1. India Favourites for World T20: Brian Lara
West Indies legend Brian Lara said that the hosts India are the favourites in the World T20 Championship but insists that the West Indians can also pose a threat if they play consistent cricket during the March 8 to April 3 event.
Lara said India would enter the tournament with an edge because of a home advantage.
I think India will win in home conditions. Their players know the pitches and they’re playing good cricket against the best teams in the world at present in that version of the game. I would definitely give them top billing.
2. Messi to Miss Rio Olympics
Lionel Messi will skip the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in six months because his coach Gerardo Martino says he needs some rest.
Martino spoke on the Argentine radio station La Red on Monday and said Messi will feature in the Centennial Copa America tournament in the US, but not the Olympics in Brazil.
“Messi
will not go to the Olympic Games,” said Martino, who said it was too
much for the Barcelona star to play in both events and also World Cup
qualifiers.
The
Centennial Copa America starts on June 3, and the Olympics begins two months later
on August 5.
3. Rajput Shines as India Bags Record 12th Olympic Quota
Faced with a do-or-die situation in his own words, two-time Olympian Sanjeev Rajput battled the odds to secure India’s 12th quota from shooting for the upcoming Rio Games by finishing fourth in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions at the Asian Olympic Qualifying Competition in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Owing to the 35-year-old marksman’s effort, India could be sending 12 shooters, their highest-ever, to the Olympics in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro come August. In the previous Olympics in London, India had 11 representatives in shooting.
4. Vijender’s Bout Postponed to March
Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh’s fourth professional bout was rescheduled on Tuesday from February 13 to March 12 but the venue of the fight remains Echo Arena, Liverpool.
The reason for rescheduling this fight was an injury to WBO World Lightweight Champion Terry Flanagan, who was to take on world title defence against Derry Mathews on that night.
The
Mathews versus Flanagan showdown will continue to be the headline attraction on
the show and the other title fights will also be the same. Tommy
Langford is defending his WBO Intercontinental Middleweight title against Lewis
Taylor and English Cruiserweight Champion Matty Askin set to fight against Lawrence
Bennett.
5. Spot-Fixers Butt, Asif Could Play in Caribbean Twenty20 League
Spot-fixing convicts Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif on Tuesday said there is a possibility of them playing in the fourth edition of the Caribbean Premier league in July.
This would be the first international outing for the two players after they were relieved of their five-year spot fixing ban in September last year.
The two along with young paceman Mohammad Amir were charged of taking illegal money in return for arranging deliberate no balls during the Lord’s Test against England in 2010. All three were also behind bars in the UK.
However, Butt said he now has permission from the Pakistan Cricket Board to play in the Caribbean League.
6. India to Face Namibian Challenge in Quarterfinals
Group D toppers India will face Namibia in the quarterfinals after the African team finished second in Group A after losing to Bangladesh in Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday.
India, who won its all three matches in the group stage, takes on Namibia in the quarterfinal match in Fatullah on Saturday. Namibia had knocked defending champion South Africa out of the competition.
Bangladesh topped Group A with a demolition of Namibia, ending the match in Cox’s Bazar in one session itself.
Namibia was all out for 65 in 32.5 overs after being asked to bat by Bangladesh with Saleh Ahmed, skipper Mehidy Hasan and Ariful Islam claiming two wickets each.
Bangladesh lost Pinak Ghosh in the first over, but an unbeaten knock of 34 from Joyraz Sheik steered the host to an easy eight-wicket victory in the 16th over.
The host ended the league with three successive wins and will now play surprise qualifier Nepal in the first quarterfinal in Mirpur on Friday.
7. Leicester Beats Liverpool, Manchester United Thrash Stoke City
A smiling Jamie Vardy reckoned he had never scored a better goal than the blistering long-distance volley which helped Leicester City’s footballing fantasy enter ever more surreal territory on Tuesday.
In front of England manager Roy Hodgson, Vardy, who keeps pushing his Euro 2016 claims with such elan, scored both goals in Leicester’s 2-0 win over Liverpool, a win which keeps them three points clear at the top of the Premier League table. Manchester City is placed second at the moment.
And Manchester United reminded their fans of a bygone era after a superb performance gave the winners of a record 20 English league titles, a 3-0 home victory over Stoke City on Tuesday.
Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial scored in the first half and Wayne Rooney struck the winner after the interval, scoring his 99th league goal at Old Trafford and taking his Premier League tally in January to five goals and two assists.
8. Raina Named Captain of Gujarat Lions
Suresh Raina has been named captain of the Gujarat Lions, which is the new Rajkot IPL team. The franchise will be coached by former Australian batsman Brad Hodge. The announcements were made by the team owner, Keshav Bansal (owner of Intex) in Delhi on Tuesday.
Raina was previously part of the Chennai Super Kings set up, but since the CSK are suspended from the IPL for two years, Rains will be putting on a different IPL for the first time in eight seasons.
Rains hasn’t missed a single IPL game and is also the tournament’s overall highest run scorer with 3699 runs.
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