1. We are Geared up For The Series Decider: Ross Taylor
Eyeing a historic bilateral ODI cricket series win in India, New Zealand senior batsman Ross Taylor said they are hungry to win the five-match series decider on Saturday and make up for the 0-3 whitewash in Tests.
"You don't often win series away from home especially in the sub-continent. It's a pretty exciting time. Hopefully we can get better than what we have in the past," the former New Zealand captain told the New Zealand Cricket website as they checked into the coastal Andhra city this evening.
New Zealand have never won a bilateral ODI series against India in India. It is in sharp contrast to their 18-11 record in India in a multi-team tournament but having defeated India by 19 runs in Ranchi, Kane Williamson and Co could well return home on a high after being on the road since the Zimbabwe tour in July.
2. Dhoni Should Stick to Batting at No 4: Ganguly
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly insisted that Mahendra Singh Dhoni should stick to batting at No 4 which will enable him and Virat Kohli could play the finishers' role.
"Let him play at number four. He will finish from there. Finisher does not mean he has to bat from the 40th over. Virat (Kohli) bats at three and he is finishing games. It's a wrong concept that a finisher has to come lower down the order. Dhoni got India over the ropes in the other match batting at four," Ganguly said on the sidelines of Cricket Association of Bengal's tie up with VLCC today.
New Zealand defeated India by 19 runs while defending 260 in Ranchi yesterday, in a match India's premier batsman got out for 45.
3. Phelps Secretly Married Girlfriend in June
Michael Phelps took the plunge in June, secretly marrying his longtime girlfriend two months before the Olympic great completed his last gold-medal haul.
The Arizona Republic reports the 31-year-old swimmer wedded Nicole Johnson on June 13. That's a little more than a month after the former Miss California USA gave birth to their son, Boomer.
The newspaper has posted a copy of a marriage license that shows Phelps and Johnson were married in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Neither Phelps nor Johnson said anything about the wedding. Johnson posted a picture of her with Phelps and Boomer on Instagram on the day of the ceremony with the caption, "Such a memorable night with my lil fambam."
4. India to Take on South Korea in ACT Semifinal
Top-ranked India will take on South Korea in the semifinals of the fourth Asian Champions Trophy after the Koreans conceded a late equaliser to Malaysia and finished fourth in the round-robin league standings.
India had topped the league standings with 13 points after finishing their preliminary fixtures yesterday, but there was plenty of drama on the last day of the league fixtures. Pakistan defeated China 4-0 to take their points tally to nine, the same as Malaysia before the last outing against the Koreans, who had seven points ahead of the last match.
5. Mourinho Charged With Misconduct by FA
Jose Mourinho has been charged with misconduct in the wake of his comments about referee Anthony Taylor before Manchester United's goalless draw with Liverpool last week, the Football Association said on Thursday.
United manager Mourinho had said it would be "difficult" for Taylor, who is from the Greater Manchester area, to have "a very good performance" after being put in charge of the Premier League game between two fierce rivals.
"Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has been charged with misconduct, in respect of comments he made relating to the appointed match referee prior to the Liverpool FC v Manchester United FC fixture on Monday 17 October 2016," the FA said in a statement.
6. Delhi Play Out Another Draw in 1-1 Stalemate
Delhi Dynamos dominated the proceedings but yet again played out a draw in a 1-1 result against FC Pune City in a familiar show of their strikers missing chances galore in the Indian Super League.
Jesus Rodriguez Tato put Pune ahead in the 45+1 minute as he headed in a corner kick while Milan Singh found the equaliser in the 79th minute to end the match in a stalemate.
This was the third straight draw of Delhi at home and they remained at sixth at the league table with seven points from one won four draws and one loss.