Veer Chotrani Leads Indian Contingent at Budapest Open 2026

India’s growing squash trajectory takes centre stage this week at the Budapest Open 2026, which kicks off in Hungary. The tournament is set to run from 24 to 28 August 2026 and serves as a crucial season opener and a vital competitive testing ground for athletes fine-tuning their games ahead of the upcoming Asian Games.

Leading the charge for the Indian contingent is Veer Chotrani, who enters the 24-player main draw as the formidable number three seed. Chotrani is projected to face either Portugal’s Rui Soares or the Czech Republic’s Marek Panacek in a highly anticipated second-round clash. catcross.org

Joining him in the Indian contingent is Velavan Senthilkumar, who enters as a 9/16 seed and will face a tricky opening fixture against England’s Will Salter.

While Indian hopes remain bright, the path to the podium features an elite international field, with Malaysia’s World No. 18 Eain Yow Ng headlining the tournament as the top seed and title favourite. Spain’s number two seed Bernat Jaume is anchoring the bottom half of the draw and aiming to capture his first-ever World Events title.

With crucial world ranking points on the line, the tournament is highly anticipated and promises to be intriguing from the very first serve.

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IND vs SL 2026 2nd Test: Shubman Gill and Team India have piled up a massive first innings total, declaring at 503 for 9 near the end of play on the second day of the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) ground in Colombo on Monday. The Indian bowlers struck immediately and reduced Sri Lanka to 8 for 2 by stumps on Day 2.

The visitors will now be eyeing a comfortable innings win to seal a 2-0 whitewash in the two-match series to keep their hopes of reaching the World Test Championships (WTC) 2025-27 alive. Even after winning the series in Sri Lanka 2-0, Shubman Gill’s side will need to win at least 6 out of their remaining 7 Tests against New Zealand and Australia in the current WTC cycle if they hope to reach the final.

The biggest hurdle for Team India at this stage in Colombo could be the inclement weather and possibility of rain over the course of next few days. The MET department prediction for Day 3 of the 2nd Test on Tuesday is not looking very promising at the moment.

There is around 96 per cent possibility of rain on the third day of the 2nd Test with the MET department predicting 9.6mm of rain. The rain is expected to come around late afternoon as it did on the second day on Monday.

The teams had to take an early tea on the second day after the game was interrupted by rain and the resumption was also delayed by almost 2 hours before play finally got underway at 430pm IST.

The MET department prediction is for at least 4 hours of rain on Day 3 with the maximum temperature being around 30 degrees Celsius. There will be around 89 per cent cloud cover on Day 3 with 28 per cent possibility of thunderstorms as well.

Check Colombo weather prediction for Day 3 of India vs Sri Lanka 2026 2nd Test HERE…

Colombo weather prediction for Tuesday.

Team India will be hoping to bundle out Sri Lanka before the follow-on mark of 303 in the first innings, so that they can ask the hosts to bat again and push for an innings win. The visitors started off brilliantly with pacer Prasidh Krishna claiming his second wicket to dismiss Lankan opener Kamil Mishara for 19 as the home team lost their third wicket for 35 runs.

“Very much likely (innings win). I think Indian batters have put enough runs on the board. If India bowl well on Day 3, then they will win this game by an innings margin,” former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara was quoted as saying by Cricinfo website.

“India have batted Sri Lanka out of the second Test because when you put 500 on the board, one thing is pretty sure: India are not going to lose this game, and this is more than enough to win a game,” Pujara added.

The franchise Melbourne Stars have appointed former Yorkshire all-rounder Richard Pyrah as their new WBBL head coach, with last year’s coach Andy Christie moving back into an assistant role.

Under the guidance of Christie, Melbourne Stars reached the knockouts last season, where they were beaten by Perth Scorchers. However, he moved back to an assistant role in July, aiming to focus more on his head coach role with Victoria in the WNCL.

Richard Pyrah is currently in his third year as Yorkshire Women’s coach and also served as an assistant coach with Sunrisers in The Hundred this season.

Currently, he is working with WBBL Stars captain Annabel Sutherland, who was player of the season as Sunrisers made the final before being beaten by Trent Rockets.

Richard Pyrah was an all-rounder on the field, playing 105 T20 matches for Yorkshire between 2005 and 2015.

Since his playing career, Richard Pyrah has held various coaching consultant roles across the England and Wales Cricket Board, as well as leading Yorkshire’s men’s team in both head coach and assistant coaching positions.

Pyrah has worked in the BBL previously as a consultant with Melbourne Renegades and Adelaide Strikers between 2015 and 2017.

“He is an experienced coach across both women’s and men’s programs and will bring a diverse skill set to the team,” said Melbourne Stars general manager James Rosengarten. “This move is all about strengthening our club.”

“Andy did a sensational job last season guiding our team to the WBBL finals, and having him remain a part of the program was important to us.”

“He already coaches a number of our players across the Victorian women’s team, so to have that continuity leading into the WBBL season will be an asset for us.”

The Melbourne Renegades have also made a coaching change, with Gavan Twining appointed to lead the side ahead of the upcoming season. He will be taking over after Simon Helmot departed to coach the Gulf Giants in the ILT20.

Stars will begin their campaign by playing their opening match against the Hobart Hurricanes in the 2nd match on October 29 at Junction Oval, Melbourne.

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 24 (ANI): Zeeshan Ansari is enjoying a prolific run in the UP T20 League 2026, but the Meerut Mavericks leg-spinner has his sights firmly set beyond the white-ball tournament, aiming for an India call-up and developing his red-ball bowling.

Ansari, who is currently the leading wicket-taker in the UP T20 League with 14 wickets from six matches, credited the positive atmosphere within the Meerut Mavericks camp for the team’s impressive run. Led by Rinku Singh, Meerut have won all six of their matches and sit at the top of the points table.

“The atmosphere is very, very cool; the atmosphere is amazing, especially created by our coaches. All the coaches have great bonding among themselves, and the coaches have great bonding with the players. Because of this, I feel the team is doing very well. In every match where the batsmen don’t perform, the bowlers do, and where the bowlers don’t perform, the batsmen do. This is why Meerut Mavericks is doing very well," Ansari told ANI.

The 26-year-old has also made it clear that his ambitions are not limited to white-ball cricket. After taking 21 wickets in eight matches for Uttar Pradesh in the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, Ansari was picked for India A’s red-ball assignment in Sri Lanka.

Talking about his time with India ‘A’, Ansari said the experience helped him understand the differences between bowling with a red ball and a white ball and has strengthened his desire to improve in the longer format.

“I learned a lot from there. I mean, I had never bowled with a Kookaburra ball before, and it had been quite some time since I played red ball cricket, so that was different. But I had to understand a lot from it, how I need to bowl; there’s a slight difference between the white ball and the red ball," he said.

Ansari, who played two matches for India A, said his current focus is on becoming a better red-ball bowler as he targets a place in the senior India side.

“I just feel I need to learn more in red ball; I played two matches there as well, learning bit by bit, understanding my bowling, how I can bowl better with the red ball. My full focus is currently on red ball cricket and how I can take wickets in it somehow," he said.

The leg-spinner has already experienced the IPL, making his debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2025 after being bought for Rs 40 lakh at the mega auction. He made an impressive start, returning figures of 3/42 against Delhi Capitals, and was subsequently retained by the franchise for the 2026 season.

Ansari, however, did not get a game for SRH this season and said the experience still taught him valuable lessons about his bowling and mindset.

“I feel I’ve learned a lot from this IPL, regarding my bowling, regarding my mindset, that if I’m dropped, what else can I do? So I got to learn all these things a lot this year," he said.

Asked about his chances of earning an India debut, Ansari remained confident that consistent performances will give him an opportunity.

“The chances are fair for every cricketer. If you perform, it’s obvious you will get a chance, just like I did. I took the most wickets in Vijay Hazare, and my name came up for India A," he said.

Ansari also believes Uttar Pradesh has the talent to produce many more players for the IPL and India.

“If we talk about potential, the state is such that everywhere you look, in every match, some new player comes along who bats well or bowls well. This itself shows that there is a lot of potential and I think many more players from here will play in the IPL and for India in the coming times, 100%," he said.

For now, Ansari is refusing to choose between red-ball and white-ball cricket, insisting that he wants to make the most of every opportunity.

“I haven’t thought anything like that, that I should do this or do that, play only white ball, not at all. For the first fifteen years of my cricket, I played only red ball. Later, whatever I’ve played, I played white ball in that," he said.

“So wherever I get a chance, whether it’s white ball or red ball, I will try to perform well in it. Currently, I don’t have anything like that in my mind that I should only carry on with white ball or only carry on with red ball," he added.

And his ultimate goal remains straightforward.

“Every Indian cricketer has only one goal, which is to represent India. Mine is the same. I also want to play in every format for India. And not just play, but play for a long time and perform well. Whatever capability I have, whatever is inside me, I want to go there and show everyone and take India’s name forward," Ansari said.

Ansari will next be in action when Meerut Mavericks face Kanpur Superstars in a UPT20 League match on Tuesday. (ANI)

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Dhruv Jurel's Instagram bio is simple yet catchy. It reads Mamba Mentality - a term coined by basketball legend Kobe Bryant to describe his efforts to become the best version of himself. Jurel's unbeaten 115 on the second day of the second Test against Sri Lanka here on Monday was a testimony of his devotion to that motto.

At one end, Rishabh Pant, with whom he built a 112-run stand, was playing in his archetypal way for 63, but Jurel concentrated on his strengths to accumulate runs. Jurel explained his batting methods while batting alongside a sparkling shot-maker like Pant.

"We all know Pant is such a terrific player and what he has done for India in Australia and England. So, whenever he is in, I only seek his advice, because he has so much experience. So, I always ask him for advice as, what I should do in a particular situation," Jurel said in the post-day press conference and dedicated his second Test hundred to his parents. But does he get tempted to copy the dominating ways of Pant?

"As you can see, Test cricket has different ways of playing, and it makes the game beautiful. When you play with Pant, it's a very terrific experience. I can't play like him, the way he has been playing since childhood. "My game plan is to see which bowler should I take down, which spell should I play, and I always ask Pant because he is a wicketkeeper, I am a wicketkeeper, and we play in the middle order, so it's a very good experience.

The wicketkeeper batter also offered a fitness update on Pant, who did not do the stumper's duty towards the end of the day. "Right now, he got a hit on his right shoulder, and we are closely monitoring him. Today I did wicketkeeping, because his shoulder was a little bad. Hopefully, I think he will be fit tomorrow," he said.

After batting solidly for 99 runs, Jurel's 100th run was a scamper and dive for a single. The 25-year-old saw the lighter side of it. "So actually, till 99, I was getting runs, and on 99, he (Asitha Fernando) started bowling good lengths, and Sri Lanka started fielding well too.

"So when I played that shot (a straight punch off Fernando), it was going over the head of the bowler, and I thought, there is some gap from the fielder, but as I saw he (fielder) coming close I was like - Oh! What have I done," he smiled. After reaching the hundred, Jurel made a salute and displayed a tattoo - Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan - on his biceps.

"My grandfather was a farmer, and my father was a soldier. So, those are my roots, and I don't want to forget them. So, that salute should go to my father and grandfather," he said, and added that touring this country with India A helped his preparations.

But Jurel did not forget to thank Mohammad Siraj for blocking 29 balls, giving him a chance to complete his century. "Siraj, whenever I speak to him, I think he celebrates more. It's good thing about him was that his defending was solid. It was good," Jurel said. Perhaps, Mamba Mentality is infectious.

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