IPL Cricket

IPL a cricket venture launched by BCCI is drawing a lot of attention worldwide especially those
who are ardent fans of cricket. It has hugely attracted a pool of high class players worldwide. The reason for its popularity is simply to the fact that huge money is invested on the teams participating on it. As India being the cricket driven country obviously there will be no sort of sponsors willing to put their money. The likes of players like Ricky Pointing, Brett Lee, Graeme Smith, Jayasuriya and others will be taking part in the different teams. Not to forget the big shot of Indian cricketers. Let's see if the hype is really worth going. The twenty20 cricket will definitely be a joy to watch.

Rugby news

Sports are always a nice bit of entertainment whether on not if you are a player yourself or just a sport lover. And when it comes to a physical games than really it will be lot easier to sit outside the ground and see for yourself rather than being on the ground. Rugby is certainly a man's game(no discrimination for ladies but rather for those weak hearted ones; both man and woman). So why not get entertained with the six nation tournament sitting at your home.

If you want to know about the news associated with Rugby than just get yourself acquainted with 6 nations podcasts . You won't have to go and search for rugby news anywhere else as it provides comprehensive list of tournament news, fixtures and results, as well as interactive games and podcasts section for six nations fans. Whether you are a die-hard fan of Rugby or just a simple viewer you will love all the published articles and related matters of the six nations. Rugby rugby and simply Rugby is what I can say about it.

AC Milan wins the FIFA world club championship

AC Milan won the FIFA world club championship for the first as they won the match against south American counterpart Boca Juniors 4-2. Even though European side has upper hand in terms of quality and strength but it's teams from South America that has been winning the FIFA world club championship. Filipo Inzaghi scored 2 goals while Kaka and Nesta added the other for the Italian club. Rodrigo Palacio and an own goal by Ambrosini scored the consolation for the Boca Juniors.

The tournament consisted of the champions of all the continent and it's the only official tournament from the FIFA that will declare the world's best club. Asia's Urawa Reds from Japan finished third after beating Etoile Sportive du Sahel . FIFA world club championship has certainly been a tournament where clubs from different continent showcase their power with each other. But it's always the European and South American teams who make it to the finals.

Arsenal and Liverpool both lost their matches

Arsenal and Liverpool both lost their respective matches this weekend. Both teams were unbeaten in the premier league so far. Now no any team is there who hasn't tasted defeat this season in the premier league.

In Saturday's match Liverpool lost to Reading. This was the very first win over Liverpool for the Reading side. And Arsenal followed Liverpool's defeat by losing at the Riverside on sunday. What a marvelous result produced at the best league in the world. The premier league is getting tighter and tighter.

Muttiah Muralitharan breaks world record

Muttiah Muralitharan is the new world record holder for the most number of wickets breaking leg spinner legend Shane Warne's 708 wickets. Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne battled it out as who was the better spinner through out their career. Both excelled the art of spin and were nightmares even to the best batsman on their given day. Their excellence performance shows their skill and they took spin bowling to next level.

Murali dismissed Paul Collingwood during England's first innings in Kandy to take his 709th wicket in 29 fewer Tests than it had taken Warne to get to 708 wickets. He was four behind Warne before the series began but took his fifth wicket of the match to claim the record. Murali achieved the record in his 116th Test and on his home ground.

His milestones:
Wicket no. Matches Average
100 27 31.49
200 42 26.90
300 58 25.17
400 72 23.53
500 87 22.89
600 101 22.35
700 113 21.33
709 116 21.67

Euro 2008 finals draw

The draw for Euro 2008 finals were held and concluded. The qualified 14 teams and the two hosts are now being divided into 4 groups consisting of 4 teams each. Only the two top teams will make it into the next knock out round of the tournament. As the seeding were announced it was likely that 4 teams that were bookmaker's favorite to win the tournament can be casted in the same group. But it didn't happened only three teams were pitted alongside with that pedigree. The so called group of death teams are Italy, France, Romania and the Netherlands as they are all in Group C. One notable thing to not is that Italy and France qualified from the same group and Netherlands and Romania also qualified from the same group of the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

In Group A, Switzerland will be fighting for knock out places with Czech Republic, Turkey and Portugal. This group is also a fairly tight group as the Czech, Portugal and Turkey all have some star players playing in their side and the Swiss has home crowd behind them.

In Group B, co host Austria were pitted alongside Croatia, Germany and Poland. This group is the easiest group of all as Austria are not strong team and Poland does not boost some quality players in their side. Croatia and Germany will fancy strongly to move into the next round.

In Group D, one of the tournament favorite Spain will be battling with Russia, Sweden and defending champion Greece. This group also boost some strong battles as non of the team are less strong then other in terms of their game play. Spain are tipped as group winners and the other three teams have equal chance of qualifying to next round.

The groups are:

Group A: Switzerland Czech Republic Portugal Turkey

Group B: Austria Croatia Germany Poland

Group C: Holland Italy Romania France

Group D: Greece Sweden Spain Russia

Kaka wins player of the year award

Last week the shortlist for the European player of the year was announced namely Brazilian playmaker Kaka, dynamic Portuguese winger Christiano Ronaldo and exceptional, versatile and quick Argentine Lionel Messi. Everyone of them were in great vein of form for their club and country. But in the end it was the Brazilian who won the award for the very first time in his career. The new winner of the World player of the year is Kaka.

Kaka plays for AC Milan and it was largely to the dynamic plays of this Brazilian that AC Milan won the UEFA Champions League. He was simply instrumental in building the games and let his team mate play to the game. He even scored some breath taking goals in the process. Nobody will have any doubt that he got the award. Of all the vote casted by 96 journalists from different countries he got whopping 444 votes. Ronaldo received 277 votes and Messi received 255 votes.

Player of the Year shortlist announced

Player of the Year shorlist has been announced. And the three names which are announced means that a new player will be receiving the award which has been won by other world class superstars of the game. The three nominated players are Christiano Ronaldo(Portugal and Manchester United), Kaka( Brazil and AC Milan) and Lionel Messi ( Argentina and Barcelona). All the three were in dazzling form this past season as they all deserved to be winners. Let's see who will come out on top.

This award has been won at most (3 times ) by two players: Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo(Brazilian forward). This is the highest award a player receives in his lifetime. Last year winner was Italian world cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro.

Who will be England's next manager?

Steve MClaren has been sacked as an England's head coach effectively right after England failed to qualify for the Euro 2008 going to be held in Austria and Switzerland. England at one stage needed a favor from Israel to qualify got more than they asked for as the Israeli tream beat the Russians. After that England needed only to draw their fianl match against Croatia at home. But they lost he match 3-2 to the Croatians. It was long been speculated that MClaren would be sacked and it has now become true.

Now there is a search for the new manager going on. A list of manager's name is on the circulation around the world of sport. Among them some strong contenders include Martin O Neill, Jose Mourinho, Alan Shearer, Fabio Capello, Luis Felipe Scolari. Most recent addition to that is of Rafa Benitez.

Fernando Alonso Leaves McLaren

The former two time defending champion Fernando Alonso left the McLaren team just after 1 year. He has switched to the McLaren team from the Renault. Lewis Hamilton's form this season really put him on the back seat this season. The Spaniard driver left McLaren with mutual consent with the motor sport team. Alonso fell out with the team management whom he accused of favoring the rookie driver Hamilton.

The Spaniard's next destination remains uncertain, with Renault eager to secure his return while other teams could also change their plans now that F1's hottest property is openly available. Let's see which team he joins in the coming months.

New NBA season kicks off

The new NBA season kicks up once again. Defending champion San Antonio Spurs start their campaign with a win over Portland Trail Blazers. They won the match 106 - 97. Tim Duncan had 24 points and 13 rebounds. MVP of last season finals Tony Parker added 19 points and Manu Ginobili had 16 points and eight assists off the bench for the Spurs.

Houston Rockets also started their campaign with a win over the LA Lakers by low margin. Tracy McGrady scored 30 points and grabbed six rebounds.They scored 95 points in reply to Lakers 93.
Utah Jazz also won their match 117-96 against Golden State Warriors. Carlos Boozer tallied 32 points and 15 rebounds for the Jazz.

Certainly the new NBA season is heated up from the first day. There are many mouth watering match ups ready to explode. Just hooking myself to see the NBA Live on my TV.

Fabregas: new wonder footballer

CescFabregas the wonderkid from Spain has now already established himself as one of the most feared midfielders. In the previous season he had already shown some promising talents. But lagged some goal scoring touch which he has perfected this season. The fine form of Arsenal this season is largely due to the wonder plays of the spanish sensation Fabregas.

Many big clubs have already set eyes on him but Arsenal has acquired him for quite sometime now. This promising footballer is on the verge of stardom and has many fans scattered all over the world. Arsene Wenger pulled this sensational player from Barcelona's youth team. Fabregas was a raw diamond which Mr Wenger moulded into a fine piece of ornament which every football team want to decorate their team with. He has the vision of the old Arsenal legend Bergkamp and the eye for goal of Paul Scholes. Fabregas will certainly be entertaining every football lovers for years to come.

Nepal lost to Oman 2-0

Nepal lost its World cup qualifying match to Oman 2-0 in its home territory. Previously it had also lost 2-0 in Oman's ground thus making it 4-0 aggregate scoreline. The match was a lack luster performance from both sides. The hype and anticipation of the crowds did not meet as Nepal played down two easy goals to Oman. They were a gift given to Oman as they did not find right rhythm and a clear cut goal scoring opportunity.

Nepal had the very first chance to take the lead, Pradeep Maharjan could not reach the high through ball from the defense line. Had Nepal taken the lead, the final scoreline would have been different. Mohammed Hasem Saleh and Mohammed Al Hinai scored for the Oman. Nepal kept pressing in final seconds of the match but could not score any goals.

UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League is one of the biggest football(soccer) tournament in the world. It's a tournament that is organized every year by UEFA. Top club from Europe compete for the biggest club tournament of Europe as well as world as it is followed by millions of fans and followers around the world. The battle of supremacy between top clubs from Europe with the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United, AC Milan, Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Lyon, Bayern Munich, Ajax Amsterdam all lock their horn in this competition. By participating in this tournament only other smaller clubs can generate revenue worth millions especially from the countries other than from the top footballing nation England,Spain, Italy,Germany and France.

The tournament is won by Real Madrid most number of times. Real Madrid has won Champions League 9 times till date. AC Milan comes second in the list. This year's tournament has already started let's see who will be the winner at the end.

India ICC twenty 20 champions

India were the first nation to win the first ever twenty 20 world cup. The team led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni just outperformed every other team in the tournament. The Indian team beat their old rivals Pakistan in a tight encounter by 5 runs. India batting first managed to score 157-5 in their 20 overs. Pakistan just managed to score 152 runs before being bowled out in 19.3 overs.

Umar Gul with brilliant bowling display of 3-28 helped restrict India to 157-5, despite Gautam Gambhir's brilliant knock of 75.But RP Singh struck twice early on and Irfan Pathan took 3-16 as Pakistani batsman gave away their wickets cheaply. Misbah-ul-Haq rallied them with three sixes off Harbhajan Singh and another in the final over, but fell to Joginder Sharma before being out for decent 43 runs.

Irfan Pathan was acknowledged Man of the Match and Sahid Afridi was rewarded with Man of the Series for their performances in the fianl and the whole tournament respectively.

ICC twenty 20 World cup

ICC twenty 20 world cup is in full swing starting from 11 september. The very first match between the host South Africa and West Indies was a cracker which the host won. The match also created a history as Chris Gayle became the first man to score a century in an international twenty 20 cricket match. West Indies scored 205 for the loss of 6 wickets but South Africa chased the target in just 17.4 overs.

Other crucial matches that happened were encounter between the old rivals Pakistan and India which the Indian team won 3-0 in a bowl out. As both team managed to score equal amount of runs on the board they had to enter into a bowl out round which was just like a tie-breaker in a football match as twenty 20 cricket supported no tie matches. Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa were Dirty Harry-accurate, while Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi all missed by a fair distance as a sell-out crowd celebrated an enthralling match.

The result summary:

South Africa: 208-2 ( 17.4 overs )
West Indies: 205-6 ( 20.0 overs )
South Africa beat West Indies by 8 wickets

Australia: 138-9 ( 20.0 overs )
Zimbabwe: 139-5 ( 19.5 overs )
Zimbabwe beat Australia by 5 wickets

New Zealand: 74-1 ( 7.4 overs )
Kenya: 73 ( 16.5 overs )
New Zealand beat Kenya by 9 wickets

Pakistan: 171-9 ( 20.0 overs )
Scotland: 120 ( 19.5 overs )
Pakistan beat Scotland by 51 runs

West Indies: 164-8 ( 20.0 overs )
Bangladesh: 165-4 ( 18.0 overs )
Bangladesh beat West Indies by 6 wickets

Zimbabwe: 138-7 ( 20.0 overs )
England: 188-9 ( 20.0 overs )
England beat Zimbabwe by 50 runs

Australia: 136-2 ( 14.5 overs )
England: 135 ( 20.0 overs )
Australia beat England by 8 wickets

India: 141-9 ( 20.0 overs )
Pakistan: 141-7 ( 20.0 overs )
India tied with Pakistan
India win 3-0 by bowl out

Sri Lanka: 260-6 ( 20.0 overs )
Kenya: 88-9 ( 19.3 overs )
Sri Lanka beat Kenya by 172 runs

South Africa: 146-3 ( 18.5 overs )
Bangladesh: 144 ( 19.3 overs )
South Africa beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets

Sri Lanka: 168-3 ( 18.5 overs )
New Zealand: 164-7 ( 20.0 overs )
Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 7 wickets

4 in a row

Roger Federer the tennis legend does it again. It's no more a surprise to see the legendary swiss tennis ace Federer winning a grandslam consecutively. Roger Federer is now aiming to beat the record set by Pete Sampras of winning 14 grandslam titles overall. By looking at his form there is no way of stopping him from that record. It's likely that he could break that record in the coming year only.

In the U.S. open finals he overcame the rejuvenated Novak Djokovic in hardfought straight set victory 7-6,7-6,6-4.He becomes the first man ever to win Wimbledon and the US Open for four years in a row, and the first to win four straight US titles since Bill Tilden in 1923.Federer came from behind to win both of the first two sets in tie-breaks, and was satisfied that he had been able to raise his game at the decisive moments.

Federer has been ranked World No. 1 (since February 2, 2004) for 189 consecutive weeks, the longest of any player - male or female.In 2007, he was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record third consecutive time.