Sania-Kichenok, Ramkumar-Bopanna advance in Adelaide

ADELAIDE: On an all-win day for Indian tennis players, Sania Mirza and the pair of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Rohan Bopanna emerged victorious in their respective first-round matches, albeit in contrasting fashion, in the ATP and WTA tournaments, here on Tuesday. Sania and her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok overcame a first-set thrashing to knock out second […]

AFI postpones National Youth Athletics Championships due to Covid-19

NEW DELHI: The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Tuesday announced that the National Youth Championships, scheduled to be held in Bhopal from January 27-29, has been shelved indefinitely following the postponement of the Asian Championships due to COVID-19 pandemic. The National Youth Championships was to serve as selection trials for the Asian Athletics Championships […]

Kohli out with back injury, KL Rahul leads India in 2nd Test

JOHANNESBURG: India captain Virat Kohli was on Monday ruled out of the second Test against South Africa here just before start of the game because of an upper back spasm, leaving KL Rahul to lead the side in the crucial match. Rahul said at the toss that Kohli is expected to be available for the […]

Hafeez retires from international cricket

LAHORE: Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez, who captained his national team in every format of the game, announced his retirement from international cricket on Monday, saying that he achieved more than he could ever imagine during a career spanning nearly two decades. The 41-year-old top-order batter and off-spinner had announced his retirement from Test cricket […]

We will try new combinations for Asian Games at FIH Pro League: Manpreet Singh

BENGALURU: Anticipating tough competition at the Asian Games this year, Indian men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh says the FIH Pro League will be a perfect platform to try out new combinations for the big-ticket event in Hangzhou. Manpreet had led India to their first Olympic medal in 41 years in Tokyo, where the team […]

Anything can happen if we reach knockouts: Dennerby

NEW DELHI: Indian women’s football team head coach Thomas Dennerby has insisted that “we will fight with our lives” to reach the knockout stage of the upcoming AFC Asian Cup and realise their dream of securing qualification to the 2023 FIFA World Cup. Asked if he is confident of taking India to their first FIFA […]

Quinton de Kock’s Test retirement has crippled further South African batting: Amla

JOHANNESBURG: A weakened South African batting line-up has been “crippled further” by the sudden retirement of the seasoned Quinton de Kock, feels the country’s former star batter Hashim Amla. At 29, de Kock called time on his Test career last week citing family reasons, although the wicketkeeper-batter will continue to play in the shorter formats […]

Kohli has been phenomenal over the last 20 days despite noise around him: Dravid

JOHANNESBURG: India Test skipper Virat Kohli has been phenomenal despite “all the noise around him”, head coach Rahul Dravid said on Sunday, lending support to the superstar batter who is locked in a war of words with the BCCI over the way his white-ball captaincy tenure ended. “Virat has been phenomenal over the last 20 […]

Babar Azam, Saqlain Mushtaq had recommended foreign coaches for national team: PCB chief Ramiz Raja

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja has said that captain Babar Azam and interim head coach Saqlain Mushtaq had recommended foreign coaches for the national team. Even wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan is in favour of bringing in experts from overseas. “During my discussions with Babar, Rizwan and later Saqlain they all said it would […]

Bumrah’s elevation as ‘stop-gap’ ODI deputy ahead of Pant and Iyer is selectors’ way of ‘avoiding clutter’

NEW DELHI: It was a decision that not many saw coming but once it did, Jasprit Bumrah’s elevation as India’s ODI vice-captain, albeit as a stop-gap arrangement, seemed a perfectly justified reward for his terrific all-format consistency. It won’t be surprising if the Chetan Sharma-led selection panel felt inspired by Pat Cummins’ recent elevation as […]