Now, the chief minister is under pressure to make good his promise after the December 4 incident in Nagaland's Mon, where 14 people were killedAFSPA has eclipsed all other achievements of the Biren Singh government.
After a gap of nearly 20 months, the Pakistan cricket team will finally be playing a proper and full Test series when they tour Sri Lanka in July.
It is the first time that India have made a clean sweep in a Test series in the West Indies.
One of the finest but most controversial spinners of his generation, Sri Lankan veteran Muttiah Muralitharan bid an emotional goodbye to his 18-year-old Test career on Thursday with an unprecedented tally of 800 wickets.
Images from the fifth day's play in the first Test between Sri Lanka and India, in Galle, on Thursday.
India will seek to end a 17-year-long series drought in Sri Lanka when they go into the three-match Test series against the island nation in Galle on Sunday with a depleted bowling attack and dodgy form of some of their famed batsmen.
Gota has to decide if he could order elder brother Mahinda's arrest as the agent provocateur of Monday's violence. Then he has to prepare for an interim government, in which no one would now want to become a cabinet minister leave alone prime minister, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
The ICC appointed Allan Hurst and Chris Broad as match referees for India's Test and one-day series against Sri Lanka respectively.
India captain Anil Kumble said he was proud of his players after they bounced back on Sunday to level the series against Sri Lanka with a convincing 170-run victory in the second Test in Galle.
India will tour the island in July and August to play in three Tests and five One-Day Internationals. The six-week tour will includes two Test matches in Colombo and one at the newly renovated Galle International Stadium.
'It's a close Test at the moment. We will try to bowl out Sri Lanka in another 50-60 runs and take a lead. We need to post a big score in the second innings. The wicket is offering turn and that is good for India (as Sri Lanka will bat the fourth innings),' India's coach Gary Kirsten said after the second day's play.
Rangana Herath exploited New Zealand's weakness against spin to claim six wickets as Sri Lanka scored a 10-wicket victory on the third day of the first Test in Galle on Monday.
Cricketers from the team of the Emirald Isle are under suspicion following their dismal performance in the recently concluded New Zealand tour
Sri Lanka may have reached a strong position in the first Test after a good show by their batsmen on the opening day of the 1st Test in Galle but India coach Gary Kirsten is hopeful of bouncing back.
Top-order colleagues Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen shared an unbeaten 63-run stand for the third wicket to keep alive England's faint winning chance in the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Chasing a 340-run victory target, England finished the third day on 111 for two wickets, still 229 runs behind what could be a record successful chase in Galle.
Mahela Jayawardene scored four streaky runs in his last Test, as Pakistan's bowlers dismantled Sri Lanka's first innings on the opening day of the second and final match, in Colombo, on Thursday.
Half centuries from Michael Vaughan, Alastair Cook and Ian Bell allowed England to reach 250 for three at tea before the final session was washed out.
After the first Test in Galle last week, a former Sri Lankan cricketer pointed out that despite the bowler having a questionable action, no one is talking about it.
Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by seven wickets on the third day of the second Test in Colombo on Tuesday. The hosts chased their victory target of 171 runs in 31.5 overs for the loss of just three wickets to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
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Fast bowler Mitchell Starc picked up his second five-wicket haul in the match to lead Australia to a comprehensive 366-run victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka and a 2-0 series win.
Sri Lankan veteran Kumar Sangakkara has been asked to review his retirement plans after he had told national selectors in April of hanging up his boots post the 2015 World Cup in Australia.
In the batsmen's rankings, Cheteshwar Pujara is the top-ranked Indian at the fourth position while opener Shikhar Dhawan climbed 21 places to be ranked 39th.
Muttiah Muralitharan on Thursday blamed non-performing youngsters and an unsettled combination for Sri Lankan cricket team's woes in recent times.
Off-spinner Suraj Randiv forced his way back into the Sri Lankan team for the upcoming two-match Test series against England, scheduled to commence from March 26 in the southern port town of Galle.
England beat Sri Lanka by 42 runs in the third and final Test in Colombo, on Monday, to complete a 3-0 series sweep.
Virender Sehwag smashed a brilliant 128, but the loss of four quick wickets saw India end Day 1 on 214 for 4, in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.
Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews has blamed his batsmen for the heavy defeat in the second Test against India in Colombo, saying they lost the game with their first innings batting.
Sri Lanka's Galle Cricket Club could sue Shane Warne for not honouring a pledge to reconstruct the tsunami-hit ground.
Sri Lanka announced an unchanged 15-man squad for the second Test against South Africa which starts in Colombo on August 11.
Off-spinner Moeen Ali struck twice in three deliveries as England completed a 57-run victory in the second test against Sri Lanka on the final day on Sunday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Pending Indian visa forces PCB to push back date for Hafeez's testing
With the humiliating loss in Colombo still rankling the Indian cricket team, Indian opener Gautam Gambhir on Monday asserted that the visitors will find a way to tackle the menacing spin duo of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis in the second cricket Test starting July 31 in Galle.
Images from the Day 3 of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka in Galle.
Fast bowler Ryan Harris made quick work of dismissing three of Sri Lanka's top batsmen to put Australia in command on the third day of the first Test in Galle and make the home team's task of chasing down 379 runs look even more daunting on Friday.
Barely a few days into retirement and there is something in Test cricket that Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muraliatharan is already missing - bowling to Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar.
Completely outsmarted by Sri Lanka, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday admitted that lack of experience in the pace attack and failure to build partnerships proved costly for his team in the opening Test in Galle.
Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana hit centuries to put Sri Lanka on top India on a truncated opening day of the first Test in Galle, on Sunday. Having elected to bat, Sri Lanka were sitting pretty on 256 for two in 68 overs before play was called off early due to bad light.
