Glenn Maxwell blasted a splendid 83-ball 96 to lift Australia to a three-wicket victory against India that also helped the hosts seal the five-match ODI series 3-0, in Melbourne, on Sunday.
Barring any further setbacks, it appears that Michael Clarke's return to full fitness and the captaincy of the Australia World Cup team is now a matter of "when" rather than "if".
The Welsh, who reached the Euro 2016 semi-finals, finished runners-up on 14 points from eight games, three behind Croatia who sealed their berth on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Slovakia.
There are several books that Aakar Patel wishes were being written but aren't. Fortunately, there's plenty coming up this year that he's eagerly awaiting.
So 52 games have already been played in the Indian Premier League this season. Here are the Most Valuable players and some random observations by Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle.
Donald Trump's new CIA pick hasn't been greeted with the avalanche of media gush that inevitably follows a woman who becomes the first among her gender to get a top job.
Australia dropped batsman George Bailey from the squad for their three-Test tour of South Africa on Monday and brought uncapped Alex Doolan and Shaun Marsh into the 15-man party. Bailey made his debut in the first Test of the recently-concluded Ashes series, but scored only 183 runs at an average of 26 as an unchanged Australia romped to a 5-0 sweep of England.
The film lacks the intensity to be categorised as espionage cinema
A quick look at the Oscar 2016 nominations.
We bring you a fresh collection of offbeat, quirky stories from around the world.
Images from the EPL matches played on Saturday
Cricketing superpowers clash in an ODI series Sunday onwards. Rajeesh Gupta gives us all the numbers on India-Australia one day encounters.
Australia have cut opening batsman Ed Cowan and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade from their list of 18 centrally-contracted players, but handed opener Phillip Hughes another chance to establish himself in the national set-up.
Glenn Maxwell is on a roll. The Australian batsman continued with his incredible batting, blasting a 38-ball 90, as Kings XI Punjab scored a comprehensive 44-run victory over Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League match, in Cuttack, on Wednesday night.
Angelina Jolie's tangled love life!
India should start preparing for the 2019 World Cup in a diligent manner similar to the way in which the triumphant Australians did for the just-concluded edition, feels former Test cricketer and ex-chief selector Chandu Borde.
Do you feel Dhoni should bring in all-rounder Dhawan for Jadeja, or strengthen the pace attack by playing Ishant? Select your Indian team for the second match against Australia, in Brisbane, on Friday, January 15.
India's batting ace Yuvraj Singh commanded the highest price, Royal Challengers Bangalore paying a massive 14 crore for him, while Dinesh Karthik was a surprise pick at 12.5 crore by Delhi Daredevils.
Bikash Mohapatra salutes boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
At a time when Indian tennis fans are content with success in doubles competitions, few are aware that Vijay Amritraj was within grasp of the singles crown at Wimbledon.
David Warner scored 124 in his 100th match and combined with Aaron Finch (94) for a record 231-run opening stand, as Australia posted a 21-run victory over India in the fourth One-Day International in Bengaluru, on Thursday. Check out some statistical highlights from the match.
'Our plan is to put the best foot forward for the upcoming tournament and play good matches'
Part-time off-spinner Glenn Maxwell took two wickets without conceding a run in the last over as Australia edged Pakistan in a low-scoring thriller to win the third and final one-day international by one run in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
They endured a disastrous run the last time around to finish at the bottom of the heap and Kings XI Punjab would be aiming to make amends this season when they begin their campaign against newbies Gujarat Lions in their IPL opener in Mohali on Monday. Kings XI Punjab did not make any big buys this year and have a new captain in South African David Miller in place of Australian George Bailey who was released after leading the side to the last place in the previous season. Virender Sehwag has also retired and he will serve as team mentor this season. The Preity Zinta-owned side continues to lack the team balance as it has not added any significant player, only snapping the likes of all-rounders Farhaan Behardien and Marcus Stoinis, seamer Mohit Sharma and left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh. Last season, their batsmen lacked consistency and whenever they did well, the bowlers let the side down. On the other hand, debutants Gujarat Lions have a balanced side with top-class performers in both batting and bowling. They have explosive batsmen in Brendon McCullum, captain Suresh Raina, Aaron Finch and a plenty of top-notch all-rounders in Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja and James Faulkner.
Rajneesh Gupta profiles the cricketers playing the World Cup 2019.
Penpix of the Australia squad that will play the cricket World Cup final against New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
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 in Adelaide.
After bagging back-to-back man of the match awards in the ongoing cricket tri-series, left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc said he is relishing the opportunity of leading Australia's bowling attack in the absence of pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson.
Rohit Sharma's sizzling century went in vain as Australia survived a few anxious moments before pulling off a tense four-wicket win over India in a cricket tri-series ODI match in Melbourne.
India's batsmen have gone about their job efficiently, posting big totals on the board but the bowlers have been ordinary at best, allowing the hosts to chase down those tall scores in each of the first three ODIs of the five-match series.
Amberish K Diwanji on Indian prime ministers and the seven-year itch.
He is regarded as one of the best fast bowlers of the modern era. Extreme pace with the ability to swing the ball both ways makes Dale Steyn a complete pacer. The South African speedster reflects on his 11-year old career at the international stage. How did the dream of playing cricket begin for you and when did it start taking shape? I was about 10 or so when I first came in contact with cricket. I was visiting my family in Zimbabwe and played the game in the backyard. And I remember when I got back to school after the vacations in January, everyone seemed to be playing this crazy sport called cricket. I joined the party and since then there has been no looking back. Why fast bowling? I did everything when I was growing up. I was an opening batter in primary school, but fast bowling was one thing that I was always better at than anybody else. I started playing Men's club cricket at a very young age. I was like this little 14-year old playing against full grown men who were 25 years and upwards. You know, you start to get this confidence that you can get grown men out. Your own teammates fill you up with a lot of confidence when they see you get a great batsman out. I was lucky enough to be a part of the Northern Titan Cricket Academy. This was the same time when the 2003 World Cup was on and I got a chance to bowl to all the international pros who came for practice, made them jump around a little bit and built confidence from there.
Chris Gayle started with flair while Darren Sammy finished with a flourish as West Indies got the better of Australia by six wickets in an exciting Group 2 League encounter of the ICC World T20 in Mirpur.
Former England Test captain Sir Ian Botham has backed Ashes heroes England to win 5-0 in the return series in Australia as he believes that England has the players to win again, especially a match-winning bowling attack.
Outplayed in the ODIs, a faltering India will look to get the balance right as they eye redemption in a three-match Twenty20 series against Australia starting in Adelaide on Tuesday which also kicks off their build-up for the World T20 Championships in March-April.
Rajneesgh Gupta salutes Captain Cool.
All-rounder Andre Russell smashed a match-winning half-century as West Indies claimed a nail-biting one-wicket victory over South Africa in the fourth one-day international at St George's Park on Sunday.
Penpix of the Australia squad for the 2015 World Cup, which they are co-hosting with New Zealand.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh blamed his opening bowlers for the four-wicket loss against Australia in their cricket tri-series match in Melbourne.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
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