41 years ago, Dalits in Meenakshipuram converted to Islam, sending shockwaves through the nation.' A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com returns to the village to discover that past antagonisms lurk below the surface.
Fawad Alam put Pakistan in control of the first Test against South Africa, chalking up a superb century to lead the home side to 308 for eight by the close of day two in Karachi for a first innings lead of 88 runs.
The win also pushed the Black Caps firmly into contention for one of two berths in June's inaugural World Test Championship final at Lord's.
Zimbabwe shocked Pakistan by one run in a thrilling T20 World Cup Super 12 match at Perth Stadium, in Perth, on Thursday.
New Zealand bundled out Pakistan on 297 in 83.5 overs.
As we prepare to cruise into the New Year, Rediff.com gives you a glance back, through photos, into all the sporting moments that made the last 12 months memorable.
Bangladesh trail by 224 runs and still needed 25 runs to avoid the follow-on at the end of Day 4.
Independent candidates have emerged as big winners in Jammu and Kashmir's maiden District Development Council polls, with 49 of them having been declared elected so far from 280 seats, putting them ahead of parties like the Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.
Sanju Samson smashed 72 off 56 balls as Kerala completed a five wicket win over Punjab to cruise into the quarterfinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, in Kochi, on Saturday.
Wet outfield caused dashed prospects of victory by either side in Australia's first Test in Pakistan in 24 years.
SunRisers Hyderabad has the biggest purse while Kolkata Knight Riders has the slimmest purse.
Pakistan have dropped out-of-sorts pace bowler Mohammad Amir from their 17-man squad for next month's two-Test series against Australia in the United Arab Emirates, with left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz earning a recall.
Images from the T20 World Cup Super 12 Group 2 match between India and Pakistan, in Dubai, on Sunday.
Pakistan Air Force closed the Lahore-Pakistan motorway on Thursday to let it practice landing jets on the road, in what it said was routine training not related to heightened tension with India after a deadly attack in the disputed Kashmir region.
IPL can be truly said to have come of age. It is now more Indian than ever before. Teams often fielded fewer than the four allowed foreign players. Indian batters and bowlers were simply better in performance, consistency and reliability, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
The Delhi Police on Tuesday said it has foiled a major terror plan during the festival season with the arrest of a 40-year-old Pakistani terrorist who has Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) links and had been living in India for over 10 years under a fake identity.
The apex court, however, dismissed a PIL filed by NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation, seeking a court-monitored fresh probe in the Pandya murder case.
Jogi is a slice of current history, and unlike another recent film that does not need to be named, never resorts to sensationalism. Reminiscent of Schindler's List in spirit, it is the story of good overcoming evil, which is what keeps hope alive in dark times, observes Deepa Gahlot.
Kohli has always led from the front but he knows his search for a maiden title will remain incomplete if the team doesn't perform in all departments.
Aditi Phadnis picks five key seats in the three states where assembly elections are being held today.
The timing of these transfers, while being projected as routine, is significant in both strategic and political terms, asserts Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
It will be quite a role reversal with Australia being the proverbial underdogs in Thursday's semi-final of the Twenty20 World Cup against a red-hot Pakistan who have displayed rare consistency to set alight the tournament.
Images from Day 5 of the second Test between England and Pakistan at the Rose Bowl, in Southampton, on Monday
Rodrigues, Kaur, Mandhana and Sharma were also a part of the now-defunct Kia Super League (KSL) in 2019, the ECB's domestic T20 tournament that made way for the Women's Hundred.
Sri Lanka ended the day at the score of 64/3, still trailing the hosts by 127 runs.
Australia declared their first innings on 556 for nine and then skittled out Pakistan for 148 to seize control of the second Test in Karachi on Monday.
KL Rahul and Co would like forget the unsavoury incident and focus on the task ahead.
South Africa's openers Dean Elgar (15) and Aiden Markram were positive at the start of the innings, but disaster struck as they lost two wickets in the final two balls of the middle session.
Seven more Pakistan players tested positive for COVID-19 throwing into doubt their tour of England starting next month. Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Hasnain, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz and Imran Khan are the players from the England-bound squad who tested positive, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Tuesday.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan smashed a maiden T20 century with seven sixes as Pakistan beat South Africa by three runs
Pakistan spinners Yasir Shah and Nauman Ali took five wickets between them to restrict South Africa to 220 all out, but the home side faltered in reply to close on 33 for four on day one of a fast-moving first Test in Karachi on Tuesday.
This was for the second time in the past six years that Hussain, who also worked for an intelligence unit of the Pakistani army, was arrested while trying to infiltrate into this side from across the border.
Aamir, 25, who worked as a driver, and his brother Hashim, 16, set out from Ghaziabad on Wednesday to check on their elder brother Shairuddin in Gokalpuri, one of the focal points of the violence. The two never reached Shairuddin's place.
Images from the Asia Cup Super 4 match between India and Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday.
Opening batsman Khurram Manzoor, who has not played for Pakistan's Test team for three and a half years, is back in the squad for the tour of Zimbabwe that starts this month.
Pakistan's poor fielding was a major talking point in the final ODI but they turned up on the night, taking difficult catches in the deep and even inflicting a run out with a direct hit.
The 34-year-old took the prized wickets of Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali and Babar Azam to end Pakistan's resistance and finished with figures of 5-83 in Pakistan's second innings.
The pitch offered some variable bounce but did not pose too many problems for the batters till the final hour of play.
As we prepare to cruise into the New Year, Rediff.com gives you a glance back, through photos, into all the sporting moments that made the last 12 months memorable.
It was the latest targeted assault on a place of worship of the Sikh community in Afghanistan.
