Sports

Jeddah, Jan 3: Spanish driver Fernando Alonso is aiming to create history as the first Formula One world champion to win the Dakar Rally when the 12-day marathon gets underway in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Alonso, who won the F1 championship with Renault in 2005 and 2006, is one of 351 starters in this year's 7,500 km race which has moved from South America to Saudi Arabia, both venues a long way

New Delhi, Jan 2: Thrilled after getting to know about Hardik Pandya and Natasa Stankovic's engagement, skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday called it a "pleasant surprise". Extending his best wishes to the newly-engaged couple, Kohli posted a comment on Pandya's Instagram post which read, "Congratulations H. What a pleasant surprise. Wish you guys great times ahead. God bless". On the first day of

New Delhi, Jan 2: On the first day of the New Year 2020, Hardik Pandya announced his engagement with Serbian actor Natasa Stankovic. The cricketer took to Instagram to share a photo with the actor and captioned the post: "Mai tera, Tu meri jaane, saara Hindustan. 01.01.2020 #engaged". The 26-year-old shared three pictures and a short clip on the social media platform. In one photo, Stankovic can

Dubai, Dec 30: Indian captain Virat Kohli will end the year at the top of the ICC Test ranking chart for batsmen but five-day specialist Cheteshwar Pujara slipped a place to fifth. With 928 points, Kohli is way ahead of second-placed Australian maestro Steve Smith (911) and New Zealand's inspirational skipper Kane Williamson (822), while Australia's Marnus Labuschagne, who has amassed 1,085 runs

New Delhi, Dec 30: An old video of former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has surfaced on social media where he is confessing about breaking a TV at his home after he saw his daughter trying to imitate an "arti" scene performed on an Indian daily soap. In the video, Afridi is asked by a host if he ever broke a TV in his home, to which he replies: "I smashed my TV once, because of my wife. These

Dec 30: India skipper Virat Kohli and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah were the only two Indians who found a place in Wisden's T20 International team of the decade, which didn't feature Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Australia's limited-overs captain Aaron Finch was named captain of the team, which has two more Australian in Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell, two England cricketers -- Jos Buttler and David

Dubai, Dec 29: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has congratulated England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Chairman Colin Graves, members of England's World Cup-winning squad and former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd after they were all named in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Graves and England's limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan have both been honoured with CBEs, all-rounder Ben Stokes

Melbourne, Dec 29: Nathan Lyon took four wickets as Australia thrashed New Zealand by 247 runs to win the second Test at Melbourne and the series Sunday with a battling century from opener Tom Blundell proving futile. The Blacks Cap, chasing a massive 488 to win, were dismissed for 240 in the evening session of the fourth day with Lyon taking 4-81 and Blundell last man out for 121. It was the

New Delhi, Dec 28: Six-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) defeated Nikhat Zareen in a split verdict trial bout to make the Indian team for next year's Olympic qualifiers in China. In a bout that had very few clear punches, Mary Kom prevailed 9-1 to make the squad. In other results, two-time world silver-medallist Sonia Lather (57kg) was upstaged by a swift-moving Sakshi Chaudhary. Lather

New Delhi, Dec 27: Commenting on the row related to former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria, BJP lawmaker Gautam Gambhir said this is the real face of Pakistan and it is a shame that a player who has represented the country in so many matches had to go through this. Gambhir's comment comes after former Pakistan player Shoaib Akhtar made a revelation regarding the treatment faced by Kaneria in the