Sports

London, May 31: "Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli," replied umpire Ian Gould when he was asked to name the three best batsmen he loved watching when he was officiating as an umpire. The former ICC elite umpire said that he was unlucky to not watch Ponting bat as much as he would have liked to. "Jacques Kallis. I loved watching Jacques. He was a very, very fine player. Sachin. And

New Delhi, May 30: Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand will be finally reaching India late on Saturday after being stuck in Germany for over three months due to the travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Yes.. Anand will be returning today," the chess maestro's wife Aruna told PTI on Saturday morning. Anand, who boarded an Air India flight (AI-120) from

New York, May 30: Cricket superstar Virat Kohli remains the only Indian in the Forbes' list of world's highest-paid athletes with total earnings of USD 26 million, jumping to the 66th spot from 100 in the 2020 standings. Kohli's earnings from endorsement stand at USD 24 million and USD 2 million from salary/winnings. The 31-year-old is also the only cricketer in the top-100 list. With earnings of

St John's, May 30: The Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Saturday announced a temporary 50 per cent reduction in salaries and cricket funding across the entire regional cricket system, effective from the start of July due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which resulted in the suspension of all the cricketing activities across the globe since March. "This decision has been necessary in the face of

Kolkata, May 29: Former skipper Kumar Sangakkara believes missing Angelo Mathews due to an injury hurt Sri Lanka badly in the summit clash of the 2011 World Cup, which hosts India won after a gap of 28 years. Having played a key role in their thrilling semifinal win against New Zealand, Mathews was forced out of the final against India at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium by a quadriceps muscle injury

May 28: Former India captain and Kings XI Punjab head coach Anil Kumble is hopeful of the IPL happening this year and is not averse to the idea of conducting the cash-rich event without spectators due to the COVID-19 threat. It is not official yet but there is speculation that the BCCI wants to hold the IPL in the October window after the tournament was postponed indefinitely earlier this year due

New Delhi, May 28: India is not at risk of losing hosting rights for next year's Twenty20 World Cup despite its cricket board's failure to secure a tax exemption for the event, a key BCCI official has told Reuters. Tax exemptions for International Cricket Council (ICC) events are listed as a requirement in host agreements and the BCCI was supposed to confirm they had secured one by May 18

Bengaluru, May 27: Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has revealed that he was never able to dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq in the nets. The Rawalpindi Express praised the former Pakistan skipper and said Inzamam could see the ball one second earlier than the rest of the batsmen could. "Honestly, I don't think I could ever get him (Inzamam) out, he had the time and I always felt he saw the ball a second earlier

Some of the ICC guidelines on resumption of cricket border on the impractical and will need a review when the cricketing world is closer to action, feel former players Aakash Chopra, Irfan Pathan and Monty Panesar. Last week, the International Cricket Council recommended a host of "back to cricket" guidelines including 14-day pre-match isolation training camps to ensure the teams are free from

Mumbai, May 26: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that if he was playing currently he and Virat Kohli would have been the best of friends off the field, but real enemies whenever they stepped on the field. Akhtar also said that he would have liked to challenge Kohli to drive the ball. "Virat Kohli and I would have been the best of friends as both of us are Punjabi, but on the field, we