Cricket

East Zone took the title on 10 September at the MAC Stadium in Chennai, beating South Zone on the first-innings lead. Md Kounain Quraishi’s maiden first-class century, an unbeaten 116 off 190 balls, sealed a final that had become largely academic by the last day.

A Shafali Verma innings carried India into the final on 10 September, where the seven-time champions meet Sri Lanka at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Both sides reached the final unbeaten; India’s hopes rest on Shafali and Deepti Sharma.

The England captain took his tally of half-centuries in Test cricket to 69, one more than Tendulkar’s 68, during England’s eight-wicket win over Pakistan in the third Test at Edgbaston on 12 September.

The BCCI named Laxman coach for the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, assisted by Sunil Joshi, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Subhadeep Ghosh. Laxman had guided India to the gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

The opener made 124 off 64 balls against Hong Kong in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup at Dubai on 3 September, passing Mithali Raj’s aggregate. The innings, her 18th international hundred, also took her past Meg Lanning and Laura Wolvaardt for the most centuries in women’s cricket. India made 193 for five.

India won by seven wickets in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup at Dubai on 5 September after dismissing Pakistan for 55 in 18.1 overs, their lowest total in the format. Shree Charani took three for seven and Prema Rawat three for nine; India chased the target inside nine overs for a third straight group win.

The Cricket Association of Bengal barred the leg-spinner for two years on 4 September after age verification showed he had misrepresented his date of birth. The association said it remains committed to proper age verification in age-group cricket.