Sports

Sydney, Feb 13: Eight Pakistan players, including maverick former captain Shahid Afridi, have been fined for breaching a team curfew ahead of their crucial World Cup game against India, sources told AFP today. They have also been warned that a repeat offence will see them kicked out of the tournament which starts on Saturday. "Eight of the Pakistan players, which also included former captain

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 12: Samata Rane and Puja Shapurkar claimed gold medals for Karnataka at the National Games judo competitions on Wednesday. Samata defeated Delhi’s Kalpana Devi in the women’s 52kg category final. She had entered the gold medal round after scoring over Haryana’s Mukesh in the semifinal and Deepa Choudhary of Uttarakhand in the first round. In the 57kg category final, Puja

Feb 11: The International Cricket Council had a "far better idea" of the people involved in match-fixing and would do everything in their power to ensure the "sickness" of corruption did not affect the World Cup, Chief Executive Dave Richardson said on Wednesday. The sport has been blighted by reports of match-fixing in recent years, though Richardson said the governing body's Anti Corruption and

New Delhi, Feb 11: We know India's bowling is weak, we know Virat Kohli is a class act, we know Rohit Sharma can be dangerous on his day, we know that Ajinkya Rahane is developing into a superb bat but we have no real idea of what's going wrong with Mahendra Singh Dhoni - and he isn't going to be telling anyone anytime soon. The Indian skipper is short of runs and going into the two big games

Adelaide, Feb 10: India have beaten Afghanistan by 153 runs. India had earlier posted 364 for five courtesy of 150 by Rohit Sharma, unbeaten half-century by Ajinkya Rahane and also a brilliant 75 from Suresh Raina. Afghanistan had a forgettable day on the field but they started the match on a bright note as they got the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan (4) and Virat Kohli (5) in quick succession. After

Sydney, Feb 10: Chris Woakes took five for 19 as England claimed a comfortable nine-wicket victory in their first official World Cup warm-up match after dismissing a hapless West Indies for 122 in 29.3 overs on Monday. Openers Moeen Ali (46) and Ian Bell (35 not out) took England more than halfway to their target before their opening partnership was broken and James Taylor (25 not out) joined Bell

Adelaide, Feb 9: Still looking to get their playing combination in order, an under-fire India will be looking for resurrection against first-timers Afghanistan in their final warm-up game before the cricket World Cup on Monday. India's preparations for the 50-over showpiece event suffered a jolt on Tuesday as Australia thrashed the defending champions by 106 runs at the Adelaide Oval. If the

Adelaide, Feb 9: India’s preparations for the cricket World Cup suffered a jolt as Australia thrashed the defending champions by 106 runs with Glenn Maxwell and David Warner striking blistering centuries in their first warm-up game here on Sunday. Electing to bat at the Adelaide Oval in a match where the two teams used their full 15-member squads, the hosts rode on Warner’s 104 and Maxwell’s 57

New Delhi, Feb 8: Mahendra Singh Dhoni's image of holding the World Cup trophy at Wankhede has been immortalised in cricketing folklore but not many know that Indian cricket's poster boy was once a ticket collector at the Kharagpur railway station. Son of a Paan Singh and Devki Devi, Dhoni had humble beginnings and needed a job to sustain his cricketing pursuits, writes author and journalist

Sydney, Feb 8: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday approved fast bowler Mohit Sharma as replacement for the injured Ishant Sharma in India's World Cup squad, after the Event Technical Committee and its medical practitioner found the extent of Ishant's knee injury serious enough to warrant replacement. Ishant, who suffers from a knee injury he sustained during the Boxing Day Test