Indian police have arrested a man accused of stalking and inappropriately touching two Australian cricketers participating in the ICC Women’s World Cup in Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Saturday.

The incident happened in the central Indian city of Indore on Thursday morning when the two players left their hotel to go to a cafe, a day after Australia’s six-wicket victory over England in the group stage of the World Cup, when they were allegedly approached by a motorcyclist.

“The security officers of the women’s Australian cricket team filed a complaint that two members of the team faced inappropriate behaviour,” additional deputy commissioner of police, Rajesh Dandotiya, told Indian news agency ANI.

“A FIR (first information report) was registered, and the accused was identified and arrested following an intensive strategic operation.”

He has been charged under sections 74 and 78 of the criminal code that deal with assault or using criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty and stalking, respectively. “We are examining if there were any shortfalls in the security protocols,” Dandotiya added.

Violence against women remains a chronic issue in the world’s most populous country, where an average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in 2022.

Dandotiya said the 30-year-old man who was arrested has a criminal record.

The two players were not identified by Indian police or Cricket Australia, which confirmed the incident.

“The matter was reported by team security to police, who are handling the matter,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.

Board of Control for Cricket in India Secretary Devajit Saikia said it was a “deeply regrettable and isolated incident.

“We appreciate the swift and effective action taken by the Madhya Pradesh Police in apprehending the accused. The law will take its due course to ensure justice is served,” Saikia said.

“We will also review our existing safety protocols and strengthen them further, if necessary, to ensure such incidents are not repeated.”

The Times of India newspaper reported that the team’s security manager received a distress message from one of the cricketers that said “… there is a guy following us trying to grab us”.

Team officials were informed and went to their location to assist the players, the paper said.

A police patrol then escorted the players safely back to the team’s hotel.

India has made strides towards gender equality and women’s empowerment in recent years but safety for women remains a serious concern.

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Chasing a modest 237 to win, the visitors reached their target easily with 69 balls to spare at a sold-out Sydney Cricket Ground.

Rohit top-scored with an unbeaten 121, but the biggest roar was for Kohli, who made ducks in the first two games won by Australia at Adelaide and Perth which clinched them the series.

This time he was back to his best with a fluent 74 not out.

Like Rohit, he has retired from Test and T20 duties and with no more ODI series scheduled Down Under before the 2027 World Cup it was almost certainly their final innings on Australian soil.

“I don’t know if we’ll be coming back to Australia, but it was fun all these years that we played here,” said the 38-year-old Rohit.

“You know, a lot of good memories, bad memories. But all in all, I’ll take the cricket that I played here.”

India made a confident start to the chase after Mitchell Marsh won the toss and batted first only for Australia to be bowled out for 236.

Rohit and Shubman Gill put on 69 before Josh Hazlewood enticed a faint edge from the Indian captain.

That brought the 36-year-old Kohli to the crease and he and Rohit set about knocking off the runs quickly.

Rohit was almost flawless in reaching a 33rd ODI ton, with 13 fours and three sixes in his 121, while Kohli brought up a 75th half-century to steer them home.

“Going out there and having a situation is always something that brings the best out of me and when Rohit is batting it’s pretty easy to kind of rotate the strike, we know each other’s game pretty well,” said Kohli.

“We want to say thank you, we’ve loved coming to this country,” he added. “We’ve played some of our best cricket here so thank you very much.”

Earlier, Australia were ticking along nicely at 183-3 but lost their last seven wickets for just 53.

Harshit Rana did the damage with 4-39 while Matt Renshaw top-scored with 56.

Marsh and Travis Head made a watchful start but once they got their eye in the runs started flowing.

Head looked dangerous, hitting six fours in reaching 29 off 25 balls, passing 3,000 one-day runs en route. But he failed to control a cut shot off Mohammed Siraj and was caught at backward point.

Marsh was bowled for 41, confounded by the spin of Axar Patel, and when Matt Short (30) fell to Washington Sundar Australia were 124-3 after 23 overs.

Shreyas Iyer pulled off a sensational backpeddling catch to remove Alex Carey (24) and it sparked a collapse.

Renshaw reached a maiden ODI half-century, but with the runs drying up he charged at Sundar and was trapped lbw, before Mitchell Owen departed for one and Mitchell Starc for two leaving Australia in trouble at 201-7.

Cooper Connolly made a late 23 but the tail failed to wag.

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Messi signs new Inter Miami contract through 2028: club

Lionel Messi has agreed a contract extension with Inter Miami, which will see the Argentine superstar remain in Major League Soccer until the end of the 2028 season, the club confirmed on Thursday.

Inter Miami’s X feed posted a video of Messi signing a contract sitting at a table in the middle of the club’s new Freedom Park stadium, which is under construction, with the simple caption: “He’s Home.”

“It makes me really happy to stay here and to continue with this project that, besides being a dream, has become a beautiful reality — playing in this stadium, at Miami Freedom Park,” Messi, 38, said in a club statement.

“Since I arrived in Miami, I’ve been very happy, so I’m truly glad to keep going here,” Messi added.

Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham said Messi’s decision to extend reflected his “commitment to the city, to the club, to the game”.

“He’s still as committed as he’s ever been, and he still wants to win,” Beckham said. “As owners to have a player that loves the game as much as he does, and who has done as much for the game in this country and to inspire the next generation of young talent as he has, we feel very lucky.”

The World Cup-winner’s current contract expires at the end of the 2025 MLS season.

A new deal had been viewed as a formality after club sources told AFP last month that the franchise had reached an agreement on an extension.

Messi’s contract ensures he will remain in competitive action until and long after the 2026 World Cup hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Messi moved to Inter Miami in 2023 after an unhappy spell at Paris Saint-Germain and has since had a transformative effect on the league, driving record attendances and ticketing revenues.

“When Lionel Messi made MLS his league of choice, it marked a turning point – not just for Inter Miami, but for our entire sport in North America,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said Thursday as he welcomed news of Messi’s contract extension.

Messi spent the bulk of his stellar career at Barcelona, where he played from 2004 to 2021 after coming through the youth system at the Spanish giants.

At Barcelona, he won the La Liga title 10 times and lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy on four occasions.

In 2022, he led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar and has expressed a desire to try to retain the trophy next year.

He has scored 114 international goals and also won the Copa America twice with Argentina, in 2021 and 2024.

MLS goals history

Messi could play at a sixth World Cup next year, which would set a new all-time record, although he could be matched by long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is also just three goals short of Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 career World Cup goals.

Argentina comfortably booked a spot at next year’s finals, finishing nine points clear at the top of the South American qualifying table.

Messi finished as the top scorer with eight goals, including a brace in what may have been his last competitive match on home soil against Venezuela two weeks ago.

He was named the MLS Most Valuable Player in the 2024 season even though Inter Miami were eliminated in the playoffs.

In 2025, he became the fastest player to reach 40 goals in MLS history.

This season, Messi has led Miami back into the playoffs after finishing in third place in the Eastern Conference.

He wrapped up Inter Miami’s regular season campaign with a superb hat-trick last Saturday in a 5-2 demolition of Nashville SC, leaving him with 29 goals from 28 matches to win MLS’s Golden Boot award.

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