Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday.
Indian wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha was, on Tuesday, ruled out of the third and final Test against South Africa due to a hamstring injury and will be replaced by Dinesh Karthik in the squad.
Former skipper Mark Taylor has backed the appointment of Steve Smith as Australia's vice-captain more than three years after he was stripped of the captaincy for his involvement in the Newlands ball-tampering scandal.
The first hurdle is how long Jet Airways can enjoy rights over its parking slots at various airports.
Former pacer Ashish Nehra feels the Indian team management can think of handing Jasprit Bumrah his Test debut in the opening game against South Africa as his awkward action and yorkers might prove lethal on the Cape Town track.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith has found his 'lucky Test cap', which he wore for 89 matches, within days of it being allegedly stolen while he was on his way to Durban from Cape town.
While form is important, Tim Paine's hopes of retaining his spot may ultimately rest on whether selectors feel he might be a major distraction amid the pressures of an Ashes series.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the 2nd Test played at the Wanderers on Thursday.
Jemimah Rodrigues, who hit a match-winning 38-ball unbeaten 53 in a seven-wicket win in India's Women's T20 World Cup opener in Cape Town on Sunday, said at one point of time she even contemplated quitting the game.
Sibley put on 116 for the third wicket with captain Joe Root (61), before the latter steered Dwaine Pretorius to Faf du Plessis at slip late on.
It is awaiting approval from the Indian government for its School of Public Health to open an office in Mumbai, a report in the college newspaper The Harvard Crimson said.
Regular knock out defeats at global events gives rise to serious questions
The top posts on social media from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
The Indian women's cricket team will return from their tour of South Africa without losing a series after the fourth Twenty20 International was abandoned due to rain.
Kohli holds the record for most Test appearances as India Test captain (68) and he also holds the record for most Test wins by an Indian captain (40). Only Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, and Steve Waugh have won more matches than Kohli as captain in Test cricket.
Former Australia captain Mark Taylor resigned from Cricket Australia's (CA) board of directors on Monday, as the fallout from a scathing review into the governing body's culture claimed another victim.
41/4 is the worst start in a Test from which India has gone on to win a match. Rajneesh Gupta has all the numbers.
'Everything has to come to halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India, it's now.'
The Pretoria wicket is likely to be similar, with perhaps not the same sideways movement of Newlands, and will provide another test of the Indian batsmen's bravery against a seam bowling barrage.
World soccer's leaders meet this week on an island notorious for its once brutal prison but where the game offered relief and hope for hundreds of anti-apartheid activists.
Former South Africa batting all-rounder Farhan Behardien is hoping that the new COVID-19 variant, which is causing alarm here, will not jeopardise India's tour of the country next month as young cricketers of his nation need the series "more than ever".
Cricket Australia imposed a two-year captaincy ban on him for his involvement in the sandpaper gate, ball-tampering scandal in 2018.
India hinted at a recall for Ajinkya Rahane in the third cricket Test against South Africa, days after his omission from the first two matches of the series raised eyebrows.
The fourth Test will not just be about how the Australian team perform, but how their behaviour is viewed by the watching world as they look to put the recent scandal behind them.
'A focused and balanced perspective is needed in the condemnation on those involved in this, with a clear and critical consideration to the social impact and mental health of all players'
Virat Kohli's talismanic presence will be the shot in the arm that India would need in their bid to win the historic first-ever away Test series against South Africa.
Former skipper Ian Chappell backed premier fast bowler Pat Cummins over batting maestro Steve Smith for the Australian captaincy after incumbent Tim Paine retires.
Buttler believes the Twenty20 series, in particular, is important for England to work through their selection permutations.
Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara and former Australian cricketer Jason Gillespie are currently in self-quarantine, following the government's guidelines for those recently returning from Europe, which has now become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first Indian wicket-keeper to effect 400 dismissals in ODIs.
Australia's three-match series in South Africa will finalise their World T20 preparations.
England will play four tests, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals on their tour of South Africa in 2009/10, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Friday.
South Africa's second one-day international against England has been abandoned after only 11.2 overs of play due to rain at Kingsmead on Friday. Heavy showers overnight in Durban and more persistent rain throughout the day frustrated the players and fans, with the game called off at 7pm local time.
With Paine, at 36, reaching the fag end of his career, a fresh captaincy discussion has started.
India skipper Virat Kohli missed out on the series-deciding third Twenty20 International against South Africa due to stiff back, in Cape Town on Saturday.
Virat Kohli has not scored an international hundred since November 2019 but head coach Rahul Dravid dismissed notions that the owner of 27 Test hundreds is "lacking in motivation".
Wearing Australian colours for the first time since the ball-tampering scandal erupted in Cape Town in March, 2018, Steve Smith and David Warner were greeted warmly by a small crowd in Brisbane, where Aaron Finch's team took a one-wicket win.
'The reality is around the rest of the world... teams have had to deal with positive cases... We have to manage it as best we can.'
The ball-tampering issue resurfaced when Cameron Bancroft recently hinted in an interview that the bowlers in the team might have been aware of the plot
