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Messi in Argentina squad for World Cup qualifiers despite injury concerns
Messi missed PSG's 2-2 draw at Leipzig in the Champions League group stage on Wednesday because of hamstring and knee problems, though they are understood not to be serious. Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni also included Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, who has recovered a thigh injury that left him out of the Albiceleste's October qualifiers, reports Xinhua.
T20 World Cup: Match against New Zealand a quarter-final, says Afghanistan's Rashid Khan
Rashid, who has claimed seven wickets in T20 World Cup so far, said they will go into the match against New Zealand with morale high as they know that is a virtual shoot-out for them. India's batters stepped up when the occasion demanded to set up an emphatic 66-run win over Afghanistan in a Group 2 match at Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Former India U19 captain Unmukt Chand joins Big Bash's Melbourne Renegades
Indian women players have long played in domestic leagues around the world, including the Women's Big Bash League, but India's international and domestic male players are currently not permitted to play in competitions abroad. The players have to retire from all forms of cricket to play in leagues abroad.
Champions League: Benzema the hero as Real Madrid beat Shakhtar
The win on Wednesday night leaves Real Madrid with nine points from their four group games and another win away to Sheriff Tiraspol in three weeks will book their place in the knockout stage. Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti fielded arguably his strongest side with Casemiro, Toni Kroos, and Luka Modric in midfield and Karim Benzema alongside Lucas Vazquez and Vinicius Jr in the attack.
T20 World Cup: The return of Ashwin was a real positive, says Virat Kohli
Ashwin scalped two wickets on his return to the side. He got his first T20I wicket since 2016 by trapping Naib plumb lbw in front and then he dismissed Najibullah Zadran. India's batters stepped up when the occasion demanded to set up a big victory over Afghanistan in a must-win match.
T20 World Cup: Scotland's Cross motivates Greaves with 'whole of India behind you' line
"Come on Greavo. Whole of India is behind you here, Greavo," said Cross in the middle of the eighth over when Glenn Phillips was on strike and trying to take the guard with Martin Guptill at non-striker's end. His line was picked up by the stump microphone and consequently, the clipping went viral on social media.
Rahul Dravid appointed as India head coach, to take charge from New Zealand series
Dravid will take over from Ravi Shastri, whose tenure comes to an end after the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The decision to appoint Dravid was taken by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising of former India wicketkeeper Sulakshana Naik and former India pacer RP Singh. "It is an absolute honour to be appointed as the new Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team and I am really looking forward to this role. Under Mr Shastri, the team has done very well, and I hope to work with the team to take this forward." said Dravid in a statement.
T20 World Cup: Batters set up India's empathic 66-run win over Afghanistan
After India's batting, comprising of Rohit Sharma (74 off 47 balls), KL Rahul (69 off 48 balls), Hardik Pandya (35 not out off 13 balls) and Rishabh Pant (27 not out off 13 balls) rose to the occasion to post a gigantic 210/2 in 20 overs, it was always an uphill mountain to climb for Afghanistan, who made 144/7 in their 20 overs. Afghanistan lost openers Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai in the power-play. While Shahzad lobbed one to mid-off off Mohammed Shami for a three-ball duck on the last ball of third over, Zazai top-edged to short mid-wicket off Jasprit Bumrah on the first ball of the fourth over.
Ballon d'Or for Lewandowski is a must, says Nagelsmann
After the 33-year-old Pole scored three goals in his 100th Champions League game, the coach renewed his demand to award the striker with this year's Ballon d'Or. "In the past, everyone tried to get him out of balance by pushing, kicking and I don't know what. As it seemed he wasn't overwhelmingly impressed due to his robust body, he kept on scoring goals," Nagelsmann said. "Today he is even better after he changed his game and turned into a playing spearhead. These changes made him heading for new shores," the coach added, Xinhua reported.
Riding on T20 World Cup batting success, Babar Azam climbs to No.1 in ICC rankings
Azam, who was previously at the top of the ranking in January 2018, has played a key role in Pakistan's ICC T20 World Cup campaign, making 198 runs across four innings, averaging 66 at a strike rate of 124.52. Sitting in second in last week's rankings, he moved up 14 points (to 834), pushing past England's Dawid Malan, who slid from 831 to 798. Pakistan have made the perfect start to the tournament, winning their first four games in style with Babar at the helm.
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