Siw News

India's Hardik Pandya started walking off after getting caught off a Kane Richardson delivery during the second ODI on Thursday. Steve Smith, the catcher, threw the ball to Richardson to run Pandya out in case it was called a no-ball. Later, the delivery was called a no-ball but Pandya survived as he left the crease believing he was out.

The inaugural Laver Cup is being played between Team Europe and Team World in Prague. Each team includes six players, and is led by a team captain, who is a legend of the sport. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are in Team Europe and will play a doubles match together against Team World's Sam Querrey and Jack Sock on Saturday.

The Indian cricket team's jersey has three stars above the BCCI logo on the left, depicting India's three World Cup wins. India won the ODI World Cup in 1983 and 2011, and the inaugural T20 World Cup on September 24, 2007. Nike, the official kit sponsor of the Indian team, introduced the three stars after India's 2011 World Cup win.

The umpires will now be able to send players off during a match for serious misconduct. The thickness of bats has been restricted and umpires will be given a "new bat gauge" to check their legality. Further, the bails can be tethered to the stumps to protect wicketkeepers from the type of injury that ended South African Mark Boucher's career.

The Yo-Yo test evaluates an athlete's aerobic endurance fitness, requiring him to run between two lines, 20 metres apart, and turn when signaled by beeps. After every minute, the pace gets quicker and he's given two more beeps to catch up on not reaching the line in time. The test is stopped when he fails to catch up with pace.

For India to finish second in the group and directly qualify for FIFA Under-17 World Cup knockout stage, they must beat Ghana by three goals, while USA should beat Colombia by two. Meanwhile, if USA-Colombia result doesn't go in India's favour, then also they might advance, as the four best third-placed teams across the six groups would advance to knockouts.

Indian batsman Shreyas Iyer, who is making his international debut in the T20I against New Zealand today, plays domestic cricket for Mumbai. The 22-year-old right-hander was the highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy 2015-16, with 1,321 runs at an average of 73.38. In 2015, he was named the IPL Emerging Player of the Season, for notching 439 runs for Delhi Daredevils.

Four-time world champions Italy on Monday failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 60 years. Italy had earlier failed to qualify for the 1958 edition, which was won by Brazil. Argentina missed out on the 1970 World Cup, while 1966 champions England could not qualify for the 1974, 1978 and 1994 World Cups.

Ex-Pakistani pacer Waqar Younis was known as the banana swing bowler due to his technique of swinging the ball in the air at a very high speed. The banana swing delivery swings substantially from the moment it leaves the bowler's hand and follows C-shaped path similar to a banana. Younis, who turned 46 on Thursday, was also nicknamed 'Burewala Express'.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be the first in history in which four Arab nations - Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia - will participate. South America's Peru will play a World Cup after 36 years. Panama and Iceland will be featuring in their first-ever World Cup, scheduled to take place from June 14 to July 15 in Russia.

England was beaten at home for the first time by Australia in 1882, following which an English newspaper featured a mock obituary of English cricket. "The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia," it read. The then England captain vowed to "regain those ashes", which was termed as 'a quest to regain the Ashes' by English media.

Australia's Bert Oldfield was knocked unconscious during a match of 1932-33 Ashes, dubbed Bodyline series, wherein England skipper had asked pacers to aim at bodies of Australian batsmen. In a 1979 match, Australia's Dennis Lillee used an aluminium bat and threw it in "disgust" when asked to change. A 1975 match was abandoned after vandals sabotaged the pitch with oil.

Pink balls are used in day-night Tests as they are more visible during night-time under floodlights as compared to the red balls. Traditionally, red balls are used for Test cricket but as they are less reflective, they are tough to see at night. Further, white balls are not used as they clash with the white clothing.

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting's nickname 'Punter' was given to him by spin legend and his teammate Shane Warne, while Ponting was a part of the Australian Cricket Academy. Ponting’s liking for dog races and betting on them prompted Warne to give him the nickname 'Punter.' Post his retirement, Ponting has been associated with Greyhound Racing Victoria in Melbourne.

A Test is considered drawn, and not tied if the batting team has wickets remaining when the time expires, even if the scores are level. A Test can be termed tied only if the chasing side gets all-out with the scores level. The Bulawayo Test between England and Zimbabwe was declared drawn with the scores level, on December 22, 1996.

After a courtship of over four years, Virat Kohli tied the knot with actress Anushka Sharma in December. Barcelona forward Lionel Messi married his childhood sweetheart Antonella Roccuzzo, while India football captain Sunil Chhetri tied the knot with girlfriend Sonam Bhattacharya. Twenty-three time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams exchanged marriage vows with Reddit Co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

Ashish Nehra, whose 6/23 are the best bowling figures for India in World Cup history, called time on his 20-year-long professional career in November. England's all-time leading goalscorer with 53 goals, forward Wayne Rooney retired from national duty. Further, Kaká, the last player apart from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d'Or, also hung up his boots.

The year 2017 saw India captain Virat Kohli become the fastest to score 15,000 and 16,000 runs in international cricket. Kohli also took his ODI hundreds tally to 32, the second-most hundreds by a batsman in ODI cricket. Further, he overtook Sachin Tendulkar to record the most number of ODI hundreds in chases.

The year 2017 saw Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal team up for the first time in their careers, while Floyd Mayweather knocked out Conor McGregor in 'The Money Fight' in August. Serena Williams won the Australian Open while being eight weeks pregnant. Eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt failed to finish his career's last race, during the World Championships.

The year 2017 saw shuttler Kidambi Srikanth become the first Indian to win four Superseries titles in a calendar year. Both the Indian men's and women's hockey teams secured Asia Cup titles, while the Indian women's ice hockey team registered their first-ever international victory. Further, the Indian men's football team did not lose a single match in 2017.