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How Virat Kohli and Co reignited my interest in Test cricket, but some things don’t change I used to be a supporter of the Indian cricket team, but over the last few years my fandom has lost its mojo. A bit like a glutton who no longer enjoys stuffing himself, this happened not overnight but gradually. One obvious reason was the passing into retirement of the golden generation of Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Srinath, Kumble and Sehwag. For none of them did retirement feel like a premature decision, such is the implacably usurious nature of sporting time as it collects back the great abilities it has lent you. In consonance, perhaps it was also time for many of us to retire as cricket fans, or so I told myself. It’s not cricket Despite fading interest there was definitely huge pleasure in watching us lift the 2011 World Cup, but after that, the game, so to speak, was definitely up. Being world champions didn’t make up for us getting slammed 0-4 twice, in Test series in England and Austra...

New format will be made up of 16 groups of three teams, says FIFA FIFA has voted to expand the World Cup to 48 teams from its current 32, brushing aside concerns that the expansion would lower the overall standard of the tournament, and make it too long and unwieldy. The governing body of football said on its Twitter feed that the FIFA Council, its decision-making panel, had voted unanimously in favour of the change which will be introduced at the 2026 tournament. The new format will include a first round of 16 groups of three teams, FIFA said, with further details to be given later.  Follow  FIFA Media ✔ @fifamedia The FIFA Council unanimously decided on a 48-team #WorldCup as of 2026: 16 groups of 3 teams. Details to follow after the meeting. 3:05 PM - 10 Jan 2017   3,628 3,628 Retweets   1,247 1,247 likes FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who replaced the disgraced Sepp Blatter in February, had made World Cup expansion one of his promises during his ...

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is a well-known fact and a popular topic of discussion about the rich and the mighty corrupting the system in cricket. The googly here is the Supreme Court’s decision to shake things up. By sticking to its earlier stand in the order of 2nd January 2017, the BCCI has been stumped. Following the judgement, the associations have to implement all the reforms quickly. The only cause for the BCCI to tumble over is its arrogant officials with an inflated ego. At this stage, the Supreme Court’s decision to restructure the entire system to eradicate corruption is perspicuous. In my experience, it was not infrequent to witness high-level politics in BCCI. But, the officials never allowed the game to suffer. Alas, that is not the case anymore. Money is power, they say. The massive ego that came along with it led each office- bearer to outsmart the other. There was no action taken against any of these errant associations. Barring a few, some associ...

BENGALURU: Robin Singh helped India break their losing streak in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Playing at his favourite stomping ground, the Bengaluru FC forward scored the winner against Guam to earn India their first win in six matches on Thursday. Under heavy rain at the Sree Kanteerava stadium, Robin turned his marker at the edge of the box and fired a thunderous shot with his right to give India the lead in the 11th minute. India held on despite being down to 10-men for the whole of second half after medio Sehnaj Singh was ejected in the 42nd minute for a dangerous tackle. The win helped India stay alive, at least till their next game away to Iran in March next year, in their quest to qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup, while the defeat almost crushed Guam's hopes for a top-2 finish ahead of Oman to advance to the third round. "I'm happy that we won but we beat Guam and not Iran so don't get very excited. We need more international experience. If you ask any U-19 ...

For a country starved of successes at the individual level in world sport, Saina Nehwal’s feat of becoming the first Indian woman shuttler to reach the No.1 position in the world is a stupendous achievement. The 25-year-old Nehwal — a resident of Hyderabad — achieved this mark during the course of the 2015 India Open Super Series badminton tournament. Nehwal eventually won, defeating former world champion

If there were any doubts about Australia’s preeminence in cricket’s world order, those were ruthlessly banished at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. A fifth World Cup crown in 11 editions — each achieved in a different continent, between 1987 and now — confers an aura of supremacy as nothing else. Consider that Australia has made two other finals at the game’s quadrennial showpiece event, and you get a sense of a country that produces dynamic, match-winning cricketers who pass on bloody-mindedness from generation to generation. Michael Clarke’s men were slight favourites at the start of the current edition; hardly anyone in cricket circles picks against Australia in big tournaments, especially outside the subcontinent. Given the side was likely to play a majority of its matches at home — including the semifinal and final at Sydney and Melbourne respectively, stomping grounds where it has historically been hard to beat — it was no surprise that the smart money was on Au...

PTI Saina Nehwal, who became World no. 1 after Carolina Marin lost her India Open semifinal on Saturday, plays a forehand smash at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi on Friday. While the official rankings will be out on Thursday, reigning champion Carolina Marin's India Open semifinal loss on Saturday made Saina Nehwal the first Indian woman to reach the top spot. Saina Nehwal on Saturday scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman shuttler to attain the number one spot in world rankings, reaffirming her status as the country’s most consistent performer in the international circuit. The 25-year-old zoomed to the top after her closest challenger for the position, Spain’s Carolina Marin, lost in the India Open Super Series semifinal here. Though the official rankings will be out only on Thursday next week, Saina has been assured of her ascent to the top owing to the reigning world champion’s 19-21 23-21 20-22 loss to third seed Thai Ratchanok Intanon. ...

AP India's Virat Kohli celebrates their win over South Africa in the ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup semi-final match in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Friday. Ashwin, with figures of three for 22, repays captain’s faith in him; du Plessis, Duminy bat well for South Africa This was a target and an opponent harder than any previously encountered at the tournament, but India has turned into such a lord of the run chase in these conditions that no mountain is too high.

On a roll in the ongoing ICC World Twenty20 where his team has entered the finals, Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has another reason to smile as he has won the 2014 Asian award for outstanding achievement in sports here.

For more than 14 months, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) stubbornly refused to listen to reason. It engaged in a ‘no-win’ stand-off with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), staking the country’s Olympic future. It drew contempt for its officials amidst a power struggle, before accepting the inevitable. Suspended by the IOC in December 2012 for violation of the Olympic

All India Radio News News Services Division of All India Radio in "Samayiki" programme brings to you a discussion on "Bharteeya Olympic Association Chunaav - Bharat Ki Olympics Mein Vaapsi."

The Hindu World Squash Federation president N. Ramachandran, younger brother of BCCI chief N. Srinivasan, who has been elected unopposed as president of IOA seen representatives of IOC after the result was declared, in New Delhi on Sunday. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt The decks were cleared on Sunday for India’s return to the Olympic fold after a 14-month suspension with Indian Olympic Association conducting its polls with N Ramachandran being elected as the

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday approved radical reform plans aimed at bringing about improved governance. The proposals were passed at the Executive Board meeting here after they gained the support of eight of the ICC’s 10 full members. As per the resolution passed at the meeting, BCCI president N. Srinivasan will chair the ICC Board