As the mercurial Messi rings in his 28th birthday, Rediff.com brings you all the exciting moments from the ace footballer's life.
South Africa's fast bowling legend is hopeful of the ace Indian batsman going past Brian Lara's run aggregate of 11,953 runs in Test cricket.
Umran was a net bowler during India's last World T20 campaign in the UAE.
The 22-year-old left-hander was hailed as a future successor to retired all-rounder Kapil Dev after his impressive debut as a teenager until his bowling form deserted him last year.
Cricket legends around the world have paid their tributes to the retiring South African great Jacques Kallis, with former Pakistani coach and fast bowler Waqar Younis and Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews leading the pack.
Swashbuckling opening batsman David Warner used to assist regular driver of the Australian cricket Institute's van in Brisbane.
Peter Siddle's five-wicket haul in the first innings of the Sydney Test against South Africa has impressed Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath who feels the standout performance will help the pacer cement his place in the team.
Hailing India's incredible series win against the number one-ranked Test side South Africa, former captain Sunil Gavaskar said the home team's turnaround in the longer-format after the loss in the ODIs and T20s speaks volumes about the character of the Virat Kohli-led side.
The two former India captains accepted the offer to become honorary members.
Pakistan's pace bowling legend Wasim Akram believes One-Day Internationals become "run-of-the-mill" stuff and wants the administrators of the game to scrap the 50-overs format for good.
Cricket legend Shane Warne's distillery has started manufacturing hand sanitiser instead of gin to make up for the shortage of the alcohol-based solution and "save lives" from the clutches of the COVID-19 pandemic.
India will surely fancy their chances of an encore, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
President Pranab Mukherjee will be among over 90 heads of state and government who will attend an emotional memorial service in South Africa on Tuesday for anti-apartheid legend Nelson Mandela, making it one of the largest such gatherings in generations.
When he had Jonny Bairstow (5) caught behind on the second day of the third Test at Edgbaston, the 33-year-old reached the milestone, in what is his 69th Test.
'Now, we have very different setting including changes in rules with two new balls and the fielding restrictions are very different. But ODI fever started in the 1990s. On-field noticeable changes, early to mid 90s was okay, but from 1996 things changed at rapid pace.'
South African pace legend Allan Donald has called on cricket bosses not to consider banning bouncers as they revisit safety in the sport in the wake of the tragic death of Australian cricketer Philip Hughes.
Veteran batsman Younis Khan has become Pakistan's all-time leading Test run-scorer, surpassing Javed Miandad's tally of 8832 runs on the opening day of the first Test against England in Abu Dhabi.
15-year-old Shafali Verma became the youngest Indian cricketer to score a half-century in international cricket.
Indian rookie Karun Nair has joined the legendary opener Virender Sehwag to become only the second Indian batsman to score a triple century in Tests. Nair reached the milestone in 381 balls having moved from 200 to 300 in just 75 deliveries. Sehwag has two triple hundreds to his name, first scoring 309 against Pakistan in 2004 in Multan, while the second one was a brilliant 319 against the mighty South Africa in 2008 in Chennai.
AB de Villiers seems to make it a habit of being spectacular in whatever he does on a cricket field and the talismanic South African's gravity-defying catch in Thursday's Indian Premier League (IPL) match only added to his legend.
Former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni finally showed up after India wrapped up the Test series against South Africa at his home ground in Ranchi.
Jadeja scored 154 off only 69 balls for Jamnagar against Amreli as his side posted 239 for 6 in 20 overs.
The Indian captain described De Villiers, who was criticised for picking and choosing international assignments after announcing his retirement last year, as the "most honest and committed" person.
India's batting legend Sachin Tendulkar firmly believes that sport only recognises performance on the field and not the background of an athlete.
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar says South Africa will be a tough challenge for India in the upcoming Test series and marked out Proteas leg-spinner Imran Tahir as the one bowler to watch out for.
From the 12th over onwards, Virat Kohli hit 67 from his last 29 balls, scoring at a strike rate in excess of 200 to take the match away from Pakistan's grasp in great style.
Royal Challengers Bangalore, which is captained by India skipper Virat Kohli, said the right decision has been taken.
Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, on Monday, picked India as the favourites for the upcoming Test series against Australia but warned the hosts that it would be a mistake to take the team from Down Under lightly.
Now, there is another similarity added to the resume of both batsmen. February 24 will be remembered in history as the day when the Indian icon and Gayle hit ODI double tons.
Australia spin legend Shane Warne feels if Michael Clarke is fit he should replace George Bailey in the side.
With hoards of Indian fans storming the Melbourne Cricket Ground, you could be forgiven for mistaking it to be the Eden Gardens. Bouyed by the vociferous crowd, India thrashed South Africa by 130 runs to break their World Cup jinx on Sunday.
Smith was removed from captaincy due to his involvement in the scandal in 2018
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar was one of the first celebrities to wish his followers on social media.
India retained the ICC Test Championship mace and also won a cash award of US$ one million for holding on to the top position in the Test Team rankings on the annual April 1 cut-off date.
India's pace spearhead Mohammed Shami received the biggest compliment in his two-year international career as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time Sir Richard Hadlee termed the young seamer's efforts in the ICC Cricket World Cup "particularly impressive".
Hardik Pandya felt as if he was 'playing an ODI' during his whirlwind half-century in his maiden outing.
Bumrah receives Polly Umrigar and Dilip Sardesai awards
Former Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf believes that India captain Virat Kohli is not in the league of legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.
Rajasthan Royals are currently not in the top four of the IPL points table but their world No.1 T20 spinner Tabraiz Shamsi believes it won't matter when the COVID-hit league resumes on Sunday as it would be a fresh start for all the teams.
