Football great Paolo Rossi, who died of lung cancer aged 64 on December 9, won the Italian Serie A twice and the European Cup once in his illustrious career, but the tournament that he is most widely associated with, for good reason, is the 1982 World Cup. ....

Former wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel who recently announced his retirement from professional cricket has joined five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians (MI) as a talent scout, the franchise said in a statement on Thursday. Parthiv Patel, 35, will "work closely with the Mumbai Indians coaching staff and scouts' group", the franchise said. ....

England will play 12 international matches -- four Tests, three One-day Internationals, and five Twenty20s -- on their tour of India in February-March, and Ahmedabad will host seven of those, including a pink ball day-night Test. All the matches will be played at only three venues -- Chennai and Pune are the others -- and in bio-secure environment due to Corona pandemic, it was announced on Thursday. ....

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes Indian Premier League (IPL) has played a huge role in reducing animosity among players who come from different countries and spend together a substantial amount of time while playing for a franchise in the cash-rich T20 tournament. ....

Paolo Rossi, Italy's top-scorer in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, has passed away at the age of 64. ....

Brazilian star Neymar struck a hat-trick and his partner Kylian Mbappe added two to help Paris Saint-Germain finish top in Champions League Group H after an overwhelming 5-1 victory over Istanbul Basaksehir at Parc des Princes in their latest encounter. ....

Prolific Australian batsman Steve Smith on Thursday said that the Indian bowling attack may not be their strongest ever without Ishant Sharma but he will still have to be 'watchful' against Jasprit Bumrah whom most of the players in the team will face for the first time in Test cricket in the upcoming four-match series. ....

Skipper Shahbaz Ahamed put up an all-round masterclass to guide Tapan Memorial to Bengal T20 Challenge title, beating Mohun Bagan by 33 runs in the final at Eden Gardens here on Wednesday. ....

Indian cricket board president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah, and joint secretary Jayesh George, whose tenures have ended, would continue at least till the third week of January, when the Supreme Court would next hear the cricket reforms case. Besides fixing the next listing, the court on Wednesday disposed of a "substantial number of" the 102 applications attached with the case. ....

Wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel on Wednesday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. ....

Cricket Australia and the Cricket West Indies on Wednesday marked the 60th anniversary of the "Tied Test" at the Gabba with an international video conference featuring Alan Davidson, Neil Harvey, Lance Gibbs and Peter Lashley, all of whom played a key role in one of the most celebrated cricket matches. ....