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American tennis star Serena Williams will play her first match after becoming a mother at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, event organisers have confirmed. Williams has not played since winning a record 23rd grand slam singles title at the Australian Open in January, after which she gave birth to her first child Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr in September.

Israeli players have been denied visas by Saudi Arabia to participate in an international speed chess championship, World Chess Federation (FIDE) said. FIDE had said in November it was undertaking a "huge effort" to ensure all players were granted visas. "The event's not a world championship if they prevent...players from several countries from taking part," Israel Chess Federation said.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Najam Sethi has said all countries want to play against India as it helps generate maximum revenue. He further said it was a wrong impression that Pakistan was desperate to play India and insisted it was about asking for its due. He added India shouldn't have signed the MoU if they couldn't fulfil it.

India jumped to the second spot in the ICC T20I team rankings after completing a 3-0 series whitewash against Sri Lanka. India went ahead of England, New Zealand and Windies, while they remain behind Pakistan in the rankings. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal's eight wickets in the series helped him jump 14 slots to reach the 16th position in T20I bowling rankings.

Former Chelsea, Manchester City, PSG and AC Milan striker George Weah will be the next president of the West African nation of Liberia. The 51-year-old became the first non-European player to win the Ballon d'Or in 1995 and ended his 18-year professional career in 2003. Weah will succeed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was Africa's first elected female president.

Two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar qualified for the 2018 Commonwealth Games after defeating Jitender Kumar in the 74kg weight category on Friday. Out of action since the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the Indian wrestler made a comeback this year and won a gold at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship. Kumar could not take part in the Rio Olympics.

Sri Lanka cricket coach Chandika Hathurusingha has banned his players from listening to music during training. Adding that the team wasn't doing "quite a few things right", Hathurusingha said, "If someone wants to listen to music during training, he can...go home." Sri Lanka lost 40 international matches in 2017, most by a team in a calendar year.

Kavitha Bharanidaran, a Chennai resident, has attempted a new Guinness World Record for performing yoga continuously for over 105 hours. Bharanidaran, who took five-minute breaks after each hour, started doing Yoga continuously from 7 AM on December 23, 2017. The 31-year-old, whose husband is her yoga teacher, broke the previous record of 103 hours of non-stop Yoga.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said in his New Year's address that the nation could send a delegation to South Korea to take part in the 2018 Winter Olympics. He added that the Olympics will "serve as a good chance to display our Korean people's grace toward the world and we sincerely hope the Games will be a success".

English all-rounder Ben Stokes has been replaced by Dawid Malan in England's ODI squad to face Australia this month. Stokes, who was suspended by the board for being involved in a fight outside a bar in Bristol, is waiting to learn if he will be charged for being a part of the incident and causing bodily harm.

Bangladeshi cricketer Sabbir Rahman was fined over ₹15 lakh (20 lakh Bangladeshi Taka) and has been handed a six-month suspension after he was found guilty of assaulting a young boy during a first-class match. Rahman, whose national contract was revoked by the Bangladesh Cricket Board, also behaved "aggressively" towards match referee when he was called for the incident's investigation.

South Korea on Tuesday offered high-ranking government talks with North Korea next week over the latter's possible participation in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in the country. This comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said in his New Year's address that the nation could send a delegation to South Korea to take part in the games.

Apart from the winners' prize money of ₹2 crore, recently crowned Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha will also be awarded ₹3 crore by the Vidarbha Cricket Association. Vidarbha Cricket Association President Anand Jaiswal said that the players will also be felicitated by the association. Vidarbha became the Ranji champions for the first time after beating Delhi by nine wickets on Monday.

Indian Premier League side Royal Challengers Bangalore have added India's former World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten and ex-Indian pacer Ashish Nehra to their coaching staff. This will be Kirsten's second stint in the IPL, with the South African having coached Delhi Daredevils earlier. Meanwhile, this is Nehra's first coaching assignment since his retirement last year.

The Supreme Court has directed the BCCI to allow Bihar to participate in Ranji Trophy and other domestic cricket tournaments. Bihar, who last played Ranji Trophy in 2003-04, were omitted after Jharkhand won the right to play in India's premier domestic tournament. The SC order comes in the wake of a plea by Cricket Association of Bihar Secretary, Aditya Verma.

Two-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings, who are returning to the tournament after two years, have retained MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja for IPL 2018. Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bangalore and 2017 champions Mumbai Indians retained Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma respectively. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, David Warner and Steven Smith were also retained by their respective franchises.

Virat Kohli was retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹17 crore for IPL 2018, making him the most expensive player in IPL history. Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) and MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) were retained for ₹15 crore each, the second-highest retention amount. Australians David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad) and Steve Smith (Rajasthan Royals) were retained for ₹12 crore each.

Delhi Daredevils on Thursday named former Australian captain Ricky Ponting as their new head coach for the Indian Premier League 2018. The 43-year-old had coached Mumbai Indians in their title-winning 2015 season and then again in 2016. Further, Delhi Daredevils announced that they have retained Rishabh Pant, Chris Morris and Shreyas Iyer for IPL 2018.

23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, who was pregnant with her first child while on her way to winning the Australian Open 2017, has withdrawn from the 2018 edition of the tournament. The 36-year-old withdrew claiming that her preparations had fallen short of what she personally wanted them to be, adding that she doesn't "want to just compete."

Virat Kohli, who became the most expensive player in Indian Premier League at ₹17 crore on Thursday, has never been auctioned in the tournament's history. He was picked as a catchment player by RCB in 2008 and has always been retained since then. Kohli will be the only player to feature in IPL 2018 who has never gone into auctions.