Weekly Digest (Jan 4-Jan 10): Indian cricket team subjected to racial abuse, BFC and Cuadrat part ways

Indian cricket team was subjected to racial abuse during the third Test at Sydney, while English football clubs were hit badly by a new wave of COVID-19 infections.

India's Mohammed Siraj and Ajinkya Rahane speak with umpire Paul Reiffel during day four of the third Test match in the series against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.

CRICKET

After almost a week of confusion, the fourth Test between India and Australia, scheduled between January 15 and 19, is set to go ahead in Brisbane as planned. ( REPORT )

Cricket Australia and New South Wales Police have launched separate investigations into the allegations of racial abuse hurled on the visiting Indian team by some spectators at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday. ( REPORT )

Cricket Australia has apologised to the Indian team for having to suffer racial insults from spectators at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the third Test. ( REPORT )

The Baroda cricket team suffered a blow on the eve of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as its vice-captain, Deepak Hooda, withdrew from the tournament after an alleged argument with captain Krunal Pandya. ( REPORT )

Ganguly underwent angioplasty in a private hospital in Kolkata on Saturday after suffering a heart attack.

 

BCCI president and former India captain Sourav Ganguly was discharged from the hospital on Thursday. The 48-year-old Ganguly, who was admitted to the hospital last Saturday after he complained of chest discomfort, stayed an extra day after he was set to be discharged on Wednesday. ( REPORT )

Indian Premier League franchise Delhi Capitals has appointed Pravin Amre as the assistant coach of the team for the next two seasons. ( REPORT )

Sri Lanka spinner Akila Dananjaya has been cleared of suspect action and allowed to resume bowling in international cricket following remedial work and re-assessment, the ICC said on Friday. ( REPORT )

New Zealand beat Pakistan by an innings and 176 runs in the second Test to claim its fourth win in four Tests at home this summer and take the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for the very first time. ( REPORT )

FOOTBALL

The Premier League has warned clubs that disciplinary action will be taken over breaches of coronavirus rules amid a sharp rise in cases, including 10 Aston Villa players being forced into isolation after testing positive. ( REPORT )

Former Indian Super League champion Bengaluru FC and head coach Carles Cuadrat parted ways by mutual consent following a strong of poor results in ISL 2020-21. ( REPORT )

Premier League's Leeds United suffered the biggest upset of the FA Cup third round when it fell to a 3-0 defeat by fourth-tier Crawley Town on Sunday as Manchester City and Chelsea eased through. ( REPORT )

Crawley Town's Nicholas Tsaroulla celebrates after scoring a goal in the FA Cup match against Leeds United.

 

With 10 senior players down with coronavirus, Aston Villa fielded seven players from the under-23s and four from the under-18s in the FA Cup clash against Liverpool. ( REPORT )

Two-time ISL champion Chennaiyin FC will miss captain Rafael Crivellaro's services for the remainder of the season  as the Brazilian has been ruled out due to an ankle injury. ( REPORT )

United States international and twice World Cup winner Alex Morgan said on Tuesday she and her family tested positive for COVID-19 over the Christmas holiday and are all recovering well. ( REPORT )

Schalke 04's teenager Matthew Hoppe became the first American to score a Bundesliga hat-trick when he carried his struggling side to a 4-0 victory over Hoffenheim on Saturday and snap the Royal Blues' 30-game winless streak in the league. ( REPORT )

Schalke 04's American teenager Matthew Hoppe got a sensational hat-trick on his fifth Bundesliga appearance to carry his struggling side to a 4-0 victory over Hoffenheim on Saturday.

 

AC Milan went four points clear at the top of Serie A with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Torino on Saturday as Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic made a comeback from injury and played for the first time since November 22. ( REPORT )

Ibrahimovic came on as a substitute for the final five minutes to make his first appearance since suffering an injury against Napoli on Nov. 22.

 

Borussia Dortmund scored three times in the second half, twice with Erling Haaland and once with Jadon Sancho, to beat RB Leipzig 3-1 on Saturday. ( REPORT )

Borussia Dortmund players celebrate their win over RB Leipzig.

Spanish side Real Madrid was trapped on a plane for more than two hours on Friday after ice on the runway of Barajas airport prevented its plane from taking off as a snowstorm buffeted the country. ( REPORT )

BADMINTON

Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Friday banned three Indonesian shuttlers from all badminton-related activities for life.

The entire Indian badminton contingent cleared the COVID-19 test on Wednesday and began training ahead of the Yonex Thailand Open. ( REPORT )

Badminton World Federation on Friday banned three Indonesian shuttlers from all badminton-related activities for life after they were found guilty of offences related to match-fixing, match manipulation and betting. ( REPORT )

HOCKEY 

Gregg Clark previously coached the Indian junior men's hockey team which was led by Manpreet Singh, who is currently the captain of the senior team.

 

The Indian junior women's hockey team will resume competition after more than a year following the coronavirus-induced break when it tours Chile for six matches later this month. ( REPORT )

Former Junior India men’s hockey coach Gregg Clark has been appointed as the analytical coach with the national men’s team till the Tokyo Olympics later this year. ( REPORT )

TENNIS

FILE PHOTO: Tennis - ATP Cup - Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney, Australia - January 12, 2020 Spain's Rafael Nadal and Serbia's Novak Djokovic pose ahead of their Final singles match REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo

 

World No.7 Alexander Zverev will head into the 2021 season looking for a new coach after splitting with Spaniard David Ferrer, the German confirmed on social media. ( REPORT)

ATP Cup champion Novak Djokovic and runner-up Rafael Nadal are set to return for the season-opening men's team tennis event starting February 1. ( REPORT )
Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka will join Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in playing a pre-Australian Open warm-up exhibition in Adelaide after serving their quarantine in the South Australian city. ( REPORT )

Australian Open chief executive Craig Tiley is reassuring players that the delayed season-opening Grand Slam tournament will get underway on February 8 and has asked for patience with the logistics and quarantine planning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. ( REPORT )

Nick Kyrgios was ruled out of Australia’s team for next month’s ATP Cup after his world ranking slipped to No. 46 following an 11-month absence from the ATP Tour. ( REPORT )

Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic, the oldest player to win an ATP Tour match since 1995, hit 27 aces to beat No. 7-seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the first round of the Delray Beach Open. ( REPORT )

Top 30 tennis pro Dayana Yastremska was provisionally suspended for failing an out-of-competition doping test by the International Tennis Federation. ( REPORT )

The WTA announced a provisional calendar for the women's tour on Tuesday with events lined up until the Wimbledon championships in June-July. ( REPORT)

World number one Ash Barty will return to competitive tennis after a lengthy hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic when she headlines two WTA tournaments in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open, organisers said on Thursday. ( REPORT )

Daria Kasatkina was the first winner of the new season, beating Wang Qiang 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 after trailing 2-0 in the deciding set at the Abu Dhabi Open. ( REPORT)

Out of competitive tennis for more than two years due to an injury, former Indian Davis Cupper Yuki Bhambri hit the court for the ongoing High-Performance Training Camp at R.K. Khanna Tennis Stadium in New Delhi. ( REPORT)

MOTORSPORT

McLaren driver Lando Norris revealed that he had lost his sense of taste and smell on Monday and isolated immediately.

 

Indian motorcycle racer C. S. Santhosh suffered a crash during the ongoing Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia and was put in a medically induced coma after being airlifted to a hospital in Riyadh. ( REPORT)

McLaren driver Lando Norris has tested positive for COVID-19 and is now self-isolating, his Formula One team said on Tuesday. ( REPORT)

Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll said that the Australian Grand Prix will be postponed to the back end of the Formula One season with Bahrain replacing it as the opening race in March. ( REPORT)

ATHLETICS

Athletes should be prioritised for the novel coronavirus vaccine so the beleaguered Tokyo Olympics can go ahead later this year, according to senior Olympics official Dick Pound. ( REPORT )

India's athletics season is set to begin next month with the National Open Race Walking Championship, which will also serve as an Olympic qualifying event. ( REPORT )

WRESTLING

Bajrang Punia will continue to train in the USA for one more month. The Mission Olympic Cell has approved extension of his training at Cliff Kean Wrestling Club in Michigan for additional one month at an approximate cost of Rs 11.65 lakh. ( REPORT)

BOXING

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) will hold its much-delayed elections on February 3. ( REPORT )