A brilliant 2019 done with, 2020 is the year of the World T20. But before that comes the Kiwi challenge for Team India and under the leadership of skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri, this team has made its priorities very clear.
Indian swing bowler Deepak Chahar plans to be more selective about his playing schedule in the future after a stress fracture in the lower back became the price of relentlessly pushing himself.
Hockey The Indian men's hockey team were quick to leave behind the disappointment of the 2018 World Cup and focus on their lone target for 2019, which was to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Now that the goal has been accomplished, the eyes of the team are set on finishing in the top four in the prestigious quadrennial event.
Pakistan's top batsman and T20 skipper Babar Azam says he spent a good part of 2019 correcting the mistakes he made in Test cricket and now has a better understanding of the format's nuances.
Together, the dominant trio of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer held World No. 1 for 480 weeks this decade (92% of the 2010s), won 33 of the 40 Grand Slams, captured 61 of the 90 Masters 1000s and appeared in 74 Masters 1000 finals.
In the year of biggest sports extravaganza, i.e., the Summer Olympics, there's a lot more to look forward to. Timesofindia.com puts together the month-wise list of international sports events coming up in 2020.
The board said that it has taken a pragmatic approach and decided to withdraw Shah who has already made an impact in senior men's cricket, having played three Tests with a five-wicket haul also to his name.
Smoke haze could come into play as New Zealand look to salvage some pride from their miserable tour of Australia in the third and final Test in Sydney this week.
Venus Williams has pulled out of the upcoming Brisbane International after suffering a 'setback' in training, the former world number one said on Wednesday.
A veteran on the domestic scene, Test opener Mayank Agarwal talks about his hard-earned first year as an international cricketer and how he will continue his international run in New Zealand where, he says, the focus and the goal will remain the same, to contribute to the team's success.
Tennis' innovative new team championship kicks off the men's 2020 season on Friday, with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic among those looking for a winning start ahead of the first Grand Slam of the year.
City played 381 league games in the past 10 years, collecting 818 points -- 71 points more than their closest challenger Manchester United (747 points from 380 games). They scored 845 goals, 130 more than Chelsea and Liverpool.
Bumrah emerged as India's go-to bowler in all the three formats of the game in 2019. He played a crucial role in India's maiden Test series win in Australia and during the tour of West Indies, he became only the third Indian to take a hat-trick in red-ball cricket.
The playing XI, not reserves, for TOI's Indian Test team of the decade was based on at least 30 Tests played in the decade.
The year 2019 also saw wedding bells ring for some of the biggest names in the sporting world.
Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar believes that 2019 was the "worst year" for him as an analyst and commentator, referring to his spat with Ravindra Jadeja during the World Cup and after that the "unprofessional and indecent" comment he made about celebrated commentator Harsha Bhogle.
Cricket's biggest spectacle - ICC ODI World Cup - took place in England in the year 2019 and had a first-time winner. This was also the first time when the World Cup final result was decided neither by wickets nor by runs. TimesofIndia.com brings you the top five talking points of the World Cup.
A hat-trick of losses in the last three rounds ended Koneru Humpy's hopes of a second title at the women's World Rapid and Blitz Championships as the Indian Grandmaster finished 12th overall in the two-day blitz competition in Moscow.
Boxer L Sarita Devi has alleged that her bout against Simranjit Kaur in the recently-concluded selection trials for Olympic qualifiers was "fixed" and that certain people who are part of the Indian boxing set-up had "ganged up" against her to deny her a fair chance.
Krishnamachari Srikkanth might not have racked up the biggest numbers in international cricket, but even to this day, almost three decades after his retirement, he stays one of the eternal crowd favourites.
The frail young footballer, desperate for a break, that iconic coach TK Chathunni met sometime in the last decade was indistinguishable from the seasoned veteran that amateur striker Ansar KJ encountered at Perinthalmanna on Sunday night.
Ending weeks of tough posturing, which had threatened to rob several Indian athletes of their legitimate right to compete at the upcoming Commonwealth Games (CWG), the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday officially took back its threat of "withdrawing" from the 2022 CWG in Birmingham over shooting's exclusion at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) here.
He has unfinished business to tend to. Vikas Krishan, who was considered the country's biggest hope for a medal from boxing in the last two Olympics, had turned pro in November 2018. He recently returned to the amateur fold with the goal to win a medal for India at the Tokyo Olympics.
Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be officially presented as an AC Milan player on January 3, the Italian club confirmed on Monday.
"England would not be afraid of taking big decisions," said side's coach Chris Silverwood when asked whether the team can drop pacers Stuart Broad or James Anderson in the ongoing Test series against South Africa.
Since January 2018 - when Bumrah made his debut - India's pacers have taken 274 wickets in 22 Tests at 20.74, the best among all teams. They also have the most five-wicket hauls (14). In wins, Bumrah has the best strike rate (30.4), best average (13.19) and best economy rate (2.59) among all bowlers since his debut.
In a question-answer session on micro-blogging site Twitter, Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin said that he will 'Mankad' anyone who goes out of the crease in the coming Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova will return to tournament action at the Brisbane International next month after being awarded a wildcard to play in the Australian Open warm-up.
Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy stayed in the hunt for a second title at the women's World Rapid and Blitz Championships after being placed second along with three others in the blitz competition.
Ponting's Test team of the 2010 doesn't feature any other Indian apart from Kohli, who is currently ranked No.1 in both ICC Test and ODI rankings for batsmen.
Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah are the only two Indians who have been able to make a cut to the T20I team of the decade announced by Wisden. "Kohli's average of 53 was the best in the decade," Wisden said. Talking about Bumrah, Wisden said that despite only making his debut in 2016, the Indian pace spearhead finds a spot in this team thanks to his defensive brilliance.
The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) is expected to elect its next President by January 13 and if all goes as per plan, former India opener Gautam Gambhir could be asked to take over the chair as the association looks to get back to normalcy post Rajat Sharma's resignation.
Manchester City got back to winning ways on Sunday with Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne on target in the second half as Pep Guardiola's side beat Sheffield United 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium in a Premier League game which saw yet more VAR controversy.
New Zealand have called up off-spinner Will Somerville to replace injured fast bowler Trent Boult for the third and final Test match against Australia in Sydney that begins on Thursday, the country's cricket board (NZC) said on Monday.
Bhvuneshwar, who has been diagnosed with sports hernia, remains in doubt for India's tour of New Zealand and the pacer will soon be returning to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for rehabilitation.
A controversial Sadio Mane goal was enough for Premier League leaders Liverpool to secure a nervy 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers and open up a 13-point cushion over their nearest challengers on Sunday.
Indian football in 2019, to quote Jean-Paul Sartre, seems to have been happy in “confusing things with their names.” And be it a Sartrean belief or banality, the fact is that, after years of confusion, we have finally arrived at the much-anticipated road map in Indian football with a new name and new identity.
Under pressure from the hosts, the Punjab Basketball Association (PBA) and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) made a mockery of their own order issued on December 26 – the copy of which was made public on the concluding day of the nationals.
The All India Chess Federation has decided to file an FIR against Lahiri in alleged misappropriation of funds case during the national sub-junior meet held in Bengal last year.
Liverpool’s Champions League triumph and Brazil’s Copa America victory were the bright spots in a year where racism and regressive banners played spoilsport in most arenas across the planet.
BCCI ethics officer D K Jain has rendered the conflict of interest complaint against former cricketers and CAC members Shantha Rangaswamy and Anshuman Gaekwad as "infructuous" but the case involving Kapil Dev has still not been decided.
Nathan Lyon grabbed four wickets as Australia completed a crushing 247-run victory on day four of the Boxing Day Test against New Zealand on Sunday that gave the hosts an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
All India Chess Federation (AICF) president PR Venketrama Raja on Saturday suffered a setback in the ongoing power struggle with secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan as the general body meeting passed the resolutions proposed by the latter.
Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has clarified his statement regarding Danish Kaneria, saying his allegation that many did not want the former leg-spinner to be part of the Pakistan team because of his Hindu faith were taken completely out of context and there was never a culture in the team to discriminate anybody on the basis of race.
Humpy Koneru is the new women World Rapid Chess Champion. India's most talented chess master clinched her maiden world open title in King Salman World Rapid Chess Championships in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday. While Magnus Carlsen clinched his third world crown in the Open group, Humpy emerged winner in Women.
A run of just two wins in 14 games, including seven defeats in their last nine league matches, saw patience run out with the 66-year-old former Real Madrid and Manchester City boss.
If you do well for India in an age group tournament, the last thing you would expect is to be dropped from your state team just a month later.
Sarbananda Sonowal's dream of making Guwahati the 'sports capital of India' could take wings during the forthcoming Khelo India games to be held here at Assam's most populous city, from January 10.
Indian grapplers, boxers and shooters led from the front in the year 2019, achieving several firsts during the year. Ace shuttler PV Sindhu also had her date with history at the World Championships in Basel. TOI takes a look at the talking points of 2019.
A much-changed Leicester inflicted the final blow of Manuel Pellegrini's time in charge of West Ham with a 2-1 win on Saturday as Manchester United closed on the Premier League's top four with a 2-0 victory at Burnley.