News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
But Smith believes the world champions have a quality squad to bounce back in the series.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was again the chief tormentor as French champions Paris St Germain won 3-0 at Bastia to stay eight points clear at top of the Ligue 1 on Saturday.
Rediff.com brings you a collection of some of the best sports images from around the world.
Real Madrid's decision to sell midfielders Xabi Alonso and Angel Di Maria left many scratching their heads and consecutive La Liga defeats as well as a reverse to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup set alarm bells ringing at the Bernabeu.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be gunning for the No.1 spot in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers as an interesting contest promises to develop with Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who wrested the top spot following a 10-wicket haul in the Lord's Test that ended on Sunday.
The latest Hollywood updates.
Guptill will undergo a fitness Test on Sunday after which a final decision will be taken on whether he can partner Henry Nicholls at the top of New Zealand's order.
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.
The 71st Emmy Awards have been announced, and there have been quite a few surprises and some expected nods.
A summary of Saturday's matches in the English Premier League.
Real Madrid and Barcelona pulled two points clear in La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo set a club scoring record in Real's 3-0 stroll against Levante and Neymar hit four as Barca beat Rayo Vallecano 5-2 on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
# Dhoni has registered 196 sixes in ODIs, setting an Indian record, bettering the 195 by Sachin Tendulkar. Statistical highlights of the third ODI between India and New Zealand in Mohali on Sunday.
Lionel Messi was in inspired form as champions Barcelona hammered Celta Vigo 5-0 on Saturday, recording a fourth straight league victory which keeps them top of La Liga after Real Madrid had put the pressure on the Catalans with a 4-1 win at Eibar.
Defending champions India will get an early feel of the Australian conditions ahead of next year's 50-overs World Cup after agreeing to play a Test series against the hosts and a triangular one-day series, also featuring England, between December 4 and February 1.
List of Australian Open men's singles champions since the event began in 1905 (Australian unless stated):
Number 11 Nuwan Pradeep survived five dramatic balls from Stuart Broad to help Sri Lanka avoid defeat after James Anderson ripped through the visitors to almost force an England win in the first Test at Lord's in London.
India's Under-19 star Rishabh Pant struck a brilliant half-century to power Delhi Daredevils to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Gujarat Lions at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot, on Tuesday.
Chelsea moved within touching distance of a first Premier League title in five years with a 1-0 win over Manchester United while Lionel Messi reached a landmark with his 400th career goal for La Liga leaders Barcelona.
A formidable Indian cricket team is likely to revel in home conditions, as they prepare to host and dominate New Zealand in the first Test in Kanpur, from Thursday, heralding the beginning of a long 13-match home season.
Liverpool, inspired by two-goal Egyptian Mohamed Salah, took a big step towards the Champions League final with a 5-2 win over AS Roma in their semi-final, first leg at Anfield on Tuesday.
With the year sprinting to a close, we bring you, in pictures, some of the best action from the sports world.
Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are India's highest-ranked batsman and bowler in third and 13th positions respectively.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja reduced Australia's victory target to 131 runs with nine wickets in hand at the end of the fourth day of the second Test against New Zealand at Hagley Oval on Tuesday.
Usman Khawaja's magnificent 174 helped Australia to a dominant 556 for four declared and an imposing lead of 399 at the end of the second day of the first Test against New Zealand on Friday.
Liverpool had won each of their previous four home leagues games in which they conceded first and 12 minutes later they had turned another match on its head as Roberto Firmino's trickery set up Mane to give the hosts the lead at the second attempt.
Joe Root returned to form with a fluent 93 to lead England to a crushing 122-run victory over Sri Lanka in the fifth and final one-day international in Cardiff on Saturday.
Portugal became the first team to qualify for the Nations League semi-finals when they held Italy 0-0 on Saturday, the second time in a year that the hosts have been knocked out of a competition following a goalless draw at the San Siro.
Sports events produce a multitude of highly amusing and crazy celebrations. Individual and team players have various way of celebrating victory, a goal or point. Some do it with a high-five, blow a kiss, cartwheel or dance. And on the soccer field, it's a soccer ball baby!
Rajneesh Gupta profiles the cricketers playing the World Cup 2019.
The plotters are believed to have included six men and one woman, all in their 20s, who allegedly planned to plant bombs and use knives and firearms to launch a "multi-node" attack at Federation Square, Flinders Street Station and St Paul's Cathedral.
Vaihayasi Pande Daniel discovers Ross Island where the clock can never be turned back.
Svetlana Kolesnichenko, the new standard bearer for artistic aquatics, added another European Championships gold to her huge collection of international medals when she took the synchronised swimming solo technical title on Monday.
The 8th Champions Trophy begins in England this week. Rajneesh Gupta captures the tournament in all its statistical glory like only he can.
Mitchell Johnson will not mind being the man England fans love to mock in the Ashes so long as he is taking wickets but the friendly abuse might start to get under his skin if the Australian paceman continues to fire blanks.
India's batting mainstay Virat Kohli suggested Australia will make the grave mistake of adding 'fuel to fire' if they needle him in Sunday's win-or-bust World Twenty20 contest but asserted he is good enough to excel without provocations.
...He'd be running a successful aviation business, says Anjuli Bhargava.
A round-up of Saturday's qualifying matches for the Euro 2020 Finals.
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