LISTEN: Full script of Episode 92 of Spodcast where we discuss Indian hockey team's win against South Africa, Ramesh Powar's World T20 report and more

Here’s wishing Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs a very happy 45th birthday! Welcome to Spodcast, your sports update on Firstpost.

Hockey news from the World Cup 2018 and India begin their campaign in style with a crushing 5-0 thrashing of South Africa in front of a packed Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar on Wednesday.

Mandeep Singh kicked off the goal scoring in the 10th minute, followed by Akashdeep Singh in the 12th, while Simranjeet Singh scored a brace in the 43rd and 46th minute. Lalit Upadhyay added India’s fifth in the 45th minute.

The Indians, ranked fifth in the world, toyed with the World number 15 ranked South African defence in the first quarter as they mounted numerous attacks on the opposition goal and to their credit, succeeded on two occasions to take a comfortable 2-0 lead early on.

India are eyeing to reclaim the World Cup after 43 years, a title which they won only once way back in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur.

A stunning revelation from Indian Women’s Cricket team coach Ramesh Powar who has accused senior player Mithali Raj of throwing tantrums and creating chaos after being denied the opening slot in the World T20. In a 10-page tour report to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and GM Saba Karim, Ramesh revealed that Mithali Raj had threatened to pull out of Women's World T20 and announce her retirement if she wasn't allowed to open. Earlier on Tuesday, Mithali had written to Johri and Karim accusing the Powar of "humiliating" her, treating her differently and threatening to "destroy" her career.

Powar then told Raj to stop "blackmailing and pressurising" the coaches and putting her interests ahead of the team's. After the India vs Pakistan fixture of Women's WT20, Raj said, “I enjoy opening the batting. I also like batting in the middle. At the end of the day, I enjoy batting. Chasing puts a little pressure, to keep up the run-rate, but that’s what I enjoy. There's no doubt that we will get to play the semis. But going forward we will need to be at our best as we will play the best teams.”

Powar responded, saying, "It's not always about individual milestones, it's always about team strategies and executions.”

Early on Thursday, Raj tweeted saying that she is deeply saddened and hurt by the aspersions cast on her. She further said that this is the darkest day of her life and that her patriotism is being doubted.

Some Football news from Indian Super League fixture in Kolkata. ATK and FC Goa played out an entertaining goalless draw on Wednesday. FC Goa started off on the front foot but as the game settled, the hosts started making plays of their own but neither side managed to get the winner in an intriguing contest.

This was ATK's second successive draw and they stay put on sixth position with 12 points from nine matches.

ATK next travel to Chennai for their match on December 2, while FC Goa face FC Pune City in their second successive away match, on December 11.

Kabbadi News to round up today’s Spodcast. Puneri Paltan produced a superb comeback to beat Haryana Steelers 35-33 in a thrilling Pro Kabaddi Season 6 match in Pune on Wednesday.

Monu opened Puneri Paltan's account with a two-point raid in the first minute. Haryana Steelers leveled the match at 4-4 with a couple of raid points.

Haryana Steelers tightened their grip on the match in the next few minutes as Vikas Kandola's brilliant raid in the ninth minute inflicted an all out on Pune.

Puneri Paltan could not recover from that all out in the first half as they struggled to put points on board. Harayan Steelers asserted further domination with another all out in the 17th minute to lead 20-7.

Unlike their rivals, Puneri Paltan were in scintillating form in the second half as they inflicted an all out in the 36th minute to complete a sensational comeback. In the last five minutes, Haryana Steelers could not come to terms with Puneri Paltan's intensity and gave up.

Bengaluru Bulls produced an accomplished performance to beat Telugu Titans 34-26 in the southern derby. Rohit Kumar scored eight points while Amit Sheoran scored five points. Rahul Chaudhari scored 6 points for Titans but it wasn’t enough.

Telugu titans had a strong first half as they inflicted an all out to lead 15-10 at the end of the first half. The second half saw Bengaluru Bulls produce a strong comeback. In the 15th minute

Bengaluru Bulls leveled at 17-17. An all out in the 38th minute tilted the balance in favour of Bulls as they led 31-25. The all out extinguished all hopes of Titans’ comeback as they crashed to a defeat.