Indian sports wrap, April 24: Dhoni, Pandya, Bumrah and other stars invest in ‘eCricket’ gaming app CRICKETDhoni, Pandya, Bumrah and other stars invest in ‘eCricket’ gaming appM.S. Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, along with Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Tilak Varma and Sai Sudharsan, have come on board as investors in ‘eCricket’, a AAA title from India with global ambitions, slated for release on mobile in 2026.With cricket commanding a global audience estimated to be over 2.5 billion, LightFury—the publisher of eCricket—aims to address a significant gap in the sports gaming category by delivering a technically advanced, competitive, and live-service-driven cricket gaming franchise from India.The 100-strong studio combines creative vision with technical innovation to create globally competitive games.“I’ve seen a lot of cricket games over the years, and there’s always been something missing. When LightFury showed me what they were working on, I felt they were trying to close that gap. It’s a big undertaking, building something like this out of India for a global audience,” Dhoni was quoted in a release.Founded in 2024 by Karan Shroff, Anurag Banerjee, and Tina Balachandran, LightFury Games is an India-based AAA-focused game-tech studio dedicated to building high-quality, cutting-edge gaming experiences. The leadership team has worked on more than 40 AAA titles.Hardik Pandya said, “Cricket is pressure, skill, and entertainment all at once. Fans want to feel that energy. What excites me about eCricket is that it is not trying to make cricket smaller for gaming. It is trying to make gaming rise to the scale of cricket.”Earlier this year, LightFury Games also announced securing a global player roster licence of over 600 professional cricketers, featuring stars like Chris Gayle, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Kane Williamson, Pat Cummins, Jos Buttler, Travis Head, and Andre Russell—marking one of the largest rosters in cricket gaming.– PTIGOLFShubhankar and Yuvraj have slow starts in ChinaIndian golfers Shubhankar Sharma and Yuvraj Sandhu endured slow starts at the Volvo China Open in Shanghai, finishing T-48 and 153rd respectively after the opening round.Sharma, who won on his home tour in India a week earlier, carded 1-under 70 to be placed at T-48 while Sandhu carded 9-over 80 to be placed 153rd on the standings.– PTISQUASHAbhay Singh enters maiden PSA Gold-level quarters in ZurichIndia’s Abhay Singh stunned Egyptian world No 13 Aly Abou Eleinen to enter his maiden PSA Gold-level event quarterfinals at the Grasshopper Cup squash in Zurich.World No 24 Abhay trailed 5-8 in the opening game before recovering to beat the seventh seed 12-10, 11-9 in the second round.Singh had beaten Eleinen earlier this month at the El Gouna Open in Egypt.“I stuck to my game plan. Still a few things I can work on. We will go back to the drawing board tonight,” said Singh, who will meet Egyptian world No 4 Karim Gawad next.In the opening round, Singh beat Swiss David Bernet 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, while compatriot Ramit Tandon lost to Egypt’s Fares Dessouky 6-11, 9-11.– Team SportstarPublished on Apr 24, 2026 #Indian #sports #wrap #April #Dhoni #Pandya #Bumrah #stars #invest #eCricket #gaming #app

Silence falls on Red Miners as Jamshedpur FC pulls the plug on its ISL journey There is a particular silence that falls over a club when it shuts down. Not the managers’ howling instructions or even the players weeping into their kits. It’s the quiet folding of spreadsheets, a refusal to pay a participation fee and a conglomerate deciding that Rs. 55 lakh is too much for the privileged for pretending to care.And just like that, Jamshedpur FC, the steel city’s improbable footnote to the Indian Super League (ISL), wrapped up its senior team operations before the 2026-27 season, folded like a shirt no longer needed into the cupboard of Tata’s sprawling empire.That is the reality of corporate football: when the romance wanes, assets become foldable liabilities.This was a club that was competing for the title until the final matchday last season, which had an actual stadium that it owned, and prided of a genuine, effective pipeline for talent. When the footballing world was busy balancing books during the pandemic, the club actually made profits (Rs. 2 Cr.) in the 2019-20 season, and yet on July 31, 2026, it decided that the league, and its senior first team, was not worth the candle anymore.“It took a lot of the members of the club aback, and it was informed in a grim breath in the evening. Naturally, most of the contingent was visibly shocked, rather disappointed,” a source told Sportstar. Jamshedpur FC had an actual stadium that it owned, and prided of a genuine, effective pipeline for talent.
| Photo Credit:
ISL Media

Jamshedpur FC had an actual stadium that it owned, and prided of a genuine, effective pipeline for talent.
| Photo Credit:
ISL Media
The Tata Group has not provided an explanation for the decision. But it comes against the backdrop of the prolonged decline of Indian football in the last few years, which has had a domino effect on the men’s topflight. The men’s team’s FIFA rankings have plummeted, the league’s commercial value shrank by 97 per cent last season, and four ISL clubs have either shut down or shifted base.
ISL Clubs which have shut down or have been rebranded:

Pune City FC

Atletico de Kolkata

Delhi Dynamos

Hyderabad FC

Jamshedpur FC
Reliance, the initial commercial partner, is gone. The City Football Group abandoned Mumbai City’s ship last season, and now Tata, gently, has shown itself out.In the last two years, the Tata-owned club lost about Rs. 11 Crore, while its Central Rights income collapsed from Rs. 21.24 crore to Rs. 32 Lakhs – a fall of nearly 99 per cent. As a result, its deficit in football operations tripled, from Rs. 1 Crore in the 2024-25 season to Rs. 2.8 Crore in the 2025-26 season.Capital fuels growth, and that in turn drives football, and that goes on in cycles.The most promising trend for Jamshedpur FC, in the last two years, was grassroots development, player transfers and training compensation (providing facilities for player training). And the conglomerate, as they usually do, got its blue-eyed boy here – the kids.“JFSPL (Jamshedpur Football and Sporting Private Limited) remains committed, in other capacities, to the continued growth and development of football in India. We will continue in our endeavour to promote and develop the game of football, including at the grassroots level,” the club said in its statement.The decision also pushed players into choppy waters. Players, some of whom were chiselled at the storied Tata Football Academy (TFA), will now be expected to run from pillar to post late in the summer window for a new team when most teams already have their squads chalked out.But the real victims of the decision will not be the professionals. Footballers are mercenaries by profession: they will find another jersey to don, another bench to warm.The tragedy will lie with the fans – people who built a community organically, named it the Red Miners, and rallied behind the team no matter how it played. The roar at the JRD Stadium when a TFA product scored meant something, everything, and that is what will no longer be heard.The ones who gave free treats when Jamshedpur won, to the ones who quietly bought season tickets, the silence will now haunt them, leaving them wondering if this was just part of an elaborate, expensive dream. The tragedy will lie with the fans – people who built a community organically, named it the Red Miners, and rallied behind the team no matter how it played.
| Photo Credit:
ISL Media

The tragedy will lie with the fans – people who built a community organically, named it the Red Miners, and rallied behind the team no matter how it played.
| Photo Credit:
ISL Media
The Tata group showed that Jamshedpur FC, in the ISL, had always been a product rather than a community club, and when a product wears out, it is sold in parts, just like its ball bearings and wires.And dreamers? Well, they get a press release.Published on Aug 01, 2026 #Silence #falls #Red #Miners #Jamshedpur #pulls #plug #ISL #journey — Jamshedpur FC had an actual stadium that it owned, and prided of a genuine, effective pipeline for talent. | Photo Credit: ISL Media

#Silence #falls #Red #Miners #Jamshedpur #pulls #plug #ISL #journey">

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There is a particular silence that falls over a club when it shuts down. Not the managers’ howling instructions or even the players weeping into their kits. It’s the quiet folding of spreadsheets, a refusal to pay a participation fee and a conglomerate deciding that Rs. 55 lakh is too much for the privileged for pretending to care.
And just like that, Jamshedpur FC, the steel city’s improbable footnote to the Indian Super League (ISL), wrapped up its senior team operations before the 2026-27 season, folded like a shirt no longer needed into the cupboard of Tata’s sprawling empire.
That is the reality of corporate football: when the romance wanes, assets become foldable liabilities.
This was a club that was competing for the title until the final matchday last season, which had an actual stadium that it owned, and prided of a genuine, effective pipeline for talent. When the footballing world was busy balancing books during the pandemic, the club actually made profits (Rs. 2 Cr.) in the 2019-20 season, and yet on July 31, 2026, it decided that the league, and its senior first team, was not worth the candle anymore.
“It took a lot of the members of the club aback, and it was informed in a grim breath in the evening. Naturally, most of the contingent was visibly shocked, rather disappointed,” a source told Sportstar.
Jamshedpur FC had an actual stadium that it owned, and prided of a genuine, effective pipeline for talent. | Photo Credit: ISL Media
Jamshedpur FC had an actual stadium that it owned, and prided of a genuine, effective pipeline for talent. | Photo Credit: ISL Media
The Tata Group has not provided an explanation for the decision. But it comes against the backdrop of the prolonged decline of Indian football in the last few years, which has had a domino effect on the men’s topflight. The men’s team’s FIFA rankings have plummeted, the league’s commercial value shrank by 97 per cent last season, and four ISL clubs have either shut down or shifted base.
ISL Clubs which have shut down or have been rebranded:
Pune City FC
Atletico de Kolkata
Delhi Dynamos
Hyderabad FC
Jamshedpur FC
Reliance, the initial commercial partner, is gone. The City Football Group abandoned Mumbai City’s ship last season, and now Tata, gently, has shown itself out.
In the last two years, the Tata-owned club lost about Rs. 11 Crore, while its Central Rights income collapsed from Rs. 21.24 crore to Rs. 32 Lakhs – a fall of nearly 99 per cent. As a result, its deficit in football operations tripled, from Rs. 1 Crore in the 2024-25 season to Rs. 2.8 Crore in the 2025-26 season.
Capital fuels growth, and that in turn drives football, and that goes on in cycles.
The most promising trend for Jamshedpur FC, in the last two years, was grassroots development, player transfers and training compensation (providing facilities for player training). And the conglomerate, as they usually do, got its blue-eyed boy here – the kids.
“JFSPL (Jamshedpur Football and Sporting Private Limited) remains committed, in other capacities, to the continued growth and development of football in India. We will continue in our endeavour to promote and develop the game of football, including at the grassroots level,” the club said in its statement.
The decision also pushed players into choppy waters. Players, some of whom were chiselled at the storied Tata Football Academy (TFA), will now be expected to run from pillar to post late in the summer window for a new team when most teams already have their squads chalked out.
But the real victims of the decision will not be the professionals. Footballers are mercenaries by profession: they will find another jersey to don, another bench to warm.
The tragedy will lie with the fans – people who built a community organically, named it the Red Miners, and rallied behind the team no matter how it played. The roar at the JRD Stadium when a TFA product scored meant something, everything, and that is what will no longer be heard.
The ones who gave free treats when Jamshedpur won, to the ones who quietly bought season tickets, the silence will now haunt them, leaving them wondering if this was just part of an elaborate, expensive dream.
The tragedy will lie with the fans – people who built a community organically, named it the Red Miners, and rallied behind the team no matter how it played. | Photo Credit: ISL Media
The tragedy will lie with the fans – people who built a community organically, named it the Red Miners, and rallied behind the team no matter how it played. | Photo Credit: ISL Media
The Tata group showed that Jamshedpur FC, in the ISL, had always been a product rather than a community club, and when a product wears out, it is sold in parts, just like its ball bearings and wires.
And dreamers? Well, they get a press release.
Published on Aug 01, 2026

#Silence #falls #Red #Miners #Jamshedpur #pulls #plug #ISL #journey">Silence falls on Red Miners as Jamshedpur FC pulls the plug on its ISL journey

There is a particular silence that falls over a club when it shuts down. Not the managers’ howling instructions or even the players weeping into their kits. It’s the quiet folding of spreadsheets, a refusal to pay a participation fee and a conglomerate deciding that Rs. 55 lakh is too much for the privileged for pretending to care.

And just like that, Jamshedpur FC, the steel city’s improbable footnote to the Indian Super League (ISL), wrapped up its senior team operations before the 2026-27 season, folded like a shirt no longer needed into the cupboard of Tata’s sprawling empire.

That is the reality of corporate football: when the romance wanes, assets become foldable liabilities.

This was a club that was competing for the title until the final matchday last season, which had an actual stadium that it owned, and prided of a genuine, effective pipeline for talent. When the footballing world was busy balancing books during the pandemic, the club actually made profits (Rs. 2 Cr.) in the 2019-20 season, and yet on July 31, 2026, it decided that the league, and its senior first team, was not worth the candle anymore.

“It took a lot of the members of the club aback, and it was informed in a grim breath in the evening. Naturally, most of the contingent was visibly shocked, rather disappointed,” a source told Sportstar.

Jamshedpur FC had an actual stadium that it owned, and prided of a genuine, effective pipeline for talent. | Photo Credit: ISL Media

Jamshedpur FC had an actual stadium that it owned, and prided of a genuine, effective pipeline for talent. | Photo Credit: ISL Media

The Tata Group has not provided an explanation for the decision. But it comes against the backdrop of the prolonged decline of Indian football in the last few years, which has had a domino effect on the men’s topflight. The men’s team’s FIFA rankings have plummeted, the league’s commercial value shrank by 97 per cent last season, and four ISL clubs have either shut down or shifted base.

ISL Clubs which have shut down or have been rebranded:

Pune City FC

Atletico de Kolkata

Delhi Dynamos

Hyderabad FC

Jamshedpur FC

Reliance, the initial commercial partner, is gone. The City Football Group abandoned Mumbai City’s ship last season, and now Tata, gently, has shown itself out.

In the last two years, the Tata-owned club lost about Rs. 11 Crore, while its Central Rights income collapsed from Rs. 21.24 crore to Rs. 32 Lakhs – a fall of nearly 99 per cent. As a result, its deficit in football operations tripled, from Rs. 1 Crore in the 2024-25 season to Rs. 2.8 Crore in the 2025-26 season.

Capital fuels growth, and that in turn drives football, and that goes on in cycles.

The most promising trend for Jamshedpur FC, in the last two years, was grassroots development, player transfers and training compensation (providing facilities for player training). And the conglomerate, as they usually do, got its blue-eyed boy here – the kids.

“JFSPL (Jamshedpur Football and Sporting Private Limited) remains committed, in other capacities, to the continued growth and development of football in India. We will continue in our endeavour to promote and develop the game of football, including at the grassroots level,” the club said in its statement.

The decision also pushed players into choppy waters. Players, some of whom were chiselled at the storied Tata Football Academy (TFA), will now be expected to run from pillar to post late in the summer window for a new team when most teams already have their squads chalked out.

But the real victims of the decision will not be the professionals. Footballers are mercenaries by profession: they will find another jersey to don, another bench to warm.

The tragedy will lie with the fans – people who built a community organically, named it the Red Miners, and rallied behind the team no matter how it played. The roar at the JRD Stadium when a TFA product scored meant something, everything, and that is what will no longer be heard.

The ones who gave free treats when Jamshedpur won, to the ones who quietly bought season tickets, the silence will now haunt them, leaving them wondering if this was just part of an elaborate, expensive dream.

The tragedy will lie with the fans – people who built a community organically, named it the Red Miners, and rallied behind the team no matter how it played. | Photo Credit: ISL Media

The Tata group showed that Jamshedpur FC, in the ISL, had always been a product rather than a community club, and when a product wears out, it is sold in parts, just like its ball bearings and wires.

And dreamers? Well, they get a press release.

Published on Aug 01, 2026

#Silence #falls #Red #Miners #Jamshedpur #pulls #plug #ISL #journey

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