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Former Australia captain Steve Smith, ex-vice captain David Warner and batsman Cameron Bancroft were all banned for their role in a plot to use sandpaper to change the condition of the ball during the third Test against the Proteas in Cape Town in March. The incident that stunned the sporting world was the culmination of a fractious series between the two fierce opponents, while other national teams have not been immune to unseemly behaviour on the field in recent years....

Three Sri Lankan cricketers including Sanath Jayasuriya and Nuwan Zoysa have been charged recently under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. Jayasuriya, however, has been charged only for failing to co-operate with an ICC investigation, a claim that the former opener has denied. With ever increasing threat of corruption in the game, Richarson said the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has gone on an overdrive to curb the menace. “Most of our efforts now are on disrupting the criminals and this means persuading governments to introduce legislation that can make attempts to fix cricket matches a criminal offence, so that those types of people are put behind bars,” said Richardson at a promotional event....

The Yorkshire cricketer scored an unbeaten 149 in the final Test match at The Oval to go with his 154 not out in the first Test at Trent Bridge. He registered scores of 13, 66, 3, 56 and 77 in the rest of the matches to finish with 789 rating points. Sri Lanka cricketers on the rise In the aftermath of their series win against Pakistan, Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews reached a career high 3rd place in the rankings for the batsmen....

Matthews has overtaken Kumar Sangakkara and moved up to fifth place in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen. He scored 64 and 39 in the first match of the three-match Test series against India. Wicket-keeper Chandimal was the highest gainer as he moved 22 places up to a career-high of 23rd, he was adjudged as the Man-of-the-Match for his 59 and 169 unbeaten scores . On India’s end, captain Virat Kohli who scored a century in the first innings is settled on the 10th position, where he is five points clear of Australia’s David Warner....

The ICC World T20 Championship is right around the corner. Everybody is busy putting the finishing touches on their preparations as they descend on the Emerald Isle of Sri Lanka. We are busy whetting our appetites for what should be a closely contested tournament, and muttering prayers under our breaths for the rain Gods to have some mercy and let the games actually begin. The scheduling of such a major tournament in an island nation, in the middle of monsoon can only be termed extremely hopeful at best, but that’s the way the cookie seemingly crumbles (or gets soaked....

The marquee clash of Indian football, the one that once had the power to divide a whole state into two groups due to its underlying sociological implications and still manages to draw thousands to the field, was played for the 316th time at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri on Sunday. Touted to have a telling effect in the title-race in the long run, the I-League encounter turned out to be another Kolkata derby that failed to live up to the hype....

Trevor Morgan’s striking trio Robin Singh (65′), Wills Plaza (40′) and Wedson Anselme (9′, 64′, 66′) all found their names on the scoresheet today with Anselme bagging a maverick hat-trick to win the Hero of the Match award. Trevor Morgan made just the one change from the team that defeated Bengaluru FC. Robin Singh started up front alongside Willis Plaza in place of Amirov. Surinder Singh decided to start with Ivan Filatov and Manandeep Singh up front while Anirudh Thapa and Victor Amobi were deployed on the wings....

Kickoff is at 16:35 IST. PREDICTED LINE-UPS: TEAM NEWS: EAST BENGAL FC Injured: Wedson Anselme Suspended: None Doubtful: Gurwinder Singh Key Player: Ivan Bukenya CHURCHILL BROTHERS Injured: Fulganco Cardozo Suspended: None Doubtful: None Key Player: Anthony Wolfe

Bagan had registered a thumping 5-0 win against the Goan side while Lajong succumbed to a 1-5 defeat against the other Kolkata giant East Bengal. The victory took the Green and Maroons to the second position in the league table. Lajong, on the other hand, are just a point behind their opponents and are placed third. TV CHANNELS & LIVE STREAM The Star Sports Network have the exclusive broadcasting rights of the I-League....

The defending champions weren’t at their best in the match against the Kolkata-based side. Newly appointed Mohun Bagan manager Shankarlal Chakraborty started his reign with a win, as the Mariners closed down the gap between them and arch-rivals East Bengal to just four points Here are a few talking points from the match. #1 Life without Sanjoy Sen After failing to win a single match in four consecutive attempts and losing the first home match in his reign, Sen decided to resign from the managerial post which allowed the assistant manager, Shankarlal Chakraborty to take the post for the rest of the season....

The League Committee meeting took place on Monday at the football house to give their final for the match between Real Kashmir FC and Minerva Punjab FC, with the latter not turning up for their match on February 18 due to security reasons. In their press release, the AIFF said, “After due deliberation, the Committee keeping in view the Hero I-League regulations, decided to refer the matter to the AIFF Executive Committee for a decision....

This win takes the Snow Leopards level on points with second-placed Churchill Brothers (28). However, the northernmost team of the 12th I-League remains third on points table as their match against the Red Machines ended in a stalemate earlier this season, and the Goan side has a superior goal difference. ALSO READ: Inspirational journey of Kashmiri footballer Afshan Ashiq An 81st-minute goal by Gnohere Krizo did the trick for David Robertson’s men, who played a distinct Scottish-style football in the freezing Srinagar weather against Chennai....

But in the beginning I was one of the worst players at the school club. Over the next two years I probably played 200 games and lost many of them, but through that I got more experience and became pretty good. I study many parts of chess; opening, tactics, strategies and also endgames and I tried to get better at them with practice. I enjoy positional play in the middle game, but if there are brilliant tactics I can use, I like playing them too....

The demonstration was held just a few short hours before Secretary Pompeo met with Congress, as required by law, before finalizing this year’s refugee admissions cap—18,000—the lowest cap in the history of the resettlement program. That was the significance of 18 people getting arrested; each represented 1000 refugees we might take. Since the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) was authorized by Congress in 1980, the United States has set an average refugee cap of 95,000 refugees each year....

“Whatever had to happen has already happened. It’s bygone now. It is not for me to comment on the amount of penalty handed to him by the Cricket Australia and the ICC. But his cricketing record should be respected. I respect him as a batsman and player,” Rahane said during a media conference. While Smith will be “missed” Rahane feels that it will put added responsibility on his shoulders....

The big Swedish striker joined Barcelona from Inter Milan in the 2009-10 season after a successful three-year stint with the Serie A giants. Ibrahimovic had success to begin his Barcelona career, and ended up finishing his one-year run with the club scoring 16 goals in 29 games, 23 of those starts. On the surface, it seemed like a match made in heaven, teaming up with the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Thierry Henry, but a falling out with then-manager Pep Guardiola spoiled the party for Ibrahimovic....

Ibrahimovic’s move to Major League Soccer was confirmed just over a week ago, having left Manchester United on a free transfer. The former Sweden international had struggled for regular football at United this season due to fitness problems following a serious knee injury, but is fit enough to feature on Galaxy’s bench. The 36-year-old enjoyed his first training session with the club on Friday and was then presented to the media in a well-attended news conference....

Ex-France international Menez spent three years at the Parc des Princes, two of those alongside Ibrahimovic, before joining Milan in 2014. The 33-year-old built up a good connection with Ibrahimovic on the field in his early days at PSG but a change in system saw him lose his place in the side. And Menez, now plying his trade in Serie B after joining Reggina last week, is grateful for the advice given to him by the striker during their time in the French capital...