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Twelve years ago, India hosted a Women’s World Cup that barely made a dent in the country’s consciousness. Everything is different now

Sruthi Ravindranath and Shashank Kishore28-Sep-2025When India last hosted the Women’s World Cup, in 2013, marketing the sport meant herding a few hundred schoolkids in their uniforms into pockets of the stadium, to lend a bit of atmosphere to the TV coverage.Venues could be changed days before the tournament, just so the city’s biggest stadium could host a Ranji Trophy final involving Sachin Tendulkar.Match practice for India’s senior women’s team comprised games against Under-16s and Under-19s boys teams at the Police Gymkhana, after which the players would walk back to their budget rooms in South Mumbai while overseas teams checked into a five-star hotel. It was only after Diana Edulji, a former India captain, highlighted their plight in the national media that the team was eventually shifted into the hotel that housed the other teams.Related

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India could draw satisfaction from beating at-par opponents like West Indies, but even running bigger teams close felt like victory back then. Like when a wiry 23-year-old batter who dreamed of emulating Virender Sehwag batted out of her skin to briefly give England the jitters.Thirteen years on, the same hard-hitting batter is India’s captain, possibly playing in her last 50-over World Cup at 37. But this time, Harmanpreet Kaur has around her a generation of players who don’t just want to compete, but conquer. And for the first time in half a century, India’s women walk into a World Cup with every reason to believe they could be crowned champions.Thirush Kamini scored a century against West Indies in India’s first match of the 2013 World Cup•AFP/Getty ImagesThe contrast is stark. In 2013, such suggestions would have generated ridicule. Even though women’s cricket was under the BCCI’s purview, it was nowhere near as professional as it is today. Match fees barely touched INR 1 lakh for an entire tour, and daily allowances ran to INR 1500, barely enough to cover a coffee and a snack in countries like England or Australia. For players, defeat often meant checking out the next morning and finding their own way home: sometimes by taxi, sometimes by train.Players craved attention and got none. “Back then, recognition came only during a World Cup,” says former India opener Thirush Kamini, who scored a century in India’s tournament opener against West Indies in 2013. “Once you returned home, unless someone was very passionate about the game, nobody really noticed you. Today, players are recognised everywhere.”Opportunities were scarce. “Probably, I would say, the platform with which the girls are being selected now to play at the highest level [is far superior],” says former India allrounder Niranjana Nagarajan, who was part of the 2013 squad.”They have a platform like WPL. And they have more tournaments to play and show their talent. That we did not have. We just had inter-zonal and challengers. And if we qualified for nationals, we’d get an extra three games. That was it. We lost out on a number of matches.”Even when players did well, their efforts would end up as one- or two-column stories at the peripheries of the sports pages. Instagram was still too new, too basic, and too niche to turn their magic moments viral.”For the men’s team, if Sanju Samson isn’t picked, you ask why. If Shreyas Iyer performs in the IPL and isn’t selected, questions are raised,” Thirush says. This wasn’t the case with women’s cricket in her time, but it’s changed now.”Now when Shafali [Verma] is not getting picked, the selectors are asked why she’s not getting picked. The players who had played during the previous era didn’t even understand why they were not getting picked.”I understand it’s going to be a lot of pressure on a player like Shafali. But when you look at the flip side, I feel she at least has a clarity that she’s still in the scheme of things and she’s just not part of this World Cup. When you’re talking about players getting paid equally, it’s not just about infrastructure or facilities. It’s also about expectations, and that kind of scrutiny should stay.”

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Mithali Raj, who was 14 years into her international career at the 2013 World Cup, was one of two recognisable names in the sport, Jhulan Goswami being the other. Even so, the fact that Mithali had already led India to a World Cup final in 2005 barely shifted the needle of public attention.”When I got my hundred, Mithali was at the other end,” Thirush recalls. “A journalist asked how it felt to beat her record. She just turned to me with a smile and said, ‘Go ahead, it’s your moment.’ That generosity is what made them such great leaders.”Today, the landscape is completely different. Players train at state-of-the-art facilities, compete in thriving T20 leagues in India and abroad, and play the best oppositions as a matter of routine. In the lead-up to this World Cup, India toured England and hosted world champions Australia. A far cry from the time they’d settle for practice matches against men’s age-group teams.Jemimah Rodrigues was once Tendulkar’s neighbour in Mumbai. One of the things that inspired her to play cricket was seeing him arrive home to exuberant celebrations. Harmanpreet was captivated by Sehwag’s fearlessness and his habit of starting his innings with boundaries. Today, aspiring cricketers look at Smriti Mandhana’s cover drive, Harmanpreet’s sweep, and Radha Yadav’s athleticism for inspiration.In 2025, India’s women players are in the midst of a revolution – equal pay, record prize money, and a fan following that travels to see them play and train.In 2013, Mithali Raj (second from left) was one of two widely known women cricketers in India•AFPBucket Hat Cult, a dedicated fan group for women’s cricket, are set for their biggest outing yet. The 25-member group, which officially came together in 2023, travel to “as many India games as possible”, and will be out in force in Navi Mumbai for their first ODI Women’s World Cup. “We want to create as much buzz as we can,” they say.India’s run to the final of the 2017 World Cup was hailed as a turning point for women’s cricket in the country, but the BCCI may have been a tad late in harnessing that wave. Once they did, however, with the 2023 launch of the WPL, interest in the sport has surged. WPL 2025 recorded a 142% spike in TV viewership, drawing 31 million viewers. Even Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s trophy celebration in 2024 drew a full house at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, where the men’s team gave them a guard of honour.It feels like a dream sometimes, but it’s very much real. And after years of anonymity, this is the players’ time to shine.

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Three of the four venues for this World Cup haven’t hosted a women’s international in the last five years. Outside of Mumbai, most of India’s recent matches have been in Bengaluru, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Delhi. Among them, Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy and Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium have drawn strong crowds, helped by the WPL’s presence.DY Patil is expected to draw big numbers again, but the spotlight now shifts to less familiar venues: Guwahati, Indore and Visakhapatnam. India last played in Guwahati in 2019, in Vizag back in 2014, and have never played in Indore. Local connection could help, with each of these cities represented in the squad. And playing the World Cup in these cities may be a “blessing in disguise”, Niranjana feels.”Women’s cricket is always taking place in Bengaluru and Mumbai, of course the reach and ticket sales will probably be more there,” she says. “But when will we expose women’s cricket to other places?”Girls there will probably pick up a bat after watching the tournament. The reach will get better. I am definitely happy because these places are maybe not as big for women’s cricket but considering this is an ICC tournament, it is definitely a good thing. Those people can also experience women’s cricket as one of its kind.”Kranti Goud is evidence of women’s cricket having spread deep into India’s hinterlands•Getty ImagesUma Chetry, who hails from Guwahati, is the first woman from the state of Assam to represent India. She carries the hopes of a region that seemed unlikely to produce international players a decade ago. In the last year alone, it has produced two – Riyan Parag, an IPL captain no less, is the other.In Kadapa, a few hours away from Visakhapatnam, N Shree Charani’s skills first took shape in gully cricket, where she’d bowl left-arm fast. In 2018-19, Charani’s maternal uncle, who had grown up playing cricket in Hyderabad, persuaded her parents to send her for cricket trials.She caught the eyes of the age-group coaches who were amazed at her athleticism – Charani was a promising track-and-field athlete in school. Today, on the back of an impressive initiation in the WPL, where she plays alongside Meg Lanning, Charani, who now bowls left-arm spin, has a platform to share a stage with the world’s best.Kranti Goud’s journey from Ghuwara, a small town 450km from Indore, to the national team, punctuated by a six-wicket-haul in England, reflects how scouting, WPL performances, and exposure are reshaping India’s talent pool.From struggling for recognition in 2013 to commanding attention and respect in 2025, women’s cricket in India has come a long way. This World Cup could finally give the players a stage that is theirs to own.

So early in his Test career, Yashasvi Jaiswal has already shown incredible and effortless range in his batting – a product of the Bombay school of batting but also the IPL

Karthik Krishnaswamy19-Feb-2024A belief pervades many cultures that showering someone with praise summons the evil eye.Rohit Sharma seemed to be in the grip of just such a belief on Sunday evening, when he was asked about Yashasvi Jaiswal’s run-scoring feats in this series against England. He was asked first at the presentation ceremony in Rajkot.”I’ve spoken a lot about him,” he said. “I’m sure people outside the changing room have also been talking about him. I want to be calm about him, not talk a lot about him.”Related

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He was asked again at his post-match press conference.”I won’t say anything on Jaiswal. Everyone is talking about him. Let him play. He is playing well, it’s good for us and he is in good form. I am not going to say much more than that. [this is enough for now].”At these moments Rohit seemed not so much the captain of a cricket team as the anxious parent of a gifted child fretting about the inadvertent curse of excessive praise. You could imagine him nailing a string of chillies and lime to India’s dressing-room doorframe, and getting a member of the coaching staff to circle Jaiswal’s head three times clockwise and three times anticlockwise with a fistful of rock salt.You could empathise with Rohit, because Jaiswal is that kind of player. So good, so early in his career, that it seems wrong to talk about him. Let the boy be. Let him get on with it. Just watch and enjoy, no?This feeling – no doubt shared by many others apart from Rohit – is perhaps also a product of the names Jaiswal’s recent achievements have twinned him with, Don Bradman and Vinod Kambli: a career so productive that no one will ever be expected to match it, and a sad and curiously truncated career of whys and what-ifs. Kambli, of course, is a Mumbai left-hander who came from humble beginnings and brought to Test cricket both a precocious appetite for runs and a love for hitting sixes.Bradman and Kambli. A bright start, then, is just a start.The Indian camp rises as one to welcome Yashasvi Jaiswal back after his Visakhapatnam epic•BCCIBut what a start Jaiswal has had. He has played seven Tests now, and scored 861 runs at an average of 71.75. He’s already made three hundreds, each of them big, each bigger than the previous one – 171, 209, 214* – and each different to the other too.The debut effort in Dominica was remarkable for how unremarkable it appeared on the surface. On a slow Dominica pitch where India’s batters struggled for timing though not for survival against a limited West Indies attack, he batted time, with only as much fluency as the conditions would allow, and checked off one milestone after another, each appearing more inevitable than the last one. It was an innings you might have expected from Virat Kohli – who, to put the conditions in perspective, took 80 balls to hit his first boundary – but perhaps not from a 21-year-old debutant.Then, over the last two weeks, he’s made two double-hundreds: one that held together a first innings that could have otherwise fallen apart – he made just under 53% of India’s total of 396 – and one that set the tone for a jubilant third-innings surge.Perhaps nothing illustrates how different these two double-hundreds were than the methods he adopted against England’s fast bowlers in both innings. In Visakhapatnam, he faced 67 balls from James Anderson, England’s only quick, and scored 17 runs. In Rajkot, he faced 39 balls from Anderson and Mark Wood and scored 61. In strike-rate terms, he went from 25.37 in one innings to 156.41 in the other.

You could imagine Pant leaving five balls in a row if he really, really had to, but by the fourth leave you’d be off your chair and pacing the floor. When Jaiswal left five in a row from Jason Holder in his debut innings, you were probably fixing yourself a snack while the cricket played in the background.

The shots Jaiswal unleashed on the fourth day in Rajkot were always present in his kitbag: the falling scoop, the bent-knee slap over the massed off-side field, the club down the ground off the good-length ball. But where even the most subdued innings from Rishabh Pant – to take the example of the previous extravagantly gifted India left-hander to treat Anderson with cheerful disrespect in a home Test – is likely to include one or two shots of that type, it feels like Jaiswal could comfortably get through a full series without needing to demonstrate his full range.You could imagine Pant leaving five balls in a row if he really, really to, but by the fourth leave you’d be off your chair and pacing the floor. When Jaiswal left five in a row from Jason Holder in his debut innings, you were probably fixing yourself a snack while the cricket played in the background.Some players are so good that you can’t take your eyes off them. Some are so good that you frequently do, with the certainty that they’ll still be batting when you’ve returned from your fridge-foraging.Jaiswal can be both kinds of batter, but he’s more often the second kind. He’s a product of the Bombay school the Rajasthan Royals school, and while that education has given him a vast skillset, it has seemingly spared him the effects of its inherent contradictions. At this stage, it feels like you could send him out in any situation and expect that he’d make sound choices without having to think too hard about it.That clarity and certainty, of course, is partly a product of the form he’s in, and the fact that he hasn’t yet met a real setback as a batter at the highest level. That will come in its course. Watching him, it’s hard to think he wouldn’t find a way to overcome it.For now, though, it’s perhaps wisest to just let him be. Watch and enjoy. And keep your amulets and rabbit’s feet handy, just in case.

Tall swing bowler who can bowl dry when needed, or a skiddy swing bowler who might test both edges but could go for runs?

Karthik Krishnaswamy08-Jan-2022Among the India seamers who’ve played at least 10 Tests since the start of 2018, they have the best averages in that period: 21.26 and 21.37.It’s a reflection of India’s fast-bowling depth that Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma haven’t featured in the first two Tests in South Africa, but even as they donned fluorescent bibs and watched their colleagues from afar, they would have known they might be required at some point.For at least one of them, that moment could come on Tuesday, when the decider begins in Cape Town. Mohammed Siraj may or may not have recovered by then from the hamstring strain he picked up in Johannesburg, and even if he has, India could look to freshen up their pace attack given the physical demands of playing back-to-back-to-back Tests with only three-day gaps (not accounting for the early finish at the Wanderers) between them.Related

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The last time India had such a short gap slotted in between away Tests before this tour was in England, where there was just a three-day gap scheduled between the third and fourth Tests. When the fourth Test began at The Oval, both Ishant and Mohammed Shami were out – Virat Kohli said at the toss that both had “niggles”, without going into further detail.Umesh came in for that Test match, and ended up as India’s most successful bowler in a come-from-behind win, picking up three wickets in each innings. It was a performance that showed just how far his bowling has come over the last few years.Nearly all of Umesh’s wickets at The Oval came about via unpredictable behaviour from a more-or-less predictable line. Delivered from the middle of the crease, his stock ball would typically angle inwards and land on or just outside off stump, while swinging away late to hold its line. Every now and again, though, he’d deliver something that came out of his hand looking like that stock outswinger, only with the seam wobbling by accident or design; the ball would end up either following its initial angle or nipping inwards.Neither the outswinger nor the in-ducker deviated extravagantly, usually, and each magnified the other’s threat. Joe Root, in the first innings, played for outswing and left a hint of a gap for the ball to nip back through. Craig Overton, on the final day, played for the initial angle, only for the ball to swing away with extra bounce and square him up to bowl him off the right elbow.It was the kind of smart, purposeful overseas Test-match performance that had been latent in Umesh for at least three years, but he’d only gotten scattered opportunities to show it. It’s hard to prove you’re no longer just a home-conditions specialist when you hardly ever play overseas.Umesh got that chance at The Oval because of the niggles that laid Shami and Ishant low, but it’s possible India might have left Ishant out anyway, after he’d endured a rare bad match at Headingley. It wasn’t just a bad match in terms of his figures – he went wicketless in England’s only innings, while conceding more than four runs an over – but also in terms of his rhythm, with the ball sprayed around as if he’d stepped into a time machine and gone back to 2011.Ishant Sharma prepares to bowl at the nets•AFP via Getty ImagesIshant’s lack of rhythm at Headingley may well have been an outcome of what had been an extended stop-start phase in his career. He had injured his ankle during a Ranji Trophy match in January 2020, and had looked unlikely to make India’s tour of New Zealand in late February, only to miraculously play the first Test – and take a five-wicket haul while jetlagged – before missing the second. Then, following a long period of inactivity in the early months of Covid-19, his 2020 IPL season ended early with a side strain, which also caused him to miss India’s 2020-21 tour of Australia.After recovering from that injury, Ishant had played all four home Tests against England – but only bowled 25 overs over the last three Tests, where the spinners did the bulk of the work. Then, in the closing stages of the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June, he walked off the field after taking a blow to his finger while attempting to stop the ball in his follow-through.That stop-start phase hasn’t gone away. Since Headingley, Ishant has only played one of India’s five Tests, against New Zealand in Kanpur. Only those within the team environment will know whether he’s regained his rhythm fully or not.But you only need to go one Test back from Headingley to know how valuable Ishant can be when he’s on song. Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj may have delivered the most instantly recallable deliveries of that frenetic final day at Lord’s, but Ishant’s bowling was just as crucial. He picked up five wickets in the match, and his lbws of Haseeb Hameed and Jonny Bairstow in the second innings broke open England’s top order after Hameed and Root had seen out a tense hour of play. Those lbws were typical Ishant 2.0 dismissals: full balls swinging prodigiously into the right-hander.So who do India go for if they need one of Ishant or Umesh in Cape Town? The answer will depend heavily on conditions. Inconsistent bounce was a massive feature of the first two Tests of the series, and India were significantly disadvantaged in the second Test by a lack of height in their pace attack. Ishant is easily their tallest bowler, but his new-age avatar doesn’t necessarily thrive on hitting the deck and getting the ball up to throat height. He’s now more of a swing bowler, and, when in rhythm, an accurate throttler of batting line-ups.This may well suit India’s needs, though, given that batters traditionally worry more about sideways movement than bounce in Cape Town. This was certainly the case when India last played there in 2018, when Bhuvneshwar Kumar was their most dangerous bowler, and Vernon Philander was South Africa’s match-winner.So, assuming that both Ishant and Umesh are fit and in rhythm, it could come down to this: do India want a tall swing bowler who can bowl dry when needed, or a skiddy swing bowler who’s a little quicker and possibly a little likelier to test both edges of the bat, but could go for runs every now and then?

Arsenal are a little bit good, aren’t they? Heading towards the final weekend of November, Mikel Arteta’s charges sit at the top of the Premier League.

Not just in cracking form domestically, defeating rivals Spurs 4-1 last Sunday, they are also more than up to the task in Europe.

Following five match weeks in the Champions League this season, they are top of the table there as well and they are the only team with a 100% record left in the competition.

Their recent win was perhaps one of their most special of the Arteta era. Arsenal dispatched Bayern Munich, unbeaten Bayern this season, winning 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium.

But, how did they do it?

Arsenal's squad depth reigns supreme against Bayern

What was made all the more impressive about Arsenal’s win against Vincent Kompany’s men was the fact that the Gunners were not at full strength.

No Gabriel? No problem. Jurrien Timber will score from a corner instead. No recognised number 9? Fear not, Mikel Merino will knit things together.

No Martin Odegaard? Well, Eberechi Eze will keep things ticking over. After scoring a stunning hat-trick against Spurs, he registered an assist on Wednesday evening.

No Bukayo Saka? Well, that doesn’t appear to be a problem now either. Saka did start the game but was not at his best against the German giants and while he was still dangerous with his actions, it was the winger’s substitution just after the hour mark that tipped things in Arsenal’s favour.

The first half had been pretty even but the second period was all in favour of the hosts and they really came to the fore once Saka was subbed. In previous seasons, Arteta would rarely dare to take the club’s talisman off but Andrea Berta’s work in the summer transfer window has ensured that we no longer need to worry about that.

Saka went off and before you knew it, Noni Madueke was firing home at the back stick to make it 2-1. The goal had been created by another sub, Riccardo Calafiori, who galloped down the left-hand side like a prize race horse and swung in an inch-perfect delivery.

The third and final goal was tucked home by another substitute in the form of Gabriel Martinelli. Eze clipped a ball over the top and the Brazilian was left with an easy finish after he knocked the ball past an onrushing Manuel Neuer, who did not cover himself in glory at all.

So, it was a win for Arsenal and a win for Berta who fought tooth and nail to spend a shedload on improving the club’s depth. That work could well be decisive as they aim to win both the Premier League and Champions League.

That said, it wasn’t a positive night for everyone in red and white.

Arsenal's biggest concern after Bayern

Seeing Leandro Trossard, a man in the form of his career right now, limp off with an injury in the first half wasn’t ideal but ultimately the quality of Arsenal’s depth shone through. Madueke and Martinelli came on to get Arsenal over the line.

Equally, Calafiori came on and gave Arsenal far more than a certain Myles Lewis-Skelly had given during his 68 minutes on the field.

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For supporters, there have been concerns about the form and minutes of the teenager this season. Last term, he burst onto the scene in incredible fashion.

With Calafiori out injured, Lewis-Skelly was the main man at left-back and as a consequence, he became a regular in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad. He even scored on his debut for the Three Lions.

There was that goal and that celebration against Manchester City too. He was nominated for PFA Young Player of the Season as well.

Yet, 2025/26 has been more difficult for Lewis-Skelly. The 18-year-old featured in the first couple of England camps but was told during the November break by Tuchel that he simply needed to be starting more games. Fair enough, right?

He was not dismissing the fact that Lewis-Skelly is a good player, but you simply aren’t going to make it in a World Cup squad if you aren’t playing football.

There have still been some positive performances from the Hale Ender this term. There was that stunning assist for Martinelli’s goal against Atletico Madrid in the earlier stages of the Champions League. It was a piece of play that showcased exactly what he’s all about.

Yet, against Bayern, we saw a player lacking in first-team minutes and ultimately a player lacking in confidence.

Minutes played

68

Touches

25

Accurate passes

7/12 (58%)

Key passes

0

Accurate crosses

0/1

Dribbles

0

Shots

0

Duels won

3/11

Recoveries

2

Tackles

1

Lewis-Skelly’s night wasn’t disastrous but he did endure a more challenging evening than his teammates. The England international was caught out by a brilliant ball in behind from Joshua Kimmich that led to Bayern’s equaliser.

Former Gunner, Serge Gnabry, got in behind the youngster and then laid the ball on a plate for 17-year-old Lennart Karl to score. In a battle of the teenagers, it was the German who triumphed on this occasion.

Lewis-Skelly spent most of the night rather uncomfortable with The Standard handing the full-back a 5/10 match rating, having endured a ‘tough evening against Michael Olise’.

In fairness, few will enjoy a comfortable night against a player of Olise’s calibre but Calafiori’s influence off the bench only served to show why Arteta has preferred the Italian this season.

Lewis-Skelly’s night was made all the worse by his lack of impact in possession. Usually an area that’s so impressive in his game, he had fewer touches of the ball (25) than David Raya (45) while he only completed seven passes. Only 33% of his passes in the opposition half were accurate.

So, this was a rare off night for a kid usually so captivating and so full of energy. He struggled. So what? Yet, he will have to improve if he wants to earn more regular minutes. For now, expect Calafiori to come back into the starting lineup for Chelsea at the weekend.

Arteta now has an even better duo than Gabriel & Saliba at Arsenal

Mikel Arteta has created an Arsenal team full of incredible partnerships, including one better than Saliba & Gabriel.

1 ByJack Salveson Holmes Nov 27, 2025

She will remain in India and will support Mandhana whose wedding was postponed due to her father’s health issues

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2025India batter Jemimah Rodrigues will miss the rest of the WBBL season, with her club Brisbane Heat agreeing to her request to remain in India.Rodrigues had returned home after playing three games for Heat, the last of which was against Hobart Hurricanes on November 15, as part of a pre-arranged commitment. She was set to be part of her India team-mate and close friend Smriti Mandhana’s wedding last weekend. But the event was postponed at the last minute because of a health issue with Mandhana’s father. Rodrigues will stay back in India to support Mandhana.”It has obviously been a challenging time for Jemi, so while it is unfortunate that she will take no further part in the WBBL, we were more than willing to agree to her request to remain in India,” Heat CEO Terry Svenson said in a statement. “The Heat club obviously wish her and Smriti Mandhana’s family all the best for the future.”Jemi told us she was disappointed not to be coming back and has passed on her appreciation to the club and the Heat fans for being so understanding of the circumstances. She has been in touch with the players and wished them all the best for the rest of their games.”Rodrigues, 25, scored 37 runs at an average of 12.33 and a strike rate of 102.77 in the three WBBL matches, after helping India Women clinch their maiden ODI World Cup title earlier this month.Heat, though, will be bolstered by the return of allrounder Grace Harris for the match against Sydney Sixers on November 28. Harris will replace seamer Lily Bassingthwaighte after she missed the last fixture as part of her workload management plan.Heat are searching for their first win this season, having lost all their six matches so far.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez have reportedly finalised a wedding venue that holds a special meaning for the Al-Nassr and Portugal superstar. The couple got engaged in August this year after Ronaldo proposed to his long-term girlfriend. They plan to tie the knot next summer, following the conclusion of the 2026 World Cup.

• Ronaldo and Georgina's romantic journey

  The couple started dating in 2016 and have been together for the last nine years, during which time they also became a family of five children. Ronaldo finally popped the question in August, as confirmed when Georgina showed off an image on social media of her huge engagement ring. In the caption on the post, she wrote: "Yes I do. In this and in all my lives."

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• Getty/Instagram
  

  When and where is Ronaldo getting married?

  According to , Ronaldo and his fiancée will tie the knot in a Christian ceremony on his home island of Madeira in the summer of 2026. The ceremony will take place in Funchal Cathedral after the World Cup in North America and the reception will be hosted at a luxury hotel. The location of the hotel holds a special meaning for Ronaldo as it is located just 1.5 miles away from the hospital where he was born and only three miles away from the base of Nacional da Madeira, one of the teams he played for in his youth.

• Ronaldo 'is not a romantic guy'

  Ronaldo claimed he is not generally a very romantic person in a recent interview on 'Piers Morgan Unsensored'. The 40-year-old narrated the entire episode of the proposal, as he said: "It was like 1 am. My daughters were in bed sleeping. One of my friends gave me the ring to offer Gio (Georgina) and as I was giving her the ring, my two kids come in and say 'Daddy, you're going to give the ring to mum and you're going to ask her to get married'. 

  "I said, 'Wow, this is the right moment to say yes.' It was the time. I knew that I was going to do it one day but I hadn't planned to do it then. Because my daughters said that and my friends were filming, it was what I wanted and I offered (the ring). I didn't (get on one knee) because I wasn't prepared but it was a beautiful moment. I made a speech. It was simple, I'm not a romantic guy. Well, I am, but I'm not very romantic, not the kind of guy who brings flowers every week to the home. But I'm romantic in my way. It was beautiful and I knew that it is the woman of my life so I did that and I hope that I did it well."

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  Georgina's ring valued at £1.5 million

  Ronaldo, who is football's first billionaire player, spent lavishly on the special engagement ring that he specially bought for his partner. According to engagement ring specialist Laura Taylor, Georgina's gorgeous diamond is valued at £1.5 million. Taylor told the : "A diamond of this size is almost certainly set in platinum for security, which also enhances its colour and gives the ring a timeless finish. This is a show-stopping ring, and easily among the most impressive we've seen in recent years, which feels perfectly suited to one of football's most famous couples. If the diamond is natural and of exceptional quality in the D-F colour range with flawless or near-flawless clarity, its value could easily exceed £1.5 million." 

  Meanwhile, Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds, said to : "We estimate the value of Georgina Rodríguez's stunning engagement ring to be around $5 million. The ring is reminiscent of the famous Taylor-Burton Diamond, a 69.42 carat pear-shaped stone gifted to Elizabeth Taylor by Richard Burton, who reportedly bought it from Cartier, who bought the rarity for over $1 million at auction."

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been handed a major North London derby boost after an injury update from N5.

Arteta’s side welcome Tottenham to the Emirates on Sunday seeking to extend their remarkable dominance over their rivals.

The Gunners boast a formidable recent record in this fixture, even achieving something they had never previously done in the Premier League era earlier this year.

For the very first time since the division’s inception, Arsenal won three straight top-flight games against Tottenham, with victories in January (2-1) and September last year (1-0) following their 3-2 triumph in April 2024. The January win was enough for Arsenal to prolong their unbeaten run against Tottenham to six matches, having also done the double over Spurs in the 2022-23 campaign.

Since 1995, Arsenal have won 30 games to Tottenham’s 16 with 24 draws, highlighting their indisputable superiority in the modern era.

That being said, Spurs have been handed some encouragement by Sunderland’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal just before the international break — which ended their unbelievable winning run and proved they can in fact be broken down.

Arsenal’s unbeaten run in all competitions since defeat to Liverpool

Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest

Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal

Arsenal 1-1 Man City

Port Vale 0-2 Arsenal

Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal

Arsenal 2-0 Olympiacos

Arsenal 2-0 West Ham

Fulham 0-1 Arsenal

Arsenal 4-0 Atlético Madrid

Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace

Arsenal 2-0 Brighton

Burnley 0-2 Arsenal

Slavia Prague 0-3 Arsenal

Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal

Some injury concerns also cloud Arsenal’s preparations.

Gabriel Magalhaes was injured during Brazil’s 2-0 win over Senegal, since returning to London Colney, and it is likely that the centre-back misses at least a short stretch of games, including the North London Derby. The star centre-back is apparently a major doubt to face Tottenham this weekend, and his absence would be a real blow given his undoubted importance to the side.

The injury list extends beyond Gabriel too.

Captain Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Martinelli are all racing to be in contention to face Spurs after their own lay-offs, but the game comes too soon for Gabriel Jesus, who will be last to return to the field as he continues full recovery from an ACL injury (Simon Collings).

Arteta was also dealt a scare when Riccardo Calafiori nursed a hip problem on international duty with Italy, causing him to miss both of their World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Norway.

Mikel Arteta gifted Riccardo Calafiori boost with Arsenal star set to play against Tottenham

Following his return to London for assessments and checks on the problem, reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano has now confirmed some positive news about the left-back.

Indeed, it is believed that Calafiori is set to be available for Arsenal’s clash against Tottenham this weekend, with no injury or overload.

Having the former Bologna star ready for selection is a major boost for Arteta.

He has been one of Arsenal’s standout performers this season, establishing himself as the undisputed starter at left-back ahead of Myles Lewis-Skelly. The £42 million defender has transformed his fortunes after an injury-plagued debut campaign last season, when he was in and out of the starting 11 and struggled to build any consistent momentum.

Calafiori has completely turned around, becoming an absolutely crucial part of Arteta’s system, offering both defensive solidity and attacking threat from the left flank, chipping in with one goal and two assists from 11 games this season.

With Gabriel very likely to miss the derby, losing Calafiori, who’s been called one of their players of the season so far by Ray Parlour, would have left Arsenal dangerously exposed defensively.

However, the 23-year-old will instead return to the side for what is set to be a mouth-watering clash in the capital.

The match referee at the centre of the handshake row has been entrusted with the Super Fours game on Sunday

Shashank Kishore20-Sep-2025

Andy Pycroft, who was at the centre of the handshake row when India and Pakistan met on September 14 at the Asia Cup, will be the match referee for the Super Fours fixture between the two teams in Dubai on Sunday as well.The PCB had sought Pycroft’s “immediate removal” after he had requested the captains Salman Agha and Suryakumar Yadav not to shake hands during the toss of the September 14 game. Pycroft stayed, and the row spilled over into Pakistan’s next game, against UAE. After they cancelled a pre-match press conference, Pakistan didn’t arrive on schedule for the match, which had to be pushed back by an hour, as they conducted backroom talks with the ICC.It wasn’t until a late meeting between Pycroft and the Pakistan team management just prior to toss – which snowballed into another controversy – that Pakistan agreed to take the field.Related

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Pycroft givenbarely any notice ahead of handshake-gate

It is in this backdrop that India and Pakistan square off again at the Dubai International Stadium, and Suryakumar made it clear that his team’s focus was on the game and nothing else.”I feel our preparations have been really good leading into the tournament. And we had three good games also,” Suryakumar said on Saturday. “So we are actually focusing on what we can do best. We want to follow all the good habits, which we’ve been doing in the last two-three games. And we’ll take it one game at a time.”But yeah, it doesn’t give us an edge because we played them once and we had a good game. Of course, it will be a good game. We’ll have to start well from scratch. And whoever plays well will win the game.”Having wrapped up their group fixture against Oman on Friday night and having travelled back to Dubai in the wee hours, India will have an optional training session on Saturday. Pakistan, meanwhile, are slated to have a full training session at the ICC Academy in the lead up to Sunday’s match.

The election commissioner announced that Mithun got 154 votes, beating Salim Shahed

Mohammad Isam04-Sep-2025Mohammad Mithun has become the new president of Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) after winning the players body’s election, held in Dhaka on Thursday. Election commissioner Iftekhar Rahman announced that Mithun got 154 votes, beating Salim Shahed who was the interim CWAB convenor since May this year. Shahed got 34 votes.”We will try to solve everything through negotiation,” Mithun said shortly after the election results were announced. “If that’s not possible, as I have come here to protect the rights of the cricketers, I have to speak for them. The BCB is our guardian. We can go to our guardian with whatever demands that we have. I hope the BCB sees those demands positively.”CWAB was established in 2004 but it hasn’t had any elections in the 21 years of existence. Naimur Rahman, the former Bangladesh captain and Awami League MP, was the CWAB president for 11 years, alongside general secretary Debabrata Paul. The pair quit their posts earlier this year, before Shahed was made the interim head of an ad-hoc committee.After many years, CWAB saw involvement from the country’s top cricketers. Before Thursday’s elections, the other positions in the executive body were filled uncontested.Former batter Shahriar Hossain is the senior vice-president while Nurul Hasan is the vice president. Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shamsur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rumana Ahmed, Khaled Mashud Pilot, Imrul Kayes, Irfan Sukkur, and Akbar Ali are new executive committee members.CWAB is an affiliate of the World Cricketers’ Association (formerly known as FICA). It came under the spotlight when Bangladesh’s top cricketers went on an indefinite strike in 2019, and one of their demands was CWAB’s overhaul at the time. CWAB bosses Naimur and Paul promised elections, but it was never held in the following five years.

Nottinghamshire 120 for 3 (James 43, Haynes, 43, Aitchison 1-10) beat Derbyshire 162 for 9 (Donald 50, Patterson-White 3-20) by seven wickets (DLS method)A powercut could not deny Notts Outlaws victory over local rivals Derbyshire Falcons in an extraordinary Vitality Blast North Group match at the Central Co-op County Ground.The Outlaws were 108 for 3, chasing the Falcons 162 for 9, when the floodlights went out midway through the 13th over. When power was restored, the visitors were set a revised target of 120 and they easily sealed victory by seven wickets under the DLS method.Before the late drama, Aneurin Donald hammered 50 off 22 balls and Wayne Madsen passed 5,000 T20 runs in the Falcons total with Liam Patterson-White taking 3 for 20 and Dillon Pennington 3 for 40.Lyndon James and Jack Haynes both scored 43 and after the lights came back on, Tom Moores and Freddie McCann saw the Outlaws home to consign the Falcons to a third defeatThe Falcons lost two wickets in the first three overs of the powerplay before Donald found his range in spectacular style. He pulled Pennington for two consecutive sixes, the second smashing into the scoreboard, before swatting another maximum over cover to end an over which cost 22.Daniel Sams was dispatched high over the mid-wicket ropes and Conor McKerr was slashed over cover for a fifth six as Donald roared to a 21 ball 50 which also included three fours.His pyrotechnics took the Falcons to 65 for 2 at the end of the powerplay but he drove the next ball to long off and that sparked a mini collapse.Samit Patel pulled McKerr to deep mid-wicket before Martin Andersson was bowled coming down the pitch to Liam Patterson-White to reduce the hosts to 77 for 5. Ross Whiteley responded by sweeping Calvin Harrison and pulling Patterson-White for two sixes but then picked out deep mid-wicket.Wayne Madsen and Brooke Guest added 41 from 30 balls but three wickets fell off the last three deliveries, one to a run out, to leave the Outlaws chasing 163. Patel was unable to take the field because of a calf injury which left the Falcons a bowler down but they started well with Ben Aitchison having Joe Clarke caught at slip in the first over.James and Haynes regrouped and both cleared the ropes as the Outlaws moved to 48 for 1 at the end of the powerplay. The pair took 15 from a Whiteley over and put on 81 from 54 balls before Haynes pulled Pat Brown to deep mid on in the 10th over.James dispatched Andersson for six but next ball fell in identical fashion to Haynes before the ground was plunged into darkness. The power came back on in time for the game to resume at 10.10pm with a revised target leaving the Outlaws to score 12 from 15 balls.Tom Moores and Freddie McCann ensured there were no more twists before Pat Brown bowled a wide to put the lights out on the Falcons fading hopes.