Mumbai, May 21

The legendary Sunil Gavaskar landed himself in an unnecessary controversy after making an unwarranted remark about Rajasthan Royals batter Shimron Hetmyer and his wife.

Gavaskar made the comment after Hetmyer, who returned to the playing XI after spending time with his wife for the birth of their child, came out to bat after the loss of five wickets with RR chasing 151 runs against Chennai Super Kings on Friday.

Gavaskar, sitting at the commentary box, said: "Hetmyer's wife delivered, will Hetmyer deliver for the Royals now?"

This statement did not go down well with twitterati, who blasted the former India skipper for his unsavoury remark.

Hetmyer was blessed with a baby boy on May 10.

After the birth of his child, Hetmyer returned to India and joined the RR squad.

New Delhi, May 20

Thrown out of office by the Supreme Court after exceeding his tenure as All India Football Federation (AIFF) president, Praful Patel today accepted the order, saying it has brought a "finality to a long pending issue".

Patel's reign at the helm of the AIFF came to an unceremonious end after the country's apex court on Wednesday constituted a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) to run the day-to-day affairs of the national federation.

The SC named a panel headed by Justice (Retd) AR Dave with SY Qureshi, former Chief Election Commissioner, and Bhaskar Ganguly, former captain of the Indian football team, as members.

"I thank the honourable Supreme Court for bringing finality to a long pending issue since 2017. I wish the CoA all the very best, and request them to fulfil their responsibilities of providing a new Constitution compliant with the National Sports Code," Patel said.

Mumbai, May 19

A fired-up Virat Kohli roared back to form with a fine half-century as Royal Challengers Bangalore stayed alive in the IPL playoffs race with a thumping eight-wicket win over table-toppers Gujarat Titans here today.

This was after skipper Hardik Pandya scored a gritty 47-ball 62 to lift Gujarat to a competitive 168/5 after opting to bat.

Kohli (73 off 54) and captain Faf du Plessis (44 off 38) shared a match-winning 115-run opening stand before Glenn Maxwell (40 not out) went ballistic to ensure the team got home in 18.4 overs.

Brief Scores: GT: 168/5 in 20 overs (Pandya 62*; 2/39); RCB: 170/2 in 19.2 overs (Kohli 73; Maxwell* 40; Khan 2/32). — PTI

Berlin, May 19

Eintracht Frankfurt fans waited long enough. When Rafael Borre struck the decisive penalty for Frankfurt to win the Europa League with a 5-4 shootout win over Glasgow Rangers in Sevilla, Spain, late Wednesday, thousands of fans who packed Frankfurt's home stadium to watch in Germany flipped out.

Some 60,000 supporters in and around Frankfurt's Waldstadion erupted in an ecstatic outburst of joy and relief, with fans screaming, jumping, pumping their fists in the air, hugging and roaring. Some lit flares in the center of the field, others flew giant Eintracht flags. Some even cried.

City streets filled with honking cars as strangers wearing Frankfurt scarves spilled out of pubs, embraced each other and celebrated together.

It was Frankfurt's first European trophy since Fred Schaub scored the winner against Borussia Monchengladbach to win the 1980 UEFA Cup, the predecessor to the Europa League. — AP

Navi Mumbai, May 18

Quinton de Kock struck a sensational hundred and shared a record opening stand with skipper KL Rahul as Lucknow Super Giants pipped Kolkata Knight Riders by two runs in a last-ball IPL thriller to seal their playoffs spot here today.

De Kock gave a batting masterclass en route his unbeaten 140 as he and Rahul (68) fired Lucknow to 210/0, the highest opening stand in the IPL's history. Kolkata stayed in the chase through Nitish Rana (42) and captain Shreyas Iyer (50) but it was too big a task for the lower-order. The loss knocked Kolkata out, while Lucknow moved back into the top-two.

Brief Scores: LSG: 210/0 in 20 overs (De Kock 140*, Rahul 68*) KKR: 208/8 in 20 overs (Iyer 50; Khan 3/20). — PTI