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Duo’s perfect combination of fire and ice puts team on the verge of another final

Shashank Kishore10-Feb-2023Sheldon Jackson is 36. But don’t remind him of it. There’s no reason to either, because he is showing no signs of slowing down.A century in the final following a run-drought helped deliver Saurashtra the Vijay Hazare Trophy title in December. Now, a classic 160, his 20th first-class century, has Saurashtra knocking on the doors of the Ranji Trophy final, three years after they clinched a historic first, with Jackson playing a pivotal part.Then there’s Arpit Vasavada, the stone waller, a Shitanshu Kotak clone, someone who can bore bowlers into submission. For the longest time, Vasavada has been known as Saurashtra’s crisis man, and he hasn’t let that tag weigh him down.If crease occupation is of essence, they look up to Vasavada. This isn’t to say he can’t score runs. He can, and do so quite effectively, like on Friday when he made 112 not out, his third hundred of the season and eleventh overall in first-class cricket. That Saurashtra can dare to dream is because of his 232-run fourth-wicket stand with Jackson to bring them within touching distance of a first-innings lead with two days remaining.Related

• Vasavada's 202 puts Saurashtra one step closer to Ranji Trophy final

• Jackson 160, Vasavada 112* deflate Karnataka

• Mayank's 249 leads Karnataka's recovery

• Porel helps Bengal extend advantage

On Friday, it was this perfect combination of fire and ice that propelled Saurashtra. Jackson started in blazing fashion, nonchalantly flicking length balls from middle to the midwicket fence, cutting and pulling ferociously and sweeping the spinners off their lengths. Vasavada was the craftsman, carefully molding his sandcastle with precision, accumulating runs slowly, nudging and tapping deliveries, blunting the bowlers like that was his life mission.Batting of that kind is second nature to him. Growing up at Railways Colony in Rajkot, Arvind, Pujara senior, who was also his first coach, would ingrain virtues of playing ‘correct cricket’ to his wards. Young Vasavada and Cheteshwar would religiously stick to those principles, and proudly accept the treats that were on offer should they achieve set milestones. Over time, Vasavada hasn’t let the vagaries of T20 cricket come in the way of his batting style.This season, Vasavada and Jackson have had different roles.With Jaydev Unadkat away on national duty, Vasavada has also had to shoulder the captaincy responsibilities lately. He’s had to rally the team together after back-to-back losses heading into the quarter-final threatened to derail all the momentum they had built up.In the quarter-final, Vasavada was among a group of players that led a stirring fightback, after Saurashtra were on the mat against Punjab. Having conceded a 128-run lead, Vasavada made a grinding 77 in the second innings to help close in on the deficit, before the lower order helped them surge ahead. On the final day, his bowling chances and field placements were spot on. His calm marshalling of his bowlers even as Mandeep Singh, the Punjab captain, threatened to snatch a draw, was commendable.It’s this calmness and assuredness that Vasavada brought to the fore in the semi-final too, against Karnataka at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. He walked in to bat early on the third day with Saurashtra on 92 for 3. Karnataka’s seamers were accurate and meant business. Vasavada took 24 balls to get off the mark, but showed no signs of being edgy.In this period, he also copped a blow on his helmet when he was late on a pull off Vidwath Kaverappa. Shaken, but not stirred, Vasavada took his time to ease himself back in and focused on strike rotation. It helped that Jackson was alert to the possibilities of pinching singles at the other end, much to Karnataka’s annoyance. Over three overs, they picked up eleven singles to ensure the bowlers had to keep altering their lengths to the right-left pair.As his innings progressed, Vasavada showed excellent smarts in ensuring he was getting well outside the line of the stumps to defend K Gowtham’s offspin, while also quickly pulling back to dispatch Shreyas Gopal’s half-tracks. It’s perhaps why Gopal wasn’t introduced until the 21st over the morning; while his legbreaks can be deceptive, he’s often struggled for consistency, and both batters took full toll.Arpit Vasavada is known as Saurashtra’s crisis man, a stone waller who can bore bowlers into submission•PTI Vasavada’s refreshing clarity against spin and sound judgment of his off stump all contributed to his innings, one of immense concentration and fight on the face of some serious heat from Karnataka. When he brought up his hundred, off a thick edge that flew between the wicketkeeper and slip, Vasavada finally let out his pent-up emotions. But that he fought through to stumps told you a story of grit and not wanting to leave it to the others to get the job done.At the other end, Jackson was doing what he’s done for most of his career: being in a constant dogfight. Against himself, because he comes from small-town Bhavnagar, and not a traditional cricket centre. It meant if someone made 100, he needed a double, perhaps a triple ton, to get noticed.He’s had to ward off stifling competition despite coming from a relatively small state, geographically speaking, like Saurashtra, because he was in a queue for the senior team for four straight seasons before breaking through in 2011-12.When he finally got his chance, he had to make up for lost time. Over the next decade, Jackson has been a towering presence in a Saurashtra line-up that has evolved from being the outliers to Ranji Trophy champions three years ago. Yet, he’s had to contend with the disappointment of not making the next step up despite being a prolific performer. He’s on a mission to prove why those on the wrong side of 30 must not be viewed, in his own words, as “fossil”.When his team needed him to dig deep, Sheldon Jackson stood tall with one of the biggest knocks of his career•PTI In the Ranji season Saurashtra won in 2019-20, he had finished that season with 809 runs in 18 innings at an average of 50.56 and was the third-highest run-getter among batters in the non-Plate category. A season earlier, he amassed Ranji Trophy with 854 runs at an average of 47.44. But no Saurashtra player made the India A cut even though they finished runners-up. A furious Jackson let his feelings know.Compared to those seasons, this one threatened to run dry. He hadn’t made a single hundred. Like at the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he went into the knockout with a prolonged lean patch, Jackson had felt the jitters here too. However, come the big match, with his team needing him to dig deep, Jackson stood tall.He imperiously cover drove Kaverappa for a boundary off the third ball of the morning to lay down a marker. Two balls later, he picked length in a jiffy to wallop a pull behind square. Jackson wasn’t going to just defend. He was going to thrill, especially if the ball was there to be hit.When Gopal was introduced belatedly, he didn’t take time to step out and loft him inside-but over extra cover. In trying to score quickly, the counterpunch seemed to frustrate Karnataka to such an extent that Manish Pandey even began to sledge Jackson. What ensured was some banter for a better part of the next hour. At one point things got so heated that Pandey even claimed a bump catch and celebrated wildly, much to Jackson’s annoyance as he stood his ground.But it was clear he wasn’t going to let such distraction come in the way of his concentration. Jackson’s marathon knock was also another example of how Saurashtra have often given their seniors clarity. X-factor players who bring something to the table have been given a long rope in the hope of there being a big performance along the way. For Jackson, this was as big an effort as he’s come up with in his career so far.He literally had to be dragged off the field after being given out lbw to a grubber on 160, but by then Saurashtra were within touching distance of a lead. Vasavada stood there applauding, as did the very players who were sledging him not long ago.In defying Karnataka’s bowlers the way they did, Vasavada and Jackson had sowed seeds of another dream in the making for Saurashtra.

He reckons Shahrukh Khan and Siddharth will be on the IPL radar following their tournament-winning performances

Deivarayan Muthu03-Feb-2021Dinesh Karthik made his T20 debut in India’s first-ever T20I in Johannesburg in December 2006 and bagged the Man-of-the-match award. Four months later, he took over as Tamil Nadu’s captain after S Badrinath suffered an injury and led them to glory in the inaugural edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.This was in April 2007. The inaugural IPL season was a year away.Now, almost a decade-and-a-half later, Karthik has rallied a young Tamil Nadu side to their second domestic T20 title.Karthik, the captain, and R Prasanna, the assistant coach, are the only members of the current squad who were part of the 2006-07 success. Does Karthik feel old among this group?”With these guys, I don’t feel that old and all. Age is just a number,” Karthik tells ESPNcricinfo. “I always feel if you’re fit and passing those tests, you’re good enough to play the sport. At least I don’t give too much importance to age and for me with age, experience has come. So, it’s my duty to play the tough situations and help the boys with whatever little I know. More importantly, these boys are keyed on and there isn’t much you need to do. You just have to guide them and make sure they’re doing most things right.”Having narrowly lost the final against Karnataka in 2019-20, Tamil Nadu had only one week or so to prepare for this season in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, but once the squad assembled at Chepauk, Karthik made his point.”I just told them it’s going to be a short tournament – just five (league) games, and if you slip up in a game, you’ll be behind the run-rate and it’s going to be tough to qualify. Every game you had to be on point and they just did that from game one. Even though our preparation was short, it was very good and pertinent to what we would be encountering. Thanks to the TNCA for giving the ground for around a week where we were able to play practice games.”Shahrukh Khan plays an uppercut•NurPhoto/Getty ImagesThe most striking feature of Tamil Nadu’s unbeaten run to the title was that they found a hero for every situation. N Jagadeesan, the season’s top run-getter, and C Hari Nishanth forged a strong partnership at the top in the league phase and when their form cooled off in the knockouts, the middle order stepped up.In the quarter-finals, Himachal Pradesh seamer Vaibhav Arora swung out Tamil Nadu’s top order and when Karthik was caught behind for 2, they were 66 for 5 in a chase of 136. The power of M Shahrukh Khan and the calmness of B Aparajith, however, ushered them home. Then, Rajasthan ran away to a fast start in the semi-finals, but M Mohammed and the spinners reined them in. Karthik and KB Arun Karthik, the senior-most players in the set-up, coolly completed the chase on a tricky pitch. Then, in the final, Tamil Nadu’s spin quartet nearly made it a no-contest against Baroda.”I’m extremely proud [of this run],” Karthik says. “So many positives to take out of this actually – all the top-six batsmen contributed. Shahrukh Khan got 88 runs and out of it, he hit 10 sixes [seven], I think, and that just shows the power he has. Hari Nishanth and Jagadeesan… and KB obviously, he played an important knock in the semi-final.”I’m very happy with the batting and bowling I don’t need to say; we’ve been very consistent with the bowling and a couple of players even came back from injury like [Aswin] Crist and all. So, good to see the competition and the way these boys are shaping up, it’s good for Tamil Nadu.”

Master jam session with our very own master!#VathiComing #TNCA #SyedMushtaqAliTrophy pic.twitter.com/PDioZYJvwE

— jagadeesan (@Jagadeesan_200) February 2, 2021

انتقد الفرنسي تييري هنري، نجم آرسنال وبرشلونة السابق، المصري محمد صلاح جناح ليفربول، على تصريحاته التي أدلى بها في أعقاب تعادل الفريق أمام ليدز بالدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، وأستدل بما حدث له خلال مسيرته الكروية.

وصرّح صلاح بأن ليفربول قد تخلى عنه، وأن علاقته بالمدرب آرني سلوت منقطعة، مبديًا اعتراضه على جلوسه بديلاً في ثلاث مباريات متتالية بالدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

وقام سلوت باستبعاد صلاح من قائمة ليفربول للمباراة أمام إنتر ميلان في دوري أبطال أوروبا، والمقامة مساء اليوم الثلاثاء.

وقال هنري في برنامج “دوري أبطال أوروبا اليوم” عبر “cbs sports” قبل المباراة: “لا أحد يتحدث عن إنجازات محمد صلاح في المباراة، نحن نتحدث عن لحظات أعتقد أنه أخطأ فيها”.

وأضاف: “لا تتحدث عن وضعك الشخصي بصراحة عندما يعاني فريقك، تفعل ذلك في غرفة الملابس، لقد فعلتُ ذلك، ذهبتُ إلى غرفة الملابس وحطمتُ كل شيء، ذهبتُ إلى مكتب المدرب واشتكيتُ من بعض الأمور”.

وقارن هنري وضع صلاح بوضعه في برشلونة خلال موسم 2009-2010، عندما استُبعد من تشكيلة الفريق أمام فياريال.

اقرأ أيضًا | خوليت يعلق على أزمة محمد صلاح مع ليفربول.. ويتساءل: هل سيكون الفريق متوازنًا؟

وأردف: “عندما كنت في برشلونة، كنتُ مع الفريق، وضعوني في المدرجات، هل سمعتموني أتحدث عن ذلك؟ لا… لقد فزنا بالثلاثية في العام السابق، لكنني لم أكن أؤدي بشكل جيد، لذا إن لم أكن أؤدي بشكل جيد، فأنت تضع نفسك في موقف تترك فيه الباب مفتوحًا لشخص ما ليدخل”.

وواصل: “سافرتُ، ووصلنا إلى الملعب، وأنا في المدرجات، هل سأثير ضجة حول هذا الأمر؟ هل سأجعله يتعلق بي؟ هل سأتحدث إلى الصحافة بعد ذلك؟ لقد حققتُ إنجازات في اللعبة، لكن الفريق أولًا، إذا كان عليّ أن أقول شيئًا – وبالمناسبة، لقد قلته، قلتُ ذلك للمدرب بيب جوارديولا، ما كنتُ أفكر فيه بشأن ما كان يحدث، ولكن ليس علنًا”.

وشدد هنري: “يجب عليك حماية فريقك بأي ثمن، وفي كل الأوقات، أتفهم رغبتك في التحدث، وأتفهم إحباطك، لكنني لا أفهم كيف ومتى فعلت ذلك، هذا غير منطقي بالنسبة لي، كان ذلك خطأً، وعندما يتحدث الناس عن العلاقات، فإن العلاقة الوحيدة التي يرغب المدرب في بنائها مع اللاعب هي أن يُقدم أداءً جيدًا”.

وأتم: “إذا لم يُقدم اللاعب أداءً جيدًا، فإن مركزه مُهدد، ليس من حقه الحصول على مركز، خاصة في نادٍ مثل ليفربول… لا علاقة للأمر، مرة أخرى، بما حققه، أكرر، أنا مُعجب بمحمد صلاح، وأُعجب بما قدمه في عالم كرة القدم، هذا موضوع آخر، هذه ليست الطريقة المُثلى للتعامل مع الأمور”.

Everton are now reportedly keeping close tabs on a Premier League gem who’s been compared to Aston Villa’s Jadon Sancho.

Everton ready to pounce in Zirkzee race

Everton’s January transfer window may well centre around Premier League talent. The Toffees already enjoyed great success in the summer when they welcomed out-of-favour stars Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Now, The Friedkin Group could look to repeat that act of genius.

Despite the fact that Thierno Barry finally scored his first goal for the club against Nottingham Forest last time out, it seems as though those in Merseyside still intend to target an attacking reinforcement.

Reports have even gone as far as to claim that they’re ready to pounce in the race to sign Joshua Zirkzee from Manchester United in January. The forward has fallen down the pecking order since the arrivals of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko, but could have his season saved by the Toffees.

Zirkzee may have struggled at Old Trafford, but Grealish and Dewsbury-Hall are living proof that a move to Merseyside can quickly revive a career.

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Even if Barry now kicks on, David Moyes could do with that extra attacking addition, given that Beto is yet to show signs that he’ll become a viable goalscoring option for Everton.

That’s not to say Zirkzee is their only target, however. Alongside the Man United forward, the Toffees have also reportedly set their sights on signing Chelsea’s young, versatile winger, Tyrique George.

Like Zirkzee, the youngster has fallen out of favour at Stamford Bridge and is now looking to leave Chelsea when the winter window swings open in less than a month.

Everton keeping close tabs on Tyrique George

According to TeamTalk, Everton are now eyeing a move to sign George and have joined Leeds United in the early race to secure the 19-year-old’s signature.

Compared to Sancho by Italian media, George wouldn’t be the first struggling Chelsea star to find life at Everton. His former teammate, Dewsbury-Hall has undeniably thrived since arriving in Merseyside.

Ultimately, fresh faces have forced George down the pecking order in West London, but Enzo Maresca was certainly impressed by the teenager last season.

The Chelsea boss told reporters after George’s display against Man United in May: “Very good. Very good. Brave. He was a threat in behind. Not easy for him because on the other side you have Maguire, you have Lindelof, you have Shaw.

“He was fighting against important defenders. But again, we tried to find a solution with a player from the academy. Overall I think also he had the penalty moment, so he works quite good.”

Whether it’s Everton or Leeds, both would benefit from George’s arrival in the January transfer window and the striker himself desperately needs senior minutes if he is to kick on.

There has been an obscene amount of cash flying to and from Premier League bank accounts over the last few years, with transfer records tumbling all the time, even in a post-pandemic world and the era of PSR.

Four Premier League clubs received record transfer fees in the summer of 2025.

So which players have gone for club-record sums?

All 20 Premier League clubs' record signings

From Manchester City to Ipswich Town, here’s a look at each Premier League club’s most expensive signing.

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Brogan Clasper

Sep 4, 2024

Arsenal: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

£35m to Liverpool, 2017

Given the amount of cash Arsenal have splashed in more recent years, it is perhaps a surprise that their record sale dates as far back as this.

However, the Gunners have been perennially poor sellers, particularly under Arsene Wenger, though he received a pretty cool £35m when Liverpool came calling for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2017, just months after the midfielder helped Arsenal to the FA Cup.

Considering Oxlade-Chamberlain only shone in brief glimpses at Anfield, Arsenal can put this down as a fine piece of business.

Aston Villa: Jack Grealish

£100m to Man City, 2021

After guiding Aston Villa to promotion and then Premier League survival, it had seemed just a matter of time before Jack Grealish would take the next step in his career.

To the Villans’ credit, they kept hold of the Englishman’s services for a further year, but could not say no to champions Manchester City, who came forward with a British-record nine-figure bid in the summer of 2021.

Grealish was part of City’s treble-winning side in 2022/23, while Villa have gone from strength to strength in his absence, and took part in the Champions League alongside Man City in 2024/25. Grealish’s departure may have been bittersweet, but things have worked out pretty well for the Midlands outfit.

Bournemouth: Dominic Solanke

£65m to Tottenham, 2024

Bournemouth broke their own transfer record in 2024, but not before receiving the largest sum in the club’s history for one of their players.

Dominic Solanke’s move to Tottenham Hotspur cost the north Londoners £65m – eclipsing the £40m they received from Manchester City for Nathan Ake in 2020.

The Cherries responded to Solanke’s departure by signing Evanilson for just over £40m from FC Porto.

Brentford: Bryan Mbeumo

£71m to Manchester United, 2025

Brentford have been pillaged in recent years with Ivan Toney heading to Saudi, Yoane Wissa making his move to Newcastle and Bryan Mbeumo – the biggest of the lot – heading to Manchester United in a colossal £71m deal in the summer of 2025.

Mbeumo was one of the Premier League’s standout players in 2024/25, scoring 20 top-flight goals. That tally of goals richly deserved a move and he duly got one.

Brighton: Moises Caicedo

£115m to Chelsea, 2023

Moises Caicedo was subject to interest from Chelsea and Liverpool in the summer of 2023, with the Ecuadorian selecting the Blues as his next destination after Brighton & Hove Albion accepted mammoth bids from both clubs.

Despite approving a £111m transfer to the Reds, Chelsea decided to go one further by structuring a deal that could yet rise to £115m.

It was reported that £15m of that total is in appearance-related add-ons.

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2

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Burnley: James Trafford

£27m to Manchester City, 2025

James Trafford enjoyed a remarkable campaign with the Clarets during their promotion-winning season in 2024/25.

The goalkeeper kept a whopping 29 clean sheets. Quickly becoming one of the best English stoppers around, Man City paid a £27m fee to bring him back to the club where he grew up.

Sadly for Trafford, he was quickly displaced when the Citizens brought in Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Chelsea: Eden Hazard

£89m to Real Madrid, 2019

Chelsea have had a history of receiving handsome transfer sums for players in recent years, and while Eden Hazard is undoubtedly one of their better stars within the last decade or so, the £89m they received upfront from Real Madrid turned out to be a terrific steal.

The deal to send the Belgian to the Santiago Bernabeu – which came off the back of Hazard guiding Chelsea to Europa League glory – could have reached over £150m. However, given the Blues legend only featured 76 times in an injury-ridden four-year spell in Madrid before retiring, we highly doubt many of the add-ons were ever activated.

Still, it is comfortably the highest fee Chelsea have received – it is most closely rivalled by Kai Havertz’s move to Arsenal for £65m.

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Crystal Palace: Aaron Wan-Bissaka

£50m to Man Utd, 2019

Manchester United’s spending spree in 2019 features multiple times in this list as they parted with nearly £150m that summer alone. A decent chunk of that went on bringing in Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace for £50m.

The six years that have followed have not been too rosy for the club nor the player, with the Red Devils making a significant loss on the full-back when selling him to West Ham United ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

The Eagles have often been resolute when it comes to high-profile interest in their players, and recently had their resolve tested once more in 2024 as Newcastle threatened to eclipse the sum received for Wan-Bissaka while seeking to add Marc Guehi to their squad.

Everton: Romelu Lukaku

£90m to Man Utd, 2017

It has all been downhill for Everton since selling Romelu Lukaku in 2017, when he linked up with Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.

However, Everton did manage to secure a princely sum for the striker, with United paying the Toffees an initial £75m in a deal that included a further £15m in add-ons.

It is unclear how much of these were activated, but Everton have struggled on and off the pitch since, finishing in the top half just once since the turn of the decade and remaining out of Europe since the year of the Belgian’s departure – all while being under scrutiny for their finances amid a number of transfer flops.

Fulham: Aleksandar Mitrovic

£50m to Al-Hilal, 2023

Fulham were one of the many victims of the Saudi Pro League’s raid on European-based footballers. Their riches were too much for Aleksandar Mitrovic to ignore in the summer of 2023 – and they nearly took manager Marco Silva along with them.

However, Fulham have remained a solid top-flight club after comfortably surviving in their first season back with Mitrovic in 2022/23.

They have invested the reported £50m fee paid by Saudi champions Al-Hilal for the Serbian’s services wisely, with Rodrigo Muniz among those to shine at Craven Cottage.