Sports Highlights, May 14: Javed Akhtar Wants Virat Kohli To Reconsider His Test Retirement; Alonso Set To Be Named Real Madrid Boss

And we now call it a day! However, keep a track of all the latest sports stories including IPL 2025, on Outlook India.

Greetings and a very warm welcome to everyone joining us, this Wednesday morning. We will bring to you all that is current and relevant in the world of sports, so watch this space for comprehensive live coverage.

Cook Islands are bowling first against Japan in the 2nd T20I

Cook Islands (Playing XI): Hayden Dickson, Thomas Parima, Aue Parima, Ma'ara Ave(c), Cory Dickson, Liam Denny, James Pickering(w), Pita Ravarua, Oscar Taylor, Paani Vaialo, Tiaki Wuatai

Japan (Playing XI): Kendel Fleming(c), Koji Hardgrave Abe, Benjamin Ito Davis, Charles Hinze, Declan Suzuki, Sabaorish Ravichandran, Wataru Miyauchi(w), Kiefer Yamamoto-Lake, Makoto Taniyama, Abdul Samad, Shoma Slater

Former Olympic cyclist and world champion Rohan Dennis received a suspended sentence on Wednesday over what was termed a “tragic accident” that led to the death of his wife, fellow Olympian Melissa Hoskins.

The 34-year-old Dennis appeared in South Australia District Court after earlier pleading guilty to a charge of committing an aggravated act likely to cause harm. (AP)

Tyrese Haliburton scored 31 points, Pascal Siakam added 21 as the Indiana Pacers progressed to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight year with a 114-105 victory over Cleveland on Tuesday night. The fourth-seeded Pacers will now await the winner of the matchup between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks.

India's ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has stated that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's sudden retirement from Tests, have created a leadership vacuum in the team.

“Their retirements will definitely create a leadership vacuum. You can’t buy experience, especially on tours like this. Virat’s energy and Rohit’s composure will be missed,” said Ashwin during a chat on his YouTube channel Ash ki baat.

“No matter how great a player is, even someone like Sachin Tendulkar had to retire one day. That’s just how the game works,” he added.

Cristiano Ronaldo's son made his debut for Portugal’s U15 national team on Tuesday, in a 4-1 win over Japan at the Vlatko Markovic International Tournament, held in Sveti Martin na Muri, Croatia.

Lionel Messi is about to tell the world which of his many goals was his favorite.

The Inter Miami star, eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and World Cup champion announced Tuesday that he will unveil his favorite goal on May 22. A depiction of that goal will then be turned into a work of art that will be auctioned off for charity.

The tickets for the Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals game, that was for 15th May in the IPL 2025, are now valid for the 21st May game.

South African players who have been picked for the World Test Championship Final against Australia are likely to miss the IPL playoffs as the country's cricket board is standing firm on prioritizing national duty over league commitments, the PTI reported.

Famous Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to have a say on Virat Kohli's Test retirement. The veteran wants Kohli to 'reconsider his decision' from Tests. He wrote, "Obviously Virat knows better but as an admirer of This great player I am disappointed by his rather premature retirement from Test cricket cricket (sic) . I think there is still a lot of cricket in him . I sincerely request him to reconsider his decision."

Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi has found himself in induced coma after having the first phase of surgery on a serious abdominal injury. The Nigeria international had collided with the post in the 88th minute of the 2-2 draw against Leicester at the City Ground on Sunday.

Italian club Sampdoria have been relegated to Serie C, the country's second-division football league. Sampdoria have been in the lower league since their relegation from Serie A in the 2022–23 season.

Fourth edition of the second-most watched T20 league in the world to be played from Tuesday, 2 December 2025 to Sunday, 4 January 2026.

JioStar head Sanjog Gupta is in line to be become the new chief executive of the International Cricket Council, as per a report in The Guardian. If he does take over the role, Gupta will be come the first appointment at ICC since Jay Shah, who was the Chairman of the cricketing governing body last December.