Week In Review, March 25-31: Vintage MSD Returns; AFG Shock IND; Liverpool Top PL Table

After frustration in the previous week, Indian football fans had to deal with disappointment last week as India went down against Afghanistan in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. European football fans had a lot on their plate as some of the biggest games across leagues took place last week. In cricket, IPL ended on a high note with the wait to see MS Dhoni bat finally ending and that too in a spectacular fashion.

Here is a recap of all this and much more that happened across sports last week (March 25-31).

Cricket

The record for the highest IPL total was broken on Wednesday with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) scoring a mind-boggling 277/3 against Mumbai Indians (MI) in Hyderabad. MI fought hard but could only reach 246/5 in reply, losing their second consecutive match to open this season. The run-fest that the game was, saw multiple records being shattered.

However, this feat was overshadowed by a 42-year-old hitting massive sixes in Vizag on Sunday. MS Dhoni came out to bat for the first time this season in CSK's loss against DC and scored an unbeaten 16-ball 37 consisting of two final over sixes that sent fans in rapture. The wicket-keeper batter's blitz was the ultimate cricket highlight of the week.

In international cricket, England Women completed a 4-1 victory in New Zealand in T20Is while Australian Women started their tour to Bangladesh with a thumping win in the opening T20I. The T20I series between South Africa Women and Sri Lanka Women is currently tied at 1-1.

Sri Lankan men also have the upper hand in the second and final Test against Bangladesh with de Silva's men leading by over 400 runs at the end of Day 3.

Football

India's hopes of getting to the next round of 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers took a massive hit when they lost to 2-1 to Afghanistan on Tuesday. The cries for coach Igor Stimac's ouster continue to grow louder but as per reports he might be able to save his job for the time being.

In England, the final match of the season between the top three ended with Manchester City and Arsenal playing out a draw at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Liverpool thus are the new table toppers further spicing up the race for the title.

With 9 rounds left, Liverpool are at the top with 67 points while Arsenal are second with 65. The defending champions are a close third with 64 points.

Bundesliga had the 'Klassiker' last week while the Ligue 1 had its own 'Le Classique'. However, only one of them lived up to the hype.

Dortmund broke their 11-match winless run in the 'Klassiker' by defeating Bayern Munich 2-0, hitting Bundesliga giant's chances of winning the the league hard. With 7 rounds left, Bayern are 13 points behind the league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

PSG on the other hand had it easy in the 'Le Classique' as they got the better of Marseille despite an early red card to further strengthen their lead in the table. PSG defeated Marseille 2-1 and are now 12 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 tally.

In I-League, Mohammedan Sporting are now a win away from the title with only Sreenidi Deccan in the hunt, six points behind the leaders.

Tennis

Rohan Bopanna continued his already exceptional 2024 with a win in Miami. He won the Miami Open alongside his Australian partner Matthew Ebden and thus broke his own record of being the oldest man to win an ATP Masters 1000 title.

Among others, Jannik Sinner was the men's singles winner while American Danielle Collins got the women's title.

Others

In Badminton, PV Sindhu's wait for her first title in almost two years continued as she was knocked out in the quarters of the Spain Madrid Masters 2024. Sindhu lost 24-26, 21-17, 22-20 to Thailand's S Katethong.

India's mixed doubles pair of N Sikki Reddy and B Sumeeth Reddy bowed out in the semifinals of Spain Masters.

India's men's doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila crashed out in the quarters and the women's doubles pairing of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto met the same fate in their quarterfinal game.

In the US, Major League Baseball began from Thursday with 26 teams on display on the Opening Day.

IWF World Cup also began on Sunday with Indian Olympic medalist Mirabai Chanu set to return to action via this tournament which will help her seal her ticket to the Paris games.

In the Safari Rally Kenya, Kalle Rovanperä came out as the winner.