Sports

Lahore, May 23: Pakistan celebrated international cricket`s return after six years with a five-wicket win against Zimbabwe in the first Twenty20 international at a packed Gaddafi Stadium on Friday. Pakistan had not hosted any international cricket since terrorists attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009. Strict security was in place Friday with 4,000 policemen on duty but that did not

New Delhi, May 22: Indian cricket's pin-up boy and Test skipper Virat Kohli has been rated as the world's sixth most marketable athlete. Kohli, currently leading Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL), is on the list of 50 athletes, who have been identified as commercially the most viable sportspersons, by SportsPro magazine on Thursday. Canadian tennis player Eugenie

Hyderabad, May 21: Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal today regained the number one spot in the latest BWF world rankings released today. Saina, who secured the numero uno spot for the first time early last month, slipped from the coveted position subsequently. The Olympic bronze medallist, however, climbed to the number one ranking today once again ahead of the Australian Open, starting on May 26

London, May 21: England Test cricket team captain Alastair Cook on Wednesday denied issuing an ultimatum over the selection of batsman Kevin Pietersen. Pietersen has been told he will not be considered for selection this summer, with reports suggesting Cook would have resigned had the batsman been recalled. "There was no ultimatum on KP, I don't know where that came from," Cook was quoted as

New Delhi, May 20: Former Pakistan legend Wasim Akram has termed Sachin Tendulkar's teenager son Arjun as a "passionate kid" who wanted to learn the nuances of left-arm swing bowling during their interaction in Mumbai recently. Tendulkar Sr took Arjun, who bowls left-arm pace, to the 'Sultan of Swing' so that he could get some valuable tips. The interaction between Akram and Arjun happened prior

Mumbai, May 19: The International Cricket Council (ICC) looks set to make a string of changes to the rules of the 50-overs game to redress the balance between bat and ball in favour of the fielding team. After a World Cup of record scores by individuals and teams earlier this year, the ICC's Cricket Committee has recommended the batting powerplay be removed and two other tweaks to rules which

Madrid, May 18: Russia's Maria Sharapova on Monday regained second place in the WTA world rankings after winning the Rome Masters on Sunday while Spanish finalist Carla Suarez moved to her highest ranking ever at eighth. Romania's Simona Halep, who lost in the semi-finals against Suarez, moved down to third while American Serena Williams continues to lead the pack with 9,361 points. The current

Madrid, May 18: Treble-chasing Barcelona secured their 23rd La Liga title with a game to spare when Lionel Messi struck to secure a 1-0 win at dethroned champions Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Exactly a year to the day since Atletico won the league in a title decider at Barca’s Nou Camp, the Catalans exacted some measure of revenge to seal the first of a potential treble of trophies this season

Rome, May 16: Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka made an improbable comeback in the first-set tie-breaker and then dominated the action in the second set en route to a 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 victory on Friday in the Italian Open quarterfinals over Rafael Nadal. This is Nadal’s earliest exit from this clay-court event since 2008. The Spanish seven-time champion, who brought a 12-1 record against Wawrinka

New Delhi, May 16: Gagan Narang on Friday won the bronze medal in the 50m Rifle Prone Event of the ISSF World Cup at Fort Benning in USA, earning himself a quota place for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Narang, who won the bronze in 10m Rifle at the London Olympics, shot 185.8 overall to secure third place behind gold medallist Michael McPhail (208.8 points) of USA and Ole Kristian Bryhn (206.3) of Norway