New Delhi: The Indian Cricket Board is under pressure from the Congress party to revoke the life ban on former skipper Mohd Azharuddin for his alleged involvement in the 2000 match-fixing scandal.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt has got verbal assurances from the government that it would have no objections regarding the national players travelling to India for the Indian Premier League next year.

CENTURION: South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis has been ruled out of the one-day series against England because of a rib injury, Cricket South Africa said on Saturday.

Karachi: Uncertainty still looms large over Misbah-ul-Haq's tour to New Zealand after the Pakistan Cricket Board said it would wait till the first Test to decide whether to send the senior batsman there as Younus Khan's replacement.

Johannesburg: Rain caused the abandonment of the first one-day international between South Africa and England at the Wanderers Stadium.

Melbourne: One of the best-known names in world sport the late Don Bradman was formally inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame at the Bradman Oration at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Johannesburg: In an indirect rejoinder to South African cricket team coach Mickey Arthur England captain Andrew Strauss has said that his team is in South Africa to make runs and win matches, and not to make friends.

Auckland: New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond and batsman Peter Fulton have been included in the 13-man squad for the first of Three tests against Pakistan starting in Dunedin on Tuesday.

Sydney: Australian cricket needs to face the facts. They have lost three of their past five Test series and as far as the selectors are concerned, the backslapping not withstanding, it is a point to ponder over feels weel known cricket columnist Peter Roebuck.

Melbourne: Former Australian cricket captain and coach Greg Chappell has warned that 50-over cricket would be the best way to measure all cricketing nations but Twenty20 is the best format for ensuring the growth of the game.

Experts and pundits are questioning the wisdom of Jenson Button's reportedly likely move from Brawn/Mercedes to McLaren for 2010.

Jenson Button made a final farewell visit to Brawn's Brackley headquarters this week, prompting "sadness and anger", according to the Daily Telegraph.

LONDON: Jenson Button will partner Lewis Hamilton at McLaren next season in an all-British line-up of champions, the Formula One team said on Wednesday.

London: Two-time champion Fernando Alonso is already dreaming of winning the Formula One world title with Ferrari.

LONDON: Formula One champions Brawn will compete as Mercedes Grand Prix next season after the German carmaker announced a takeover on Monday along with the sale of their stake in McLaren.

LONDON: Twice Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso made his first public appearance with his new Ferrari team at an event in Valencia, Spain on Sunday.

London: Formula One champion Jenson Button has met McLaren officials, sparking off fresh rumours about McLaren having an all-British team alongside Lewis Hamilton.

LONDON: India's Karun Chandhok says he has a real chance of racing in Formula One next year after talks with all the new teams due to enter.

PARIS: French carmaker Renault will decide by the end of the year whether to stay in Formula One after a race-fixing scandal that has badly damaged the team's reputation.

Abu Dhabi companies Etihad Airways and Aldar Properties have been ordered to pay $4.7 million to Force India.

DUBLIN: Up to 200 Irish fans protested at the French embassy in Dublin on Saturday to demand a replay of Wednesday's controversial World Cup playoff.

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool can still finish in the Premier League top four despite a poor run of form, manager Rafa Benitez said on Saturday after his injury-hit side were held to a 2-2 draw by Manchester City.

PARIS: Thierry Henry is not a cheat and will get over his handball in France's controversial World Cup playoff against Ireland, Zinedine Zidane was quoted as saying on Saturday.

London: Soccer's world governing body FIFA has confirmed that the controversial France v Ireland World Cup playoff will not be replayed.

London: Football legend Eric Cantona has said that he would have hit striker Thierry Henry if he was one of the Republic of Ireland players cheated of their World Cup spot.

London: The World has turned on French football star Thierry Henry branding him a cheat even as Irish football chiefs have approached FIFA with a demand for a replay of the World Cup tie.

London: Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz and his team-mates have warned Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez that they intend to ruin his Christmas celebrations this year.

Dublin: Ireland appealed to France and FIFA on Thursday to replay their World Cup playoff after an obvious hand ball by Thierry Henry set up the deciding goal.

Henry's hands are dirty!

On top of the World!

London Dreams!

London: British tennis player Andy Murray has said he is looking forward to utilizing the huge home advantage at the O2 Arena for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

London: World number one Roger Federer will face his U.S. Open conqueror Juan Martin del Potro in the round-robin stage of the ATP Tour finals after getting the rough end of Wednesday's draw for the season finale.

London: Belgian tennis players Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse, who both fell foul of anti-doping regulations, appealed against their one-year bans to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Wednesday.

London: Andy Roddick withdrew from the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals due to a knee injury he suffered six weeks ago. The US player is being replaced in the eight-man draw by Swede Robin Soderling.

MADRID: Top 10 duo Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco have returned to the Spain side for next month's Davis Cup final against Czech Republic, captain Albert Costa said on Monday.

PARIS: Serbia's Novak Djokovic praised his "perfect" performance after outclassing world number two Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-3 to set up a Paris Masters final against local hope Gael Monfils on Saturday.

PARIS: Serbia's Novak Djokovic shrugged off a brave challenge from crowd favourite Gael Monfils to claim the Paris Masters title with a 6-2 5-7 7-6 win on Sunday.

NEW DELHI: Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi won their second ATP Challenger doubles title of the season after a Rohan Bopanna straight set victory over Philipp Marx and Igor Zelenay in the final of Aachen event in Germany.

BRUSSELS: Suspended Belgian tennis players Yanina Wickmayer and Xavier Malisse are launching appeals with European authorities that will question Yanina Wickmayer the legality of the whereabout rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

From Thackeray's comments on Sachin Tendulkar to Theirry Henry's controversial confession. MSN India presents the seven best quotes from the week gone by.

Hyderabad: Ace Indian cueist Geet Sethi pulled off a stunning win over Chuchart Trairattanapradit of Thailand to enter the quarterfinals of ONGC-IBSF World Snooker Championship here today.

Hyderabad: Pankaj Advani and Geet Sethi hardly broke a sweat but compatriot Yasin Merchant had to toil for his win in the IBSF World Snooker Championship.

New Delhi: The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has said that it will take strong disciplinary action against the dope tainted Indian federation for the repeated offences of its lifters.

Hyderabad: A rock concert in the neighbouring hall at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre caused the rescheduling of the ONGC-IBSF World Snooker championship as it would have unduely disturbed the players.

New Delhi: Hockey India (HI) president Ashok Kumar Mattoo's assertion in Pune that Rajpal Singh was not the choice of selectors for captaincy is factually correct but an HI release clearly mentioned the striker as captain for the Champions Challenge tournament in Argentina.

New Delhi: International Hockey Federation (FIH) president Leandro Negre asserted that a democratically elected Hockey India (HI) will be in place before the World Cup as that is the only way to put the game back on the rails here.

Hyderabad: Geet Sethi shrugged off a first frame deficit to thrash Kuwait's Ayyoub Alsharrah in the masters category while world champion Pankaj Advani continued his brilliant run in the men's event by defeating compatriot Sandeep Gulati in the IBSF World Snooker Championship here.

Jalandhar: Indian WWE wrestler and Assistant Sub-Inspector with the Punjab Police 'Khali' was today suspended from the force due to his inordinate absence from the duty.

Pune: Hockey India (HI) president Ashok Kumar Mattoo appears to have brought about at least a temporary truce between the players and national coach Jose Brasa.