Shaheen Shah Afridi’s much-anticipated Big Bash League (BBL) debut turned sour as the Pakistan fast bowler was withdrawn from the attack for dangerous bowling during Brisbane Heat’s clash against Melbourne Renegades in Geelong.

Having opted to field, Heat endured a difficult evening as Shaheen struggled for control.

In the 18th over of the Renegades’ innings, the left-armer delivered two waist-high full tosses — one each to Tim Seifert and Ollie Peake — prompting the umpires to remove him from the bowling attack under the league’s safety regulations.

Shaheen reacted with a wry smile as Heat captain Nathan McSweeney was forced to complete the remaining two deliveries of the over.

The incident capped a testing initiation for the fast bowler, who finished with figures of 0-43 from 2.4 overs, conceding three no-balls and two wides.

The evening had begun on a more promising note, with Shaheen bowling three dot balls in his second over amid considerable fanfare, heightened by the presence of Pakistan team-mate Mohammad Rizwan, who was also making his BBL debut for the Renegades.

However, Shaheen soon lost his rhythm, missing his lengths and struggling with consistency.

He was not reintroduced until the 13th over, when the Renegades took the power surge, and was promptly taken for 19 runs.

Matters worsened in the 18th over, where he leaked 15 runs before being pulled out of the attack.

The Renegades capitalised fully, posting an imposing 212 for 5. Seifert led the charge with a commanding 102 off 56 balls, while Peake provided late impetus with 57 from 29 deliveries.

Rizwan, batting at No. 3, failed to make an impact, scoring four off 10 balls before being dismissed by left-arm spinner Paddy Dooley.

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Football superstar Lionel Messi ended his whirlwind tour of India on Monday with a lap of honour in New Delhi, thrilling thousands of fans and thanking them for “all the love and support”.

The 38-year-old Argentine great greeted chanting supporters at a nearly packed Arun Jaitley Stadium, usually home to cricket, with fans dressed in Argentina jerseys waving flags and shouting his name.

“It was beautiful to receive all the love and support. I knew it was there, but to receive it first-hand was, well, amazing”, Messi told the crowd, speaking in Spanish, saying he will “definitely be back”.

Clad in a pink jersey and black trousers, Messi enthralled the audience with his charm as he kicked footballs into the crowd and obliged star-struck delegates and fans with selfies.

Messi and his fellow stars played football with children before being presented with a T20 World Cup ticket and an Indian jersey by the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Jay Shah.

India — a nation of 1.4 billion — are a cricket powerhouse, but struggles on the football pitch and are 142nd on the FIFA rankings.

Former India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia took the stage with Messi, who signed Argentine jerseys for the Indian star and his family.

His final stop in India went smoothly after a chaotic opening day on Saturday, when fans vandalised a stadium in the city of Kolkata, where his brief presence left the crowd frustrated.

Heavy security left fans struggling to catch a glimpse of him. Many had paid more than $100 for tickets, and they broke down barricades and stormed the pitch after the superstar abruptly left the arena.

In New Delhi on Monday, thousands of excited fans dismissed hazardous choking air pollution to see their hero.

“I’m very excited to see Messi, I have been watching him since my childhood”, said 29-year-old fan Sumesh Raina.

New Delhi, and its wider sprawling metropolitan region of 30 million residents, is regularly ranked among the world’s most polluted capitals, due to a deadly mix of emissions from power plants, heavy traffic, as well as the burning of rubbish and crops.

Levels of cancer-causing PM 2.5 microparticles hit more than 300 micrograms per cubic metre in parts of New Delhi on Monday, according to monitoring organisation IQAir, 20 times the World Health Organization’s recommended daily maximum.

A study in The Lancet Planetary Health last year estimated that 3.8 million deaths in India between 2009 and 2019 were linked to air pollution.

Messi, who is in India as part of his so-called GOAT Tour along with his Inter Miami team-mates Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul, seemed unperturbed by the toxic air.

He looked in good spirits as he kept up his energy with fans and football enthusiasts in his 35-minute stay at the stadium.

Messi had also visited the cities of Hyderabad and Mumbai, where he met cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and Indian football star Sunil Chhetri.

The footballer won his second consecutive Major League Soccer Most Valuable Player award last week after propelling Inter Miami to the MLS title and leading the league in goals.

The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward will spearhead Argentina’s defence of the World Cup in June-July in North America.

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England are on the ropes and need a miracle heading into Wednesday’s third Ashes Test in Adelaide, with ruthless Australia boosted by the return of Pat Cummins as they look to seal the series.

Eight-wicket defeats in Perth and Brisbane mean England have now gone 17 Tests since winning in Australia, dating back to their last series victory there in 2010-11.

Equally damning, a win for the hosts will ensure the five-match showdown will be over inside three Tests for the fourth consecutive series in Australia.

The mountain England must climb is huge. Only once in history has a team come from 2-0 down to win the Ashes, all the way back in 1936-37, when a Don Bradman-inspired Australia overcame the deficit.

With the Ashes on the line, England have axed paceman Gus Atkinson with Josh Tongue coming in as a like-for-like replacement.

It was the only change announced by the team on Monday, with off-spinning all-rounder Will Jacks keeping his place ahead of Shoaib Bashir.

Atkinson failed to take a wicket in the series opener in Perth, although he did make a useful 37 runs with the bat in the second innings, before returning figures of three for 151 in Brisbane.

Right-arm quick Tongue has taken 31 wickets in six Tests at an average of 30 and took five wickets in his only previous Test against Australia at Lord’s in 2023. He will complement a pace attack led by Jofra Archer, skipper Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse, who was expensive at the Gabba.

Bashir’s omission for a third straight Test was a surprise.

He was considered England’s number one spinner leading into the tour, but was overlooked in an all-pace attack for Perth, then Jacks got the nod in Brisbane.

Jacks only bowled 11.3 overs at the Gabba, taking 1-34, but was composed with the bat, cracking a gritty 41 in the second innings in a 96-run stand with Stokes.

It is a big call by England. Spin is likely to play a role in Adelaide with extreme temperatures forecast during a Test they must win to avoid a crushing series defeat with two Tests to play.

England kept faith with their misfiring top seven, giving the under-performing Ollie Pope another crack at number three in preference to Jacob Bethell.

Only Joe Root has an average above 30 through the first two Tests against an attack led by Mitchell Starc, who has taken 18 wickets so far.

Coach Brendon McCullum insisted on Sunday that England’s aggressive style of batting will not change but batter Harry Brook said on Monday he needed to rein himself.

Brook, who has contributed 98 runs to England’s cause over four innings so far, conceded two of his dismissals in Perth and Brisbane were the result of “shocking shots” that he would reconsider if he had his time again.

“I’ll admit that every day of the week, especially that one in Perth, it’s nearly a bouncer and I’ve tried to drive it. It was just bad batting,” he told reporters at the Adelaide Oval.

“The one in Brisbane, I’ve tried to hit for six so that’s what I mean when I say that I need to rein it in a little bit. I can almost just take that and hit it for one and get down the other end.

“I’ll be the first person to stand up and say that they were bad shots. I don’t regret them, but if I was there again, I’d try and play it slightly differently. Sometimes we’ve got to learn when to absorb the pressure a little bit more and then realise when the opportunity arises to put pressure back on them. I feel like I probably haven’t done that as well as I usually do in this series so far.”

Brook paid tribute to the skill and discipline of the Australian bowlers and said the England players also needed to stand up and be counted in crunch moments if they were to avoid going 3-0 down in the five-match series.

“There’s them pressure situations, which we haven’t been really that good at so far,” he conceded. “When we’re head-to-head, they’ve managed to be the better side and sneak in front. And everybody realises that. We’ve just got to stand up in them certain situations, read the game slightly better [and] just have a little bit of grit and determination about you.”

Lyon ready to roar again

Australia are set to be reinforced by skipper Cummins, who missed the first two Tests with a back injury, leading the attack alongside the outstanding Starc, and Brook said it was imperative that England step up.

“You can’t take this bowling attack lightly,” said the 26-year-old. “They don’t miss often and you’ve got to tip your hat to them, they’ve bowled really well this series.”

Veteran spin king Nathan Lyon is also expected to play after being overlooked for Brisbane — his first omission while fit in 12 years, with Brendan Doggett and either Scott Boland or Michael Neser likely to make way.

Lyon made clear his disappointment at being dropped for the day-night Test at the Gabba but is only looking forward before the third Test at a ground he knows very well.

“Every opportunity that there’s a Test match on, I want to be a part of, I love playing cricket,” Lyon, who was part of the Adelaide Oval ground staff before becoming Australia’s most successful Test off-spinner, told reporters after being added to the stadium’s ‘Avenue of Honour’ on Monday.

“So there was a lot of disappointment, but there’s no point looking back now, we’re looking forward and moving on, and looking at what my role looks like this week.”

Lyon has only bowled two overs so far in the series, something he is keen to put right at a ground where he has taken 63 Test wickets.

“I haven’t really had the opportunity to get my teeth into this Test series yet, but that opportunity will hopefully come soon, and we’ll put it into play,” he added.

Lyon needs two more wickets in Adelaide to surpass fellow Australian Glenn McGrath’s 563 and move into sixth on the all-time list.

In a minor worry, Steve Smith, who captained the side in Perth and Brisbane, was unwell and skipped a net session on Monday.

The main selection question for Australia is whether a fit-again Usman Khawaja reclaims his place as opener or the hosts persist with the aggressive Travis Head alongside Jake Weatherald.

Chief selector George Bailey has indicated he was open to Khawaja dropping down the order. He could also be axed, potentially spelling the end of his 85-Test career.—Agencies

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