England face India in the first of a five-Test series at Trent Bridge starting on Wednesday, with Joe Root's men looking to avenge their 3-1 reverse in the sub-continent earlier this year. Here's a look at five points that could influence the outcome of what promises to be a fascinating series.
Former Australia captain George Bailey has been appointed chair of the National Selection Panel, replacing Trevor Hohns who is retiring after two successful stints, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Sunday.
When Vandana Katariya was a child, she was told her love for sports was unbecoming of a girl. So, she would sneak away, forage for tree branches and practise her moves, away from the prying eyes of disapproving elders in Uttarakhand’s Roshnabad village, report MS Nawaz & Ishita Mishra.
Germany became the first country to reach the semi-finals in the men's hockey tournament after a smooth 3-1 win over Olympic champions Argentina in sauna-like conditions at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.
America's Robert Finke secured the Olympic distance double Sunday by winning the men's 1500m gold medal to go with his 800m title.
Boxer Satish Kumar’s participation in Sunday’s quarterfinal against Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov, is in doubt after the Indian super-heavyweight had to get stitches on a cut above his right eye sustained in his opening round bout on Thursday.
It was a total anti-climax. Not expected at all. Early in the morning in India, there was shocking news from Tokyo. What transpired in the men’s 52kg pre-quarterfinal bout between India’s prime medal hope Amit Panghal and Colombia’s Martinez Rivas, a silver medallist from the 2016 Rio Olympics, was what worst dreams are made of.
Pakistan's versatile bowling attack did just enough to restrain a rampant Nicholas Pooran and come away with a seven-run victory over the West Indies in the second T20 International of the four-match series at the National Stadium in Guyana on Saturday.
The hockey rivalry between India and Great Britain is steeped in history. On August 12, 1948, almost a year after India gained independence from the British rule, the Balbir Singh Sr led-team blanked the hosts 4-0 at a packed Wembley stadium in London to claim independent India’s maiden Olympic gold. Less than two weeks from the 73rd anniversary of the landmark day, the two teams face off in the quarterfinals at the Oi stadium.
Newly-crowned Olympic singles tennis champion, Belinda Bencic, has dedicated her gold medal to Swiss great Roger Federer, whose pre-match message inspired her to victory in Tokyo.
Australian Emma McKeon swept to her third Tokyo gold and sixth medal overall Sunday when she dipped below the magic 24-second mark to win the women's 50m freestyle title.
Caeleb Dressel claimed his fourth Tokyo gold and earned the title of world's fastest swimmer Sunday with an Olympic-record 21.07 seconds in the 50m freestyle final.
It was a disappointing morning for India as the dreams of an Olympic medal in archery were shattered with Atanu Das losing 4-6 to Japan’s Takaharu Furukawa, a silver winner in the 2012 edition, in a five-set men’s individual pre-quarterfinal clash in Tokyo on Saturday.
The odds were stacked against Kamalpreet Kaur. First, she was deprived of a personal coach to guide her on the biggest stage. Far from closing ranks, a senior colleague then levelled charges of hyperandrogenism. Isolated and dispirited coming into the Olympics, Kamalpreet did what she does best: take it out on the poor discus. And what a fine decision that proved!
Ever since she returned home from Rio de Janeiro with a silver medal, PV Sindhu has been wanting to change it to gold. Five years on, she had an opportunity on Saturday, only to fluff her lines as touch artist Tai Tzu Ying proved a cut above. The world No. 1 Chinese Taipei shuttler outclassed Sindhu 21-18, 21-12 in the women’s singles semifinals on Saturday.
On Saturday at the Oi stadium, Vandana made the country and her late father proud by becoming the first Indian woman hockey player to score a hat-trick at the Olympics. But more importantly, her goals helped India get past a plucky South Africa 4-3 to keep their quarterfinals hopes intact. A few hours later, Great Britain did India a favour by blanking Ireland 2-0 to help the Rani Rampal-led team enter the quarterfinals.
Nigerian sprinter and 2008 Olympics long jump silver medallist Blessing Okagbare on Saturday was provisionally suspended after testing positive for human growth hormone before the Tokyo Olympics, the Athletics Integrity Unit said in a statement.
Australian swimming sensation Kaylee McKeown completed an Olympic backstroke double on Saturday, adding the 200m title to her 100m crown.
India's archery campaign at the Olympics ended without a medal after Atanu Das lost to home favourite Takaharu Furukawa 6-4 in an intense five-setter in the men's individual pre-quarterfinals on Saturday.
24-year-old gymnastics great Simone Biles came to Tokyo seeking five gold medals to equal the Olympic all-time career record of nine, but withdrew during the women's team competition and also skipped her all-around title defence, citing mental health issues.
Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara said players could "only deal with so much" after it was announced England all-rounder Ben Stokes was taking an indefinite break from all forms of cricket to "prioritise his mental well-being".
American powerhouse Caeleb Dressel smashed his own world record to win the men's Olympic 100m butterly title Saturday for his third gold medal of the Tokyo Games.
Alex Yee delivered a superb final leg as Britain won the inaugural triathlon mixed relay gold medal on Saturday, their four-person team completing a wonderful week for the country, after also collecting two silvers in the individual events.
Stung by a morale-sapping 1-7 defeat to Australia in their second league outing, India did well to recover with three wins on the trot. On Friday, in an action-packed contest against hosts Japan, they emerged 5-3 victors to go into the knockouts with momentum on their side.
Pistol shooters’ campaign ended in disappointment when Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat failed to enter the women’s 25m sports pistol final on Friday. Rahi, who specializes in the event, shot a poor 286 in the rapid, her strength, to total 573 and finish 32nd overall.
To think, Lovlina took up boxing only in 2012, the year Mary Kom was winning India’s first boxing medal at the Olympics. Today, when a much-travelled legend was unable to figure whether she had won or lost, the apprentice was writing history of her own, borrowing a little from the Manipur icon here, a little bit of Muhammad Ali there and some from Thai martial art Muay Thai.
Boxer Lovlina Borgohain showed immense courage, sound technique and clever strategy to conquer former world champion Chen Nien-chin in the 69kg quarterfinals. The 23-year-old Assam girl went into the bout relaxed, not thinking about previous defeats to her opponent.
On Friday, the 5’9 boxer made the women’s 69kg semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics, assuring herself of at least a bronze. Lovlina, who stopped talking to the media long before the Games, also broke her silence at a virtual press conference.
In this enthralling 69kg quarterfinal encounter, Lovlina showed her technical nous, superb game sense and street smartness to prevail over her much-fancied opponent. It was a 4-1 split verdict in Lovlina’s favour. All three rounds went in her favour. Despite a late surge from her opponent, Lovlina had proved insurmountable.
PV Sindhu is just one win away from creating history. But what every Indian fan wants to know is 'What should their superstar do to beat Tai Tzu Ying'.
Indian shooters Manu Bhaker and Rahi Sarnobat crashed out of the 25m pistol qualifications (rapid fire stage) as both finished outside the top-8 at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday.
Indian boxer Simranjit Kaur (60kg) lost to Thailand's Sudaporn Seesondee in the pre-quarterfinals to make an early exit from the Olympic Games on Friday.
If India opened with a high, celebrating Mirabai Chanu’s silver medal, the end can be equally exciting with CWG and Asian Games champion Neeraj Chopra and Shivpal Singh in action in men’s javelin throw, which will begin with the qualifying round on August 4. The final is scheduled on the penultimate day of the Games, August 7.
Celebrating his 24th birthday in style, leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga showed exactly why he is ranked as the No. 2 T20I bowler in the world, taking four for 9 as India limped to 81 for eight in 20 overs. On a ‘day of leggies,’ Rahul Chahar took three for 15, but Dhananjaya de Silva and Hasaranga helped the hosts overcome the meagre target.
India's Avinash Sable shattered his own 3000m steeplechase national record but failed to qualify for the final despite clocking a better time than the top three in another heat race of the Olympic Games on Friday.
Team India’s doctor Karanjeet Singh should have been named in the Olympic-bound contingent in the official capacity but was relegated in the list as an ‘extra official’. He has been cooling his heels in a hotel outside the Athletes Village. The Tokyo 2020 organisers haven’t allowed him ‘venue access’ on his P-TAP (Personal-Training Assist Programme) accreditation.
Locked 5-5 after the regulation five-setter, the 27-year-old Indian held her nerves in the shoot-off to deliver a perfect 10, hitting the bull's eye, to topple the Russian, a team silver medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
An integral part of strategies is making risky choices. For the second consecutive match, the Indian think-tank, led by chief coach Graham Reid, decided to use the alternate player card and the move paid off.
The motley crowd at the arena cheered for Mary, 38, as she left the hall after losing to Colombia's Ingrit Valencia in the Round-of-16 bout.. Thursday’s last-16 bout became her last at the Olympics as the International Boxing Association (AIBA) doesn’t allow boxers above the age of 40 to compete at the Games.
Exposing India's young batsmen's inability to tackle spin, Sri Lanka conjured up a seven-wicket victory in the deciding third Twenty20 to hand the fancied Asian neighbours a 2-1 series defeat on Thursday.
Indian rowers Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh ended their Tokyo Games campaign in 11th position in the men's lightweight double sculls event, the best ever result for the country in the Olympics here on Thursday.
India captain Shikhar Dhawan was proud of his team for putting up a good fight despite faced with adverse circumstances as they lost the low-scoring second T20 International against Sri Lanka, here on Wednesday.
By virtue of this win, India have consolidated their position in the second spot of Pool A with three wins and one loss out of four games, behind Australia. Argentina are struggling at the fifth spot in the six-team pool and need to beat New Zealand in their final preliminary match on Friday to stay in the hunt for a quarterfinal berth.
PV Sindhu stormed into the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics with a straight game victory against Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark 21-15, 21-13. The Rio Olympics silver medallist is just two wins away from winning her second medal at the Games, a feat not achieved any of the Indian woman so far.
Not all Tokyobound athletes of India have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Despite the claims by authorities and officials, men’s freestyle wrestlers, Ravi Dahiya (57kg; in pic) and Deepak Punia (86kg), will be reaching Tokyo ‘partly vaccinated’ with Covishield.
Wednesday’s result, a 4-1 verdict in favour of defending champions Great Britain dented India’s chances of advancing from Pool A. Rani & team will have to win their remaining two matches – against Ireland and South Africa respectively—to keep their hopes alive.
Deepika Kumari kept India’s hopes for a maiden Olympic medal in archery alive by making the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s individual category in Tokyo on Wednesday. In what could turn into a picture-perfect scenario for India, Deepika’s husband Atanu Das will join her in this podium dream on Thursday, when the Kolkata man opens his individual campaign against Deng YuCheng of Chinese Taipei in the round of 64.