Sports

Ranchi, July 7: Family, friends and fans today greeted birthday boy Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who turned 32, and wished him luck for winning many more laurels for Team India. His fans and friends cut a birthday cake and distributed sweets at a couple of places, wishing the Ranchi boy success in his cricketing exploits. "Dhoni's family members have celebrated the day," the cricketer's former coach

London, Jul 7: Marion Bartoli romped to her first Grand Slam title as the French 15th seed thrashed Germany's Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 6-4 in the Wimbledon final today. Bartoli, 28, is the fifth oldest woman to become a first-time Grand Slam winner in the Open Era. Six years after losing to Venus Williams in the Wimbledon final, Bartoli returned to Centre Court and finally ended her long wait for a

Sydney, Jul 6: Pakistan-born leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed has spoken of the death threats and intimidation he received before fleeing to Australia and getting a fairytale chance to play in the Ashes series in England starting this month. Ahmed, 31, was this week granted citizenship and could now feature in Australia's effort to reclaim the Ashes, starting in Nottingham on Thursday. The cricketer opened

New Delhi/Srinagar, Jul 6: Parveez Rasool has become the first cricketer from J&K to be picked for a senior India squad. The 24-year-old all-rounder is among the 15 named to tour Zimbabwe beginning July 24. “It’s every cricketer’s dream to play for India and my dream has come true,” Rasool told HT in Srinagar. “I had a good domestic season. I got 33 wickets and scored 594 runs in seven matches

Trinidad, Jul 6: Skipper Virat Kohli led from the front with a responsible century-knock as India bounced back in the race for the tri-series final with a dominating 102-run win over the West Indies in a crucial rain-hit match, here on Friday.Batting with a lot of grit and gumption, Kohli anchored India to a challenging 311 for seven after his side was in a spot of bother, having lost five

Mumbai, Jul 5: Parveez Rasool today became the first player from Jammu and Kashmir to be named in the Indian cricket team as the selectors opted to rest captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and four other top players for the five-match ODI series in Zimbabwe later this month. Prolific batsman Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were also recalled in the 15-man squad to be led by young Virat Kohli who is

Karachi, Jul 5: Pakistan's disgraced spinner Danish Kaneria's career seems all but over with the country's Cricket Board today imposing a life ban on him for indulging in spot-fixing during the 2009 English county season. The PCB said it was handing down the punishment after Kaneria lost his appeal against the life ban imposed on him by the England and Wales Cricket Board this week. "The ECB

Pune, Jul 5: Vikas Gowda's towering personality can be very intimidating at times but the Indian discus thrower has been a calm and composed figure. All that yielded rich dividends on Thursday as Gowda opened India's gold account with an authoritative performance at the Asian Athletics Championships. India also won a silver medal through M.R. Poovamma in the women's 400m while Ratiram Saini

Port of Spain, Jul 4: Their campaign in tatters after two consecutive defeats, India need to regroup quickly as they go into a must-win match against hosts West Indies in the cricket tri-series in Port of Spain on Friday. The Champions Trophy winners have suddenly looked vulnerable as the young Indian players found it tough to come to terms with the challenging conditions. As if the two-paced

Kingston, Jul 4: The punishing 161-run defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka was difficult to digest and a “reality check” for his side, stand-in skipper Virat Kohli said as India suffered its second successive defeat in the cricket tri-series, here. Sri Lanka piled up a huge 348 for one and then shot out the Indians for a paltry 187 in 44.5 overs. India are now in a position, where they need to win