From the dressing room to the board room, former India captain Sourav Ganguly's effortless transition into the highest echelons of cricket administration is a throwback to the days of his artistic offside play.
Like he would bisect a packed seven-man offside field in his heydays, leaving fans and teammates in awe and opponents clueless, Ganguly played his cards well off the field to emerge as the unanimous candidate for one of the top jobs in world cricket: BCCI presidency.
Also, the 47-year-old's ascendancy as the president of the world's richest cricket board reaffirmed the saying 'once a leader, always a leader', for leadership comes naturally to the man who was made captain of the national team when Indian cricket was going through its darkest hour in the wake of the 2000 match-fixing scandal.
Not one to shirk responsibility, Ganguly took on the challenges head on and moulded a bunch of talented, but direction-less, youngsters into world beaters while at the same time striking a ..

Sourav Ganguly: Once a leader, always a leader

PTI Automatic

Defending champions River Plate booked a place in the final of the Copa Libertadores on Tuesday despite losing a tense semi-final to rivals Boca Juniors at a packed Bombonera in Buenos Aires.
A goal from 19-year-old Venezuelan forward Jan Hurtado 10 minutes from full-time set up a frantic finale but River held on to go through 2-1 on aggregate.
The "Millionaires" will play the winners of Wednesday's all-Brazilian clash between Flamengo and Gremio in the final in Santiago next month.
Urged on by 50,000 fans, Boca failed to get revenge in a repeat of last year's final, the second leg of which was played 10,000 kilometers away in Madrid -- and two weeks behind schedule -- after the original match was twice postponed.
The tone was set for a scrappy encounter when the kick-off was held up by 15 minutes to allow groundsmen using leaf-blowers to clear the pitch of thousands of paper sheets released like ticker tape by the fans.
When the match did eventually get underway, it was predictably ..

River Plate reach Copa Libertadores final despite Boca loss

The new 2024 Olympics logo is supposed to evoke French history but has instead earned ridicule online for its apparent resemblance to a stereotypical Parisian woman.
Unveiled on Monday, the design incorporates the art deco style in vogue the last time Paris hosted the Games in 1924, depicting an Olympic flame within a gold medal.
It also incorporates the lips and outline of Marianne, the personification of liberty and the French Republic since the revolution of 1789 -- an addition that some mocked for adding an unnecessarily seductive character to the motif.
"The French Olympic logo tumbles out of bed on a Parisian morning," wrote Paris-based journalist Megan Clement on Twitter.
"She tousles her messy bob, dons breton stripes and ballet flats and whisks down the stairs from her fifth-floor apartment to grab a baguette before enigmatically texting two men who are pursuing her romantically.
"(She) has an expresso and a cigarette for lunch. She hops on a vintage bicycle and pedals past ..

'The girl you were warned about': Paris 2024 logo mocked online

Former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith has been elected an Honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), custodians of the game's law.
The MCC took to Twitter to announce the membership.
"MCC has today announced the election of @OfficialCSA legend @GraemeSmith49 as an Honorary Life Member of the Club," the MCC tweeted on Tuesday.
Smith, who has an impressive record in One-Day International cricket for his country, scoring 6,989 runs including ten centuries, expressed his excitement on being bestowed upon the honour.
"Thank you @HomeOfCricket and the MCC for this incredible honour. I have so many amazing memories there and I'm excited to share more with you in the future," Smith tweeted.
The former batsman became South Africa's youngest ever captain at 22, and went on to enjoy a monumental Test Match career. He struck 27 centuries amongst his 9,265 career runs.
Named one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 2004, Smith secured a second place on the Honours Board in ...

Graeme Smith elected MCC Honorary Life Member

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has called for "common sense" to prevail over the rescheduling of Saturday's Clasico against Real Madrid.
The match at Camp Nou has been postponed because of violent protests in Catalonia, with Barca and Madrid agreeing on a new date of December 18 as instructed by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
But La Liga, who recommended the original postponement to the RFEF, would prefer December 4 as December 18 clashes with fixtures in the Copa del Rey.
It means the decision was delayed on Monday as Barcelona and Real Madrid were given until Tuesday to make their opinions known on La Liga's position.
"I would like common sense to prevail," Valverde said at a press conference on Tuesday evening.
"But we are talking about things that are complicated. The Espanyol against Villarreal game was played the other day but our game the following week is suspended.
"What would happen if there was a demonstration planned on the new date of the Clasico? I would like .

Valverde wants swift resolution to Clasico problem

Alvaro Morata came off the bench and rescued Atletico Madrid when his late header gave Diego Simeone's side a gritty 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Morata, dropped after missing chances in Atletico's draw with Valencia in La Liga on Saturday, played as if he had a point to prove in a match-winning cameo at the Wanda Metropolitano.
"He started on the bench," said Simeone. "But came on with the motivation of a little boy." Victory leaves Atletico with seven points from their opening three games in Group D and on the brink of qualification, with only top spot seemingly to be settled, most likely with Juventus.
For Leverkusen, three defeats from three all but ends their hopes of progress and continues a disappointing start to the season that also has them sitting ninth in the Bundesliga.
Atletico have been on a poor run themselves, managing only two wins from their last eight games in all competitions and slipping to fifth in the league, behind both ...

Morata makes his point by scoring winner for Atletico

A UEFA Youth League match between Olympiakos and Bayern Munich in Athens was abandoned on Tuesday after a masked gang attacked visiting fans leaving at least seven people injured.
Police said 80 people arrived at the Rentis Athletic Centre in Piraeus on 40 scooters. About 30 of them, wearing masks or helmets, invaded the venue and assaulted Bayern fans with clubs.
The attack came with Bayern Munich leading 4-0 after 84 minutes. The match was abandoned.
Six Bayern Munich fans were injured as well as one Greek security guard. Two of the visiting fans were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The few police at the venue were unable to stop the attack or make arrests.  After the incident, Olympiakos players went into the stands and asked the Bayern Munich supporters for forgiveness.
"Olympiakos FC strongly condemns today's hooligan attack at the Rentis Athletic Centre during the match. The invaders have no place among the family of Olympiakos and have nothing to do with the family of ...

Six Bayern fans hurt in mass assault at youth match in Athens

Substitute Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain moved a step closer to the Champions League last 16 with a 5-0 victory over previously unbeaten Club Brugge on Tuesday.
The World Cup winner, who has only started four games this season because of thigh and hamstring injuries, netted three times in the space of 20 minutes to help PSG go five points clear of Real Madrid, who beat Galatasaray 1-0, in second place in Group A.
"I wanted to start and I thought I was going to start, but the coach made his choice and I had to accept it. I also wanted to show that it's difficult to get by without me," Mbappe told broadcaster RMC Sport.
"I have to fight to keep my place. It's been two months since I played a full game. It feels good to come back. My injury is over. I'm 100%," the 20-year-old added.
Mauro Icardi netted the other two goals as fellow Argentinian Angel Di Maria directly set-up three of his side's efforts.
For the third time in Europe this season PSG's Thomas Tuchel 

Sub Mbappe's hat-trick puts PSG in last-16 driving seat

World number six Alexander Zverev described his 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 loss to Taylor Fritz as 'flat' as he was knocked out of the ATP Swiss Indoors on Tuesday.
The German's loss to the 21-year-old American  came barely a week after defeat in the Shanghai Masters final to Daniil Medvedev and puts his chance of defending his ATP Finals title at risk.
"I was completely flat for some reason," he said.
"I was tired and not focused at all. It was a weird feeling," he added.  Zverev won the season-ending tournament last November, beating Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic back-to-back.
The season points race will be determined next week at the Paris Masters as the last two of the eight spots are decided.
"The way I played today, in my current mental stage, I'm not going to beat anybody," Zverev, ranked seventh in the world, said.
"I'm very disappointed but it's more about myself than the result." Zverev, a semi-finalist last year in Basel, fought hard to take the opening set into a tiebreaker, but ...

'Flat' Zverev crashes out in Basel first round

Bayern Munich captain Manuel Neuer could not hide his irritation after the Germans needed two Robert Lewandowski goals to dig themselves out of trouble in their 3-2 win at Olympiakos in the Champions League Tuesday.
Lewandowski maintained his phenomenal record, scoring for his 12th game in a row, to leave him with 18 goals in 13 games in all competitions so far this season.
After Youssef El Arabi had given Olympiakos a shock lead in Athens, Lewandowski poached goals, both after good work in the build-up from Thomas Mueller, to turn the game before Corentin Tolisso grabbed a third with a superb strike.
Worryingly for the defending German champions, Olympiakos again beat Bayern goalkeeper Neuer late on when Brazilian midfielder Guilherme hit the back of the net in a tense last ten minutes.
"We made life hard for ourselves again," Neuer said as Bayern had failed to win their two previous Bundesliga games.
"We need to play more like ourselves again and every single player must produce a ..

Neuer annoyed as Bayern need Lewandowski double to win at Olympiakos

Real Madrid came away from Istanbul with three crucial Champions League points on Tuesday with a 1-0 away win at Galatasaray thanks to a first-half Toni Kroos goal and Eden Hazard's threatening creativity.
Pressure on coach Zinedine Zidane will be alleviated after Madrid had been beaten in their first European game by PSG, before they had to fight back from 2-0 down at home to Club Brugge to snatch a point in their second match of the campaign.
The thirteen-times European champions arrived in Istanbul needing a win against motivated opponents backed by passionate and noisy supporters.
Zidane said on Monday he was 'bothered' by rumours of his imminent replacement in the Madrid hot-seat, and he paced the touchline with a haunted look at times in the Turkish capital.
Belgian star Hazard shone and it was a clever cut-back from him that provided Kroos with a shot on goal, and his snap-shot was deflected past goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, who kept the visitors at bay for the rest of the ...

Hazard pulls strings as Real Madrid edge Galatasaray

Maurizio Sarri praised Juventus for not losing their heads as Paulo Dybala's quick-fire second-half double rescued a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Lokomotiv Moscow in their Champions League Group D clash in Turin on Tuesday.
The Italian champions had trailed the Russians with 13 minutes to go in the Allianz Stadium after Aleksei Miranchuk had put the visitors ahead after half an hour.
But Dybala pulled the hosts level on 77 minutes and added a second two minutes later to keep Juventus on course in Group D with seven points after three games.  Sarri's side had drawn with Atletico Madrid and beaten Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the last two games.
Atletico also have seven points, after beating Leverkusen 1-0 in Spain on Tuesday, with Lokomotiv third with three points.
"It became a difficult match when we conceded this goal," said former Chelsea boss Sarri.
"But we did well not to lose our heads. We knew we could get back into the match.
"We had 25 shots on goal, we established a record for ...

Dybala double rescues Juventus against Lokomotiv Moscow

Pep Guardiola saluted the "extraordinary" Raheem Sterling after Manchester City's majestic winger hit a brilliant 11-minute hat-trick in Tuesday's 5-1 thrashing of Atalanta.
Guardiola's side were rocked by Ruslan Malinovsky's first half penalty in the Champions League clash at the Etihad Stadium.
But City responded superbly as Sergio Aguero struck twice before the interval.  Sterling had provided the assists for both of Aguero's goals, but the England star was just getting warmed up.
After the interval, Sterling struck three times to complete a personal masterclass that underlined his rise in the Guardiola era from enigmatic playmaker to lethal finisher.  Sterling has emerged as City's driving force over the last 18 months and his second hat-trick of the season confirmed his place among the world's best players.
"All the credit is for him. He's a guy whose physicality is incredible. He is so strong," Guardiola said.
"A day after a game, he could play another. His regeneration is ...

Sterling blasts 11-minute treble as Man City run riot

Belgian Paralympic champion Marieke Vervoort ended her life through euthanasia at the age of 40 on Tuesday, Belgian media reported.
Euthanasia is legal in Belgium and the spiky-haired athlete announced her intentions after the Rio Games in 2016 to follow that path if her degenerative condition worsened her suffering.
But she said at the time that sport had given her a reason to keep living.
"I'm still enjoying every little moment. When the moment comes when I have more bad days than good days, then I have my euthanasia papers, but the time is not there yet," she told a news conference during the 2016 Paralympic Games.
Vervoort suffered a degenerative muscle disease that caused constant pain, paralysis in her legs and left her barely able to sleep, and gradually her life became torture.
She was just 14 years old when diagnosed but Vervoort pursued a sporting life with passion -- playing wheelchair basketball, swimming and racing in triathlons.
She won the 100m gold and 200m silver ...

Paralympic champion Marieke Vervoort ends life by euthanasia

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are the major attractions in a world-class line-up as the US PGA Tour breaks new ground with its first tournament in Japan this week.
The inaugural Zozo Championship tees off Thursday offering a $9.75 million prize pot as the middle leg of the Tour's new near $30 million three-tournament Asian swing.
It began last week at the $9.75 million CJ Cup in South Korea, won by Justin Thomas, and concludes at next week's $10.25 million WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
Woods, who won his 15th major at this year's US Masters, will be joined at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in front of an expected tens of thousands of golf-crazy Japanese fans by a who's who of golf.
World number two and PGA Tour Player of the Year McIlroy, eighth-ranked Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth and US Open Champion Gary Woodland are just a few sprinkling more stardust.
In-form Thomas will be aiming to improve his incredible strike-rate with a fifth victory in 10 starts in Asia after his .

Woods, McIlroy major draws at Japan's star-studded PGA Tour debut

Belgian Paralympian Marieke Vervoort, the 100m champion from the 2012 London Games has died by euthanasia at the age of 40, Belgian media reported on Tuesday.
Euthanasia is legal in Belgium and the spikey haired athlete announced her intentions after the Rio Games in 2016 to follow that path if her degenerative condition worsened her suffering.
Despite falling sick aged 14 Vervoort pursued a sporting life with passion, playing wheelchair basketball, swimming and racing in triathlons.

Paralympic champion Marieke Vervoort dies by euthanasia

A 10-man Jamshedpur FC overcame the odds and put up a spirited display to defeat Odisha FC 2-1 in a thrilling Indian Super League match here on Tuesday.
Farukh Choudhary broke the deadlock in the 17th minute fortuitously, but the lead was put in danger by a red card that Bikash Jairu picked up with 10 minutes to go for the half-time whistle.
Aridane Santana stuck soon after to restore parity for Odisha FC but a fighting second-half culminated in Sergio Castel finding a winner in the 85th minute for the home side at the JRD Tata Sports Complex.
The two teams looked to get on the scoresheet early and it was Odisha FC that threatened first. Xisco Hernandez fed Jerry Mawhmingthanga down the right flank and the winger's floating cross was headed just wide by Aridane Santana.
The re-branded Bhubaneswar-based side continued to push and went close again four minutes later. Xisco split the Jamshedpur defence to send Jerry free down the right flank but the winger's curling effort ricocheted off 

10-man Jamshedpur beat Odisha FC 2-1

Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan on Tuesday said the national players' unprecedented strike seems to be a "conspiracy" to destabilise the game in the country but remains hopeful that the upcoming tour of India will go on as per schedule.
Hassan's comments come after country's top players including Test and T20 captain Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim on Monday announced a boycott of cricketing activities until their demands, including a salary hike, are met.
"Obviously I hope that the camp will go on. The India series will take place. I believe that most of the players want to play. They want cricket to develop. I don't believe that they will bring the country's cricket into disrepute due to a small sum of five thousand taka. But we will see what happens," Hassan was quoted as saying by 'Daily Star'.
Bangladesh are scheduled to play three T20s and two-Tests in India starting November 3.
"First, I have to know who is trying to jeopardise the India tour. .

BCB boss smells conspiracy behind players' strike but says India tour on

Top Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth jumped one place to reach career-best 11th spot while world champion P V Sindhu remained unchanged at sixth in the BWF world rankings released on Tuesday.
Praneeth, who won a bronze in the World Championships in August, had a best men's singles career rank of 12th before Tuesday. He had beaten Olympic champion Lin Dan in the Denmark Open last week in the round of 32 before losing to Kento Momota of Japan in the pre-quarterfinals.
Kidambi Srikanth dropped one place to 10th while Sameer Verma also slipped one spot to be 18th in the list headed by Momota.
In the women's singles, Sindhu remained static at sixth while another Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal moved down one place to be ninth in the list headed by Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.

Sai Praneeth reaches career-best 11, Sindhu unchanged at 6th in BWF rankings

World champion P V Sindhu began her French Open campaign with an easy win over Michelle Li in the women's singles first round here on Tuesday.
The world number six Sindhu, who has been struggling of late, beat Li 21-15 21-13 in a match that last 44 minutes.
The Olympic silver medallist Indian had a 5-2 head-to-head record over the world number eight Canadian before Tuesday's match. Sindhu had beaten Li during the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia in their previous meeting.
Sindhu will play against world number 26 Yeo Jia Min of Singapore in the second round of the BWF Super 750 tournament.
Since claiming her maiden World Championships title in August, Sindhu has looked awfully out-of-form as she had failed to cross the second round in three tournaments.
She faltered in the second and first rounds at the China Open and Korea Open respectively last month. Sindhu again exited in the second round in straight games against Korea's An Se Young in Denmark Open last week.
In the men's ...

Sindhu begins with easy win, Subhankar upsets Sugiarto in French Open

Top-seeds Yash Fadte and Sanya  Vats won the boys and girls under-19 titles respectively in  style, posting easy wins in the finals of the HCL Sub-junior  and Junior National Squash Championship here on Tuesday.
While the promising Fadte eased past Sankalp Anand  (Delhi) 11-2, 11-8, 11-4, Vats outplayed Amira Singh 11-5,  11-8, 11-6.
Host Tamil Nadu finished with two titles as Darshil  Parasrampuria and Arihant KS won in the boys under-11 and  under-13 sections respectively.
Tiana Parasrampuria (girls under-15), Yuvraj Wadhwani  (boys under-15) and the talented Neel Joshi (boys under-17)  from the START Academy near Mumbai, run by former PSA player  and five-time national champion Ritwik Bhattacharya, emerged  victorious.
Ace table tennis player G Sathiyan Gnanasekaran gave  away the prizes in the presence of Rajat Chandolia, Head of  Brand Strategy and Sports Initiatives, HCL Corporation and  Cyrus Poncha, Secretary-General, Squash Rackets Federation of  India.
Results: (All Finals): 

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