Coronavirus crisis caused mass cancellations and postponements in the last three days, March was to be a busy sports month. But as things stand now, there is no live action there for the fans once the All England Championships of badminton wind up in Birmingham.
Be it some scintillating action from the Australia Open or Diego Costa's strike sealing the points for Chelsea against Arsenal. In cricket, The Indian team finally tasted success on the back of strong performances from two youngsters. A sensational debut by Jasprit Bumrah followed by a match-winning century by Manish Paney. Be ready to be amazed as Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this super photo feature.
The veteran Sri Lankan batsman, who will retire from One-Day Internationals at the end of the World Cup, is on a record-breaking spree.
Their reputation bruised and battered after the humiliating loss in the Test series, India are desperate to turn their fortunes around and restore some pride in the limited-overs matches, which get underway with the first T20 against Australia in Sydney on Wednesday.
Pacer John Hastings has provided fill-up to Australia's ambitions of notching up a 5-0 whitewash in the ODI series against India, saying he is thriving on the extra responsibility following a few impressive performances. Hastings took the important wickets of centurion Shikhar Dhawan and India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to play a key role in the home team's victory in the fourth ODI in Canberra yesterday, their fourth in a row. With his show in the Australian capital, Hastings has proved that leadership is something that comes naturally to him.
Lambasted by Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Australian pacer Brett Lee has asserted that he did not block Sachin Tendulkar 'on purpose' during the Indian batsman's controversial run-out in the crucial tri-series ODI in Sydney.
The Indian cricket team would get into the groove for the short limited-overs series against Australia with a couple of warm-up games against a Western Australia XI at the WACA ground on Friday and Saturday. While the first match tomorrow is slated to be a T20 affair, the second match scheduled the day after will be a 50-over warm-up game against the same opposition. It will certainly not be the first team of Western Australia which is better known as Perth Scorchers, which will be playing in the warm-up games. It will be a second string squad that will take on the Indians.
Shakib accepted charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code and therefore does not have the right to appeal against the punishment, which could have been a maximum of five years.
Talented Karnataka opener Lokesh Rahul was ruled out of the upcoming tour of Bangladesh as he is yet to recover from dengue.
Hurting after being whitewashed in the Test series, India would be a "totally different" team in the upcoming Twenty20 internationals and the ODI tri-series, Australia coach Mickey Arthur said on Monday.
Finch, who is on the board of Australian players' union, said it is not only about the IPL and all stakeholders have to make compromises to get cricket to thrive again.
The BCCI follows the rotation policy across formats but it has now more than 15 Test centres.
Languishing at the bottom of ICC ODI team ranking, Pakistan have set sight on direct qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup when they take on the in-form reigning world champions and number-one ranked Australia in a five-ODI series starting in Brisbane on Friday.
Virat Kohli smashed his 39th one-day international century as India claimed a dramatic six-wicket victory over Australia at a sweltering Adelaide Oval on Tuesday to level up the three-match series at 1-1.
Harbhajan Singh spoke about his journey and also the infamous 'Monkeygate'
The visitors begun well through Praveen Kumar, who immediately made his presence felt after being given a game on account of Vinay Kumar's hamstring injury. Praveen's first spell read 7-1-22-2.
As the batting icon went on to pile on those runs and conquer many milestones, sure you must have watched some of those knocks. Share your favourite Tendulkar moment.
Australia's back-to-back losses have thrown the ODI tri-series open and a revitalised India would look to corner the struggling and injury-hit hosts when the two sides clash in the critical second phase of the league in Brisbane on Sunday.
India should invest in someone like Jasprit Bumrah, says Damien Fleming.
Paine replaced Smith as Test captain after the tampering scandal broke during the third Test of the South Africa tour in March.
Back in the Australian ODI fold after more than a year, off-spinner Nathan Lyon says he cannot wait to challenge the Indian batsmen in the fourth one-dayer in Canberra, a venue he knows inside out after being a part of Manuka Oval's ground staff. Life has come a full circle for the 28-year-old, whose work as a curator took him from Canberra to Adelaide, and he is looking forward to not only extend his eight-match ODI career but also make a foray on the international Twenty20 stage. "I have got the opportunity and I will perform. I am very grateful and thankful to the selectors for giving me the opportunity, but I am just looking to go out there and hopefully keep winning games for Australia," Lyon told reporters. "I am feeling confident. I have enjoyed my time at the Sydney Sixes. I had some good performances there. As a team we didn't do too well, but I was pretty happy personally with the way the ball was getting off the hand.
Suresh Raina said he would have been left devastated had India failed to draw the fourth and final Test against Australia in Sydney following his failures with the bat in both innings.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup
Former Australia batsman Dean Jones feels the standard of bowling in international cricket has touched an "all-time low", voicing his concern at a time when 300-plus totals have become the norm in One-Day Internationals.
Former Australian pacer Brett Lee, on Thursday, hinted that he is keen on mentoring Indian bowlers in the near future if asked to do so.
West Indies cricketer Runako Morton was killed in a road accident on Sunday night when he lost control of his car and hit a pole.
Rajneesh Gupta has interesting numbers from the fourth ODI between India and Australia in Canberra. Check them out.
Rajasthan Royals brought back former Team India mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton in their ranks for the forthcoming Indian Premier League season.
All cricketing activity has come to a halt due to the health crisis and there are serious doubts over the future of T20 World Cup. However, the International Cricket Council is yet to take the final call on the T20 showpiece event.
Dhoni's much-vaunted finishing skills are under scrutiny but Rohit said the former captain has it in him to continue being useful with the bat.
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya apologised after being slammed for making what many construed as misogynistic and sexist remarks on the TV show Koffee With Karan, saying he got 'carried away by the nature' of the show.
The choice of Jayant Yadav as back-up off-spinner in Test squad, or picking Baba Aparajith over the likes of Mandeep Singh and Sheldon Jackson in India A, could raise pertinent questions as to whether enough respect has been given by this committee when it comes to selecting performers in domestic cricket.
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.
Australian opening batsman Shane Watson, who hit a majestic century on Sunday, said that winning the Melbourne ODI against England was the perfect way to start the seven-match series.
'I have seen him evolve and mature, both as a person and a captain.'
Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke, speaking publicly for the first time since abruptly quitting the ongoing tour of New Zealand and the subsequent break-up with fiancee Lara Bingle, expressed hope on Wednesday that the episode will not distract him in the upcoming Test series.
Australia's chief of selectors Rod Marsh has backed captain Michael Clarke to recover from a hamstring strain and be fit for the first test against India next month.
'That was a morning where if I wanted to fly, I would have flown as well.'
A former West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) director has said that the once-formidable Windies can completely lose its credibility and disintegrate ten years from now due to its constant failure at the international level.
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