On a seismic day in the history of Chelsea, Romelu Lukaku scored the winning goal in a 3-2 FA Cup fifth-round victory
India head coach Ravi Shastri on Wednesday said the ICC World Test Championship final should be a best-of-three affair in the long run and not a one-off match like his side is set to play against New Zealand in the inaugural edition.
Fast bowler Jofra Archer will, however, go through a second COVID-19 test and will join England's behind-closed-doors training camp on Thursday, provided he tests negative.
Virat Kohli is intense and aggressive on the field but off it he is nice and welcoming, according to his Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate New Zealand pacer Kyle Jameison. The lanky pacer said the Indian skipper is extremely passionate about winning.
Former skipper Sourav Ganguly described India as favourites to lift the World Cup, saying the team is in best possible shape to win the quadrennial event which gets underway at England on May 30.
Newcastle grabbed a point to leave City manager Pep Guardiola frustrated.
Former and current players took to Twitter to extend wishes to Ravi Shastri
New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson is aware that the challenge of playing Test cricket in India will be different from what it is back home, his enviable record notwithstanding.
'They say 'a picture paints a thousand words', so seeing Rishi Sunak PM at the door of Number 10 can never be taken from us.'' 'It is a symbol that will go down in the history books.' 'It is the very embodiment of me saying to my boys, "You can be who you want to be",' notes James Salins in this must-read feature.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday
India finished a gruelling home series against England, but Virat Kohli has already moved on to his next big task -- IPL 2021.
Lacazette fired the Gunners ahead in the eighth minute after poor defending by the home side before new signing Gabriel made it 2-0 in the 49th and Aubameyang put the icing on the cake with a superb shot into the top corner.
Imperious Liverpool extended their Premier League home winning streak against Arsenal to six on Saturday with an easy 4-0 victory that lifted them to second in the table.
Shakib Al Hassan became the second bowler to take 100 T20 wickets, after Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga, as Bangladesh defended 112-8 by bowling Australia out for 62 in 13.4 overs, the tourists lowest Twenty20 score.
India are likely to rest most of their senior players during the T20I series against New Zealand at home, which starts less than a week after the final of the T20 World Cup next month.
It was Virat Kohli's fourth unsuccessful attempt to lead India to an ICC title
Kane Williamson's team became Test cricket's first official world champions
The ICC Awards will comprise a total of 13 individual recognitions in all, as well as five Team of the Year announcements for each format across both men's and women's cricket.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the 3rd Test played between England and Pakistan at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Monday.
Quarantine restrictions might hamper the Indian team's preparations for next month's ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand but bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar feel that the players' abundant experience will be enough to counter that challenge.
England have named uncapped seam bowler Ollie Robinson in their 14-man squad to replace all-rounder Ben Stokes for the second Test against Pakistan starting on Thursday, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Wednesday.
England batsman Zak Crawley had a nagging feeling early in his innings that a hundred was on the cards before he powered on to realise his dream of a first Test century with a sparkling unbeaten 171 against Pakistan at the Rose Bowl on Friday.
India will hope the return of regular captain Virat Kohli proves to be the difference for the hosts against New Zealand when the world's two top-ranked Test sides clash in the second and final match at the Wankhede Stadium from Friday.
Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe was recalled to the England squad at the age of 34 on Thursday ahead of next week's friendly in Germany and a World Cup qualifier at home to Lithuania.
'They have got tremendous depth in their squad, the big guns are back and they are a quality outfit under the leadership of Virat Kohli.'
Senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revealed he had given serious thought about retiring after the England series in 2018 as he felt he was not being adequately backed despite being a proven match-winner for the Indian team.
Pakistan middle-order batsman Mohammad Rizwan hit a defiant half century on a difficult batting pitch to guide his side past the 200-mark in their first innings and frustrate England in the second Test on Friday.
Pakistan opener Abid Ali scored a half-century but England's seam bowlers used the muggy conditions to their advantage to restrict the tourists to 126 for five at the close of a rain-hit opening day of the second Test at the Rose Bowl on Thursday.
Kane Williamson is aware that spin is a "big component" in a Test series in India and expects his specialist slow bowlers -- left-arm orthodox Ajaz Patel and off-spinner William Somerville -- to adapt to the conditions quickly and make a difference.
India will be without captain and batting mainstay Virat Kohli, who decided to skip the first of the two Tests, while batter Rohit Sharma, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami will miss both matches.
The television rights in the UK for England's tour of India remain undecided with just a week left for the opening Test match in Chennai from February 5.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said on Tuesday all of its home-based players heading to England for a two-match Test series and the World Test Championship final have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Parthiv Patel gave his views on on what the World Test Championship title would mean for Virat Kohli.
Before heading to Australia for the Ashes in the winter, England play seven Tests at home against New Zealand and India this summer.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Ben Stokes, who missed England's final two Test matches against Pakistan at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton earlier this month, travelled to New Zealand citing family reasons.
Leicester City reached the FA Cup final for the first time in more than 50 years
Liverpool will resume their quest for a first top-flight title in 30 years at city rivals Everton on June 21, as the English Premier League released its revised fixture list for the first three weeks of the restarted season on Friday. Liverpool are 25 points clear at the top and are two victories away from winning the Premier League, but will have a shot at securing the title by beating Everton if City lose to Arsenal.
The Scottish broadcaster said Murray was self-isolating and still had hopes of competing in the Australian Open next month.
Fast-bowling great Richard Hadlee expects swing bowlers to dominate the final of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) between India and New Zealand in Southampton next month.
