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The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has to submit bid for hosting the tournsments by Aug 25. AIFF president Praful Patel met FIFA boss Sepp Blatter here to discuss the possibilities of hosting the 2015 and 2016 Club World Cup. India have also been granted the 2017 U-17 World Cup. FIFA in a statement Friday said that the bidding process has been opened for four editions of the FIFA Club World Cup, FIFA’s major club competition....

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has said that his respect for Australian skipper Steve Smith has risen after he apologised for his action in the post-match press conference for his antics during the Dharamshala Test. “Steve Smith is a big man to admit that he has made a mistake. My respect for him has gone even higher for admitting that he was wrong,” Gavaskar told NDTV. Another opener, but of a different era, Aakash Chopra echoed Gavaskar’s words, stating that by apologising Smith has shown that he isn’t just a great batsman but also a fine human being....

Ahead of their match, skipper Sunil Chhetri addressed the media at the pre-match press conference and on missing in-form striker Balwant Singh due to injury, Chhetri opined, “I hope not. Balwant was doing very good for us. He is an asset to have in your team, especially in the last one year that he had a great season. I just hope that the ones who are getting an opportunity in place of Balwant live up to the expectations....

India Shikhar Dhawan b Matt Henry 1 Murali Vijay c BJ Walting b Matt Henry 9 Cheteshwar Pujara batting 31 Virat Kohli c Tom Latham b Trent Boult 9 Ajinkya Rahane batting 2 Extras (lb 5) Total 57 (3 wickets; 27 overs) Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Dhawan 1.4), 2-28 (Vijay 11.2), 3-46 (Kohli 21.4) Bowlers Trent Boult 8-4-13-1 Matt Henry 6-2-14-2 Neil Wagner 5-1-10-0 Mitchell Santner 4-2-3-0 Jeetan Patel 4-1-12-0–IANS...

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja also had a good game, picking up six wickets in the match, including three in one over on the last day of the Test. Jadeja also had a record-breaking game, becoming the quickest left-arm bowler to reach 200 Test wickets. He reached the landmark in 44 Tests, overtaking Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath who took 47 Tests for the same feat. Both Ashwin and Jadeja have tasted excellent success against South Africa in home conditions....

Vice-captain Rohit Sharma gets a much deserved break for the Sri Lanka series, and will return for the subsequent limited overs series against Australia. On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan and Jasprit Bumrah make their return to the squad for India’s first limited overs assignment of 2020. Even with Rohit not playing the series, India are still a strong outfit and it will take something special for Sri Lanka to upset Kohli and company at home....

Sri Lankan skipper Lasith Malinga won the toss and invited India to bat first. The Indian openers provided a strong start and ended with 201-6 in 20 overs thanks to the fireworks by Manish Pandey (31 runs off 18 balls) and Shardul Thakur (22 runs off 8 balls) at the backend of the innings. Chasing 202, Sri Lanka lost their way as they lost four quick wickets in the powerplay overs....

Winning the toss, the hosts decided to bat first. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma built a dashing 72-run partnership which was broken by Ashley Nurse who dismissed Shikhar Dhawan. Virat Kohli suffered a rare failure as he was given out in the 16th over at the 16 runs. The Indian Captain’s dismissal was followed by a historic partnership between Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu. Whilst, on one hand, Rohit Sharma scored 162 runs in 137 balls which consisted of 20 fours and 4 sixers....

India’s spinners and a spirited Umesh Yadav ensured India had an easy outing as far as the Tests go. The ODI series was more of a contest with Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmeyer impressing with the bat for the Windies. They managed to defeat India in one game and tie another. India on the whole look settled with Ambati Rayudu’s consistent run of form at the #4 slot providing India with some relief....

A majority of senior players like Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja being rested for this short tour. Zimbabwe had requested for a one-off Test match but BCCI was in no mood to disturb its plans of resting the seniors after a long and gruelling cricket season. This time though there is a twist in the tale with MS Dhoni leading the side instead of Raina, Kohli and Rahane who had led on previous 3 Zimbabwe tours of 2010, 2013 and 2015 respectively....

MS Dhoni, along with four other players – Mandeep Singh, Jayant Yadav, KL Rahul and Dhawal Kulkarni, held a mandatory press conference on Tuesday evening in Mumbai. Although India don’t have a fixed head coach yet, former Indian cricketer and batting coach Sanjay Bangar will take the role of interim head coach for this tour. The team at Bangar’s disposal will be a very young team, with several of those making their debuts....

Chasing a target of 214, the Indian team put up a close fight but were all out for 201 runs in 48.4 overs at the North Marine Road Ground. Smriti Mandhana (32) kept the scoreboard ticking up the order but the team lost wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 97 for four. Skipper Mithali Raj also contributed with a patient 30 but couldn’t arrest the slide. Harmanpreet Kaur (43) and Vellaswamy Vanitha (23) led the fightback with their 41-run stand for the fifth wicket....

England declared their innings on 396 for the loss of 9. India Women were bundled out for 231 and had to follow on. It was an uphill task for the Indians. After losing Deepti Sharma, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Punam Raut in quick succession, Sneh Rana stepped up in her maiden innings to see them to safety. Here’s a look at the key takeaways from this game for the India Women side Shafali Verma is a star This was a match where the debutants from the India Women side were absolutely brilliant....

Electing to bat first, South Africa Women got off to the worst possible start when experienced bowler Jhulan Goswami picked up the wicket of Lizelle Lee on the first ball of the match, catching her plumb in front of the wicket. The Indian bowlers looked on song today, bowling impeccable lines and lengths to cramp the South African women for any room. The visiting side failed to bat out the full quota of overs as India bundled them out for only 164 in 45....

The draws for the team event were held yesterday and India have been handed a tough draw in both men’s and women’s team event. Team Event - Men The Indian men’s team is scheduled to play the Maldives in their first match which should be a comfortable victory. But they have been drawn to play the second seed Indonesia in the quarterfinals. The team event comprises three singles event and two doubles event....

India have risen by four spots after their impressive showing during the international break in June when they notched up a 2-0 friendly win over Nepal and a 1-0 win over Kyrgyzstan in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers group match. India to bid for 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup India currently have 341 rating points, an increase of 10 from their previous tally. India also profited from Namibia who plummeted an astonishing 62 spots from 94 to be ranked 156....

The ISL’s Kolkata franchise also announced that they have tied down three key foreigners to staying with the club for at least another year - with captain Manuel Lanzarote, midfielder Edu Garcia, and defender John Johnson also committing their near futures to the club. The Sanjiv Goenka-owned franchise have had a terrible last couple of seasons, after being champions of the ISL twice in the first three seasons. They finished 9th in 2017-18 before finishing 6th in 2018-19....

Winning the game will be a tough task but the Indian players’ spirit will be high going into the final two days. Seventeen wickets fell in what turned out be a roller coaster day with India dismissing the Black Caps cheaply after being bowled out for 202 before lunch. The visitors started well in the second innings through Shikhar Dhawan (49) who saw out the close of play alongside Cheteshwar Pujara (22)....

India hammered hosts Indonesia 17-0 in their opening Pool A match yesterday, thereby registering their highest victory margin in the history of the Asian Games. India’s previous highest margin of win was a 12-0 rout of Iran in 1974 and Bangladesh in 1982. The level of competition in Asian Games is by no means comparable to the world standard but a 17-0 walloping of any country can definitely be seen as a morale booster for India....

The Indian fast bowling arsenal has gone from strength to strength over the last few years. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have given skipper Virat Kohli the firepower to succeed in all conditions. The consistency of India’s seam bowling attack has helped them win Test matches in England, Australia, and South Africa. Ian Bishop, who was briefly part of golden age of West Indies pacers, believes that Indian cricket is witnessing a new age when it comes to fast bowling....