Age catches us all up but some sportsmen seem to defy nature

Nineteen years ago I covered the India Under-19 tour of England, hoping to spot stars of the future. Of the home side, only Adam Lyth, the Yorkshire opener who played seven senior Tests in 2015, and Adil Rashid, in England’s one-day squad to face West Indies this month, are still playing. Moeen Ali and Steven Finn are back in the pavilion permanently. The rest are distant memories.

India had three who went on to the highest stage. Shahbaz Nadeem played two Tests, while the bowler of whom they used to sing, adapting John Lennon, “Ishant Sharma’s gonna get you” took the last of 311 Test wickets four years ago. Now the big one has announced his retirement: Virat Kohli, who I saw make 123 at Canterbury in 2006 before being bowled by Rashid.

It is a pity the maestro batsman won’t return to England this summer but he remains a force in Twenty20.

There was Kohli-mania in Bengaluru ahead of yesterday’s restart of the Indian Premier League. Kohli hit seven fifties in 11 innings this season, was five runs short of being the season’s top-scorer and next plays on Friday against Sunrisers Hyderabad (Sky Sports+, 3pm).

Kohli is the IPL’s ultimate one-club man, the only player to have competed in all 18 seasons for the same side. Yet Bengaluru have never won it. Could it be their year? With three matches to go before the play-offs they were joint top with Sharma’s Gujarat Titans, who play Delhi Capitals today (Sky Sports Cricket, 3pm).

England’s cricket summer starts on Thursday (Sky Sports Main Event, 11am) with Zimbabwe’s first Test here for 22 years.

In 2003, James Anderson took five wickets against them in his debut Test innings and now at 42 he is still charging in for Lancashire as they try to move off the foot of Division Two in the County Championship (day three vs Derbyshire today on LancsTV, YouTube, 11am).

The new Wembley was just a ­building site when Anderson started. Its turf gets well used at this time of year.

After yesterday’s FA Cup final, the women’s version, Chelsea vs Manchester United, is today (BBC One, 1.30pm). The first of three play-off finals is on Saturday (Sky Sports Football, 3pm) when Sheffield United play Sunderland for the right to be favourites to be relegated from next year’s Premier League.

Few will notice the bust of Arthur Elvin in Wembley’s lobby. Almost a century ago the tobacco salesman bought the old stadium, which faced demolition, and introduced speedway, greyhounds and the Olympics to turn it into a success. The tale of a working-class man made good is well told in the radio documentary The Man Who Saved Wembley (BBC Sounds).

Photograph by Alex Davidson/Getty