I would like to congratulate India on their 73rd Republic Day. I woke up to a personal message from Prime Minister Modi @narendramodi reaffirming my close personal ties with him and to the people of India. Congratulations from the Universe Boss and nuff love, Gayle tweeted.

Australia has not toured Pakistan since 1998 due to security concerns, instead playing its away matches in the United Arab Emirates. Though some international touring sides have returned to Pakistan in recent years, New Zealand abruptly halted a tour there in September citing security issues and England shortly afterwards cancelled a planned tour.

Many players have not won the World Cup, Sourav Ganguly has not won it, Rahul Dravid has not won it, Anil Kumble has not won it, Laxman has not won it. Even Rohit Sharma has not won it but it does not mean they are bad players. You go and play, there are just World Cup-winning captains -- MS Dhoni and Kapil Dev. Sachin Tendulkar took six World Cups to lift his first title, Shastri said.

Neeraj Chopra to be awarded with Param Vishisht Seva Medal, gallantry honours for others

It is almost certain that for the time being, Rohit will be named the Test captain although BCCI will be looking at other options considering his workload and the responsibility that comes with leading India in two back-to-back World Cups in 2022 and 2023.

From being worried his career was in jeopardy a couple of months ago as he struggled to recover from a foot problem, Nadal will contest his 36th Grand Slam semi-final on Friday.

Rafael Nadal held off Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 in four hours to reach the Australian Open semifinals for the seventh time and keep his bid on track for a men's-record 21st Grand Slam singles title.

The core group has senior players like Tokyo Olympics bronze winners PR Sreejesh, captain Manpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Mandeep Singh and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay as well as youngsters such as Mandeep Mor, penalty corner specialist Jugraj Singh, strikers Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh.

Kaia Kanepi completed her career set of Grand Slam quarter-finals with a thrilling upset of world number two Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open on Monday.

Greek fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas won a titanic five-set duel with American Taylor Fritz to advance to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Monday.

India needs Pant the batsman but not so much the Rishabh who muffs crucial chances while keeping to the spinners. Part of the problem is the perception that Rishabh Pant must be played only as the wicket-keeper batsman. This perception is at variance with the facts which have shown that Pant is definitely worth his place as a batsman alone in an Indian middle-order where the others have hardly been consistent.

For many, it could have merely been musings of an impressionable pre-teen but when in 2016, exactly 15 years later, Bavuma became the first black South African to score a century in Test cricket, Mbeki was already out of presidency.

India have been fined 40 per cent of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate against South Africa in the third ODI here, the ICC said on Monday. Match referee Andy Pycroft imposed the sanction after KL Rahul's side was ruled to be two overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.

Dravid did not take names but when he spoke about demanding performances in lieu of security and extended run given to some middle-order batters, he obviously meant Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant.

Playing in a depleted field due to multiple COVID-19 cases, top seed Sindhu hardly broke her sweat to get past Bansod 21-13 21-16 in a lop-sided title clash.

Earlier, the men's singles summit clash between Arnaud Merkle and Lucas Claerbout was declared a 'No Match' after one of the finalists tested positive for COVID-19.

Aggregating a staggering 1,326 runs in only 29 matches, Rizwan struck at an average of 73.66 and a strike-rate of 134.89. Apart from his exploits with the bat, he was as solid as ever behind the stumps, playing a key role in Pakistan's run to the semis during the T20 World Cup 2021, where he ended up as the third-highest run-scorer.

I am delighted to confirm that the 15th season of the IPL will start in the last week of March and will run until May end, said BCCI honorary secretary Jay Shah.

As a starting point, Kirsten decided to personally fund the construction of cricket nets in one school. He then went out and raised funds to have nets put in at five more schools. The Gary Kirsten Foundation identified coaches who would spend a few hours each day at these schools and paid them a salary.

Starting from the scratch, all 10 franchises will look to strengthen their side in the auction slated to be held on February 12 and 13.

It is also learnt that all the 10 IPL owners, including the two new teams from Lucknow and Ahmedabad, want India as the host country for the 2022 IPL, with Mumbai and Pune being the two preferred cities.

Indian team's strategy is expected to undergo a paradigm shift with some players getting a subtle yet stern message to lift their games as they face an embarrassing possibility of a clean sweep against South Africa in the third ODI on Sunday.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya will lead Ahmedabad and batsman KL Rahul will captain Lucknow when the franchises make their debuts in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year.