'We may have to play ugly to score runs and take wickets. Captain Steve Smith talked about adapting to the conditions'
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
A summary of results from matches played in the Italian Serie A and Ligue 1
Neymar was in a class of his own again on Sunday, scoring a double to help Paris St Germain extend their Ligue 1 lead to 10 points with a 2-0 win at Lille. The Brazilian dedicated his goal to former Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, by raising two fingers in one hand and four fingers with the other to signal the number 24 -- Bryant's shirt number.
'India's is fantastic; Bumrah and Shami have been amazing'
The only struggling Australian bowler against a clueless Indian batsmen, off-spinner Nathan Lyon is taking tips from spin legend Shane Warne to plot the downfall of Virender Sehwag and his men in the fourth and final Test in Adelaide starting on January 24.
Brighton and Hove Albion scored late to earn a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace. Sheffield United and Fulham also drew 1-1 as both teams picked up their first points.
Under financial stress, Cricket Australia has already put 80 per cent of its staff on 20 per cent salary till end of June, while a handful of others, including the executives, remained on 80 per cent pay.
Babar Azam (104) hit his second Test century and Mohammad Rizwan 95 to stall Australia's march to victory and once they had departed, Pakistan were soon all out for 335.
Images from Day 2 of the fourth and final Test between India and Australia in Dharamsala, on Sunday.
'They have got so much talent. And in the last 10 years when they have not been playing home Test matches (for security reasons), they have done a remarkable job to be as competitive as they have and continue to bring on the level of talented players they have.'
'He is a really exciting talent and probably the guy I am looking forward to seeing the most this summer. I have seen the Aussies a lot and I have seen a lot of the Kiwis, but I am really excited to see him'
Australia captain Aaron Finch says playing in the sub-continent can be intimidating, but having won an ODI series last year, he says 'Knowing that our game plan is good enough to beat India in India, that gives us a lot of confidence going there.'
It's still a good two years away, but Australia coach Justin Langer says he has started building a battle-hardened and mature squad that would be able to challenge a formidable-at-home India in the 2022 Test series.
Australia opener Marcus Harris was dropped from the Test squad and replaced by Queensland batsman Joe Burns for the upcoming two-match series against Pakistan.
India's cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar vehemently opposed the International Cricket Council's proposed four-day Test, urging the governing body to refrain from tinkering with a format in which the spinners come into play on the fifth and final day. A day less, according to the world's highest run-getter across two formats, will lead to batsmen thinking of Tests as an extended version of limited-overs cricket.
Langer puts faith in deputy ahead of ODI series in India: 'He's an excellent coach, we've got other excellent coaches to back him up. I said to him I won't ring him, I'll let him go. He said 'I might ring you', that's the difference. He'll do a really good job'
Selectors name the Test squad on Thursday but will have to rely on their gut rather than hard numbers
Europa League favourites Manchester United secured a 1-1 draw on a threadbare pitch at Rostov, while Olympique Lyonnais beat AS Roma 4-2 helped by a fine individual goal from Nabil Fekir in their last 16, first leg ties on Thursday.
Gurjar came up with his season's best effort of 61.22m to claim the top spot.
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon claimed career-best figures of eight for 50 to help Australia bundle out India for 189 on the first day of the second Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Legendary Australian leg spinner Shane Warne has accused skipper Steve Smith of 'bad captaincy' for his handling of off-spinner Nathan Lyon during the team's first Test against South Africa at the WACA in Perth.
Australia likely to play the same squad in Sydney; Both teams to pay tribute to firefighters.
Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League hopes were crushed by mid-table Belgian side Gent, who booked their spot in the last 16 with a 2-2 draw at Wembley on Thursday as the hosts paid the penalty for Dele Alli's first-half red card.
Nathan Lyon revealed that he has been analysing ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to improve his own bowling.
Nice strengthened their grip on the Ligue 1 standings when they beat 10-man Olympique Lyonnais 2-0 at home on Friday.
Chasing a record 468 for victory, New Zealand were teetering at 31 for two at the break with Tom Latham 10 not out and Ross Taylor unbeaten on five. Images from Day 4 of the first Test between Australia and New Zealand in Perth on Sunday.
Coming into the series at the back of a convincing series win over Pakistan, Australia will look to seal their seventh day-night Test win when they face New Zealand in the opening Test beginning in Perth on Thursday.
'Whatever he does, it will be the right thing because he knows what lies ahead'
Nike Inc shut down its Nike Oregon Project training group on Thursday, following the recent four-year ban of founder and coach Alberto Salazar by the US Anti-Doping Agency.
Pandurang Salgaonkar has a definite chance to redeem himself following the controversial incidents that took place in the last two and a half years.
Australia on Tuesday named Steve Smith and David Warner in their Twenty20 squad for home series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan as selectors firm up plans for next year's World Cup on home soil.
India's Annu Rani failed to repeat her impressive qualifying round form as she finished eighth in the women's javelin throw at the World Athletics Championships.
Images from matches played on Day 4 at the US Open at the Flushing Meadows in New York on Thursday.
Tendulkar, who had earlier voiced his concern about tackling the dew factor, said the Indian cricket think-tank should do a postmortem after the match gets over.
'I have seen him evolve and mature, both as a person and a captain.'
News of all that transpired on and off the cricket field
Images from Day 4 of the third Test between Australia and New Zealand in Sydney on Monday.
Nathan Lyon is pleased to have bagged the prized wicket of 'head of the snake' Virat Kohli.
On the back of some great all-round performance, Australia thumped New Zealand by 247 runs to win the Boxing Day Test and take a 2-0 series lead. Images from Day 4 of the Boxing Day Test played at the MCG on Sunday.
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