From pain to pleasure: Novak Djokovic's rocky road to magnificent seven

• Djokovic is now just two behind Nadal's total of 17 Grand Slams and five shy of Roger Federer's record of 20
• Djokovic's ability to thrive among the greats has never been in doubt, but the size of his heart often led to questions

Women can attend qualifiers, Iran assures Fifa

• Iran has barred female spectators from stadiums since 1981
• Fifa had demanded Iran allow women free unlimited access to stadiums following the ‘Blue girl’ incident where a woman killed herself after being arrested trying to access a stadium

F1 weighs qualifying races for 2020, drivers slam idea

• Current rules make overtaking difficult and the finishing order varies little from the starting grid
• Formula One qualifying takes place in three phases over an hour on Saturday under the current format

How European football changed in the last decade

Top teams in all five leading European football leagues are showing two shifts: short passes over long balls, open play over set-pieces

Virat Kohli at No. 2 in ICC Test rankings behind Steve Smith

• Virat Kohli, with 903 rating points, is 34 points behind Steve Smith
• Both Steve Smith and Pat Cummins played key roles in helping Australia retain the Ashes

Kenyan Kamworor smashes half marathon world record by 17 seconds

• Geoffrey Kamworor won the IAAF Gold Label road race with a time of 58 minutes and one second
• Kenya's Bernard Kipkorir finished second with a time of 59:16

Steve Smith creates a record of scoring most runs in a series this century

• Steve Smith recently attainted the number one batsman spot in the ICC Test rankings
• In the ongoing fifth Ashes Test against England, Steve Smith went past his own record of scoring 769 runs against India during the 2014-15 season

With Dhoni picture tweet sparking rumours, Kohli learns a social media lesson

• For Virat Kohli, the T20 International against Australia was one match he has not really talked about much in last three years unlike his other knocks
• The 30-year-old remembered 2016 T20 World Cup match against Australia and said that Dhoni made him run like in fitness test

DDCA renames Feroz Shah Kotla as Arun Jaitley stadium

• Cricketer-turned-politician Chetan Chauhan also paid rich tribute to Arun Jaitley
• DDCA also unveiled a new pavilion stand at the Feroz Shah Kotla after skipper Virat Kohli

Dhoni not retiring, confirms BCCI chief selector

• A deluge of speculations emerged after India skipper Virat Kohli shared his image along with Dhoni on Twitter
• In the Test squad, Rahul has failed to find a spot while Shubman Gill has been named in the squad

The chinks in Federer's armour

While Federer’s service game remained stronger than his rivals, his performance in high-pressure situations was what sold him short in Grand Slams

Ex-UK PM Theresa May prompts storm over knighthood for cricket hero Boycott

• Boycott was convicted in France in 1998 of hitting ex-girlfriend and former cricketer was unrepentant in radio interview
• May compared herself to Boycott during Brexit turmoil

Difference of opinion cannot be seen as conflict: Shastri on Kohli-Rohit rift

• Shastri, who was reappointed as as coach last month, argued that Rohit would not have scored five hundreds in the World Cup if there were serious differences between him and Kohli
• Ahead of the team's departure to the Caribbean, Kohli too had dismissed the reports of rift

Dinesh Karthik tenders unconditional apology for violating BCCI central contract

• Dinesh Karthik was handed a showcase notice by the BCCI for watching the match between Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on September 4
• Karthik was spotted in the TKR dressing room, wearing the team jersey

Joe Root says Test defeat 'hard to take' as Australia retain Ashes

• England, set a huge target of 383 to win at Old Trafford, were bowled out for 197 following some spirited lower-order defiance
• Root hailed Steve Smith, who has scored an astonishing 671 runs at an average of 134.2, including three hundreds in the series

Canada toasts 'Queen B' Andreescu after major triumph

• All of Canada, it seemed, was clinging on to Andreescu's every shot during a bold performance in which she dominated rallies with punishing groundstrokes to overwhelm Serena in straight sets
• The 19-year-old's triumph dominated front pages across the country

Selectors should have proper talk on Dhoni's future: Kumble

• Kumble has also said that Rishabh Pant has shown a lot of ability to be a regular at least in the T20 format
• Kumble also said that if Dhoni is really in the scheme of things for the T20 World Cup next year, he should be playing every game

BCCI issues showcause notice to Dinesh Karthik for attending CPL match

• Karthik was seen in Trinbago Knight Riders dressing room and attending their opening CPL match against St Kitts & Nevis in Port of Spain
• Karthik didn't seek any permission from the BCCI to attend the event in the West Indies

Be you, celebrate and enjoy the game: Virender Sehwag

• 'More than technique and method, I concentrated on ball and hitting, which gained me a name,' said former Indian batsman at HT-MintAsia Leadership Summit 2019 in Singapore
• 'I can look like Sachin, play like him but cannot perform like him. I changed my style of play once I realised this,' said Sehwag

Steve Smith joins Sachin Tendulkar in elite list with ton at Old Trafford

• With the ton, Steve Smith now has 11 Test hundreds against England and that is joint fourth for any player against any opponent
• Earlier in the week, Smith regained his number one rank in ICC Test rankings overtaking India captain Virat Kohli