A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Indian Premier League team at the forefront of creating environmental awareness, on Wednesday marked another step in its ongoing Green Initiative by unveiling a special jersey.
After the reports of Sri Lankan skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan leaving the IPL to join the England-bound national team got rife, it is learned that former captains Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene are also packing their bags for an early exit.
Kochi Tuskers Kerela on Wednesday notched up their third consecutive win in the Indian Premier League after beating Kolkata Knight Riders by six runs and skipper Mahela Jaywardene said the team is gelling well as a unit and it is the secret of their success.
European powerhouse Spain bounced back from the defeat in their opening match to score a 4-0 victory over Niger in a Group D match of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Kochi on Tuesday.
Ambani's holding group launched the Indian Super League, an elite competition of newly created teams, in 2014 with the aim of attracting investment and big global names, much like the Indian Premier League has in cricket. 'It was 100% a wasted opportunity'.
Shashi Tharoor on Friday appeared for the third time in two days before the SIT.
Mumbai City FC ended their League engagements with a goalless draw against Delhi Dynamos to finish on top of Indian Super League football in Mumbai on Saturday.
The Kerala government has set up a web site, keralarescue.in, to coordinate relief and aid for the floods-affected people. It has also set up a website for online transfer of donations towards flood relief.
Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan has been signed by English county side Gloucestershire as their overseas player for two Friends Provident Twenty20 Cup seasons.
Still recovering from a hamstring injury, swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle was on Wednesday left out of the West Indies' 15-member squad for the One-Day International series against India next month.
Five years after the Indian Super League was established, so has its effective preeminence in Indian football.
The BCCI has cancelled the third ODI between India and the West Indies in Visakhapatnam after cyclone 'Hudhud' left the ACA-VDCA cricket stadium in unplayable condition.
After registering a comprehensive victory over Kochi Tuskers Kerala to bring their IPL campaign back on track, a confident Rajasthan Royals team will be eyeing an upset win when they take on table-toppers Mumbai Indians in Jaipur on Friday.
The successful test will result in huge savings of replacement cost of missiles held in the inventory of the Indian Armed Forces.
'If you enjoy learning and if you can risk the failures, entrepreneurship can be a rewarding, enriching experience.'
This and more from the happenings in the world of football
"The BCCI is not bothered about their internal issues. But as far as we are concerned the match is on," Board secretary Sanjay Patel said.
He may have failed at his first attempt, but 27-year-old Dinup Kalleril, an engineering dropout, is following his passion relentlessly.
"In fact, we are in negotiation with stakeholders including ISL franchisees on the issue," Dhar told reporters at the 11th Convocation of Tata Football Academy (TFA) in Jamshedpur.
Still in with an outside chance of making it to the play-offs, a bruised Rajasthan Royals will be eyeing nothing less than a victory when they take on an inconsistent Kochi Tuskers Kerala in their crucial IPL match in Indore on Sunday.
Former Commonwealth and Asian Games medallist Deepika Kumari steered Jhakhand to two team gold medals in the recurve archery events but stunningly missed out on an individual podium finish even as the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) continued to stay on course for a hat-trick of overall titles on the eighth day of competitions in the 35th National Games in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.
Kochi Tuskers Kerala captain Mahela Jayawardene was critical of the wicket after his side lost to Deccan Chargers by 55 runs with Ishant Sharma bulldozing his team's batting line-up with a sensational five-wicket spell.
The series against the West Indies is India's only chance to iron out flaws before embarking on the tough tour of Australia. Hence, skipper Mahendra Singh hinted that the hosts will try out a few things in the home rubber against the Caribbeans, starting in Kochi on Wednesday.
A B de Villiers, whose unbeaten 54 set up Royal Challengers Bangalore's six-wicket win over Kochi Tuskers Kerala in their IPL encounter on Saturday, said his side's experience made all the difference as the match was still in balance till the end.
Ruling out the possibility of union ministers Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel resigning in the wake of the IPL controversy, the Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday dismissed reports about the involvement of any of its leaders or their relatives in any financial wrongdoings in the cricket league. Party spokesman D P Tripathi saw nothing wrong in Civil Aviation Minister Patel's 'personal office' forwarding projections of new franchisee valuations to Tharoor.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor's security has been tightened following an SMS death threat received by him from Mumbai.The SMS was reportedly sent by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's associate Chhota Shakeel.In the SMS, Tharoor was asked to apologise to Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi over the Kochi IPL team standoff.Tharoor has reportedly written to the home ministry about the death threat, following which his security has been tightened.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Tuesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the wake of the controversy surrounding Minister of State Shashi Tharoor's role in the IPL's Kochi team. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi recently alleged that Tharoor had asked him not to disclose details about owners of the consortium led by Rendezvous that bought the new Kochi franchisee.Tharoor hit back at Modi by alleging that he had made attempts to pressure the winning consortium.
National football coach Stephen Constantine may have ruled Michael Chopra out from representing India but the British PIO today said he's not lost hope and was waiting the 53-year-old's exit. Hitting out at the India coach, the Kerala Blasters forward said: "Stephen Constantine can say whatever he wants. Personally, it's not a problem for me. Well has he achieved anything in the game as a player? No." There had been reports that All India Football Federation may not be too keen to extend Constantine's contract that gets over in February, a month before the Asian Cup qualifiers begin.
The first One-Day International between India and Australia in Kochi on Sunday was washed out because of rain.
In a major boost for Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals -- the two teams who are making a comeback after serving a two-year ban -- they will be allowed to pick from the players, who turned out for Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions squad in IPL in season 10.
English striker Chris Dagnall scored twice as Kerala Blasters exposed NorthEast United's defensive frailties to notch up a 4-1 thumping win in their Indian Super League football match, in Guwahati, on Sunday.
'I believe Bumrah, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, all four can play in the playing XI.'
The Southern Naval command on Wednesday called off its 14-day long rescue operations in flood-hit Kerala, saying there were no more requests for evacuation as waters receding in affected areas.
India's chef-de-mission at the Games, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, said in Jakarta that the athletes will be updated on the safety status of their families after seeking the home ministry's assistance.
Indian football team's dismal run continued as they suffered a humiliating 0-4 loss to Iran in a Group D match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The Kochi IPL controversy also draws attention to the clout of Gulf-based Keralites
Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party chief L K Advani on Saturday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to sack Shashi Tharoor in the wake of the minister of state for external affairs getting embroiled in the Kochi IPL team ownership controversy. "The prime minister must drop Shashi Tharoor from the council of ministers because of gross impropriety unbecoming of the office he is occupying," Advani said.
Shashi Tharoor on Friday rejected the Opposition's demands for his resignation as minister of state for external affairs by asserting that the allegations against him on the IPL issue were 'baseless, ill-founded and ill-motivated'. "The real motive behind the public controversy that has been created around me is to make the Kochi team unviable and to assign this IPL franchise to elsewhere than Kerala," he said in a statement tabled in the Lok Sabha.
The Congress rejected as absurd the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand that Union Minister Shashi Tharoor be sacked over the IPL controversy and said it was up to the cricket board to decide on allegations of impropriety over his role in the Kochi IPL team.