but also about learning. Salma aside, she observed how allrounder Rumana Ahmed trained and played.”Watching players like Salma taught me how to raise my own game and become useful to the team. I was especially inspired by how calm she and Rumana remained, even when the team had conceded a lot of runs. That composure strengthened my own mindset.”Cricket is a game where one good ball can change everything. You have six balls in an over, if a few don’t go well, there’s no point over-thinking. Focus on bowling that one good delivery. That’s something I learned from them.”Nahida looked up to a couple of other left-arm spinners as well – Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath: “Shakib ‘s bowling is outstanding but I admire his mindset and aggression. I study Herath to improve my craft.”Nahida Akter credits Salma Khatun (in pic) for shaping her as a cricketer•Getty ImagesWhat is the secret behind her jersey number 32, then?”I’ve always admired Glenn Maxwell,” Nahida laughs. “That’s why both my jersey and locket carry the number 32. His fielding is world-class, and watching him play gives me energy. I could have chosen 75, but that’s Shakib ‘s number. Out of respect, I didn’t take it. No one can take his place. He is one of our legends in Bangladesh cricket.”Despite having a storied career, Salma played only one ODI World Cup – in 2022 when Bangladesh were first-timers. At just 25, Nahida is already into her second. She is also among the select few in the current squad that can draw from the experience of bowling in India. She has played three T20Is in the country. Only legspinner Fahima Khatun, among the bowlers, has played an ODI here.”From the senior players, I learned how to adapt to situations, how to change plans according to conditions, which delivery to bowl when, and how to plan against a batter,” Nahida says. “Most of these lessons came directly from Salma . This is my second World Cup, and my mindset is clear – I’m the team’s lead spinner, and I have to make a bigger impact. It’s a challenge, but not a burden. I want people to say Bangladesh reached this stage because of their bowlers.”Nahida has risen through various setbacks. Her family was ridiculed for letting a girl play cricket. She herself was subject to many taunts even in the secure colony they lived during her father’s employment in the government. But now that she is one of the flag-bearers of Bangladesh’s women’s cricket, the journey feels worth it.”If my brother Nazim Ahmed hadn’t been by my side, I don’t think I’d be where I am today. From developing my game to strengthening my mindset, his influence has been immeasurable. My mental resilience and hunger to learn, they all come from him.”

By holding Mustafizur Rahman back till after the powerplay, Bangladesh had their bowling plan down pat, and then it just needed common sense to pull off the chase

Danyal Rasool21-Sep-20251:49

Chopra: You look at Saif Hassan and go ‘there’s some serious talent there’

When Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi last week, it boiled down to the middle overs. Chasing 140 at a time when no one seemed quite sure what constituted a good total in the Asia Cup, Sri Lanka emerged from the powerplay with the fluidity of a car merging back on to the motorway. They barely changing gears from their belligerent start, motoring on as if a punctuation mark in the passage of play had never happened. The spread field held little meaning as they plundered 81 runs off the eight overs immediately following the easing of fielding restrictions. It remains, comfortably, the highest number of runs scored in that period all tournament.A week on, and Bangladesh inserted Sri Lanka. They had not let victory over Afghanistan defending a total play with their heads, aware that as the tournament goes on, chasing appears to proffer a clear advantage. Two days earlier, Sri Lanka had chased down 170 against Afghanistan – the highest successful pursuit of the tournament and one that Bangladesh owe their continued involvement in this tournament to. They had no intention of doing Sri Lanka any return favours here in Dubai.Sri Lanka may have been unbeaten this tournament, but all those wins came batting second. Even so, Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis started brightly, scoring 36 in the first four overs – the highest off the bat for them this tournament – but with Bangladesh holding Mustafizur Rahman back until after the powerplay, they understood exactly when to start applying the strangle.Related

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Nissanka had fallen to Taskin Ahmed by now, and with Mustafizur bearing down, they found merging into post-powerplay traffic trickier this time. The seventh produced just three runs; Mahedi Hasan’s over that followed claimed the wicket of Mendis. He cleaned up Kamil Mishara in the next as Sri Lanka retreated into a shell they have not known in the middle overs this tournament, and one that offered them little protection.Mustafizur wouldn’t return until the 14th over, with Sri Lanka’s run rate scarcely above seven; it took him just four balls to end Kusal Perera’s run-a-ball innings. This time, in those same eight overs, Sri Lanka scored just 45 runs. Excluding matches involving Oman or UAE, it is the second lowest post-powerplay middle-overs effort of the tournament, bettered only by the chokehold India established on Pakistan in the phase that followed the first six overs. All this despite Sri Lanka being – by orders of magnitude – the most prolific side in overs 7-15, scoring at 8.12, with India a distant second at 7.68.It was a passage of play Dasun Shanaka tried to right in an astonishing lower-order onslaught, hitting six sixes in an unbeaten 37-ball 64, but acknowledged had hurt Sri Lanka decisively in the end.1:50

Chopra: Numbers don’t validate Bangladesh’s change in batting approach

“We had that momentum going on at the start,” he said at the press conference after. “But unfortunately we lost some momentum. Especially Fizz and Taskin bowled really well. We expected to score 180 but unfortunately we fell short. We fell 10-15 runs short.”That last remark can feel like the sort of catch-all cliché captains deploy post-match, primarily because any serious post-match analysis is yet to happen, and will take place behind closed doors rather than therapised to the media. But, in pursuit, Bangladesh knew those extra handful of runs were all that they really needed. Their own 7-15 over run rate is just a tick over seven. But having done their attacking in the first six, where they smashed 59, a number only India have bettered all tournament, that’s all they required.Anchoring is a much nicer gig chasing rather than setting a total, and especially if you are ahead of the rate. They scored 55 in the eight overs that followed. They hit a pair of fours and a pair of sixes. They lost a pair of wickets, but they had the luxury of hunkering down. They didn’t need to outrun the bear, only the snail-like pace Sri Lanka had established in that phase of the innings. Ten runs ahead was all the margin they needed.1:55

Chopra impressed with Hridoy’s cricketing smarts

“While we were batting in that phase, [Towhid] Hridoy and I had a good partnership,” Saif Hassan, who combined with Hridoy for all but three balls of that passage of play, said. “We had built our partnership knowing we were ahead in the game at that point.”From the vantage point other cricket nations have rather snootily opted to mount when viewing the new edge that Bangladesh-Sri Lanka contests have taken on, the perception is that this isn’t a rivalry to be taken quite as seriously. That it’s petty, overly emotional, and lacks a legitimate basis in cricket itself. In Dubai, though, Bangladesh shed all that with the clinical execution of a game plan they had brought to the game, one that aligned so well with their script that the fact that the chase went down to the penultimate delivery felt like a feature, not a bug.Sri Lanka’s caution in the face of Bangladesh’s accuracy through the middle might have reflected a belief that the side they had reprieved just two days earlier could be reeled right back in on command.But having regained control of their destiny, Bangladesh’s attack right through the middle demonstrated a clear understanding of the format they were playing: incremental, unspectacular improvement in any facet of a T20 innings might be all that’s required to turn defeat into victory.

The dates and the fixtures, the players to watch and the players you can’t watch, draft details and everything else you need to know

Andrew McGlashan06-Nov-2025

When does it take place?

The competition begins with a triple-header on November 9, later than it traditionally does because of the ODI World Cup, with the final on December 13, the day before the BBL begins.

What is the tournament structure?

Last season, the tournament was reduced to 40 games plus finals to bring it in line with the BBL and fit it within a burgeoning women’s cricket calendar. Each club will play ten games during the regular season.The three-game finals format used since 2021 remains in place, with the top four teams from the regular season to qualify. The team that finishes top after the regular season will host the final. The third- and fourth-placed teams will meet in the Knockout on December 9 with the winner to travel and face the team that finished second on the ladder two days later in the Challenger for a place in the final.

Who are the defending champions

Melbourne Renegades won the title for the first time last season when they overcame Brisbane Heat in a rain-affected final at the MCG. However, they have suffered a major blow ahead of their defence, with West Indies allrounder Hayley Matthews, who was Player of the Final and Player of the Tournament, ruled out having undergone shoulder surgery.Melbourne Renegades will miss the services of last season’s superstar Hayley Matthews•Getty Images

How the overseas draft played out

Adelaide Strikers: Sophie Ecclestone, Laura Wolvaardt (pre-sign), Tammy Beaumont
Brisbane Heat: Jemimah Rodrigues, Chinelle Henry, Nadine de Klerk (pre-sign)
Hobart Hurricanes: Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Nat Sciver-Brunt (pre-sign), Linsey Smith
Melbourne Renegades: Deandra Dottin, Alice Capsey
Melbourne Stars: Amy Jones, Marizanne Kapp (pre-sign), Dani Gibson
Perth Scorchers: Sophie Devine (pre-sign), Paige Schofield, Chloe Tryon (withdrawn)
Sydney Sixers: Sophia Dunkley, Amelia Kerr (pre-sign), Mady Villiers
Sydney Thunder: Heather Knight, Chamari Athapaththu (pre-sign), Shabnim Ismail

Are there any availability problems or schedule clashes?

Not too many. The tournament itself has been squeezed by the World Cup but, currently, the only conflicting international series is South Africa’s against Ireland. That has seen Perth Scorchers replace Chloe Tryon, who has made herself available to face Ireland, with England’s Freya Kemp.

The squads

Adelaide Strikers
Jemma Barsby, Tammy Beaumont, Darcie Brown, Sophie Ecclestone, Anesu Mushangwe, Tahlia McGrath, Bridget Patterson, Maddie Penna, Megan Schutt, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Laura WolvaardtBrisbane Heat
Lily Bassingthwaighte, Bonnie Berry, Lucy Bourke, Nadine de Klerk, Sianna Ginger, Lucy Hamilton, Nicola Hancock, Grace Harris, Chinelle Henry, Jess Jonassen, Charli Knott, Grace Parsons, Georgia Redmayne, Jemimah Rodrigues, Mikayla WrigleyHobart Hurricanes
Kathryn Bryce, Nicola Carey, Heather Graham, Ruth Johnston, Lizelle Lee, Isa Malgioglio, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Silver-Holmes, Amy Smith, Lauren Smith, Linsey Smith, Molly Strano, Rachel Trenaman, Elyse Villani, Callie Wilson, Danni Wyatt-HodgeMelbourne Renegades
Charis Bekker, Alice Capsey, Sarah Coyte, Emma de Broughe, Deandra Dottin, Nicole Faltum, Tess Flintoff, Milly Illingworth, Sara Kennedy, Sophie Molineux, Davina Perrin, Naomi Stalenberg, Georgia Wareham, Courtney Webb, Issy WongMelbourne Stars
Sophie Day, Kim Garth, Dani Gibson, Maisy Gibson, Ella Hayward, Amy Jones, Marizanne Kapp, Meg Lanning, Rhys McKenna, Ines McKeon, Sasha Moloney, Indigo Noble, Georgia Prestwidge, Sophie Reid, Annabel SutherlandPerth Scorchers
Chloe Ainsworth, Maddy Darke, Sophie Devine, Amy Edgar, Mikayla Hinkley, Ebony Hoskin, Freya Kemp, Alana King, Katie Mack, Shay Manolini, Lilly Mills, Beth Mooney, Chloe Piparo, Paige Scholfield, Ruby StrangeSydney Sixers
Caoimhe Bray, Maitlan Brown, Erin Burns, Mathilda Carmichael, Lauren Cheatle, Sophia Dunkley, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Elsa Hunter, Amelia Kerr, Lauren Kua, Emma Manix-Geeves, Ellyse Perry, Courtney Sippel, Mady VilliersSydney Thunder
Chamari Athapaththu, Sam Bates, Ella Briscoe, Hannah Darlington, Sienna Eve, Lucy Finn, Hasrat Gill, Laura Harris, Shabnim Ismail, Heather Knight, Anika Learoyd, Phoebe Litchfield, Taneale Peschel, Georgia Voll, Tahlia WilsonThe MCG could host the final if one of the two Melbourne teams qualify•Getty Images

Any new regulations we need to know?

CA has strengthened in-game over-rate penalties. As per previous seasons a countdown timer will be in place for each innings. Once time expires, teams are required to bring an additional player inside the fielding restriction circle immediately. The timer will immediately reset (5 minutes for BBL, 5:45mins for WBBL) after hitting zero and if time expires again before the conclusion of the innings, full powerplay conditions will exist for the remaining deliveries.

Are the major stadiums being used?

Largely, no. The Stadium Series, which took matches to the MCG, SCG and the Gabba, has been shelved for this season although Adelaide Oval will still host one Strikers’ match as part of a double-header day on November 28. Cricket Australia said it was down to scheduling and they could return in the future.”Due to scheduling reasons and needing to optimise those games in those big stadiums, we haven’t found the right slot for them this year,” head of Big Bash Leagues Alistair Dobson said. “That’s not to say we won’t be back there in the future, because [playing] the world’s best cricket league in the world’s best stadiums is still a part of our thinking going forward, but not for this season.”There remains a chance the MCG could host the final if either Melbourne team qualifies because it is scheduled to be a night game and Junction Oval won’t have its new lights installed in time.

Players to watch

Tess Flintoff, who has made a crosstown move from Melbourne Stars to Renegades, is one of the emerging allrounders in Australian cricket. She was awarded a central contract earlier this year, perhaps somewhat surprisingly given her numbers. “Certainly looking at her performances, you’d go, why?,” national selector Shawn Flegler said at the time. “She hasn’t really banged the door down with wickets or anything, but there’s something about her that’s probably a little bit different.” After last season’s returns of three wickets in nine games and a batting average of 9.83, this is a season to show why she is so highly regarded.Laura Wolvaardt comes into the WBBL after topping the run chart at the ODI World Cup•ICC/Getty ImagesLaura Wolvaardt comes into the competition on the back of a magnificent World Cup for South Africa where she produced one of the all-time great innings in the semi-final before another century in the final that wasn’t quite enough. After consecutive 400-run seasons in Strikers’ back-to-back titles, last summer was more of a struggle for Wolvaardt with 193 runs in nine innings. Her challenge this season could be refocusing after a few weeks of incredible personal success, but ultimately another World Cup final heartbreak.Sianna Ginger, a 20-year-old allrounder, only has six WBBL games to her name but is quickly emerging as a player to keep an eye on. She earned Australia A selection over the winter where she was the joint-leading wicket-taker in the T20s against India A, and struck a century in the four-day game against India A.Davina Perrin is one of the breakout stars of English cricket, having carved a magnificent 101 off 43 balls for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred Eliminator final. The 19-year-old is already being talked about for national honours as England coach Charlotte Edwards looks to the future after the semi-final exit in the World Cup. Perrin was a late signing by Renegades and will be tasked with, partly at least, filling the huge shoes of Matthews.Laura Harris has made the move from Brisbane Heat to Sydney Thunder after signing during the WBBL’s first trade window, which was introduced last season. One of the hardest strikers of a cricket ball, Harris has made her name as a power surge specialist. Her overall T20 strike rate of 173.92 is far and away the best in the world for anyone with at least 1000 runs.

Everton are keen to bring in some fresh blood during the January window and could now be lining up a multi-layered deal to acquire a former star at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Everton left frustrated after heavy defeat against Newcastle United

Despite holding home advantage, Everton were beaten convincingly by Newcastle United at Goodison Park on Saturday and will feel a sense of frustration at their poor defensive display, a rarity under the stewardship of David Moyes.

After a joyous victory away at Manchester United on Monday, despite having ten men for much of the affair, the Toffees failed to show the same resilience against Eddie Howe’s men and paid the price under the lights at their new stadium.

Speaking post-match, the Scot had no excuses for his side being unable to trouble the Geordies and made it clear that their European experience was a factor that helped shape a difficult night for the hosts.

He said: “We were beaten by a far better team. We go again, you move on but Newcastle were much better than us. You can see the experience they are gaining from playing in European games. They were just much more powerful than us all night.”

Even with a decent start to the Premier League campaign under their belt, Everton are building for January and could target FC Midtjylland forward Franculino Dju to try and arrest Thierno Barry’s goal drought since arriving on Merseyside.

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Celtic’s Daizen Maeda is also a wanted man and may be attainable, though they could also be willing to strengthen further back on the left-hand side if recent developments were to come to fruition.

Everton could look to re-sign Antonee Robinson

According to Alan Nixon on Patreon, Everton are keen to re-sign Fulham captain Antonee Robinson and believe £25m could be enough to secure his signature in January.

Armed with several formulas to potentially complete a deal, Vitaly Mykolenko has been mentioned as a potential swap option, with the Toffees unlikely to meet the Cottagers’ £40m valuation of the United States international.

Lauded by Sky Sports’ Dougie Critchley last season as being “one of the best left-backs in the world”, Robinson has made just four appearances for Fulham this term and has struggled with knee problems, which have seen him miss six Premier League matches in a row as he looks to get back to fitness.

Having come through the youth system at Everton before joining Wigan Athletic and then going on to move to West London, he is acutely aware of the club’s culture and would be a seamless fit, though it remains to be seen if the Blues can push a deal over the line.

Manchester United are now willing to outbid Real Madrid to win the race for Tijuana wonderkid Gilberto Mora, who starred at the recent U20 World Cup.

It was recently revealed that Ruben Amorim is putting a heavy emphasis on bringing young players through the ranks, having introduced a number of academy stars to first-team training, with 18-year-old winger Shea Lacey particularly catching the eye.

Amorim plans to rebuild the link between the academy and the senior squad, and Lacey is one of the main youngsters who could push for a place in the match-day squad before the season comes to a close.

Bringing players through the academy has always been a part of United’s DNA, and their current manager has made it clear he wants to continue that tradition, saying: “We want to maintain it. The past of Manchester United is built on kids.

“I don’t want to be the guy that breaks that.”

The Red Devils have also set out to sign impressive up-and-coming talents from elsewhere, with it recently emerging they are in concrete talks to sign AIK Fotboll striker Kevin Filling, and they are now looking to sign another young attacker.

Man Utd willing to outbid Real Madrid for Mora

That is according to a report from Spain, which states Man United are willing to put a lot of money on the table to win the race for Tijuana attacking midfielder Mora, following his impressive performances at the recent U20 World Cup.

Such is United’s level of interest, they are willing to raise the price to a point where Madrid would be forced to back out of the race, but there could be competition for his signature, with Paris Saint-Germain also prepared to spend big.

In order to win the race, the Red Devils are aware they will need to move swiftly, with a deal expected to amount to €4.5m (£4m).

The 17-year-old certainly caught the eye at the U20 World Cup, receiving plaudits from scout Jacek Kulig courtesy of his performances in the group stage.

Not only that, but the teenager has already gained a plethora of experience for Tijuna at first-team level, having made 44 appearances for the Mexican side, during which time he’s amassed seven goals and two assists.

Mora is yet to prove himself in a major league, but his performances for both club and country have been extremely impressive, and it would be a real statement if Man United were able to beat Real Madrid to his signature.

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