Jeddah, Jun 19: The Saudi Arabian Football Federation said everyone is safe after a minor technical fault with the plane carrying the team to Rostov, in Russia.
A video, which appeared on Social media, showed a fire on one of the aircraft’s engines.
In a Twitter post, the federation confirmed the team had landed safely in Rostov, where they will play Group A favorites Uruguay in the World Cup on Wednesday.
Colombo, Mar 23: Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara has said he is currently in self-quarantine, following his government's guidelines for those recently returning from Europe, which has now become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The authorities are concerned over people returning from the most-affected COVID-19 countries in Europe not registering with the police and practising isolation.
"I have no symptoms or anything like that, but I'm following government guidelines," Sangakkara told News First.
"I arrived from London over a week ago and the first thing was there was a news bulletin saying that anyone who had travelled from within March 1 to 15 should register themselves with the police and undergo self-quarantine. I registered myself with the police."
The former captain said this even as the government confirmed there have been at least three cases of recent returnees attempting to hide the novel coronavirus symptoms from authorities.
Both Sangakkara and his former teammate Mahela Jayawardene have been active on social media, urging Sri Lankans to avoid panic and to exercise proper social distancing, as the country went into curfew on Friday evening.
Sri Lanka has so far reported more than 80 active COVID-19 positive cases in the country.
Across the world, the number of infected has crossed three lakh besides a death toll of more than 14,000 people.
Meanwhile, former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie has also gone into a two-week isolation after returning from the United Kingdom.
Gillespie, who is the head coach at Sussex, had been in Cape Town with the team for a pre-season tour, which was cut short as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Manchester, Jul 19: Former England pacer Dominic Cork reckons star all-rounder Ben Stokes will go on to become one of his country's greatest cricketers ever.
Stokes, the hero of England's World Cup triumph last year, sparkled with a fine 176 and powered his side to a strong first-inning total of 469/9 declared in the ongoing second Test against the West Indies here.
"I genuinely think he can get better because of his work ethic. He wants to bat, he wants to bowl, he wants to work on his game, wants to get better," Cork said on Sky Sports show The Cricket Debate.
"I know he works a hell of a lot on his bowling as well. I just see this man not becoming only the best in the world but one of the best we have had ever. That's how highly I rate him."
The former seamer thought things changed for better for the World Cup hero after the Bristol bar brawl three years ago.
Last year, Stokes himself had said that the unsavoury incident and the ensuing chain of events, which dogged his career for 15 months, may be the best thing that could have happened to him.
Following the incident in September 2017, Stokes was acquitted of affray by a Bristol court in August 2018, before the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) ended his 15-month exile after a hearing in December 2018.
Former England batsman Ravi Bopara also spoke about the remarkable change in Stokes' approach.
"I think there has definitely been a change with Ben. He has made his mistakes and learnt from them. He looks a formidable cricketer," he said.
"He is a fiery character and always has been - even if you are playing PlayStation in hotel rooms.
"But as he has had a more important role in the side as an all-rounder, making an impact with bat and ball, winning games for England, and since England have started looking at him as the main guy, his attitude has changed with it."
West Indies lead the three-match series 1-0 after their win in the opener at Southamton.
Colombo, Aug 1: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has expressed his interest in playing the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), scheduled to start from August 28.
Pathan is among 70 foreign players to have shown interest in playing the LPL, ESPNcricinfo reported.
It is believed that Pathan has taken permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to take part in the competition.
BCCI doesn't allow active players to participate in other T20 leagues but Pathan announced his retirement in January this year.
Former swashbuckling all-rounder Yuvraj Singh also played in a foreign league last year. He played for Maratha Arabians in the T10 League in Abu Dhabi.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Pathan will now be put in a player draft unless one of the five franchises choose him to be a marquee player. The details of the draft, and the franchise owners, are yet to be finalised and announced.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is also waiting on some government clearances even as it decides on franchise owners. The five franchises will represent Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna.
On Monday, SLC Executive Committee granted approval for the tournament.
"The 23 match League will be played on the four international venues of R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Rangiri Dambulu International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and Suriyawewa Mahinda Rajapakse International Cricket Stadium. Five teams named after the cities of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna will participate in the League," SLC said in a statement on Monday.
Sri Lanka has controlled the spread of COVID-19 better than many other cricket-playing nations.
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