1. India Take on Pakistan in the Asia Cup Today
World cricket’s most intriguing rivalry will once again be renewed when India take on an unpredictable Pakistan with rehabilitated pacer Mohammed Amir being the focus of attention in a round-robin league encounter of the Asia Cup T20 tournament at Mirpur today.
The match will also serve as a pre-cursor to the two teams’ opening match battle in the ICC World Twenty20, next month.
The Indo-Pak cricket contests over the years have carried a legacy, not to forget the political undercurrents involved whenever the two bitter neighbours square off on the 22 yards.
Read the entire preview to the riveting contest here: India v Pak T20: Year-Long Wait, Amir’s Return & Dhoni’s Concern.
2. Khali Promises Revenge, Wants “Blood For Blood & Chair For Chair”
Former WWE star Dalip Singh Rana, popularly known as ‘The Great Khali’, was today discharged from the hospital. He vowed to take revenge for the embarrassment he had to go through after getting badly injured in the opening fight of the event, which is named after the great wrestler.
Despite getting injured, Khali has vowed to make a comeback in the second show of ‘The Great Khali Returns Series’ scheduled to be held in Dehradun on Sunday.
It will be blood for blood and chair for chair.The Great Khali
3. Mumbai Clinch 41st Ranji Trophy, Given Rs 2 Crore Bonus by the MCA
The Mumbai squad led by Aditya Tare, that on Friday thrashed Saurashtra by an innings and 21 runs in the Ranji Trophy final inside three days, has earned a cash bonus of Rs 2 crore from the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).
The record Ranji Trophy champions got their hands on the trophy for the first time in three seasons and now they have 41 titles to their name in 45 finals out of which 10 of them have been won by an innings. Karnataka are a distant second in the overall Ranji standings with eight titles.
On behalf of the Mumbai Cricket Association, President Sharad Pawar has announced a bonus of Rs two crores to the winning team. President of MCA has (also) congratulated the team for winning the Ranji Trophy. This is the 41st time that Mumbai (has) won the National Championship.Media release from MCA Joint Secretaries P V Shetty and Unmesh Khanvilkar
4. Indian Boxers “Running the Risk” of Being Barred From the Olympics
None has qualified so far but even if they do in the coming time, Indian boxers are “running the risk” of being barred from this year’s Olympic Games if the country fails to put together a new national federation by next month’s Asian Olympic Qualifiers.
This is the latest missive from the International Boxing Association (AIBA) after a meeting of its various commissions in Manchester recently.
According to sources, the world body will not hesitate to stop Indians from taking part in the August extravaganza in Rio de Janeiro should they make it to the Olympics through the Asian Qualifiers starting March 23 in Qian’an city of China.
There is a lot of pressure on India now to get a federation going. They (AIBA) have given India time till the Asian Qualifiers. In case, it doesn’t happen then the country is running the risk of not moving forward. Our boxers who qualify could be stopped from the Olympics.A source to PTI
5. Europe’s Infantino Chosen to Lead FIFA into New Era
Gianni Infantino vowed on Friday to lead FIFA out of years of corruption and scandal after the former UEFA general secretary was elected to succeed his Swiss counterpart Sepp Blatter as president of football’s world governing body.
After a first round of voting in which he narrowly beat Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, Infantino appeared to win almost all the votes that had been cast for the two trailing candidates, Prince Ali and Jerome Champagne.
He bagged 115 of the 207 votes in the second round, giving him a simple majority ensuring a European again holds the top job until 2019 and frustrating the hopes of those looking for a swing to Asia.
6. Manchester United to Face Liverpool in Europa League Last 16
Manchester United and Liverpool, English football’s two most decorated clubs, were drawn together in the last 16 of the Europa League on Friday.
The arch-rivals have won 38 league titles between them as well as eight European Cups yet both are struggling in the Premier League this season and are unlikely to relish being pitted against each other at this stage of the competition.
Manchester United beat Midtjylland 5-1 in the second leg of the round of 32 match to quailfy for the round of 16 stage with an aggregate of 6-3 on Thursday.
Manchester United’s teenage striker Marcus Rashford was a late inclusion against Midtjylland in Thursday’s Europa League clash after a team mate was injured in the warm-up and delivered two goals in a 5-1 win for a dream debut.
The 18-year-old Manchester-born player netted twice in 12 second-half minutes at Old Trafford’s famous Stretford End to put United in control of a last-32 tie that seemed to be drifting away for them after they lost the first leg 2-1.
Liverpool beat FC Augsburg 1-0 on aggregate to qualify.
7. Federer Plans Tour Return in April
The 17-time grand slam champion Roger Federer has delayed his ATP World Tour return by a month and plans to make his comeback from his knee surgery at the Monte Carlo Masters in April.
The Swiss maestro had initially intended to return in March at the Indian Wells Masters in California where he has triumphed four times.
I have now had a lot of great practices on the court and in the gym. As it is a long year, I don’t want to push it too hard and come back too soon. I will unfortunately not be able to make it back in time for the great event in Indian Wells but I do plan on playing in the desert next year. After consultation with my team, I have decided to enter the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters. Thanks for the support and I will see you back on tour soon.Roger Federer
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