Firspost Spodcast Episode 121: Bengaluru Raptors win first PBL title, cricketers Vijay Shankar, Shubman Gill receive India call-up and more

Welcome to Spodcast, where we look at the big sports headlines of the day. Bengaluru Raptors have won the fourth season of the Premier Badminton League. They defeated Mumbai Rockets 4-3 to win their first PBL title. Bengaluru captain, and India star, Kidambi Srikanth continued his good form, defeating Anders Antonsen 15-7, 15-10 to lead the way. He took a 10-4 lead in the first game, and never allowed Antonsen back into it. In the second game, the Danish player made it 5-5 only to have Srikanth wrest the game away 15-10. The win in the final was Srikanth’s eighth consecutive win this season. In the doubles match, former world champions Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan defeated Lee Yong Dae and Kim Gi Jung 15-13, 15-10 to give Bengaluru the advantage. Then, Raptors’ Vietnamese player Vu Thi Trang defeated Shreyanshi Pardeshi 15-8, 15-9. Mumbai’s doubles pair Pia Zebadiah and Kim Gi Jung defeated Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith 15-8, 15-14 to even the tie. Mumbai’s Sameer Verma avenged his league stage loss to Sai Praneeth by defeating him 7-15, 15-12, 15-3. In the end, Bengaluru had more points and they went on to win their first PBL title. All-rounder Vijay Shankar and 19-year-old batsman Shubman Gill will replace Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul in the Australia and New Zealand tour. Pandya and Rahul were axed from the team before India’s first ODI against Australia on Saturday. The BCCI announced yesterday, “Vijay Shankar will join the team before the start of the 2nd ODI in Adelaide. He will be a part of the squad for the ODI series in Australia and the tour to New Zealand. Shubman Gill has been picked for the ODI and Twenty20 series in New Zealand.” Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul will face an investigation into comments they had made on a TV show. Pandya had bragged about his success with women and made other sexual remarks on an Indian celebrity chat show broadcast last week. Rahul also appeared in the programme that sparked outrage on social media. Meanwhile, Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu was reported by match officials for suspect bowling action during the first ODI between India and Australia that was played on Saturday. Rayudu had bowled two overs of off-spin and conceded 13 runs Some news from the AFC Asian Cup now. Japan sneaked past a stiff challenge from Oman 1-0 while Qatar thrashed North Korea 6-0. Four-time champions Japan won their game against Oman thanks to a controversial penalty call. 28 minutes into the match, there appeared to be some contact, probably minimal, between Genki Haraguchi and Oman captain Ahmed Al-Mahaijri. Haraguchi went down and Japan received a penalty. Haraguchi converted that penalty to score the only goal of the match. Oman had reason to feel hard done by when their penalty claims close to half time were dismissed - Yuto Nagatomo looked to have handled a Salaah Al-Yahyaei drive. Japan’s win takes them to the round of 16. Qatar defeated North Korea 6-0 in one of the most one-sided matches in this edition of the Asia Cup. Almoez Ali scored four of Qatar’s six goals to take his personal tally in the tournament to five. Football legend Diego Maradona has been discharged from a Buenos Aires clinic after surgery for a gastric haemorrhage, and is recovering from the procedure at home. The Argentinian superstar, now 58, was diagnosed with minor stomach bleeding last week. Maradona’s lawyer Matias Morla tweeted on Sunday, “Diego Maradona is out of hospital and will continue his recovery at home.” Maradona, who led Argentina to World Cup victory in 1986 and Napoli to Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990, currently coaches Mexican second division club Dorados.