R Praggnanandhaa continued his steady start at the FIDE Candidates Tournament as he played out an easy draw with black against Wei Yi in the second round on Monday to remain on the joint lead by 1.5 points.

After a strong early win over Anish Giri, Praggnanandha once again looked in control and put little pressure on the French defense despite playing with the black pieces. However, Wei Yi chose a safer route, leading to simplification of the game as pieces were exchanged at regular intervals.

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The game eventually turned into a bishops endgame of the opposite color, where Praggnanandhaa had an extra pawn but could make no further progress. With White’s position strong, the players agreed to a draw after 46 moves.

While the initial round had produced three decisive results, the second round saw a more cautious approach across the board. Giri played out a draw with Fabiano Caruana, while Javokhir Sindarov shared a point with Matthias Bluebaum.

In another game, Hikaru Nakamura was playing a theoretically prepared rook-and-pawn endgame against Andrey Esipenko.

What happened in the Candidates Women category?

In the women’s event, Divya Deshmukh missed a golden opportunity to take the sole lead after slipping from the winning position against compatriot R Vaishali.

Divya had a strong tactical idea in time crunch, but faltered in execution, allowing Vaishali to escape with a resourceful counter that included a queen sacrifice to force a draw.

Xiner Zhu also failed to convert a near-win situation against Katarina Lagno, who saved a draw through a timely rook sacrifice under pressure.

Elsewhere, Bibisara Asoubaeva played out a draw with Alexandra Goryachkina, while Zhongyi Tan shared points with Anna Muzychuk.

Notably, there is no conclusive result yet in the women’s category after two rounds.

The Candidates Tournament, held every two years, determines the challengers for the world title. The winner of the open section will face De Gukesh later this year, while the winner of the women’s section will take on Xu Wenjun.

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Chennai Super Kings faced a disappointing start to their IPL 2026 campaign as Rajasthan Royals dominated their opening match in Guwahati. Sent in to bat, CSK managed to post a modest total of 127 runs, their eighth lowest score in IPL history, before Royals completed the chase in just 12.1 overs. RR vs CSK, IPL 2026: highlighted | Achievement:

None of the key batsmen, including captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and newly signed Sanju Samson, made an impact. The Super Kings were on the verge of being bowled out for less than 100, until all-rounder Jamie Overton, who came in at number eight, took the innings forward with 43 runs. He stitched a 33-run partnership with tail-ender Anshul Kamboj for the last wicket, which helped CSK avoid an embarrassing finish.

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In response, Rajasthan Royals’ Vaibhav Suryavanshi destroys CSK’s bowling attack With a blistering 50 runs in 15 balls. His innings, coming shortly after his 15th birthday, laid the foundation for a strong chase and a strong start to the Royals’ season.

Expectations were high from CSK’s revised lineup despite the absence of injured veterans MS Dhoni and Dewald Brevis. With Samson entering the tournament fresh after winning the Player of the Tournament award at the recent T20 World Cup, many were expecting a strong batting performance from the five-time champions.

However, the circumstances remained against the Super Kings. The pitch, which was wet due to rain before the match, provided movement to Rajasthan’s new bowlers Joffra Archer and Nandre Berger, who effectively exploited the swing during the powerplay.

CSK’s top order faltered in the beginning. Samson fell in the second over, followed by Gaikwad, who was struggling to find form before being dismissed by Archer. Burger then dismissed India’s Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Ayush Mhatre with a sharp bouncer for a duck. Debutant Matt Short was also dismissed by Sandeep Sharma in the powerplay.

The Super Kings innings further collapsed when Sarfaraz Khan’s brief resistance ended against Ravindra Jadeja, who took two wickets in his first over for Rajasthan. Jadeja, who was traded from CSK to Royals this season, overtook his former teammates including spin-hitter Shivam Dubey.

CSK’s innings never recovered from 57 runs for 6 wickets in the eighth over. Despite contributions from debutant Karthik Sharma, who scored 18, and Overton who scored 43, the total remained below par. CSK’s bowling attack lacked the penetration shown by Rajasthan’s pace bowlers on a damp surface, with Suryavanshi taking advantage of the conditions to leave the Super Kings without a reply. CSK, who were struggling with injuries, had a difficult opening match and their fans were disappointed with the performance of the five-time champions.

This is how fans reacted to CSK’s disappointing performance on Monday in Guwahati.

However, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad minimized the impact of the defeat, saying that the young group will learn from the defeat and improve in the coming days.

“You just put it behind you and move on. We have another game in three days. It’s important to make sure everyone is in good shape. One positive is that we have a lot of youngsters in our group. It was probably a nervous start for many of them, but it’s good to get a game under our belt and it’s even better to start with a few mistakes. Hopefully it will only improve from here,” Ruturaj said after the eight-wicket loss.

CSK will host Punjab Kings on Friday, April 3, before traveling to Bengaluru for a crucial clash against defending champions Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday, April 5. With MS Dhoni out for the first two weeks of the IPL, CSK will be hoping that Dewald Brevis will return from injury in time for the crucial weekend fixtures.

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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday fined Naseem Shah 20 million Pakistani rupees for posting a tweet, which was a violation of his central contract.According to ESPNcricinfo, it was ‘the largest penalty in Pakistan cricket history’.The board said its disciplinary committee found Shah guilty of violating contractual terms and irresponsible behavior on social media. He was issued a show cause notice on March 27, soon after which Pakistan Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz attended the opening match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.Before the match between Lahore Qalandars and Hyderabad Kingsmen, Maryam Nawaz was invited as the chief guest and was introduced to the officials and players of the eight franchises.Shah later posted on Twitter, “Why is she treated like a queen at Lord’s?” Regarding their presence at the venue. Soon after, he deleted the post and claimed that his account had been hacked.Following the PCB’s notice, Shah tendered an unconditional apology and appeared before a three-member disciplinary committee in Lahore on Monday.The PCB said Shah “was found to have violated various clauses of his central contract.”“It is noted that Naseem Shah’s social media advisor has already been dismissed by Naseem and he will be blacklisted by the PCB from associating with any player who comes under the jurisdiction of the PCB,” the board said.The development comes during a PSL season affected by broader regional issues. As a result of the conflict in Iran, spectators have not been allowed at matches, and the tournament has been reduced from six venues to two – Lahore and Karachi. Rising fuel prices have led the government to advise measures to limit travel and work from home.Last year, Pakistan all-rounder Aamir Jamal was fined $4,000 for displaying a slogan in support of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.Shah is currently playing for Rawalpindi Pindies and had 0 for 51 in their five-wicket loss to Peshawar Zalmi.The right-arm fast bowler has taken 152 wickets for Pakistan across all formats, which includes 20 Tests, 34 ODIs and 37 T20 Internationals.

This was the fight we’ve been waiting for, right? Sanju Samson was beaten and harassed by Jofra Archer.

Samson bowled a fuller ball and it went straight through the empty slip circle and reached the boundary. Why did Riyan Parag not have a traditional slip fielder?

Samson was lucky to survive that brilliant first over from Archer. The English pacer bowled with great heat and accuracy. Unlike the T20 World Cup semi-final in Mumbai, Samson kept it full and invited drives. There he bowled short and paid the price for it.

Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad has looked stable.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi is set to play his first full IPL season this year (IPL/BCCI Photo)

Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been on the record breaking/setting spree for the last one year or so and he is preparing for his second innings. IPL Going into the season, expectations are sky high from the 15-year-old Boy Wonder. While the jury is still out on whether he can shake off the second-season blues – teams are better prepared to deal with his brutality with the bat – Sooryavanshi is not one to back down or get bogged down. He showed glimpses last season of what he could do in the IPL, scoring 252 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 206.56, including a century and a half-century. So, what can we expect from Sooryavanshi in its second season? A lot more – plus these five iconic IPL records, once considered unbeatable, can be held by the 15-year-old teenager.