Bonuses

With almost zero fat, lean muscle and improved strength and stamina, the Indian Hockey team could easily be a front-runner for the fittest team at the moment. One area the Indians would be more than a match for the Dutch would be fitness.

In a dream start to her second innings after a two-year break, Sania Mirza lifted the WTA Hobart International trophy with partner Nadiia Kichenok after edging out Shaui Peng and Shuai Zhang in the final. The unseeded Indo-Ukrainian pair pipped the second seed Chinese team 6-4 6-4 in one hour 21 minutes.

Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has revealed the incessant travelling for cricket in the last few years forced him to take a mental health break in October. “I was pretty cooked when I decided to take the time off. Big reason why I did take that time away is I was pretty mentally and physically ruined,” Maxwell was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. “I think it was eight months on the road, living out of a suitcase and that probably had been going on for four or five years, just constantly on the road and it all just caught up with me at that time. I really want to thank Cricket Australia, Cricket Victoria and the Stars for giving me that space and allowing me to have that time away from the game and get myself right.”

Australian Captain, Tim Paine, when asked if he would like to play India at Brisbane next summer, remarked, ‘‘Yeah, we’ll try, we’ll certainly have to run that by Virat [Kohli]. We’ll get an answer from him at some stage, I’m sure.’’. The comment was a cheap shot at Virat Kohli and India – the obvious power base ion World cricket.

MS Dhoni's omission from the BCCI central contracts list was not unexpected as he has not played any international cricket for over six months now. MS Dhoni last played for India in the 2019 World Cup in England where the team was knocked out in the semi- finals. MS Dhoni doesn't qualify for central contract because he has not played according to the BCCI official. A player needs to compete in a minimum of 3 Tests or 8 ODIs to eb eligible for a BCCI central contract.