Fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson were Thursday named in Australia’s 15-man squad for next month’s ICC Champions Trophy in England and Wales. Starc has recovered from a stress fracture in his right foot which sent him home from Australia’s Test series in India last month, while Pattinson is fit again after serious shin … Read more
Chris Gayle has become the first batsman to accumulate 10,000 Twenty20 runs, going past the milestone during a match-winning blitz in the Indian Premier League. Swashbuckling West Indian Gayle, 37, who plies his trade across the world’s Twenty20 leagues, smashed 77 off 38 balls with five fours and seven sixes to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore … Read more
Twitter on Thursday unveiled a low-data usage version of the social network, which aims to bring in users in emerging markets and areas with slow or expensive mobile networks. The California group unveiled Twitter Lite, “making Twitter more accessible to millions of people,” said product manager Patrick Traughber. “Twitter Lite is a great way for … Read more
Twitter Inc (TWTR. N) is launching a faster version of its mobile service on Wednesday aimed at people with sporadic connections or little data on their smartphone plans, hoping to pick up users in harder-to-reach emerging markets. The company calls the version Twitter Lite and it will be aimed largely at users outside the United … Read more
The 10th season of the Indian Premier League starts on Wednesday, marking a decade of scandal and success for the flashy Twenty20 competition beloved by India and watched across the globe. The latest edition of the glitzy league — famous for its pyrotechnics, cheerleaders and huge signing bonuses — gets under way with defending champions … Read more
India skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday downplayed controversial remarks about ditching Australian cricketers as friends, saying his comments were blown out of proportion and he remained on good terms with some players. Kohli, who captained India to victory in the emotionally-charged four-Test series, told reporters after the decisive Dharamasala match that he would never consider … Read more
Former Australian international Brad Hodge Thursday apologised over suggestions firebrand Indian captain Virat Kohli pulled out of a Test match to save himself for the Indian Premier League. Hodge came under fire on the subcontinent for his conjecture about Kohli’s injury-enforced withdrawal from the deciding fourth Test against Australia, which ended on Tuesday. “You’d hope … Read more
Australian media labelled Indian skipper Virat Kohli “classless” and childish on Wednesday after his provocative comments at the end of a hard-fought but incendiary Test series. Newspapers laid into the winning captain for saying he no longer counted the Australian players as friends, and they also took umbrage at India’s apparent snub when invited to … Read more
India’s firebrand skipper Virat Kohli may miss the start of the lucrative Indian Premier League T20 tournament as he races against time to recover from a shoulder injury. Kohli, the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team, hurt his right shoulder while diving to stop a boundary during the drawn third Test against Australia in … Read more
In-form Cheteshwar Pujara isn’t the flashiest batsman but his staying power at the crease is winning the admiration of cricketing purists — and could be vital in India’s crunch final Test against Australia. Pujara faced 525 balls over more than 11 hours of play during his double century against Australia in the drawn third Test, … Read more
South Africa’s JP Duminy has withdrawn from the upcoming edition of the lucrative Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament, the all-rounder and his franchise said Monday. The 32-year-old, who plays for the Delhi Daredevils, said he was skipping the tournament next month due to “personal” reasons, with his team saying it was disappointed to lose him. … Read more
A top FIFA official believes hosting the Under-17 World Cup has the potential to spark a football revolution in India — and lead to lasting change in the global game. The run-up to October’s tournament will see a programme called Mission XI Million aim to involve millions of children across the world’s second-most populous nation … Read more
Dwayne Smith smashed a whirlwind century off just 31 balls in Hong Kong’s T20 Blitz on Wednesday, one of the fastest tons recorded in Twenty20 cricket. The 33-year-old West Indian, who retired from international cricket only last week, heaved 28 off the first over alone and finished unbeaten on 121 off 40 balls. Smith’s century, … Read more
The Indian cricket board’s former president Anurag Thakur gave an “unconditional apology” Monday to the Supreme Court which had ordered his dismissal from the game’s most powerful body in January. Thakur faces a court petition later this month for allegedly obstructing the implementation of a series of recommendations from a panel led by a retired … Read more
Pakistan will deploy troops and bullet-proof buses for Sunday’s Pakistan Super League final, its biggest cricket match in years, after a wave of militant attacks prompted a host of foreign stars to pull out. “Unprecedented” security involving thousands of troops and police will guard the sold-out game in Lahore — scene of a deadly 2009 … Read more
Mitchell Starc may have won the opening duel against Indian skipper Virat Kohli by getting the star batsman out for a duck in the first Test, but the Australian fast bowler insists the battle has just begun. Starc triggered India’s downfall in last week’s first Test in Pune by claiming the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara … Read more
Ian Botham says “box-office” Ben Stokes deserves every penny of the more than £1.7 million ($2.1mn) that the England all-rounder will rake in playing in the Indian Premier League. Stokes set a record for an overseas player in the cash-rich Twenty20 competition when Rising Pune Supergiants shelled out for him at last week’s auction. The … Read more
Fast bowler Morne Morkel has been included in South Africa´s squad for three Test matches in New Zealand starting on March 8. Morkel, 32, last played in an international match in June and since then has struggled with a persistent back injury which threatened to end his career. He was part of South Africa´s Test … Read more
England all-rounder Ben Stokes became the most expensive foreign player in Indian Premier League history when he was bought by the Rising Pune Giants for more than $2 million at auction Monday. The 25-year-old fetched seven times the amount of England’s limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan, who was sold to the Kings XI Punjab for 300,000 … Read more
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been sacked as skipper of his Indian Premier League team with Australia’s Steve Smith replacing him for the upcoming tournament, an official statement said Sunday. Dhoni, who stepped down as India’s limited-overs captain last month, will continue to play as wicketkeeper-batsman for the Rising Pune Supergiants in the Twenty20 franchise-based competition … Read more