Rishabh Pant played four matches for India in the 2019 World Cup, batting at No. 4 in each game. Scores of 32, 48, 4 and 32 seemed to suggest Pant had the potential to be the long-term solution for India, batting at that troublesome number. The No. 4 spot hasn't yet been nailed down despite several players being tried out, but for his part, Pant said he felt comfortable there and had been practising for it.

"I loved batting at No. 4. It was nothing new for me as I have played at No. 4 before, like in the IPL. I had been practicing for the same role," Pant told Hindustan Times. "There is no specific way or style I play in. I always play according to situation. I don't know what people say, because I don't read newspapers much."

Pant had played only five ODIs before the World Cup, though he wasn't short on international experience, having played nine Tests and 15 T20Is. The wicketkeeper-batsman acknowledged that cutting his teeth in Test cricket made things easier.

"I don't think about (the differences in) formats too much. Yes, maybe it did help that I played Test cricket first," Pant said. "I got good experience from playing Test cricket. People used to say that Test cricket is the most difficult. So I got to learn a lot, how to build the innings, playing down the order and how to bat with the tail.

"There is learning every day in Test cricket. Especially when you have to walk out to bat after having fielded the entire day. That is a different experience. In ODIs and T20Is especially, things happen very fast."

Pant will now be the first-choice wicketkeeper for the Indian team on their tour of the West Indies across formats, with MS Dhoni not available.

"I know those are big shoes to fill, but if I start thinking about it there will be a problem," he said of replacing Dhoni in the limited-overs formats. "Right now, I am not thinking about what people say. I am just focusing on what I have to do.

"My coach has always told me one thing: every year you have to add something to your game. You can't stagnate because now the technology is so good that you have to keep improving and add on things each and every day of your career. That's what I try to do. I just keep on trying new things. If it helps me, I try it in a match. There are days when I try these new shots in the nets, some days I don't. It is all part of a long-term process."

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Cam Newton admittedly couldn't throw more than 30 yards at the end of last season due to a sore right shoulder, so two completions of 40-plus yards in the first practice of training camp were a positive sign for the Carolina Panthers' ninth-year quarterback.

"He's healthy and ready to go,'' quarterbacks coach Scott Turner said Thursday night. "He looked good. We will look at the film, but I felt good about it.''

In January, Newton underwent shoulder surgery for the second time in three offseasons after being shut down for the final two games of the 2018 season. This surgery was not as involved as the one in 2017, which repaired a partially torn rotator cuff. Doctors used an arthroscopic procedure to clean up scar tissue that was causing severe soreness.

Newton said at the time he felt immediate relief.

When players reported to Wofford College on Wednesday, Panthers coach Ron Rivera said Newton would be on a pitch count early in camp. Turner said Newton, 30, took on a normal load Thursday, throwing about 40 passes during team and individual drills.

"If we were doing something like where we were in a two-minute [drill] or something where it was a lot, maybe we'd cut back, but today, if you watched our first practice from training camp last year, it would be pretty much the same, exact number,'' Turner said.

A long touchdown pass to wide receiver Curtis Samuel that covered 40 yards in the air and a 45-yarder to tight end Chris Manhertz were the clearest signs Newton was feeling good.

"Whoever is open, he's throwing him ball,'' Turner said. "There are no limitations. He is out here practicing like any of our people.''

Newton was not as flamboyant as he normally is in the first practice at Wofford's Gibbs Stadium. He did not ham it up with the crowd during downtime for the quarterbacks as much as he has in past years.

He put all of his energy into staying loose and focused, and appeared most excited about the long passes that became a struggle for him during the second half of last season.

Newton did not speak with the media afterward, but others on the team had plenty to say.

"Everything we've been told and everything we saw pointed toward him being ready to go,'' Rivera said. "It did a lot for not just us, but it did a lot for him, just uncorking one like that.''

Added tight end Greg Olsen, who is coming off his second foot surgery in two years: "For the first night it was what everyone was hoping for.''

Having Newton back on the field healthy brought energy to the team and the crowd, which watched the Panthers lose seven straight after a 6-2 start in 2018.

"He's just happy to be out here with his guys again playing and healthy and feel comfortable doing it,'' Turner said. "I do not worry about Cam's confidence too much.

"I said after practice, 'Hey, it's good to have you back.' He said, 'It's great to be back.'''

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who has a notable history of experimenting with players in different positions, has thinned out the team's quarterback depth chart by switching former LSU starter Danny Etling to wide receiver.

The Patriots selected Etling in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL draft, and he spent his rookie season on the practice squad.

"We always knew Danny could play different positions. I always used to joke with him and call him Taysom Hill," receiver Phillip Dorsett said.

Hill's dual quarterback/H-back role with the New Orleans Saints created a challenge for opposing defenses in 2018, as the Saints ran 175 snaps with two quarterbacks on the field. The possibility of the Patriots doing something similar with Tom Brady and Etling seems like a long shot, but training camp is a time for experimentation.

"Everyone has a lot of different roles on this team, and I'm no exception," said Etling, who was a four-star quarterback recruit coming out of Terre Haute, Indiana, and began his college career at Purdue. "I'm excited to continue to keep trying to find a different role for myself and do whatever the coaches ask me to do."

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Etling also took practice repetitions on special teams Thursday, which is another area in which Hill (6-2, 221) contributes to the Saints. That's also how Julian Edelman initially made the Patriots' roster as a rookie in 2009 when he was transitioning from college quarterback at Kent State to wide receiver/punt returner in the NFL.

Edelman also played cornerback early in his career, a position switch other Patriots receivers have made under Belichick, such as team hall of famer Troy Brown. Belichick also famously had quarterback Doug Flutie attempt a dropkick during the 2005 season.

In Thursday's practice, Etling still wore his No. 5 jersey, but the difference was that it was no longer the color red, which is what quarterbacks wear to signify they are not to be hit.

Video: Seeing Danny Etling work as a WR - and not a QB - was one of the surprise stories from the first day of training camp. pic.twitter.com/tcGPKDeW5e

— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) July 26, 2019

The current Patriots quarterback depth chart was bolstered when the team selected Auburn's Jarrett Stidham in the fourth round of the 2019 draft (No. 133 overall). With Brady, veteran Brian Hoyer and Stidham locked into the top three spots, Etling was pushed down a notch.

Part of what initially drew the Patriots to Etling as a rookie was his decision-making. As a senior at LSU, he completed 165 of 275 pass attempts for 2,463 yards, with 16 touchdowns and just two interceptions. In his rookie NFL season on the team's practice squad, Etling traveled to road games -- which is not the norm for practice-squad players -- and helped on the sideline.

Etling said he has never played receiver before, but with the Patriots transitioning on offense after the retirement of tight end Rob Gronkowski and with a revamped receiving corps, he's open to the switch.

"I've coached it a lot being a quarterback, and I understand offensive football, and it's helped me get a different perspective of the game itself," he said.

LOS ANGELES -- One day after introducing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George as his franchise's two newest superstars, Steve Ballmer excitedly shuffled through five oversized cardboard renderings as he unveiled designs for the LA Clippers' proposed "billion-dollar-plus" state-of-the-art arena.

Perhaps it was fitting that the team owner did this while in the "Blue Chips" conference room inside the Clippers' downtown Los Angeles office. After all, Ballmer's envisioned 18,500-seat arena could be quite the recruiting chip for future free agents. The Clippers' proposed new home would come complete with corporate headquarters, a team training facility designed down to the detail of how many paces it takes a player to walk from the parking lot to the locker room to the home bench, a sports medicine clinic, community courts and an area with a giant big screen for fans to watch games outside, a la Toronto's Jurassic Park -- all located on 26 acres in Inglewood, California.

It will have to overcome the hurdle of a lawsuit filed by Madison Square Garden, which owns The Forum in Inglewood, but Ballmer is confident that the project -- which will be completely privately financed -- will get built.

The new basketball palace will have some diamond-shaped metal -- including solar panels -- on top of a building designed to look like a basketball with the Clippers' logo going through a net. Ballmer visited 13 to 15 NBA arenas and facilities including those of Milwaukee, Detroit, Indiana, Charlotte, Utah, Portland, Dallas and San Antonio, as well as the University of Oregon, in hopes of finding inspiration for what he wants his arena to look and feel like.

"I want it to be beautiful," Ballmer told ESPN. "But I want it to be about basketball. I want it to be comfortable. But I want it to be about basketball."

"Being in L.A., the free-agency thing will always be a little more important to us," Ballmer later added. "That means we got to invest in the players' experience."

For fans and players, Ballmer wants it to sound and feel like a college basketball arena, complete with deafening home-court advantage. On one end of the court, behind the basket, Ballmer wants stands that go from the bottom to the top, without any suites or tiers, to simulate something like a student section in a college fieldhouse.

He calls it "the wall of sound."

"I want it to be a noisy building," said Ballmer, who is concerned about every comfort and detail down to how many toilets the arena will have. "I really want that kind of energy; think Oracle [Arena] has been that way, Utah, Portland has got good energy. I think our Clipper fan base is a little more tenacious. They're people decided they're sticking with us, and now I think we will get new kinds of fans with Paul and Kawhi joining us, but I think it is a hardcore fan base. I think that we can get real noise, real energy in the building."

During the Clippers' free-agency meeting with Leonard, Ballmer showed a couple of renderings of the arena design to the reigning NBA Finals MVP. Leonard asked whether the new arena will really happen.

"This is really going to happen," Ballmer said he told Leonard. "Obviously we have to go through the process ... the lawsuits that Madison Square Garden has brought, but we are feeling confident that we can build our stadium in Inglewood."

Madison Square Garden, which has owned the Forum since 2011, has two lawsuits pending against the city of Inglewood and its mayor over building a new arena adjacent to the Forum and the site of the future home of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers.

"We won't go into the details of any of the legal things, but we feel good that we will be able to build our building," Ballmer said. "Litigation is never a good thing. Madison Square Garden is certainly going to oppose in every way they can. They will continue to oppose us in a variety of different ways, and yet we feel confident that we will be able to get our building built by 2024, which is when our lease ends at Staples."

"It's about protecting the Forum," Ballmer added of MSG's lawsuit. "They don't want another concert competitor. ... I understand that interest. What I don't understand is a litigious approach to that. I don't understand that. We had the same issue at Microsoft. There are people who had a problem. OK, work it through. But getting litigious, that makes everything awkward."

The Los Angeles Times also reported that music business mogul Irving Azoff -- who has close business ties with the Forum and MSG and is close friends with MSG owner James Dolan -- pitched the idea of the Los Angeles Lakers moving back to play at their old home, the Forum, in an effort to keep the Clippers from building a new home in Inglewood. The report also revealed emails among Azoff, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and her longtime confidant and Lakers executive director of special projects, Linda Rambis, that referred to Ballmer as "Ballz" or "Balls" while expressing surprise about his plan to build a new arena.

Ballmer said Buss called him to follow up "apologetically," which he said he appreciated. The Clippers owner also said he did not take things personally, opting to find humor in the situation.

"That email thing was weird," Ballmer said. "Let me just say it was weird. I don't know what they were trying to do precisely.

"First I'll just say, Jeanie was very nice," he continued. "She followed up apologetically about that. Actually my initial reaction was they misspelled it -- with a 'z.' My initial reaction was, 'Z?!' With my last name, I won't say I haven't been called that before in my life. It is not the first time I have heard that."

Nothing could spoil Ballmer's mood after a historic July for the Clippers franchise. Ballmer was at his coastal home about two hours outside Seattle on July 5 when he got the phone call he had been waiting for.

Dennis Robertson, Leonard's trusted uncle and adviser, called the Clippers owner around 11 p.m. to inform him that Leonard was joining the Clippers. Ballmer didn't want to wake his wife's family sleeping in the house at the time, but he reacted the only way he knows how: He let out a scream.

"Yeah, a little bit," Ballmer said, laughing loudly before clapping his hands. "There were people sleeping. But I did not wake anybody up."

While the proposed arena wasn't a major factor in landing Leonard, the Clippers let Leonard know of their commitment to the team and an arena they can call their own.

"I don't want to say it was a major milestone in the meeting, but we did share because it is another statement that we are really committed," Ballmer said. "I don't know how it's humanly possible, but I still occasionally get a question about it: Will your team move to Seattle? We are building our billion-dollar-plus house here in Inglewood, California."

The Boston Red Sox did not end up filing a written protest to Major League Baseball over their 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, The Boston Globe reported.

The Red Sox had played the game under protest, contesting at the time that umpires erred due to the placement of subs into Tampa Bay's lineup after the designated hitter was removed.

Boston had 24 hours to officially file a protest with the league but didn't do so, meaning the case was dropped, per the Globe.

"I think it's going nowhere," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of the protest when asked about it before the team's series opener against the Yankees on Thursday.

The confusion Wednesday came in the top of the eighth inning when a series of defensive changes involving reliever Adam Kolarek prompted Cora to protest.

Umpire crew chief Angel Hernandez, through a pool reporter, said Rays manager Kevin Cash did not specify where Kolarek and the others would be placed in the lineup and that by rule it became his decision.

Kolarek replaced starter Charlie Morton and retired pinch-hitter Sam Travis on a pop fly. The left-hander then shifted to first base when Cash brought in reliever Chaz Roe, who got a fly ball from Mookie Betts.

After Kolarek then returned to the mound and Nate Lowe entered to play first base, Cora met with the umpires, which prompted around a 15-minute stoppage as the umpires discussed the matter.

After the protest was made and the game resumed, Kolarek got a first-pitch grounder from Rafael Devers.

During the lineup changes, Cora argued that Kolarek should have been placed ninth in the Rays' batting order, since he was replacing Ji-Man Choi at first base.

However, Kolarek was placed in the third spot, replacing designated hitter Austin Meadows, while Lowe went into the nine hole. Cora maintained that since Kolarek had replaced Choi, the Rays still had a DH in the game and there was only one lineup spot in which to place Kolarek.

CHICAGO -- Minnesota Twins slugger Nelson Cruz homered three times in the first five innings against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night, leading the Twins to a 10-3 victory.

Cruz hit a solo drive in the first, a two-run shot in the third and another two-run homer in the fifth. It's the first career three-homer game for the six-time All-Star, who has 385 home runs in his career.

Cruz batted again with a runner on first in the sixth and struck out swinging against Jimmy Cordero, ending the inning. He flied out to right leading off the ninth, ending the day 3-for-5 with five RBIs.

"It's not easy," Cruz said. "To be able to hit three is a blessing.

"The most important thing is we won and the way [Jose] Berrios pitched. At the end of the day, it's pitching."

Cruz went deep against All-Star Lucas Giolito on different pitches -- fastball, curveball and changeup.

"He's a good hitter,'' Giolito said. "He was seeing me well.''

Cruz's outburst followed three-homer games by New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cano on Tuesday night and St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong on Wednesday. According to Elias Sports Bureau research, it's the first time in major league history there's been a three-homer game on three consecutive days.

The 39-year-old Cruz, who signed a $14.3 million, one-year contract with Minnesota in January, has six homers in his past four games and 25 overall this season. According to Stats LLC, he is the oldest player in major league history to hit six-plus homers in a four-game span, surpassing Barry Bonds, who hit seven in four games at age 36 in 2001.

Cruz also became the 10th player in big league history with a three-homer game after turning 39, according to Baseball Prospectus data, joining a list that includes Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez.

"You just assume he's done things like that,'' Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "Those kind of nights are pretty unique and special, and when you get a chance to see them live, we all kind of enjoy them and appreciate them.''

Cruz is the only player with multiple four-game homer streaks this season. He also hit a homer in four consecutive games June 5-9, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. He is the oldest player with a three-homer game since Rodriguez did it four years ago against the Twins.

At 39 years and 24 days old, Cruz is the second-oldest player in the modern era (since 1900) with seven homers in a six-game span. Graig Nettles was 40 years and 4 days old for the sixth game of his streak in August 1984.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

BOSTON -- Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts had some special guests in town to see Boston open a crucial series against the American League East-leading New York Yankees.

They got to the park too late to see his three-run homer in the first inning.

So Bogaerts hit another -- a solo shot in the eighth to give the Red Sox a 19-3 lead and seal a historic pounding of their longtime rivals.

"The last at-bat I saw my mom there and I was like, 'I'm going to try,'" said Bogaerts, who also had his uncle and little league coaches in the stands. "I was happy I did. It will just be special having them here ... and having them enjoy watching me play and doing productive stuff for the team."

Bogaerts, born in Aruba, had four hits in all Thursday night as the Red Sox erupted for their biggest victory over the Yankees in the 117-year history of the rivalry.

Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr. had three hits apiece; Bradley, Michael Chavis and J.D. Martinez each had two of Boston's 10 doubles. Eight players had at least two RBIs for Boston, tying a major league record.

The Red Sox have won three of their first four in a stretch of 14 consecutive games against the Yankees and Tampa Bay, the two teams ahead of them in the division. But they remain 10 games behind New York, a half-game behind the Rays and one game behind Oakland in the race for the second AL wild card.

"It's a good time for everyone to be contributing," Bogaerts said. "If we keep it up for two months I think we'll be in very good shape, but it's hard to do."

In the worst start by a Yankees pitcher against the Red Sox, Masahiro Tanaka (7-6) allowed 12 runs on 12 hits and three walks in 3⅓ innings. It was the second-most earned runs ever allowed by a Yankees pitcher -- Carl Mays gave up 13 in a complete game against Cleveland in 1923.

Rick Porcello (9-7) had his problems, giving back two runs in the second after being spotted a 7-0 lead. Kyle Higashioka added a solo homer in the fifth to make it 12-3. But the Red Sox right-hander managed to finish six innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out five and walking one.

Boston has scored double-digit runs in each of Porcello's past five outings; he's the first major league pitcher to get that much support since 1896. He is 4-1 in his past six starts despite giving up 30 runs in 29 innings.

"It's been absolutely incredible," Porcello said. "It seems like the last three or four games I pitched we put up damn near 20 runs. Run support is huge. And when we're scoring like this, you do the best you can not to screw it up."

Tanaka, who had won four consecutive decisions, walked Mookie Betts and Rafael Devers to start the first before Bogaerts hit a 451-foot homer over the Green Monster and onto Lansdowne Street below.

Tanaka allowed three singles to load the bases and, with two out, Bradley and Betts hit consecutive two-run doubles to make it 7-0. Devers homered leading off the five-run fourth, when Boston chased Tanaka.

Yankees starters have allowed 40 runs over their past five games, something they hadn't done since 1912.

"It's been each guy this time through," manager Aaron Boone said. "So, it's been one hiccup for every one of the guys that's come in succession. Makes it difficult, but we've just got to dig in and see where we can make little improvements and expect that the next time out each guy will be sharper."

Stephen Tarpley wasn't much better, giving up three runs in the fifth and another in the sixth. Sandy Leon hit a two-run homer in the eighth, then Bogarts followed with his second of the night; this one failed to reach Lansdowne Street only because it clipped the billboard above the Monster.

STATS

Devers leads the majors with 31 RBIs in July and is the youngest Red Sox player with a 30-RBI month since Ted Williams in August 1939. ... The Red Sox have scored eight or more runs in four consecutive games against the Yankees for the first time since 1912, the year Fenway Park opened. ... The previous team with eight players with two or more RBIs was the Texas Rangers in a 30-3 victory over Baltimore in 2007. ... The Orioles scored 10 runs or more in five straight starts for Bill Hoffer in 1896.

ON THE FARM

Yankees prospect Deivi Garcia made his third start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as he bids for a big league call-up. The 20-year-old right-hander entered the game with 124 strikeouts in 76⅔ innings.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Yankees: OF Brett Gardner was placed on 10-day injured list with left knee inflammation, retroactive to Monday. ... Tarpley was recalled from Triple-A for the game and sent back afterward. ... OF Cameron Maybin (left calf strain) made a rehab appearance in Triple-A and went 4-for-5 with a homer and a double. Boone said Maybin is expected to play nine innings in the field Friday.

UP NEXT

Yankees: LHP James Paxton (5-5), who pitched eight innings of two-hit ball against Boston on April 16, striking out 12.

Red Sox: RHP Andrew Cashner (9-5) tries to earn his first victory with Boston since he was acquired from Baltimore in a trade. He's 2-5 with a 3.96 ERA in 10 starts against the Yankees.

AVONDALE, Ariz. – ISM Raceway will play host to the ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in 2020.

The ARCA Menards Series will visit ISM Raceway on March 6. The event will feature the best drivers from the ARCA Menards Series, with drivers from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West also expected to compete.

The ARCA Menards Series was acquired by NASCAR in 2018 and 2020 will be the first season NASCAR has had direct control over the series.

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will compete at ISM Raceway on Nov. 7, with the event serving as the season finale and championship decider. The NASCAR Xfinity Series will also crown its series champion on the same day.

“I’m extremely pleased to add these grassroots races to our historic 2020 race season at ISM Raceway,” said Julie Giese, president of ISM Raceway. “We are committed to delivering to our ticket holders as much on-track action as possible during our race weekends and these races provide a great opportunity to showcase so many up-and-coming drivers in our sport.”