Chakravarthy becomes No.1 T20I bowler in ICC rankings for first time

Mystery spinner Varun Charkravarthy on Wednesday rose to the top spot in ICC’s T20 International Bowlers’ Rankings for the first time in his career, becoming just the third Indian to achieve the position.

“India spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has been rewarded for his consistent form in 2025 by becoming the No.1 ranked bowler on the latest ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings,” the ICC said in a statement.

Chakaravarthy is just the third Indian bowler to top the ICC T20I bowling rankings, after Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi Bishnoi.

Chakaravarthy has become a mainstay in India’s T20I lineup in the last 12 months. The 34-year-old has shown his class with a string of strong performances that has helped him overtake New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy at the top of the rankings, the ICC stated.

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Mastantuono becomes youngest starter for Real Madrid in Champions League

Teenage forward Franco Mastantuono became the youngest player to start for Real Madrid in the Champions League, according to UEFA. At 18 years, 33 days old, Mastantuono started Tuesday in Madrid’s league phase opener against Marseille at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. The Argentine forward beat the mark set last year by Brazil striker Endrick, who was 18 years, 73 days old when he started for Madrid against Lille.

Five exciting match-ups to watch out for in latest India-Pakistan showdown

India and Pakistan are meeting in a T20 International after more than 15 months and a lot has changed in the interim. India under Suryakumar Yadav has become a crack unit having won 85 % of its matches since the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from the shortest format. Pakistan on the other hand have also shown a bit of aggressive streak post T20 World Cup in the USA where the team even lost to the host nation. Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan are no longer part of this set-up and the new look team under Salman Ali Agha isn’t doing too badly either.