Sports

Mumbai, June 30: Cracking the whip on cricketers caught in a IPL spot-fixing scandal, the BCCI on Saturday imposed a life ban on pacer T P Sudhindra but handed lighter punishments to four other domestic players who were also exposed in the TV sting operation. The decision to ban the players for varying degrees was taken by the BCCI’s disciplinary committee, headed by its president N Srinivasan

London, June 30: A swashbuckling 89 not out from Eoin Morgan proved crucial as England beat Australia by 15 runs in the first one-day international at Lord's on Friday. Steven Finn and Stuart Broad both took 2-47 as England produced a stifling fielding display to dismiss Australia for 257-9 and take a 1-0 lead in the five-game series. Australia captain Michael Clarke hit 61 from 67 balls with a

Londom, June 29: Launching outrageous winners left, right and centre, obscure Czech Lukas Rosol rocked Wimbledon's Centre Court to its foundations on Thursday by winning a final-set shootout after dusk against twice former champion Rafa Nadal. Ranked 100th in the world, few of the enthralled 15,000 fans inside the famous arena would have heard of Rosol before the match started but none present

Bangalore, June 29: Leading Indian pacer Zaheer Khan joined the on-going fitness tests for Indian players at the National Cricket Academy on Thursday. The left-arm seamer did sprints and underwent beep test in the evening, while opening batsman Gautam Gambhir too reported on the day. Gambhir, who recently led Kolkata Knight Riders to their maiden title win in the Indian Premier League, will spend

Lahore, June 28: Pakistan has formally lodged a complaint over poor umpiring decisions in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle, at a time when the International Cricket Council executive board has decided against making the Umpires Decision Review System (UDRS) compulsory in all Tests. Clearly buckling under pressure from the Indian cricket board's strong opposition to the UDRS, the ICC board

Kuala Lumpur, June 28: Sharad Pawar's reign as the president of the International Cricket Council ended on Thursday as New Zealand's Alan Isaac took charge from him for a two-year term at the ICC Annual Conference here. The 60-year-old Isaac, a former New Zealand Cricket chief, became the eighth president of the ICC, while former South Africa wicket-kepeer David Richardson was confirmed as the new

New Delhi, June 27: AITA on Wednesday put up a weak defence to Sania’s Mirza’s jibe taken at it, saying the selection for the London Olympics was done purely on merit and that it acknowledges the accomplishments of Sania. Sania, who got a wild card entry into the Olympics, had on Tuesday night lashed out at All India Tennis Association (AITA) for using her as a “bait to pacify a disgruntled

Bangalore, June 27: In growing signs of improvement, Yuvraj Singh enjoyed his first significant ‘nets’ session since his battle with cancer, here on Tuesday. The 30-year-old batted and bowled, albeit somewhat gingerly, at the National Cricket Academy (NCA)’s outdoor facility. “I think it was a big achievement to get into the nets. It felt really good; I’m happy,” he said. “It was not a bad session

New Delhi, June 27: Sania Mirza, who got a wild card entry for the Olympics, on Tuesday indicated she has no problem in partnering Leander Paes in the mixed doubles event in London but hit out at the AITA for using her as a “bait” in the selection row. Moments after she was handed a wild card along with veteran Rushmi Chakravarthy in the women’s doubles event for the London Games, Sania said

London, June 26: Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams suffered her worst All England Club defeat in 15 years on Monday, but draw cards Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova powered into the second round. Williams lost 6-1, 6-3 to 79th-ranked Russian Elena Vesnina in what was the 32-year-old's first opening round loss since her 1997 debut. But the former world number one -- the