'Indian hockey will lose out on one of its most important nurseries of good hockey talent.'
The clinical Argentine Messi now has 11 goals in his last five games in all competitions and with record signing Ousmane Dembele injured and Luis Suarez rested, he put on a sensational show at Camp Nou to extend Barcelona's La Liga lead.
IMAGES from the Champions League quarter-final played between Barcelona and Bayern Munich in Lisbon on Friday.
Three deaths have been reported and there are fears of more fatalities.
The victory put all the pressure on England for their showdown with Eoin Morgan's side on March 9 in Adelaide, with Bangladesh now on five points and level with third-placed Australia, while England have two.
La Liga champions Barcelona began the new campaign with a 3-0 win over Alaves on Saturday with the help of a spectacular under-the-wall free kick from Lionel Messi, who scored twice, and a curling shot from substitute Philippe Coutinho.
IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Sunday.
Barcelona abandoned their hopes of signing Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool after the Merseyside club demanded 200 million euros ($237.14 million) for the Brazil attacking midfielder, the Liga side's director Albert Soler said.
In a three part series, Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers from cricket World Cups held between 1975 to 2015.
Recalled batsman Neil Broom scored his maiden one-day century and took two crucial catches as New Zealand completed a 67-run victory over Bangladesh in the second one-day international at Saxton Oval in Nelson on Thursday.
AC Milan, Villarreal and Nice reached the knockout stage of the Europa League after posting wins on Thursday in the penultimate round of the group stage.
Serge Gnabry scored twice as Bayern Munich beat Chelsea 3-0, while Antoine Griezmann's second-half equaliser handed Barcelona a vital away goal and earned them a 1-1 draw at Napoli in their Champions League last 16, first leg on Tuesday.
Arsenal named a strong side captained by Mesut Ozil while Real had Bale on the bench and Eden Hazard, wearing the number 50 shirt, starting alongside fellow new signing Luka Jovic in attack.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Benfica, helped by an excellent Champions League debut from goalkeeper Ederson, clung on desperately then scored two late goals to beat Zenit St Petersburg 2-1 and reach the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Which films are *you* rooting for?
IMAGES from Premier League matches played on Saturday.
American champion Tyson Gay continued his impressive buildup to next month's World championships on Thursday by winning the 100 metres at Lausanne's Athletissima Diamond League meeting in 9.79 seconds.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Rediff.com has the best sports images from the events in the week gone by snapped right here...
The complete set of winners on Oscar night!
It beats Netflix any day, exclaims Prithvi Singh.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Justin Gatlin blasted out a warning that he is ready to challenge Usain Bolt's 100 metres hegemony when he stormed to a lifetime best 9.74 seconds to win the event in the opening Diamond League meeting of the season on Friday.
As the gunfire stopped at a parking garage in downtown Dallas, where five police officers were killed and seven others injured in "ambush style" firing during a protest against the fatal police shootings of black men this week, a new trend in crime-fighting crawled into spotlight.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
United down Newcastle after Saints stun Chelsea on a dramatic night in the English Premier League.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
In a three part series, Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers from Cricket World Cup held between 1975 to 2015.
Sons-in-law are 'in' these days in the circles of power.
Statistical highlights on associate member countries defeating Test-playing nations at the 50-over World Cup after Ireland beat West Indies by four wickets in the Pool B match at Nelson, New Zealand on Monday.
Images from the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg matches played on Wednesday
Just when everything seemed picture perfect for brown faces on American television, Showtime reverts to form with its new series Billions. Aseem Chhabra points out how popular media still hasn't gained enough distance from accents and towel-turban fixations.
Here is a lowdown of all the light-hearted, fun news from around the ICC World Cup.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field on Friday
Niall O'Brien, the sturdy batting backbone during Irish cricket's meteoric rise, owes much of his World Cup success to the timely arrival of a pet dog.
CONCACAF's congress witnessed an outburst of support for incumbent Sepp Blatter.
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is eager to build his team around midfielder Paul Pogba despite media speculation linking the French World Cup winner with a move away from Old Trafford.
Some of the big moments of the sporting world from 2010-2019!
Modi also invited suggestions from the people for inclusion in his Independence Day speech.
