Sports World Today, December 22 Highlights: Bajrang Punia Returns His Padma Shri In Protest Of WFI Election Results; Luis Suarez Reunites With Lionel Messi At Inter Miami - As It Happened

In today's sporting action, Indian women's cricket team continued their dominance over visitors Australia as they built up a healthy lead. In football, Inter Miami have snapped up the services of Luis Suarez from Gremio, and have reunited old FC Barcelona mates including Lionel Messi. As per reports, Suryakumar Yadav has been ruled out of the T20I series against Afghanistan next month. And, Bajrang Punia has returned his Padma Shri award to PM Narendra Modi. Follow all the scores and updates on Friday, December 22, 2023, here. (Cricket News | Football News | IND-W vs AUS-W Test Scores | December 21 Highlights)

11:43 PM: And With That, We Close For The Day

With a sporting weekend in front of us, there's more twists and drama awaited.

11:13 PM: Suryakumar Yadav Out Of Afghanistan T20I Series - Report

Suryakumar Yadav is all set to miss the upcoming three-match T20I series against Afghanistan starting January 11 due to an ankle injury sustained during the recent series against South Africa. The 31-year-old twisted his ankle while fielding against South Africa in Johannesburg and there could be a suspected tear that could take six weeks to heal.

Read more about it here

10:56 PM: Manchester City Vs Fluminense - Playing XIs For FIFA Club World Cup 2023 Final

Man City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo, Lewis, Bernardo, Foden, Grealish, Alvarez

Fluminense: Fabio; Xavier, Nino, Melo, Marcelo; Andre, Martinelli, Arias, Ganso, Keno, Cano

10:46 PM: Top seeds Lakshya Sen, Aakarshi Kashyap Exit Badminton Championships

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lakshya Sen and women's top seed Aakarshi Kashyap were knocked out in the quarterfinals of the ongoing National Badminton Championships on Friday. While top seeded Sen began the day with a win over Abhishek Saini 21-23 21-12 24-22 in the pre-quarterfinals, he went down to Bharat Raghav 21-15 10-21 21-17, who had defeated Alap Mishra 21-11 14-21 21-18 in the round of 16. 

Read more about it here

10:28 PM: Luis Suarez Signs With Inter Miami, Reunited With Lionel Messi

The long-awaited reunion of Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi is now a reality, after the Uruguayan striker signed with Inter Miami on Friday for the 2024 season.  Suárez and Messi spent six seasons together at Barcelona, winning four Spanish league titles and nine other trophies — including a Champions League title — in that span. Suárez is coming off a season where he was best player and best striker in the Brazilian league with Gremio.

Read more about it here

10:00 PM: Dhruv Sitwala Wins Maiden National Billiards Title

Dhruv Sitwala won his maiden senior National billiards title on Friday with a stunning 5-3 victory over his Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) colleague Sourav Kothari in the final in Chennai. Read more here

9:25 PM: New Controversy In WFI

Hardly 24 hours have passed since the formation of the new wrestling federation and trouble has started brewing within the sports body with Secretary General Prem Chand Lochab demanding the postponement of the junior Nationals, saying the President did not follow rules while announcing the dates for the competition. Read more here

9:00 PM: Harmeet Desai And  Poymantee Baisya - New Table Tennis National Champions

Top seed Harmeet Desai defeated second seed G Sathiyan 4-3 to claim his second men's singles title in the 85th UTT Senior Nationals and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Tau Devi Lal Indoor Stadium in Panchkula on Friday.

The women's singles crown went to Poymantee Baisya of the Railways, another new face to claim it with some authority. She defeated Ayhika Mukherjee 4-2. Read more here

8:30 PM: WFI Writes To United World Wrestling For Lifting Suspension

The newly-elected body of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Friday requested the world governing body UWW to lift the ban imposed on it and also announced that it will host the senior National Championships from January 28 in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar. Read more here

7:40 PM: BBL 2023-24: Sydney Sixers Win By 1 Run

Strikers fall short by only one run! Chasing 156, they appeared to be cruising around the 10-over mark at 84/3. They got stranded after that, with no boundaries in the following four overs. Jamie Overton battled greatly, as did Matthew Short. Only in the last over, with 18 required, did Overton find his range, but he fell short by a single run. The Sixers' spinners - Steve O'Keefe and Todd Murphy - were outstanding, as were Jackson Bird and Moises Henriques. 

7:30 PM: It Is Bajrang's Personal Decision: Sports Ministry

The Sports Ministry on Friday said Bajrang Punia's decision to return his Padma Shri award in protest against Sanjay Singh's election as Wrestling Federation of India president is a personal one but it will still try to convince him to rethink the move. Read more here

6:30 PM: Kane Williamson, Kyle Jamieson Withdrawn From BAN T20 Series

Kane Williamson and Kyle Jamieson have been pulled from New Zealand's forthcoming T20I series against Bangladesh. The decision was made as a preventative measure ahead of the Test series against South Africa and Australia.

Williamson, 33, had been appointed as the Kiwis' skipper for the series, but he has been replaced by Mitchell Santner. Williamson returned to competitive cricket at the World Cup after missing the previous seven months due to injury. Jamieson, on the other hand, has experienced hamstring problems and New Zealand decided not to risk him in the Bangladesh T20I series.

Jacob Duffy and Rachin Ravindra have been named replacements for the two. The first T20I match of the series starts on 27 December. New Zealand will meet Bangladesh tomorrow for the final ODI match of the ongoing series. The live-streaming details of the match are here

6:00 PM: IND-W Vs AUS-W Only Test: Day 2 - Stumps

A sturdy 102-run unbeaten stand between Deepti Sharma (70) and Pooja Vastrakar (33) restored India Women's command against Australia on the second day of the ongoing one-off Test, stretching the home team's first-innings lead to 157 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday. India reached 376/7 in reply to Australia's 219 with their resolute batting show spruced up by Smriti Mandhana's 74, Jemimah Rodrigues' 73 and a fine 52 from debutant Richa Ghosh. Read more here

5:30 PM: Bajrang Punia To Return His Padma Shri

A day after Indian wrestler and Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik hung up her boots in protest over the election of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's close aide Sanjay Singh as the new WFI President, Bajrang Punia has now written a letter to PM Narendra Modi stating that he will be returning his Padma Shri. Read more here

5:10 PM: Indian Shooting Team Withdraws From ISSF World Cup In Cairo

India will not be competing in the season-opening ISSF World Cup in Cairo from January 24 as the national federation wants to give the shooters some "rest" and not "exhaust them" in a busy year, which also has a couple of Paris Olympic qualification events still to go. Read more here

4:40 PM: Women's National Boxing Championships

Sonia Lather, S Kalaivani Start Campaign With Comprehensive Wins

World Championships silver medallist Sonia Lather of Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) and Tamil Nadu's S Kalaivani started their campaigns with dominating victories on the opening day of the women's National Boxing Championships in Greater Noida. Read more here

4:10 PM: Shaheen Afridi Could Be Rested From 3rd Test

According to a report from PTI, Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi may be rested for the third and final Test against Australia in Sydney to manage his workload following the angry backlash the PCB faced after Khurrum Shahzad suffered a serious rib cage injury. Pakistan lost the opening Test at Perth by 360 runs with debutant Shahzad taking five wickets but he also got injured in the process and was ruled out of the Melbourne 

3:50 PM: Usman Khawaja To Challenge ICC Reprimand

Bewildered by the ICC's decision to reprimand him for wearing a black armband during the first Test against Pakistan, Australia's Usman Khawaja on Friday said he will contest the charge as he had told the governing body it was for a "personal bereavement". Read more here

3:10 PM: Nine Players Featured From 10 IPL Teams In 3rd ODI 

In an interesting matter of events, nine players from different IPL teams featured in the 3rd ODI against South Africa in Paarl on Thursday. Ruturaj Gaikwad from CSK was unable to play due to a finger injury, otherwise it would have been a perfect 10. 

Rajat Patidar - RCB (1); Sai Sudharsan - GT (2); Sanju Samson - RR (3); KL Rahul - LSG (4); Tilak Varma - MI (5); Rinku Singh - KKR (6); Axar Patel - DC (7); Washington Sundar - SRH (8); Arshdeep Singh - PBKS (9); Avesh Khan - RR; Mukesh Kumar - DC

2:50 PM: Dean Elgar Announces Retirement

Former South Africa captain Dean Elgar on Friday announced his retirement from international cricket after the upcoming two-Test series against India, commencing in Centurion on December 26, according to PTI. Elgar made his debut in 2012 and has played 84 Tests. The left-handed batter has scored 5,146 runs at 37.28 with 13 centuries and 23 fifties. Read more here

2:40 PM: IND-W Vs AUS-W Only Test Update

IND-W - 283/7 (85)

After the start of the 3rd session of Day 2, Indian women have a lead of 64 runs over Australian women. Pooja Vastrakar and Deepti Sharma are at the crease. Australia still need three wickets to finish India's first inning and Indian women are eyeing for a good lead before Australia start their second innings in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.

2:36 PM: Kohli Returns To India, Gaikwad Out Of SA Test Series

According to PTI, Virat Kohli has returned to India due to a family emergency but the senior batter is expected to be back in time for the first Test against South Africa, starting next week. Kohli had traveled to South Africa as part of the Indian squad for the two-Test series, which will begin in Centurion on December 26. 

Ruturaj Gaikwad has been ruled out of the two-Test series with a ring finger fracture. Gaikwad had injured his finger while trying to take a catch during the second ODI against South Africa earlier this week.

2:30 PM: Who Is Sanjay Singh? 

His appointment left Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik in tears and pushed her into retirement. He is a known ally of the outgoing Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. He will serve as the new President of the Wrestling Federation of India. 

So, who is Sanjay Singh exactly? 

Read more here. 

1:00 PM: Cricket Update 

India Women's National Cricket Team have taken the lead against Australia on Day 2 of their one-off Test. Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh are set on the crease, with the former completing her half-century and the latter approaching it rapidly. India stand at 246/3 at the time of writing, 27 runs ahead of their opponents. 

12:00 PM: Cricket Update 

India are merely 26 runs apart from Australia Women's Cricket Team at Lunch as play continues on Day 2 of their one-off Test in Mumbai. Smriti Mandhana led the line for India with a splendid 74, setting the tone for their display ahead. The Women in Blue stand at 193/3 with Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues on the crease. 

11:00 AM: Euro Football Round-up 

La Liga - Amid the clamour surrounding the Super League's renewed attempts to take over European football, one of its biggest allies, Real Madrid, beat Deportivo Alaves in La Liga to leapfrog the incredible Girona. Lucas Vasquez scored the sole goal in Real Madrid's win late on after Nacho Fernandez had seen red for the Galacticos. Girona, meanwhile, drew with Real Betis. 

Premier League - Brighton and Crystal Palace kicked off the festivities ahead of a hectic Premier League schedule with a drab 1-1 draw. Danny Welbeck scored for the Seagulls after Andre Ayew had put the Eagles ahead on the night. 

9:30 AM: State Of Play, IND-W Vs AUS-W

It took India 78 overs to clear out the Australian line-up in their ongoing one-off Test match in Mumbai, during which they conceded 219 runs before replying with 98 of their own before Stumps on Day 1. Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Raha shone with the ball, the former claiming four wickets while the latter three. Deepti Sharma, the star of India's win over England just days earlier, added two more wickets to her tally. 

With the bat, Shafali Verma raced to a quick-fire 40 before conceding her wicket to Jess Jonassen. Her dismissal remained the only one Australia could claim before the end of the day, while the platform she had built was later expanded upon by Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, whose 43 unbeaten put the hosts in charge of proceedings ahead of Day 2. 

Read more here. 

9:00 AM: Super League Returns (Or Does It?) 

December 21 was marked with a landmark ECJ judgment that paved the way for a potential European Super League in the future. Barcelona and Real Madrid, two of its foremost proponents, immediately threw their weight behind the project, but any support they might have hoped to receive - from participants both old and new - vanished quickly as it became apparent how unpopular the idea was. 

Manchester United led the English clubs into announcing their intent not to join any breakaway league in the future - albeit without notable absentees Arsenal and Liverpool. Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid, former members of the Super League, also withdrew their names from the hat, leaving the future of the planned competition in disarray. 

Read more here. 

Hello and welcome to the December 22, 2023, Live Blog. Cricket action continues India women's cricket team led by Harmanpreet Kaur take on Australia in the one-off Test match as it enters day two action in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. East Bengal FC take on Odisha FC in the Indian Super League contest at the Salt Lake Stadium. Football managers from across Europe bring in their reaction to the European Super League verdict and more.