The King Of Germany

Franz Beckenbauer’s first two World Cups ended in near­misses for West Germany, but he set the record straight at the 1974 edition.

Swimming Against The Tide

Sunday swimming classes, summer camps and theme parks — swimming is pretty much an integral part of most of the children’s growing­up years.

Stage Set for Spin!

India has 13 Tests lined up this season and this series would be the beginning of the journey. Much, obviously, would depend on how the spinners deliver. The Kanpur Test will be INDIA’S 500TH since its inaugural one in 1932. The historic occasion should inspire Kohli and the team to make the season a memorable one.

Mahela Jayawardene On India's 500th Test

The Indian Premier League has clearly benefited the country in the past decade, unearthing new talent and providing youngsters with the confidence to perform on the big stage. But India also has a strong four-day state competition and a five-day zonal competition that provides exposure to high-quality competitive cricket that is essential for player development.

A Cricketer With Values

The memoir goes beyond cricket and tells us how to play the game of life WITHOUT GREED OR MALICE.

Pliskova, One for the Future

Though Karolina Pliskova lost to Angelique Kerber in the U.S. Open women’s singles final, the Czech is a GREAT PROSPECT provided she stays injury-free.

Promising Show by India

In the last edition in 2014, India returned with a HISTORIC FIRST BRONZE MEDAL in the open section. This year, India fell short of retaining the medal and finished fourth, after being seeded ninth. Among the ladies, the fifth seeded Indians justified their pre-event expectations.

Ranchi A Ray Of Hope For Gurbaj

The talented midfielder is using the Hockey India League platform to FIGHT HIS WAY BACK into the Indian team.

Stars To Watch

With the focus now shifting to the four-Test series between India and Australia, PRAVEEN SUDEVAN picks three players from each side who could MAKE AN IMPACT ON THE CONTEST.

With Stan Comes the New Big Three​​​​​​​

In 2014, Stan Wawrinka won his first Grand Slam title after upsetting Novak Djokovic in a five-set quarterfinal at the Australian Open. In 2015, Wawrinka won his second major at the French Open by ambushing the Serb in a four-set final. In 2016, Wawrinka won his third major at Flushing Meadows, yet again victimising Djokovic. That’s A PERFECT THREE FOR THREE in Grand Slam finals.

Remarkable Rally by Mattek-sands & Safarova

The French players, Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic served for the match in the second set, but were broken, sending the set to a TIE-BREAK, which Mattek-Sands and Safarova won 7-5.

Phogat's Fortitude

At 22, Vinesh Phogat still has several years of competition left in her, and SHE IS DETERMINED to make up for the Rio tragedy with the biggest prize in Tokyo 2020.

Reacting With Ardour

Ravichandran ashwin, sometimes, can ruffle a few feathers with his comments, but the immensely SELF-CONFIDENT YOUNG MAN is not afraid to speak his mind and stand up for his team-mates.

Caught Between Two Ideologies

As Joe Root begins a new chapter with England as captain, he faces a significant STRATEGIC DILEMMA.

Durant: 'Learning To Get Better'

“KEEP DREAMING, KEEP PLAYING,” is the advice Kevin Durant has for the young basketball players in India. ARJIT DABAS in conversation with the NBA star who plays for Golden State Warriors.

My Galacticos!

I have decided to rummage through my memory and pick my All Time XI, giving the readers a FLIGHT OF FANTASY where Luis Suarez, a Barcelona man, will play alongside Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. My team will take the field in an attacking 4-3-3 formation.

Murray… More Than a Ray of Hope!

“I believe I can get there,” Murray has said of the NO. 1 RANKING. “These last few months have proved that to me. I’ll give it my best shot to do it, because I may never get another chance.”

A Trump Card Jumps Out

The book is well presented, but is it too meandering? If you look at it from Gideon Haigh’s point of view, he has been driven by a TRUMPER PASSION, nay an obsession! And you can’t circumscribe a man who is in the throes of such an emotion. We will have to give Haigh considerable leeway, as he strives to give a wholeness to the Trumper story.

Promotion is the Key

While the Indian team WAS THE CYNOSURE, the third World Cup gave exposure to a number of national teams like Australia, the United States of America and Kenya. The Asian teams, Republic of Korea, Iran, Japan, Bangladesh and Thailand, showed they have the wherewithal to advance and pose a challenge to India in the future at least in the continental games.

Is Practice Enough To Make A Player Great?

While there are adherents to the 10,000­ hours rule, to be a true elite player you need the right genetics, too.

The Goal Record Is Muller's To Take

The German is seven goals away from setting a new record for goals scored in the World Cup, but he’s not the kind of player you’d expect to go chasing that.

Volunteering For The Love Of Football

The Local Organising Committee (LOC) has picked 17,040 volunteers — nearly 2,000 more than Brazil 2014 — from 112 countries.

Domestic Flights, Take-off Troubles

While some of the rookie cricketers, with a strictly average domestic season, have received plum contracts from the IPL franchises, some of the CONSISTENT PERFORMERS have been left out, writes SHAYAN ACHARYA.

It's Ferrari Vs. Mercedes

With three races down, the 2017 F1 season promises a fascinating battle between Ferrari and Mercedes. And the early signs indicate that the championship will go all the way down to the wire.

A Tough Road Ahead

India’s B. Sai Praneeth defeated countryman K. Srikanth in the final of the Singapore Open. Despite the commendable effort from the duo, more titles at the elite level will be hard to come by. The overseas players concede that the TOP INDIANS have the skill to beat most of the elite names but lack the fitness to grind it out over a week to win the title.

Messi Gives Barca a Lifeline

The Argentine was instrumental in Barcelona’s 3-2 victory over Real Madrid. The win opens up La Liga title race with five matches left in the season.

Kohli, the Man Who Makes Things Happen

Sport in general is moving towards a culture which despises defensive attributes.Cricket is no different. In a nut-shell, the India-Sri Lanka series will be a clash between two teams struggling to NEGOTIATE THEIR SPACE in the broader cricketing universe. But there is a thin line between bravado and foolhardiness, defensiveness and pragmatism.Only the best can draw the line.

Gelling Well and That's Good News!

In the true guru-sishya (coach-disciple) tradition, Virat Kohli has struck a WONDERFUL TANDEM with team director Ravi Shastri. They rate each other highly and the compliments have flown thick and fast in their respective interviews to various publications. If the two can revive the very best of the times gifted to us by Wright-Ganguly and Kirsten-Dhoni, Indian cricket will be well served.

Stand-in, Stand Out

In a series of runs, runs and more runs, Steve Smith and Virat Kohli STOOD THE TALLEST with an amalgam of focus and technique. They are also young Test captains, but different personalities with the same intent, unburdened by responsibility.

M.S.Dhoni: Still A Lot of Cricket Left In Him

Ever since his retirement from Test cricket, the questions around Dhoni’s presence in the limited-overs sides have grown louder. It is true Dhoni is not the batsman he once was. However, the 35-year-old demonstrated in Mohali that he still had plenty to offer with the bat. And Ranchi’s favourite son is unspeakably brilliant behind the stumps.