England's selectors are acutely aware of the impact on players of bio-secure bubbles and with a demanding year ahead, are making sure they protect their key performers.
Should Manchester United win their next two games, the gap will be cut to four points and while only a collapse of astonishing proportions would deny Manchester City the title.
During the chat, Pietersen also said that Pant has immense talent but sometimes he ends up playing irresponsible shots, which is the main reason for his criticism.
Sergio Aguero's hat-trick led Manchester City to a 3-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday and back into second place in the English Premier League, two points behind leaders Liverpool.
As the winning run was hit, skipper Ganguly took his shirt off at the balcony of Lord's Cricket Ground to celebrate in style.
AC Milan grabbed a 1-1 draw at Manchester United in the blockbuster Europa League last-16 first-leg at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Manchester United are fifth in the Premier League standings with 58 points, one behind Leicester City, who occupy the final Champions League spot with four games to play.
A goal on either side of the break powered Real Kashmir to a 2-0 win over Indian Arrows in the I-League, in Margao, on Sunday.
Kohli, thus, became the 12th batsman and third Indian after Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid to reach 20,000 international runs.
Lewis Hamilton, winner of a record 94 races, said after winning Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix to clinch the title that he thought more of others.
Former chairman of selectors Kris Srikkanth likened Sourav Ganguly with West Indies great Clive Lloyd, and described the current BCCI president as a born leader, who inspired the Indian cricket team to dream big on foreign shores.
Nerves jangled, fulltime came and went. The spectre of a dreaded shootout loomed, and then in the 104th minute Sterling went down under the lightest of challenges and up stepped Kane to propel England into their first final since the 1966 World Cup.
Dean Henderson arrived at the club from Carlisle United at the age of 14,
NorthEast United FC were held to a thrilling 3-3 draw by Chennaiyin FC at the GMC Stadium, in Bambolim
Chelsea lost their opening Premier League game with Lampard in charge 4-0 to Manchester United on Sunday and face Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday.
Senior opener Tamim Iqbal opted out of Bangladesh's upcoming tour of India as his wife is due with the couple's second child.
Jorginho's first-half penalty earned Chelsea a 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Thursday.
The two great rivals meet at Roland Garros for the first time in eight years in Friday's tie.
A magnificent long-range strike from Youri Tielemans gave Leicester City their first FA Cup triumph with a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday, in front of the biggest crowd in England since March 2020.
Tottenham moved up to seventh place with 36 points from 22 games
Real Kashmir FC's rise as a top side in the I-League has been "nothing short of a fairytale", feels its Scottish coach David Robertson, who is happy to have refused more lucrative assignments in other countries considering the "pure passion" for the beautiful game in the Kashmir Valley.
The supermodel was in Aspen on New Year's eve.
Austin is a favourite track for the 34-year-old Mercedes driver and he will also be fancied to round up his Texan win tally to six on Sunday.
He told supporters that he was keeping 'one promise after another', dismissing criticism as 'fake news' by 'out of touch' journalists.
Images from EPL matches played on Wednesday
'It was a big surprise because I haven't really left the house, apart from some exercise and the odd walk with the kids. I've mainly just been homeschooling and keeping fit.'
Star all-rounder Ben Stokes had sneaked off for a "cigarette break" in order to calm his nerves ahead of the Super Over during last year's epic World Cup final against New Zealand, an anecdote which finds mention in a new book on England's triumph.
'All selectors must be sufficiently thick-skinned and prepared to take criticism.' T C A Srinivasa Raghavan checks out Ravi Shastri's first book.
Rui Patricio saved three penalties as Wolverhampton Wanderers defeated English Premier League champions Manchester City to claim the Premier League Asia Trophy 3-2 in a penalty shootout.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes was named on Wednesday in a 16-man squad for the Ashes tour to Australia despite being arrested earlier in the week for an altercation outside a Bristol nightclub.
Australian Grand Prix was cancelled due to worries about the coronavirus outbreak, after a McLaren team member tested positive before the first practice session was scheduled to get underway at Albert Park.
There were close matches, acrobatic fielding, some sharp bowling and big runs scored in the round-robin phase. Here are some memorable moments from the World Cup so far
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
In the six games he had played so far, Tamim has hit just one half-century in the competition -- 62 against Australia at Trent Bridge on Thursday that too in a losing cause.
Here are some 'different' clicks as England sauntered to another comfortable victory on Tuesday...
The first Test is scheduled to begin on July 8 at the Ageas Bowl and Joe Root will leave England's training camp on Wednesday to be with his wife, Carrie, who is expecting their second child later this week.
Amazon Prime Video becomes the first Indian streaming service to secure exclusive live cricket rights from a major cricketing board.
India sailed into the ICC World Cup semi-finals and eliminated opponents Bangladesh after Rohit Sharma's century and Jasprit Bumrah's four-wicket haul secured a 28-run victory over their neighbours on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka need to win their final two games, and hope for favourable outcomes in England and Pakistan's next fixtures.
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