India qualified automatically for the event as hosts. They have prepared well with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) sending the players for training tours in Europe and a tournament in Mexico but the home side are the clear underdogs.
Rank-outsiders India may have a 'small percentage' of winning their tournament opener in the FIFA U-17 World Cup against what he expects to be an attacking USA team, coach Luis Norton de Matos said on Thursday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
'This is the beginning of good times for women's cricket.'
The celebrations after the 2017 World Cup went on for the next few months. But there was one question that the Indian cricketers failed to respond to in their interviews. 'What was their next assignment?' Nobody knew; the players were waiting for the BCCI to tell them. The BCCI, with barely any time from its endless legal tangles, had nothing in mind immediately. The likes of Australia and England were back on the field, battling it out in the Ashes in front of sizeable crowds. But for Mithali Raj and team, there was no road ahead.
Tamil Nadu Tennis Association Vice President Karti Chidambaram says the top 5-6 players such as Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sumit Nagal, Dhakshineshwar Suresh and Nitin Sinha should be supported to travel with a common coach and trainer, play 26 tournaments, out of which at least 18 are abroad, train for 20 weeks and have six weeks of rest in a year.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
The youngest president of the Indian cricket board in India in independent India, Anurag Thakur has taken over the reins of the world's richest cricketing body at a time it is fighting an existential battle against a complete restructuring recommended by the Supreme Court.
In its quest to paint a rosy picture on the health of Indian cricket, Board of Control for Cricket in India president N Srinivasan and former treasurer Ravi Savant's note in the Board's Annual Report doesn't have a single mention of the spot-fixing scandal that rocked the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League.
Former India Test batsman Praveen Amre and ex-Karnataka left-arm spinner Raghuram Bhat have been found to be in Conflict of Interest by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's Ombudsman. However, former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar was cleared of a similar charge.
It would be unfair to expect India to bedazzle crowds with eye-catching football. This team is built around stability, writes Dhruv Munjal
When it comes to the winning strike rate, Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal has emerged victorious on eight of every ten seats it contested while only one of the every three Bharatiya Janata Party candidates managed to win.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag says he would love to be a mentor or a batting consultant for any IPL team which will give him a chance to share his knowledge with youngsters.
'Put cricket, first and foremost, at the centre of every decision you take.' 'The bottom line must always be the sport that we love.' Rahul Dravid as eloquent as always in his M A K Pataudi Memorial Lecture.
Full text of Rahul Dravid's Pataudi Memorial Lecture in New Delhi.
'What is true khadoos? Stubborn? Dogged? Unyielding? Relentless? Or something in between that? Or all of it together?' 'Just like you can't translate it, you can't teach a kid to be khadoos either. You can only inculcate that attitude in him by sharing stories of all the khadoos-ness of past stalwarts.' 'For instance, the story of Sunil Gavaskar batting left handed to counter the left-arm spin of Raghuram Bhat and salvaging a draw in the 1981-1982 Ranji Trophy semi-finals...' Rahul Dravid on Cricket's Great Oral Tradition.