Daniil Medvedev was all praise for Novak Djokovic on Sunday, after he lost to the Serbian 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Paris Masters final. World No. 1 held his nerve on Sunday to capture his sixth Paris Masters title by defeating the defending champion. This victory in Paris also marked his record-breaking 37th ATP Masters 1000 crown. “I have the feeling that people [are] starting more and more to… respect what he has done in tennis more and more, because he continues to beat the records,” said Medvedev as per atptour.com.

“Only this year he beat the records for being No. 1 for most weeks, 310 it was, and now it’s much more [345]. He got to 20 [Grand] Slams [and] almost [completed] a calendar Slam.”

“There are going to be new people coming to tennis [in the future] who are just going to read in Wikipedia, or whatever, what were the results, who was the World No. 1 for most weeks, for most times in the end, and they are going to see Novak everywhere. That’s when people are going to start to understand, ‘Okay, that’s amazing what he has done,” he added.

This was also the 48th match win of a standout season (48-6) for Djokovic as he broke a tie with Rafael Nadal for most Masters 1000 titles. Notably, the Serbian secured year-end No. 1 in the ATP Rankings for a record seventh time on Saturday by reaching the Paris final. It was the first Paris final to feature the top two players in the ATP Rankings since Stefan Edberg played Boris Becker in 1990 final.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday announced details of Australia’s first tour of Pakistan since 1998, which will take place in March and April 2022, and comprise three Tests, three ODIs and one T20I.

The Tests will take place in Karachi (March 3-7), Rawalpindi (March 12-16) and Lahore (March 21-25), while Lahore will be the venue for the four white-ball matches to be played from March 29 to April 5. The Tests will be played as part of the ICC World Test Championship, while the ODIs will be connected to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League – a 13-team event from which the seven highest-placed sides and the hosts, India, will qualify directly for the event proper in 2023.

PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja, who played eight Tests and 18 ODIs against Australia: “I am delighted to welcome Australia to Pakistan. From a personal point of view, it pleases me no end that we’ll be engaged in a three-Test match series, connoisseurs delight.”

“Australia is one of the high-performing sides and them playing in our backyard for the first time after a gap of 24 years will be a special treat for the fans. Likewise, it will be a great opportunity for the Australia cricketers to not only play at our iconic venues but also feel and enjoy the respect, love and hospitality that this great country offers, something which most of their previous generation of cricketers missed out by playing offshore,” he added.

President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday conferred the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third-highest civilian award, to India’s ace badminton player PV Sindhu.President Kovind presented the Padma Awards 2020 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. “It is a proud moment. I am very thankful to the Government of India, all of the ministers and President sir for giving me this award. I am very very happy, these kinds of awards give us a lot of encouragement, support and motivation to do much better in the coming future,” PV Sindhu told after receiving the Padma Bhushan award.

“Definitely I would work hard and give my best. I have some upcoming tournaments, so I hope I do well and give my best in them,” she added.Sindhu has already been the recipient of Padam Shri in 2015, India’s fourth-highest civilian award and highest sporting honour of India, Khel Ratna award in 2016.

Post Rio 2016 silver medal, Sindhu went on to win medals at both the 2018 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. In 2019, she became the first Indian to win the World Badminton Championships beating Nozomi Okuhara in the finals.In 2021, Sindhu took a giant leap as she etched her name in the sporting history of the country after she clinched the bronze medal in the women’s singles competition at Tokyo 2020. With that bronze, Sindhu became the first woman from India to become a double Olympic medallist.

The reigning world champion defeated He Bing Jiao of China 21-13, 21-15 for the badminton women’s singles bronze at Tokyo 2020.

Former India batter VVS Laxman reckons that Ishan Kishan can be played in the Men in Blue’s last fixture of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup against Namibia.India was knocked out of the World Cup on Sunday after Afghanistan failed to defeat New Zealand. Even if the Men in Blue wins against Namibia, they would not be able to leapfrog New Zealand at the second position in Group 2 to make the semi-finals.

“Oh well there is no doubt, I think that he is a very talented player. Ishan Kishan is someone who uses the powerplay field restrictions, plays his brand of cricket. Having said that, as Virat Kohli relinquishes his captaincy after that the choice will be Rohit Sharma, he is most destructive and consistent to win matches for India in that position where he goes in as an opener and then KL Rahul we know what a talent he is and what a match winner he is,” said Laxman on Star Sports’ show ‘Game Plan’.

“So, how can you disturb these two established openers just to accommodate Ishan Kishan. So that’s probably the question, which will be on the minds of team management and the selection committee. But, probably keeping in mind that there is no consequence to the match which is going to happen against Namibia. Probably in this match they can try Ishan Kishan,” he added. Laxman also said that the Indian outfit needs to identify more bowlers if they want to have a chance in the next T20 World Cup which will be played in Australia next year.

“Yeah I think it is very important to identify a couple of bowlers who bowl quick because the conditions in Australia will be totally different, where I’m not sure the ball will swing too much. But having someone who can bowl quick, extract the bounce and pace of that wicket and at the same time can use the variations because you want someone who can also finish off the innings well with the ball,” said Laxman.

“The other important aspect is to identify batsmen who can bowl because we’ve seen that if you have the sixth or seventh bowling option, the captain will definitely not be under pressure. We know Hardik Pandya has been struggling with his fitness. So, get a couple of batsmen who can also take two overs, that will be very critical for the World Cup in Australia,” he added.

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul’s fiery partnership helped team India defeat Namibia by nine wickets in the final Super 12 match of the ongoing T20 World Cup here at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday.

Chasing 133, both and Sharma and Rahul played knocks of 56 and 54 runs and thrashed the Namibian bowlers. Earlier, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja picked three wickets each as Men in Blue restricted Namibia to 132/8. Namibia got a sigh of relief after Rohit Sharma was dismissed by Jan Frylinck in the tenth over but their happiness did not last long as Surya Kumar Yadav joined Rahul and chased the target in just 15.2 overs.

Put to bat first, Namibia got off to a decent start as the side scored 31 runs in the first four overs. Jasprit Bumrah got the scalp of Michael van Lingen in the fifth over which triggered a collapse.

Craig Williams, Stephan Baard and Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton departed in quick succession as Namibia got reduced to 47/4 in the tenth over. Skipper Gerhard Erasmus and David Wiese did try to revive Namibia’s innings but Ashwin dismissed the captain as the team lost half their side. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals and Namibia were soon found reeling at 117/8. In end the, Namibia reached 132/8 as the side scored 37 runs in the last four overs.

NEW DELHI: The game in which a very few teams of the country are left, in which game even qualifying in an event like the World Cup hasbecome extremely difficult. Where most of the states are on backfoot due to being this game quite expensive and out of reach. A successful attempt was made in the form of the Open Polo Championship.

Organized by Piccadilly Group, this tournament was organized at Jaipur Polo Ground. Sahara Warriors team defeated Jindal Panthers for the second time in a week and won the title continuously for fourth time in a row.

Not only that Sahara is successful in registering title victories in nine out of ten titles this year. only once when they didn`t won, that was they reached in semi-final.

The final saw the dominance of foreign players. In this match, nine out of ten goals were scored by foreign players for Sahara. Argentine Players Juan Cruz Lasada scored six and Daniele Otomandi scored three while the other goal was scored by Padmanabh Singh. Whereas all five goals of Jindal Panthers, South African players did. JP Clarkin four and Dirk Van Reenen scored the other one.

The owner of Jindal Panthers Naveen Jindal is the main attraction of this match. Arjuna Award winner Simran Singh Shergill was the center of attraction in his team. Having the most handicap (+6) was also a matter of talking point. the winning team, Sawai Padmanabh Singh for Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.

Padmanabh is belongs to the family of Jai Singh, Sawai Mansingh and Bhavani Singh. He said, there was no pressure on him to be a part of this family, but it gives him a sense of responsibility.