18-year-old Afghan sensation Rashid Khan can't wait to start his maiden stint in the Indian Premier League with Sunrisers Hyderabad, where he will be sharing the dressing room with his childhood hero Yuvraj Singh.
Amid high drama, Canada-based divisive cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri returned to Pakistan on Monday after authorities diverted his Islamabad-bound flight to Lahore fearing unrest in the capital, as clashes between his supporters and the police left many injured.
Now that it has been revealed that Osama was hiding in Pakistan, the presence of other key Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives in that nation doesn't seem such a far-fetched possibility
India lead South Africa by five points and need to win two matches in order to stop falling behind the Proteas.
Taliban leader Mullah Omar's spokesman rejects Afghan President Hamid Karzai's attempts for talks with the Taliban in an exchange with Rediff.com contributor Tahir Ali.
Explosive all-rounder Ben Stokes and relentless run accumulator Steve Smith could not be more different in their approaches to the game but both roared back from personally adversity to bestride an extraordinary cricketing year. Virat Kohli and his men top the confused and confusing World Test Championship table with seven wins in as many matches, including their first pink-ball Test against Bangladesh last month. That victory marked their 12th consecutive Test series win at home.
The team set up by Pakistan to probe the Pathankot attack on Friday decided to seek from India the DNA reports and finger prints of the slain terrorists.
In charge of a house in complete disorder, Virat Kohli will hope that Royal Challengers Bangalore play in the manner that defines his cricket when they meet Delhi Capitals in the IPL match in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The home team's bowlers will be wary of Chris Gayle's power-hitting.
In flood-ravaged Pakistan, the government's awfully slow rescue operations are proving out to be largely ineffective, as the destitute victims' plight is turning irreparable, notes Tahir Ali.
Shahid Afridi is making all the difference to Pakistan's challenge in the 2011 World Cup with 14 wickets at an economy rate of just 2.6. He now has a phenomenal MVPI of 506. Only two other Pakistanis, Umar Akmal (181) and Misbah-ul-Haq (180), make it to the top 50 MVP list.
After a week of action at the Cricket World Cup, with each team now playing at least one match, here's an analysis of how the main contenders are shaping up.
AB de Villiers smashed an unbeaten century and debutant Imran Tahir scalped four wickets as South Africa launched their cricket World Cup campaign with a comfortable seven-wicket win over the West Indies in a Group-B league match.
Chennai Super Kings comprises some of the oldest players in the Indian Premier League, and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni knows fully well that they cannot be a great fielding outfit but can make it up in batting and bowling.
Take a look at the arrivals.
South Africa's pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada feels the upcoming T20I and Test series against India is a chance for his embattled team to figure where it stands against the world's best in a tough transition journey.
Aamir Khan's journey has been prolific. As he turns 45, we celebrate the very best of the fine actor.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, led by Hakimullah Mehsud, has intensified its assaults on Pakistani security forces in South Waziristan.
India's Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin thrived on a spinners' paradise in Mohali, bamboozling South Africa's batsmen in the first Test to secure a 108-run victory with more than two days to spare on Saturday.
Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani diplomat who is the founder of formidable Minhaj-ul-Quran movement, unreservedly condemned terrorist attacks and suicide bombers and urged the Muslim world to take a firm stand against those who bring Islam to disrepute.
Muhammad Asad Durrani, former director general of Inter-Services intelligence and Pakistan's Military Intelligence, says India's move to resume peace talks is a wise decision.
Calling it the "mother of all operations", Pakistan has started a massive offensive against militants in the restive South Waziristan Agency (SWA). Named operation Rah-e-Najaat (The Path to Salvation), the initiative started last Saturday -- plans to flush out Hakimullah Mehsud led Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The dreaded outfit, on its part, has claimed that it will fight "till the last drop of their blood".
Virat Kohli strengthened his position at the top of ICC ODI rankings for batsmen by touching a career-high 911 points, while Kuldeep Yadav broke into the top-10 of the bowlers' chart at sixth, on Wednesday.
England go into the 10-team tournament as the top side in the team rankings with 125 points and India in second position four points behind.
RPS beat Gujarat Lions by five wickets after a top-order collapse and now stand pretty at fourth spot with 12 points.
Hakimullah Mehsud, the feared head of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, has written a short autobiography that highlights his transformation from a student to a fierce jihadi.
The Palestinian foreign ministry also denied this information, saying, "Our ambassador in Pakistan is in Palestine and our position was declared by our official statement which we have published last week."
Pakistan Hockey Federation has finally got clearance from the government to send its national junior team to Lucknow, India for the FIH Junior World Cup next month. A reliable source in the PHF said that the ministry of inter-provincial coordination has informed the federation that the government has given the NOC for participating in the December 8-18 Junior World Cup. "The PHF officials were anxious about getting the NOC to send its team to India next month as the FIH event is scheduled from December 8 to 18th and it is an important event for the future of Pakistan hockey. But now the ministry has informed the PHF that the government has given the clearance," the source said.
He will join his former Proteas team mate and close friend Jacques Kallis who is the head coach of the two-time Indian Premier League champions.
Jacques Kallis says South Africa have a miserly off-spinner, a nagging and experienced left armer and a wicket-taking leg spinner in Imran Tahir.
The hits and misses of the week.
Mayank Agarwal hammered a 49-ball 87 as India 'A' beat the touring South Africans in their opening warm-up T20 game by eight wickets, with two balls to spare, at the Air Force ground, in Palam, Delhi, on Tuesday.
Pakistani Taliban elements can be broadly divided into two groups, the 'good Taliban' and the 'bad Taliban'.'Good Taliban' are those who never target Pakistani armies and their focus remains on Afghanistan, while the 'bad Taliban' mainly attack Pakistani government installations and often seek refuge across the border.
India's batting mainstay Virat Kohli has climbed up a place to number four in the ICC rankings for the ODI batsmen, while the side retained its second position in the team list.
Pakistani police on Friday said they had arrested a militant suspected to be linked to several suicide attacks in the country, including on the office of the United Nations food agency in the federal capital of Islamabad in which five persons were killed.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni roared back to form with a smashing half-century to power RIsing Pune Supergiant to a six-wicket victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Pune, on Saturday.
'There are no links between India and the Taliban. Even if India supports militancy, it is not foolish enough to leave evidence.'
Factbox on the cricket World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa at Eden Park, Auckland.
Rising Pune Supergiant beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 27 runs in an IPL encounter.
