Manchester United seemingly need something dramatic to pull them from their miserable run at the moment, but the answer could be much simpler than first thought…

Why are Manchester United struggling so much?

Whilst their biggest issues could be chalked down to the poisonous atmosphere within the dressing room, a lack of technical and tactical quality, or even the Glazers, there are admittedly small tweaks that Erik ten Hag could make that would ease their outstanding failures.

After all, persisting with Bruno Fernandes from the flank is a decision that even the most casual of fan could debate, given both how influential the Portuguese superstar has been through the centre in the past, but also how the wingers he is keeping out of the team could affect the play.

Whilst the former Sporting CP ace is one of the most creative players in the entire Premier League, he is seriously lacking the pace and dynamism needed to thrive from the wing. Especially when considering his first full year in England was spent in attacking midfield, which allowed him to score 28 and assist 17 across all competitions.

Pundit Gary Neville would note: "I was worried the club wasn't going to support him in the transfer market but Bruno Fernandes has made an impact beyond what anyone could have expected. Not just in possession but out of possession – the way he sprints and gets at people. He's hungry and it looks like it's rubbing off on everybody." His former teammate at Old Trafford, Roy Keane would echo such a sentiment: "He's lifted everybody at the club. It's as if he's been there 20 years. He's got pure quality."

Perhaps returning him to that role could allow him to thrive once again, lifting the side in the manner that the Irishman suggested, whilst allowing someone like Alejandro Garnacho to inject some much-needed dynamism to the right flank.

How good is Alejandro Garnacho?

Whilst Antony might mark the obvious choice to return to the starting side, given the £86m invested to bring him from Ajax during the 2022 summer, his performances have been less than inspiring, and his presence is hardly much different from Fernandes given his lack of speed and ability to beat a man.

Last season saw him score just four and assist a further two in the Premier League alone, with pundit Gabby Agbonlahor lambasting his output to talkSPORT: "But when I look at Antony, there’s been a few big transfers in the Premier League, £86million for him… I think he’s a bluffer. I think when he gets the ball, he doesn’t take a player on. He doesn’t have the speed to take players on."

Meanwhile, Paul Scholes praised the Argentinian "animal", as branded by broadcaster Christian Martin, for the physical qualities that could now prove so vital: "This crowd loves entertainment and this lad was really entertaining, almost like a young Cristiano. I was impressed because some wingers can only go one way but he could do both which makes him so unpredictable."

Not only that, but at four years the Brazilian's junior and with far less senior experience, the 19-year-old would still finish last season with 12 goal contributions across all competitions, just one short of Antony's tally.

Garnacho's movement into the starting side would not only add that raw pace and trickery to terrorise defenders, but also allow Fernandes to thrive in his favoured role to get things back on track at Old Trafford.

India’s coach has pulled up his batsmen for not being strong enough mentally to capitalise on a strong position in Southampton

Nagraj Gollapudi at The Oval05-Sep-2018The series is lost but Ravi Shastri is not “throwing the towel in” yet, and neither are the Indian team. Shastri has singled out his batsmen for not being as mentally strong as they could have been, giving away the advantage to England in situations they should have capitalised on, but despite England holding a series-winning 3-1 lead with only the fifth Test to play, India’s coach believes his team will compete hard in the match at the Oval that starts on Friday, and rectify mistakes made in the first four Tests.The five-Test series got off to an exhilarating start after England held their nerve on the fifth morning at Edgbaston to win by 31 runs. England then obliterated India at Lord’s in a matter of a few sessions. India bounced back collectively to hurt England at Trent Bridge and keep the series alive.In Southampton India had England reeling at 86 for 6 on day one. Still, stunningly, it was India who were left bruised in the end as Sam Curran played another belligerent knock to wrest back control, just as he had done at Edgbaston in the second innings when England were stuttering at 87 for 7. India’s five-man bowling attack failed to stop Curran both times, and paid the price.On the third day, England were in trouble once again and lost quick wickets either side of the lunch break to slip to 92 for 4, but their lower order resisted admirably and hit back to raise a big lead on a worn pitch. India had no answer to Moeen Ali, who kept pitching the ball in the footmarks and getting it to turn and bounce sharply. It was something India’s lead spinner R Ashwin failed to do, which Shastri said was the difference between the sides.But Shastri was still not giving up. “The fact of the matter is that you had a chance,” Shastri said after India’s training on Wednesday. “The scoreline says 3-1 which means India have lost the series. What the scoreline doesn’t say is India could have been 3-1 or 2-2. And my team knows it. They would have hurt, and rightly so, after the last game. But this is a team that will not throw in the towel. It will compete. It will come out there to compete and not look to be on the first flight home, rest assured.”After losing the series in Southampton, India captain Virat Kohli was blunt in his appraisal, saying his team could not be satisfied just with competing, and had to learn how to cross the line. Shastri reiterated that sentiment. “We have run teams close overseas, we have competed. But now it is not about just competing. We have got to complete games from here. And the endeavour is to learn, understand where you made the mistakes, take it head on and try and correct.”Virat Kohli chats with Ravi Shastri•Getty Images

Shastri said India were on top and looking to take a sizeable lead when Cheteshwar Pujara played a ” (a Mumbai cricket term loosely equivalent to bloody-minded)” innings to notch his first century of this tour. But the rest of the batting did not show the same resolve. “It is being aware of being in a good position and then capitalising and not doing something silly to open the door for the opposition. I thought at 180 for 4 there was a definite chance of a 75-80 run lead, and that would have been crucial. So that hurts.”Shastri felt the Southampton defeat would hurt more than the one at Edgbaston because India were in charge of the fourth Test at different points. “At Edgbaston, it could have gone either way. We had our share of luck as well because at one time England were in the driver’s seat. We managed to come back. We were chasing the game there all the time. But here, this would hurt more because you were ahead of them. And there was a stage you could have been really ahead of game after the job the bowlers did on day one.”At the start of this series, Shastri had told ESPNcricinfo that Kohli’s team had the “potential” to be one of the best travelling sides. He said he was making that statement based on India’s spirited performance in the 2-1 series defeat this January in South Africa, where India won the final Test in Johannesburg and were in contention in the first two Tests too, in Cape Town and Centurion.Not everyone is convinced India are improving as a travelling unit overseas though. Speaking to , former India opener Virender Sehwag said India had learned the art of winning overseas under Sourav Ganguly. Back then, India were a stronger batting unit with bowlers who couldn’t consistently take 20 wickets, and Sehwag felt it was the other way round now, with India having a strong bowling unit but a weaker batting group. “Best travelling teams are made by performances on the ground and not by sitting in the dressing rooms and talking about it. One can talk whatever they want to talk about but unless the bat does the talking, they can never become the best travelling team,” Sehwag said.Shastri still maintained India could win overseas. He pointed out that India had won three series and nine Tests overseas since 2015. Incidentally, Anil Kumble was India’s coach for one of those series, against West Indies in 2016, which India won 2-0. Shastri was in his first stint with the team during the 2-1 win on the 2015 tour of Sri Lanka. In Shastri’s second stint, India have won one series overseas, in Sri Lanka (2017), and five Tests.”If you look at the last three years, we won nine matches overseas and three series. I can’t see any other Indian team in the last 15-20 years who had that kind of run in such a short period and you have some great players in those teams.” Shastri said. “So the promise is there. It is just [about] getting tougher mentally. You have got to hurt when you lose such matches, but that is when you look within and come out with the right kind of answers to combat such situations again and get past the finishing line. One day you will, as long as you believe.”

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp could be backed in the transfer market by FSG to complete a money-spinning deal for one of Europe's most talented players, according to reports.

Liverpool updates: Gravenberch speaks out, Mousa Tamari, Alexander-Arnold role

Speaking in an interview with Liverpool's official club website, midfielder Ryan Gravenberch has revealed which player he used to model his game on growing up, stating: "When I was young I looked up to the bigger players like Messi and Ronaldo. When I became older, like 17, 18, I was looking at video clips of Zinedine Zidane. If I have to choose a player it will be Zinedine Zidane."

The Netherlands midfielder also let the public know who his favourite former Liverpool player is, adding: "I’d go for Steven Gerrard. But also, I played with him at Bayern, Sadio Mane. I think I have a few."

One Liverpool transfer update on Montpellier attacker Mousa Tamari has claimed that the Reds have been keeping tabs on the Jordan international since before the summer transfer window. Reports state that the 26-year-old could be brought in as direct competition or as an understudy to Liverpool star man Mohamed Salah at Anfield; however, it remains to be seen whether any deal can come to fruition.

Cited by 90min, Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander Arnold has been talking about his best position and has admitted that he isn't entirely sure where he is most efficient on the pitch. Alexander-Arnold stated:

"People are seeing potentially I'm more effective in the middle of the pitch. That's maybe the route going forward. But who knows? It's not my decision. I can only get played in the position I'm told to. But with the conversations I've had, particularly with the manager here [at England], playing centrally in the middle of the pitch is something we want to look at going forward."

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 2023/24 key statistics

Appearances – all competitions: 7

Goals – all competitions: 0

Assists – all competitions: 1

Sofascore match rating – Premier League: 6.83/10

Liverpool transfer news; Leroy Sane update

FSG could be set to spend big following a new Liverpool transfer update on Leroy Sane, who according to The Mirror, has been made the Reds' number-one transfer target at Anfield amid uncertainty over Salah's future at Anfield due to heavy interest from the Saudi Pro League.

Liverpool would be willing to shatter their record £80 million fee shelled out for Darwin Nunez in the summer of 2022 to bring the Bayern Munich winger back to the Premier League.

Sane has excelled so far this campaign for German giants Bayern Munich, netting seven goals across his opening 11 appearances in all competitions (Leroy Sane stats – Transfermarkt).

Labelled as "incredible" by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola back in 2019, Sane has also recorded an average of 5.1 completed dribbles and 3.3 shots per game in the German top flight this term (Leroy Sane stats – WhoScored). With Salah potentially moving on for pastures new at some point in the near future, Sane could be an ideal replacement to replicate the Egypt international's explosivity in the final third, making this one to watch.

Premier League sides Arsenal and Chelsea may have to pay a staggering amount if they want to sign Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting.

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Gyokeres banging in the goals for SportingAttracted interest from Chelsea and ArsenalSporting want to increase release clauseWHAT HAPPENED?

Sporting are hoping to tie Gyokeres to a new contract which will include an increased release clause, according to . The Portuguese side want to renew their forward's existing deal and include a clause set at €120 million (£103m/$130m) in a bid to ward off potential interest in the 25-year-old freescoring forward.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Chelsea and Arsenal have both been linked with a move for Gyokeres in a bid to strengthen their attack after seeing the Swede score 22 goals and grab 10 assists in the Portuguese top flight so far this season. Sporting are eager to keep hold of their prolific frontman but have targeted Greek forward Fotis Ioannidis from Panathinaikos as a potential replacement.

WHAT GYOKERES HAS SAID

The striker has spoken about speculation over his future during the current international break. He told this week: “It’s a sign that I’ve performed well. But it’s not something I take too seriously, since it’s just speculation. But of course it’s fun. We’ll see this summer. It’s not something I know about myself, what will happen. I enjoy Sporting extremely well and feel no stress about the summer coming quickly.”

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR GYOKERES

Gyokeres will continue the season with Sporting and will hope to fire his team to the title. Sporting are currently one point clear at the top of the table and have a game in hand over second-placed Benfica. It remains to be seen what will happen in the summer transfer window, but Gyokeres is unlikely to be short of admirers if he can maintain the goalscoring form he's shown so far this season.

أعلن نادِ سعودي عن تعاقده مع أوباميانج لتدعيم صفوف فريق قبل بداية الموسم الجديد من الدوري السعودي.

وارتبط أوباميانج مؤخرًا بخطوة الرحيل عن صفوف مارسيليا والانضمام إلى الدوري السعودي، في ظل اهتمام نادي القادسية بالحصول على خدماته.

ونشر الحساب الرسمي للقادسية عبر موقع التواصل الاجتماعي “X”: “احـموا شباككم وحصنوا مرماكم، المرعب وصل”.

طالع | موراتا يوضح موقفه من الانضمام إلى الدوري السعودي

وكان أوباميانج قد انضم إلى مارسيليا قادمًا من تشيلسي الصيف الماضي، ويمتلك عقدًا ساريًا حتى 2026.

وتأهل القادسية إلى الدوري السعودي في الموسم المقبل 2024-2025، بعدما استطاع الصعود من دوري القسم الثاني في صدارة البطولة.

احـموا شباككم وحصنوا مرماكم 🤫
المرعــب وصـل 🕸️#اوبا_فارس pic.twitter.com/J17XSBUlZA

— نادي القادسية السعودي (@Alqadsiah) July 18, 2024

Veteran USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher made NWSL history as the Chicago Red Stars beat Seattle Reign 2-1 on Saturday.

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• Naeher makes history in NWSL
• 35-year-old a USWNT veteran
• Has been with Chicago since 2016

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Naeher played in goal for the Chicago Red Stars in Saturday's victory and brought up her 50th win for the club, the most for any goalkeeper at a single club in the NWSL. She has been with the club since 2016 and is a legend of the United States women's team.

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• Getty
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Chicago have now won both of their opening two games of the season, having beaten Utah Royals 2-0 on the opening weekend. Naeher is a hugely experienced campaigner and has won the World Cup twice with the USWNT.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Naeher has won 102 caps for the USWNT and is only the third goalkeeper to win a century of appearances for the country, along with Hope Solo and Brianna Scurry.

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• Getty
  

  WHAT NEXT?

  Chicago are next in action on Friday against Orlando Pride and Naeher will hope to add another win to her record.

Rangers have been boosted by a key injury update regarding an "excellent" Ibrox favourite, acting as a big positive for manager Philippe Clement.

Rangers injury news

The Gers enjoyed a memorable Scottish Premiership victory on Sunday afternoon, coming from 1-0 down at home to Hearts to win 2-1, having scored twice in stoppage time, thanks to a James Tavernier penalty and a Danilo strike sending Ibrox wild in the process. It was a win that means Clement's side have narrowed the gap on rivals Celtic to five points at the top of the table, following their 0-0 draw away to Hibernian over the weekend, giving the fresh hope that they can secure title glory this season.

Rangers aren't without injury problems at the moment, however, with the likes of Tom Lawrence, Nicolas Raskin picking up knocks recently, and Jose Cifuentes and Kieran Dowell only recently returning from respective problems. In order for the Gers to keep improving with Clement in charge, they will need as many key players as possible, and an encouraging update has emerged regarding one of those individuals.

Tom Lawrence injury update

According to an update from Rangers Review reporter Christopher Jack, Tom Lawrence is set to return for full training for Rangers after recovering from injury, giving Clement an undoubted boost:

This is great news for Rangers, considering how well Lawrence has done for the club since arriving from Derby County last year, adding quality in the middle of the park. Lawrence's stats show the impact he has made in the short time that he has been available, with three goals and assists coming his way in 13 appearances to date. David McCallam has lauded the 29-year-old in the past, talking up the influence that he has had and saying of him:

"Tom was excellent around the group, sharing his experience, and we spoke before the game about that. That’s what some of these games are going to be about, when we get the odd occasion where a player, or two, drops down from the first-team squad to get important minutes."

Philippe Clement

2023

Michael Beale

2023

Giovanni van Bronckhorst

2021-2022

Steven Gerrard

2018-2021

Pedro Caixinha

2017

Mark Warburton

2015-2017

Ally McCoist

2011-2014

Walter Smith

2007-2011

Paul Le Guen

2006-2007

Alex McLeish

2001-2006

Having Lawrence back in the fold will suddenly give Clement another midfield option to choose from, having not been fit since September, and his experience and all-round quality should provide competition for the likes of John Lundstram and Raskin, once the latter returns from his own injury that he suffered against Hearts, being stretchered off the pitch.

Squad depth is essential in any title race, allowing the manager to rotate effectively and keep his squad fresh until the business end of the season, and Lawrence is someone who could play a big role between now and the end of the campaign, assuming he can rid himself of his injury problems and stay fit.

Big picture

After much confusion, anger and bewilderment about the scheduling of the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup, it comes as a mild relief simply to know which side plays on a particular day, and at what venue. Pakistan will take on Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi, while in the other game, India do battle with Bangladesh.Pakistan have a fascinating time ahead in what’s left of the Asia Cup, with arguably the only two sides they wouldn’t regard as rivals already knocked out. There are political tensions with all of India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan that can spell testy affairs on the pitch. But there’s little doubt the most flummoxing, contradictory relationship in world cricket is the one that exists between Afghanistan and Pakistan.This is what Facebook’s “It’s complicated” option was made for in the golden days of social media when cynicism about making intimate details of your life wasn’t quite at the high it is now. Cynicism is also a trait that’s pervaded dealings between these two nations, and eroded trust after a heart-warming early alliance that seemed to be the spirit of cricket handbook come to life.The Pakistan Cricket Board took Afghanistan under its wing, eager to help its cricket improve, with several Afghan players training at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. Pakistan was the first Full Member to play an ODI against Afghanistan, and there is little doubt Afghanistan cricket would have risen as rapidly as it has without the PCB’s help in its early years.Fakhar Zaman punches through the off side•AFP

But times, and politics, changed, and when Pakistan and Afghanistan grew apart diplomatically and a devastating bomb blast in Kabul last year officially heralded the severing of cricketing ties. Invariably – inevitably, perhaps – relations between the BCCI and Afghanistan are much warmer, with India hosting Afghanistan for their first Test match earlier this year. Pakistan, aggrieved their initial support doesn’t quite get the same recognition in Afghanistan are unlikely to have taken kindly to the friendlier Indo-Afghan relationship.You may wonder why cricket has barely been mentioned. It’s because, in the big picture, Afghanistan and Pakistan’s relationship has far less to do with cricket than it ideally should.But on the pitch, Afghanistan have already exceeded expectations by qualifying for this stage at Sri Lanka’s expense. They have done so in fine style, beating more fancied opponents and coming through as group winners. That’s more than can be said of Pakistan, who put in perhaps the most disappointing ODI performance in years as India walloped them by eight wickets with 21 overs to spare. They need to come back strong, and it’s not like Afghanistan are going to make it easy for them.

Form guide

Afghanistan WWWLW (last five matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LWWWW

In the spotlight

Barring injury, there is little doubt Rashid Khan will dominate batsman for years to come. He is the man most likely to go down as Afghanistan’s first genuine superstar, a man already at the top of his field and yet he is only 20 years old. While he doesn’t impart much flight on the ball, his uncanny accuracy, accompanied by a lethal googly, can outwit the most disciplined of opponents. His batting, too, has come on in leaps and bounds; he scored a whirlwind 57 off 32 balls against Bangladesh, turning a paltry 160 for 7 into the ultimately match-winning 255. He followed that up with figures of 9-013-2 in what was a Man-of-the-Match display. It’s fair to say he won’t be short of confidence when he takes on Pakistan.Rashid Khan belts out an appeal•AFP

India were tremendous against Pakistan in the first 10 overs, knocking over Pakistan’s much-vaunted opening pair of Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq simply by cutting off their scoring areas. Afghanistan, while pushovers in no way, don’t quite have the attack to execute that plan as perfectly as India did on Wednesday, and the openers will be itching to get back to their run scoring best. The top order’s contribution becomes even more vital given how devoid of match practice the middle order has been lately. Afghanistan will not have missed how brutally it was exposed against India as Pakistan slumped from 85 for 2 to 121 for 7.

Team news

Afghanistan have been forced to play back-to-back games which might test their fitness, but they’re unlikely to tinker with a winning combination.Afghanistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 2 Ihsanullah, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4, Hashmatullah Shahidi, 5 Asghar Afghan (capt), 6 Samiullah Shenwari, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Gulbadin Naib, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Aftab Alam, 11 Mujeeb Ur RehmanPakistan were toying with the idea of dropping Mohammad Amir for the game against India. Although he wasn’t, his wicket-taking threat has been decreasing and he may finally find himself on the bench on Friday. More worryingly, Shadab Khan limped off midway through an over and is a serious doubt, which brings Pakistan’s reserve spinner, Mohammad Nawaz, firmly into play.Pakistan (probable): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 6 Asif Ali 7 Shadab Khan/ Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Junaid Khan, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Usman Khan

Pitch and conditions

Spin is likely to play a major part again and Afghanistan, who comfortably outgun Pakistan in this department – even if Shadab was fit – will look to strangle Pakistan the same way they did Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The heat means the winner of the toss is likely to bat first.

Stats and trivia

• Rashid Khan is the only player to have reached 100 ODI wickets before his 20th birthday – which was the day his team was taking on Bangladesh in the group stage
• Pakistan’s loss against India was their first ODI defeat in the UAE in nearly three years, when they lost to England in November 2015. Since then, they had won nine matches in a row at their adopted home grounds, three against the West Indies, five last year against Sri Lanka and one against Hong Kong

Enjoying an unbeaten start to life at Rangers, Philippe Clement will already have an eye on the January transfer window, when he will look to add vital reinforcements to his squad at Ibrox. As things stand, with a game in hand, the Gers sit as many as eight points behind Scottish Premiership leaders and Old Firm rivals Celtic.

The winter transfer window will certainly help the former AS Monaco manager make his mark at Ibrox too, which could include the arrival of one particular Premier League defender in what would be a major transfer for the Gers.

Rangers transfer news

Truth be told, it was the summer transfer window that quickly became the beginning of Michael Beale's downfall at Rangers. The former Queens Park Rangers boss watched on as the Scottish giants failed to replace the likes of Ryan Kent, welcoming players who have since struggled such as Sam Lammers and Cyriel Dessers. They were mistakes that eventually played a part in costing Beale his job after a disappointing start to the campaign, and they are errors that Clement must not repeat.

With that said, we are already getting an idea as to who the new boss may target. According to 90min, Rangers are interested in Ben Godfrey, who Everton are open to selling in the January transfer window. The central defender has featured in just one Premier League game this season and could do with a fresh start amid reported interest from the Scottish side, as well as Newcastle United, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Tottenham Hotspur.

It remains to be seen whether it will be Rangers who push ahead with a deal in January, with Everton's price-tag potentially making all the difference. The Toffees signed Godfrey for £20m back in 2020 and they will want to recoup a decent chunk of that fee in any future sale, perhaps leaving the Gers priced out of a winter move.

"Great" Godfrey can revive career at Rangers

At 25-years-old, Godfrey still has plenty to offer and would benefit from a move away to the Premier League and to Scottish giants Rangers. We've seen the likes of Jack Butland make similar moves, before enjoying great success at Ibrox. Now the Everton man could have the chance to follow in the goalkeeper's footsteps. The fact that Dujon Sterling's agent is the same as Godfrey's could certainly help too, in terms of the club having recent dealings with his representatives.

The England international has received plenty of praise when at his best for Everton, including from Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand, who told his Five Podcast: "Ben Godfrey, as good a defender as he is, going forward isn’t his best attribute and really he’s not going to be overlapping all game. He is not like Danny Alves, he’s not like Kyle Walker or Trent Alexander-Arnold. His main attribute is to get you one v one and defend against you. He’s great at that.”

This is the potential outcome of a tussle over complimentary-ticket allocation between the BCCI and the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA)

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2018The second ODI between India and West Indies, scheduled for October 24, could be shifted away from Indore. This is the potential outcome of a tussle over complimentary-ticket allocation between the BCCI and the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA).The disagreement concerns the Holkar Stadium’s pavilion block, which according to the MPCA has a capacity of “close to 7200 seats”. By the state association’s reading of the BCCI’s new constitution, the provision of complimentary tickets cannot exceed 10% “of each category” – which in the pavilion block’s case would be 720.The MPCA, however, has alleged that the BCCI asked for “about 1300” complimentary tickets in the pavilion block, “for various sections of BCCI stakeholders like sponsors, teams, BCCI members, BCCI sub-committee etc.””The managing committee of MPCA has decided that it is not possible to organise the second ODI between India and West Indies in Indore if BCCI doesn’t back down from it’s demand of complimentary tickets. We have intimated BCCI,” MCA joint-secretary Milind Kanmadikar told PTI on Sunday.According to the MPCA, the BCCI has repeatedly delayed responding to its requests for clarification of the issue, and has therefore left it with too little time to organise the match, and with no option but to step away from hosting it.”In the end, we clarify once again that our intent was always to organise the match and we were forced to land in a situation where the time left henceforth for the match would have resulted in several circumstantial difficulties for which the host Association would have been unfairly held responsible,” the MPCA’s statement said. “Such big risk is not worth in view of the inordinate delay on part of BCCI on extending clarification and fair decision making.”The unilateral, arbitrary, mysterious and leisurely decision making and working of BCCI has caused such huge loss to Association and the local cricket fans of our State.”The BCCI is yet to respond to ESPNcricinfo’s request for a statement on the issue.