A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Australian Simon Taufel, a winner of five consecutive ICC Umpire of the Year awards, and England's Ian Gould were on Sunday appointed as the on-field officials for the high-voltage India-Pakistan World Cup semi-final here on Wednesday.
The dinner Jill Biden and her husband US President Joe Biden hosted for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, June 22, at the White House brought together, Indians and Americans from so many firmaments.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes says batting tips from Australia captain and Indian Premier League team mate Steve Smith was key to helping him improve as a player following a hugely successful debut season in the lucrative Indian Twenty20 tournament.
Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has said that the prospect of changes to the team's batting line-up for October's Test tour of India is remote.
Snapshots from the ceremony.
Match referee Chris Broad walked around in a blood stained shirt while umpires Simon Taufel and Steve Davis looked dazed, just hours after an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team touring Pakistan on Tuesday. While they're used to dealing with incredible pressure in the cauldron of international cricket, nothing prepared the officials for this.
The England pace bowler believes increased competition for places prevents him from taking his place for granted.
The second Test against India starts in Adelaide on Friday.
In a big blow to embattled British Prime Minister Johnson, two of his senior Cabinet colleagues, including Chancellor Rishi Sunak, resigned on Tuesday, as they expressed their loss of confidence in his leadership amidst a spate of scandals.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic added to the sexism row, saying male tennis players should earn more money than their female counterparts as more people watch their matches.
Italian Simone Bolelli upset local favourite Nicolas Almagro 7-6, 6-1 at the Madrid Masters on Monday.
Fast bowling coach Troy Cooley says Australia have the superior pacemen going into this year's Ashes series.
CA will talk to the IPL franchise owners on this arrangement but conceded that it will not be a simple thing.
The former Team India spearhead will be in charge of Sri Lanka's two-Test and five-ODI series in New Zealand.
The International Cricket Council has also named David Shepherd, Simon Taufel and Rudi Koertzen to officiate in the one-day and Test series between India and Pakistan.
ICC names officials for the three-Test and six ODI series between India and Pakistan.
Images from football friendlies played on Wednesday.
Sania and her Chinese Taipei partner Su-Wei Hsieh, seeded second, defeated the Argentine-Swiss combine of Maria Irigoyen and Romina Oprandi 6-2, 6-0 in 48 minutes, while tenth seeds Paes and Raven Klaasen of South Africa beat the American duo of Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram 6-4, 7-6(6).
Royal Challengers head coach Simon Katich was all praise for the South African after he single-handedly won the IPL game against Rajasthan Royals for them, in Dubai on Saturday.
Jobs fails to meet expectations, writes Paloma Sharma.
British pair Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot defeated Canadians Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil in four sets in Ottawa to give Britain a 2-1 lead ahead of Sunday's reverse singles.
It will not be the first time that the competition has had to be held outside India.
Michael Clarke and Simon Katich famously clashed physically in the dressing room when they were Test players and this week they have become embroiled in a verbal disagreement over Australia's commitment to be less aggressive on the pitch.
Denmark have rediscovered their hunger and are starting to believe they can secure the trophy they won in spectacular fashion in 1992.
A serious remark made by Shoaib Akthar questioning Jofra Archer's sportsmanship over the bouncer incident in the second Ashes Test was met with a hilarious tweet by former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh on Monday.
Cricket Australia has appointed an ethics guru to review the sport's culture in the wake of the cheating scandal that has rocked "the gentleman's game".
Images from Sunday's action in La Liga and Ligue 1.
Former Australia batsman Simon Katich said Australian batsmen did not apply themselves after getting starts in the just concluded Test series, that led to their downfall.
Rediff.com gives you a quick flashback, in pictures of the month gone by...
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
France will meet Serbia in the semi-finals of the Davis Cup after both finished off their last-eight ties inside two days on Saturday but Australia and Belgium were made to sweat.
The Captain of the Year award was given to England's World Cup-winning, Heather Knight, the first for a women skipper
Images from Day 2 of the French Open in Paris on Monday.
