Mumbai: Indian Cricket Team captain Rohit Sharma has reportedly received three traffic challans for speeding on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The incident occurred while the opening batter was en route to join the Indian team in Pune for their upcoming game against Bangladesh on Thursday, October 19. Sharma was allegedly driving at speeds exceeding 200 km/h, leading to the issuance of three online traffic challans for reckless driving, according to a report by Pune Mirror.
Ahead of the crucial clash against Bangladesh, reports suggest that Sharma was driving a Lamborghini with a number plate displaying his highest One Day International (ODI) score '264'.
Authorities have raised concerns about the Indian captain's reckless driving on a busy highway, especially in the midst of the World Cup tournament. Suggestions have been made that Sharma should travel in the team bus accompanied by a police escort for enhanced safety.
Despite this off-field incident, the 36-year-old cricketer has been in sensational form during the ongoing World Cup. Sharma is the leading run-scorer for India in the tournament, amassing 217 runs from three innings at an impressive average of 72.33 and a strike rate of 141.83. He has recorded one century and one fifty in the tournament.
In the second match against Afghanistan, Sharma delivered a remarkable performance, scoring 131 runs off 84 balls and breaking several records in the process. He achieved the fastest hundred by an Indian batter in World Cups (63 balls), the highest number of sixes in international cricket (562), the most hundreds in ODI World Cup (7 hundreds), joint-fastest to 1000 runs in ODI World Cup (19 innings), and the third-highest number of centuries in One Day Internationals (ODIs) (31).
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Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
