New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) The following are the top/expected stories at 2135 hours:

EXPECTED STORIES:

*Report of IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai.

*Report of AFC Champions League match between FC Goa and Al-Rayyan in Margao.

*Report of AFC Cup match between Bengaluru FC and Tribhuvan Army FC in Bambolim.

STORIES ON THE WIRE:

SPO-CRI-IPL-RR-DC-LD PREVIEW

Beleaguered RR look to skipper Samson for inspiration against confident DC

Mumbai, Apr 14 (PTI) Coming off a heart-breaking loss and hit by star all-rounder Ben Stokes' injury-forced ouster, a beleaguered Rajasthan Royals would hope for another inspirational knock from new skipper Sanju Samson when it faces a confident Delhi Capitals in an IPL match here on Wednesday.

SPO-BOX-VIRUS-LD WOM

21 at women's national boxing camp, including top coaches, test positive for COVID-19

(Eds: Updates with fresh inputs)

New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) Indian women's boxing's High Performance Director Raffaele Bergamasco and head coach Mohammed Ali Qamar are among 21 campers who have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here but none of the infected pugilists are bound for Olympics.

SPO-BOX-VIRUS-MEN Male boxers and support staff at NIS Patiala recover from COVID-19

New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) The Indian men's team boxers and their support staff, who tested positive for COVID-19 at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala last month, have recovered from the infection, a fortnight after being quarantined.

SPO-BOX-WC-YOUTH-IND

India make winning start at youth world boxing championship

New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) India were off to a perfect start at the youth world boxing championships in Kielce, Poland with Poonam (57kg) and Vinka (60kg) advancing to the pre-quarterfinals after notching up contrasting opening-round wins.

SPO-CRI-IPL-VIRUS-DC-LD NORTJE

DC await Nortje's 2nd RT-PCR test result even as Rabada joins training

(Eds: Updates with fresh inputs)

Mumbai, Apr 14 (PTI) Delhi Capitals' South African speedster Anrich Nortje will not be available for the team's second IPL match against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday as his COVID-19 test reports are still awaited.

SPO-HOCK-IND-ARG

India beat Argentina 4-2 in final practice game

Buenos Aires, Apr 14 (PTI) India ended their tour of Argentina with a commendable 4-2 victory in the final practice game here on Wednesday.

SPO-CRI-IPL-CHAHAR

Chahar credits Rohit's captaincy mantra for epic turnaround against KKR

Chennai, Apr 14 (PTI) Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar said he had the belief that "only a spinner can be a game changer" but it was skipper Rohit Sharma's confidence that brought the best out of him as he spun Mumbai Indians to a 10-run win against Kolkata Knight Riders here.

SPO-CRI-IND-KAPIL

Kapil impressed with India's fast bowling bench strength

New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) World Cup-winning former India captain Kapil Dev on Wednesday said he is quite impressed with the national cricket team's bench strength in fast bowling, something that was a "novelty" in his playing days.

SPO-CRI-IPL-RUSSELL

Pitch wasn't easy, KKR will be back strongly: Russell

Chennai, Apr 14 (PTI) Kolkata Knight Riders' big-hitting all-rounder Andre Russell blamed it on the pitch as he dissected his team's narrow 10-run loss to Mumbai Indians here and asserted that the side will bounce back strongly in the coming matches.

SPO-HOCK-OLY-MANPREET-RANI

Hockey: Manpreet, Rani optimistic about India's chances in Tokyo Olympics

New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) The Indian men's hockey team captain Manpreeet Singh feels if his side continues with its current good form, it has the potential to end an over four-decade-long Olympic medal drought in Tokyo this year.

SPO-CRI-IPL-LARA

Pant has grown in last 4 months, will do a good job: Lara

Mumbai, Apr 14 (PTI) Legendary West Indian batsman Brian Lara believes young wicketkeeper-batman Rishabh Pant has improved a lot in the last few months and will do a good job in leading Delhi Capitals in the ongoing IPL.

SPO-CRI-ICC-RANKING

Babar dethrones Kohli from top of ICC men's ODI rankings

Dubai, Apr 14 (PTI) India captain Virat Kohli's long reign at the top of the ICC rankings for batsmen was on Wednesday brought to an end by his Pakistan counterpart Babar Azam, who became only the fourth from his country to attain the position.

SPO-CRI-IPL-RCB-DEVILLIERS

Fear of failure has often pushed me to focus more: AB de Villiers

Chennai, Apr 14 (PTI) The high-risk game that he plays involves a "fear of failure" which has pushed the talismanic AB de Villiers to focus even more on dealing with the various challenges of T20 format.

SPO-CRI-IPL-DC-PONTING

Pant's way of thinking has shades of Kohli and Williamson, feels DC coach Ponting

Mumbai, Apr 14 (PTI) Rishabh Pant's thought process as captain is quite similar to Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson, says his IPL franchise Delhi Capitals' head coach Ricky Ponting, describing the sprightly wicketkeeper-batsman as a "winner".

SPO-TT-WORLDS

World Table Tennis Championships confirmed for Houston from Nov 23

New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) The World Table Tennis Championships will be held as per schedule from November 23 to 29 in Houston, USA, the game's governing body ITTF has said.

SPO-CRI-STREAK-BAN

Streak banned for eight years for breaching ICC's anti-corruption code

Dubai, Apr 14 (PTI) Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak was on Wednesday banned for eight years from all cricket after he accepted five charges of breaching the ICC anti-corruption code, including disclosing inside information and facilitating corrupt approaches.

SPO-OLY-MINISTER

Rijiju expecting double digit medal haul in Tokyo Olympics

New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju is expecting an unprecedented double digit medal haul from the Indian athletes in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. PTI

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)