Firstpost Spodcast Episode 110: MS Dhoni's selection for limited overs series, Pune City appoint Phil Brown as coach and more

Welcome to Spodcast, the daily sports update on Firstpost. Former India captain MS Dhoni has been recalled for the ODI series against Australia as well as New Zealand. The BCCI had dropped him from the Australia T20I series last month, claiming they were looking for a second wicketkeeper in the format. Dhoni now returns to the Indian side after sitting out two T20I series – against Windies at home in November and the three T20s in Australia before the Test series. Current wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has been included in the squad for the T20s against New Zealand. All-rounder Hardik Pandya has also been included in the limited overs squad for the series that follow the Tests against Australia. Other additions to the squad include Kedar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja. An update from Ranji Trophy now. Delhi scored their first win of this Ranji season after a thumping nine-wicket victory over Madhya Pradesh while UP handed Tripura a drubbing, defeating them by an innings and 384 runs. Delhi’s left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra took six wickets in the second innings to restrict MP’s batsmen to just 157 runs. Vikas finished the match with figures of 12 for 71 as Delhi defeated MP in just three days. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh registered a massive win against Tripura, beating them by an innings and 384 runs. The hosts scored a huge 552/7, with Priyam Garg scoring 206. Rinku Singh scored 149 while captain Akshdeep Nath made 106. UP then bundled out Tripura for a paltry 108 in the first innings. Asked to follow on, Tripura made just 60 runs and were all out in 25 overs. Carolina Marin and Lakshya Sen won their respective singles matches for their team Pune 7 Aces but could not stop the Awadhe Warriors from winning the tie 4-3 in the Premier Badminton League. South Korean player Son Wan-Ho, the World number 5, won the opening game for the Awadhe Warriors, beating Frenchman Brice Leverdez 15-14, 15-7. Yang Lee of Taiwan and Christiansen Mathias of Denmark defeated the Pune 7 Aces pair of Mathias Boe and Vladimir Ivanov 15-12 and 15-14. Marin defeated Beiwen Zhang 15-13, 15-9 to give Pune two points. Sen defeated South Korean shuttler Dong Keun Lee, who is ranked 27th in the world, in straight games 15-11, 15-8. But Ashwini Ponappa and Christiansen Mathias ensured that Awadhe Warriors won the tie 4-3 to leave the Pune 7 Aces disappointed. FC Pune City announced Phil Brown as the new head coach for the remainder of the 2018-19 season. Since 1999, Brown has managed many top English clubs like Blackpool, Southend United, Preston North End, Derby County and Hull City, a media release issued by Pune City said. Prior to that, he also played for clubs across England over 18-year career as a footballer, including clubs like the Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool.