Sports

Moscow, Jun 15: Finally let loose after a year-long diet of international friendlies, hosts Russia roared their World Cup intent to the rafters on Thursday with a 5-0 tournament-opening win over Saudi Arabia. The Russians served up an adrenaline-fuelled performance for an 80,000-capacity Luzhniki crowd which included President Vladimir Putin and the Saudi crown prince. The Saudis ranked three

Jun 14: Afghanistan displayed their stomach for a fight in their maiden test by claiming five wickets in the final session to leave India on 347 for six after the opening day of the one-off contest on Thursday. India`s Shikhar Dhawan and fellow centurion Murali Vijay raised 168 runs for the opening stand to vindicate the decision to bat as the hosts cruised to 280 for one after thoroughly

Bengaluru, Jun 14: Shikhar Dhawan on Thursday became the first Indian player to score a century in Test cricket before lunch, joining an esteemed list of former cricketers, including the legendary Don Bradman. The explosive Indian opener hammered 19 fours and 3 sixes as he reached his century in 91 balls on the opening day of the historic India-Afghanistan test match at Chinnaswamy stadium here

Moscow, Jun 14: Russia's football team has failed to chalk up a single victory in eight months but things could be about to improve -- according to a supposedly clairvoyant cat who predicted a win for the side in the first World Cup match. Achilles, a deaf white cat who is the official animal soothsayer for the tournament, on Wednesday chose a bowl of food bearing the host's flag rather than that

Bengaluru, Jun 14: India skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to bat in the one-off Test against debutant Afghanistan at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday. Former India all-rounder Salim Durani, who was born in Kabul, performed the spin of the coin. He also handed a memento to Afghanistan skipper Stanikzai. India: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (c

New Delhi, Jun 13: Chess player Soumya Swaminathan has been left a bit shaken by the storm triggered by her pullout from a tournament in Iran over the issue of compulsory headscarf but remains firm in her belief that religious diktats should not extend beyond places of worship. The 29-year-old woman grandmaster, who is also a former junior world champion, opted out of the Asian Team Chess

Krasnodar, Jun 13: Spain dramatically sacked coach Julen Lopetegui on Wednesday -- just two days before the team's opening game against Portugal at the World Cup. In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, Real Madrid appointed Lopetegui as Zinedine Zidane's successor to take over after the tournament in Russia, sparking outrage among the federation and Spanish fans at the timing of the announcement

Moscow, Jun 13: The United States, Mexico and Canada won the right to host the 2026 World Cup after easily beating Morocco in a vote by FIFA member nations on today. The North American bid received 134 of the 203 votes, while Morocco polled 65 in the ballot at a FIFA Congress held in Moscow on the eve of the 2018 World Cup. Football's showpiece event will return to the North American continent for

Jun 13: It wasn’t easy being Dinesh Karthik in an era where Mahendra Singh Dhoni redefined the role of a keeper-batsman. Having last played a Test match way back in 2010, Karthik, during all these years of soul searching, was honest in his analysis as to why he didn’t get a chance to wear the white flannels — “he was not good enough in presence of a special player like Dhoni”. “Look, I think I

Wellington, Jun 13: New Zealand's leading Test wicket taker Richard Hadlee has had surgery for bowel cancer and will have follow-up chemotherapy treatment, his family said on Wednesday. The 66-year-old Hadlee, who is considered one of the finest fast bowlers of all time having retired in 1990 with 431 Test wickets, had surgery after a routine checkup discovered a tumour. “This operation went