UAE’s Sharjah Stadium Renames Stand after Sachin Tendulkar

India's Sachin Tendulkar plays a shot against Australia during the second cricket test, at the Sydney Cricket Ground January 6, 2012. (Reuters)
India's Sachin Tendulkar plays a shot against Australia during the second cricket test, at the Sydney Cricket Ground January 6, 2012. (Reuters)
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UAE’s Sharjah Stadium Renames Stand after Sachin Tendulkar

India's Sachin Tendulkar plays a shot against Australia during the second cricket test, at the Sydney Cricket Ground January 6, 2012. (Reuters)
India's Sachin Tendulkar plays a shot against Australia during the second cricket test, at the Sydney Cricket Ground January 6, 2012. (Reuters)

The Sharjah Cricket Stadium has honored India batting great Sachin Tendulkar on his 50th birthday by naming a stand after him.

The venue in the United Arab Emirates held a ceremony for the former India captain on Monday, announcing that the "West Stand" had been renamed the "Sachin Tendulkar Stand".

Tendulkar smashed 143 runs against Australia at the stadium in April 1998 in a One-Day International dubbed "Desert Storm" after play was disrupted for 25 minutes due to a sand storm.

His knock guided India to the tri-series final against Australia, which India won by six wickets with Tendulkar striking 134 runs on his 25th birthday.

"I can't forget his birthday celebrations," said Khalaf Bukhatir, the chief executive of Sharjah Cricket. "It mesmerized the whole audience and I feel lucky to have been there.

"That day is not just special to Sachin but special to everyone who witnessed it."

The Sydney Cricket Ground also paid tribute to Tendulkar on Monday, unveiling a set of gates named after him and West Indies batsman Brian Lara.

Tendulkar retired from the professional game in 2013 after notching a still unmatched 100 international centuries in a glittering 24-year career.



Bayern Munich Wants to Keep Forward Mathys Tel Despite Reports Linking Him with Chelsea

Mathys Tel. (AFP)
Mathys Tel. (AFP)
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Bayern Munich Wants to Keep Forward Mathys Tel Despite Reports Linking Him with Chelsea

Mathys Tel. (AFP)
Mathys Tel. (AFP)

Bayern Munich's sporting director Christoph Freund says the German club is planning to keep Mathys Tel, after several media reports linked the French forward with a move to Chelsea.

Freund said Tuesday that the 19-year-old Tel was a “very important player” for Bayern and that the club wants to follow a plan for his development.

“We have a very good dialogue because he’s a big talent who should take on an important role for us. We’ve had a lot of conversations. Our clear aim is that Mathys will make the breakthrough with us,” Freund said. “Obviously we’ll listen if a player isn’t happy, then we’ll talk about it. We want to see through our plan with Mathys.”

Freund's comments followed reports in British and German media that Chelsea was interested in signing Tel, with some claiming a swap deal could see out-of-form Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku head to Bayern.

Tel became Bayern's youngest-ever goalscorer when he netted in a cup game in August 2022 at the age of 17 years, 126 days, breaking a record held by teammate Jamal Musiala. He had joined Bayern earlier that year from French club Rennes.

Tel netted 10 goals in all competitions last season but has yet to score in this campaign. He has played 12 games under coach Vincent Kompany in all competitions but started only two of them, with his last start coming in a Bundesliga game Sept. 1.

Bayern next plays Wednesday at home against Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga. Kompany signaled Tuesday that attacking midfielder Musiala could return after missing Saturday's 1-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach with an illness.