SPORTS

Pakistan's Babar Azam and Abdullah Shafique stitched together an important partnership as they took the score to 192/2 at Stumps on Day 4, still needing 314 more runs to win on the final Day. Babar completed a fine hundred as he looked in complete control during the course of his innings and will surely be the main wicket for Australia to claim going into the decisive day. Australia declared their second innings on 97 for two, following the dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne on 44. First innings centurion Usman Khawaja remained unbeaten on 44. Australia's declaration came soon after the start of play on Day 4 in Karachi, setting Pakistan a mammoth 506-run target to win the second Test of the three-match series. (SCORECARD)

For years, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were known as Virat Kohli’s team but come the IPL 2022, it’s gonna change.

Ahead of the 15th edition of the tournament, the Bengaluru-based franchise has named former CSK star and an IPL veteran Faf du Plessis as their new captain. The announcement was made amid great pomp at the ‘RCB Unbox’ event in Bengaluru.

Despite having multiple leadership experiences under his belt, including a stint with the South African national team, this would be the first time the Proteas superstar will be leading an IPL franchise.

India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant scored the fastest Test fifty by an Indian batter on Sunday when he completed his half-century in 28 deliveries on the second day of the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru. With India having bowled Sri Lanka out for 109 early in the day's play, the hosts extended their 143-run first innings lead with some quick scoring in their second innings. It was Rishabh Pant, batting at No. 5, who took charge of the innings and attacked the visiting bowlers to help consolidate India's control.

With his brisk fifty, Pant broke Kapil Dev's almost 40-year record of the fastest Test fifty by an Indian batter.

Former Australian spinner Shane Warne passed away sadly last Friday at the age of 52, and on Thursday, his body was flown over to his homeland from Bangkok. As per reports, Warne died of a suspected heart attack in Koh Samui, Thailand. 

As tributes continue to pour in from all quarters after Warne's untimely demise, comments from one of his own old teammates have sparked a huge furore on Twitter. 

Ian Healy, former Australian wicket-keeper who played alongside Warne for a long-time recently stated that the spin legend's sudden death didn't surprise him and that Warne didn't take care of his body at all. 

Indian captain Rohit Sharma will become only the ninth Indian player in the history of the game to play in more than 400 international matches when he steps out to lead the Indian team in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru.

He has played 44 Tests, 230 ODIs, and 125 T20Is for India so far. Rohit made his ODI debut for India back in June 2007 and proceeded to make his T20I debut in the same year. Although he had a rough start initially, he has soon turned into one of India’s most reliable batters.

The other Indians who have played more than 400 matches are Sachin Tendulkar (664 matches), MS Dhoni (538), Rahul Dravid (509), Virat Kohli (457), Mohammad Azharuddin (433), Sourav Ganguly (424), Anil Kumble (403) and Yuvraj Singh (402). Tendulkar is also the player with the most caps in international history.