Sports

Dubai, Feb 4: The Indian cricket team Monday rose a rung to second in the ICC ODI rankings in which captain Virat Kohli and pacer Jasprit Bumrah continued to top the respective charts for batsmen and bowlers. India have accumulated 122 points on the back of series wins over Australia and New Zealand and are placed behind England (126) in the fresh list, the ICC said in a statement. Mahendra Singh

Dubai, Feb 4: Former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum announced his retirement from Big Bash League (BBL) as he looks to transition into a coaching career. The 37-year-old, who ended his international career in 2016, told his teammates at Brisbane Heat of the decision after his side’s six-wicket win against Adelaide Strikers on Sunday. However, McCullum will continue playing in other T20

Wellington, Feb 3: India overcame a disastrous start to earn a hard fought 35-run win over New Zealand in the fifth ODI on Sunday to finish the series with a 4-1 scoreline in their favour, proving the heavy loss at Hamilton was an aberration. At 18 for four, India were heading towards another sub-100 total before Ambati Rayudu (90 off 113) and Vijay Shankar (45 off 64) forged a 98-run stand to

Dubai, Feb 2: Smriti Mandhana has moved up three spots to attain the number one rank in the updated ICC ODI batting rankings, released on Saturday. After scoring her fourth ODI century and an unbeaten 90 in the three-match series against New Zealand, Mandhana now sits above the Australians Ellyse Perry and Meg Lanning. Mandhana, who has been in exemplary form in the one-day format, has scored two

Wellington, Feb 2: Former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has regained full fitness and will play the fifth and final ODI against New Zealand, India's assistant coach Sanjay Bangar confirmed on Saturday. India and New Zealand will meet for the final ODI at the Westpac Stadium here on Sunday. Although the visitors have sealed the series 3-1, they will look to bounce back after the eight-wicket defeat

Abu Dhabi, Feb 2: Qatar stunned Japan 3-1 to win their first Asian Cup on Friday sparked by a moment of magic from record-breaker Almoez Ali and after nail-biting late drama. Sudan-born striker Ali scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick after just 12 minutes before Abdelaziz Hatim curled in a superb second and Akram Afif converted a VAR-assisted penalty to give the 2022 World Cup hosts a famous

Hamilton, Feb 1: Indian women lost to New Zealand by eight wickets in the third and final ODI here on Friday. Brief scores: India 149 all out in 44 overs (Sharma 52; Peterson 4/28). New Zealand 153/2 in 29.2 overs (Bates 57, Satterthwaite 66 not out).

Wellington, Feb 3: The Indian top-order struggled again in testing conditions before Ambati Rayudu and Hardik Pandya powered the visitors to a fighting 252 in the fifth and final ODI against New Zealand here on Sunday. India's middle-order, which has been under scrutiny, delivered under pressure after the visitors were left gasping at 18 for four. Rayudu (90 off 113) and Vijay Shankar (45 off 64)

Hamilton, Feb 1: India captain Mithali Raj on Friday became the first female cricketer to play 200 ODIs, adding another achievement to her illustrious career. The 36-year-old is also the highest run-getter in ODIs with 6622 runs at an average of 51.33, including seven hundreds. Mithali could not make a big impact in her 200th game, scoring nine off 28 balls as India were bowled out for 149 in the

Jan 1: Since joining La Liga leaders Barcelona just over a year ago, Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho has endured a mixed time in Catalonia. He joined Barcelona to much fanfare for a club record 142 million pounds from Liverpool and was hailed as the long-term replacement for former Spain international Andres Iniesta. But Coutinho has often failed to replicate his Premier League performance