1) West Indies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul retires from international cricket after 22-year career.
- Veteran West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the seventh highest Test match run maker in history, announced his international retirement, 22 years after his debut.
- The 41-year-old former captain from Guyana ends his Test career on 11,867 runs, just 86 short of the West Indies all-time record held by Brian Lara.
- Chanderpaul, left-hander, made his debut against England in March 1994, in Guyana, hitting a half-century as the West Indies won by an innings and 44 runs.
- Chanderpaul`s highest score in his 164 Tests was 203 not out -- he achieved that figure twice, against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2012 and South Africa in Georgetown in 2005 and he finished with an average of 51.37.
- He made 8,778 one-day international runs with 11 centuries.
- Chanderpaul also played 22 times for the West Indies in the Twenty20 format.
- He hit a total of 30 Test centuries and 66 fifties.
- His finest moment came in 2003 when he made 104 as the West Indies successfully chased a world-record 418 for victory in the final Test against Australia in Antigua.
2) Sourav Kothari pockets National Billiards title.
- Kolkata cueist Sourav Kothari put up a dominating display on the green baize to outplay Siddharth Parekh in the final of the National Billiards Championship.
- He bagged his second National Billiards title, he won his maiden crown in 2014, Kothari started with a bang to win four straight frames in the best-of-nine frame (150-up each) summit clash.
- The former Asian Billiards champion had three 100-plus breaks in the first four frames in National Billiards final.
- The finalists have also confirmed their qualified for the Asian Billiards in Colombo starting March 1.
3) Rohit Sharma claims career-best fifth spot in ICC batting chart.
- India’s Rohit Sharma moved eight spots to claim a career-best fifth position in the ICC batsman rankings after a stellar showing in the recently concluded series against top-ranked Australia.
- Man of the Series Rohit, who registered 441 runs in the five matches, struck two centuries and a match-winning 99 in the consolation win for the visitors.
- Rohit played in the 2006 U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka, has now become India’s second highest-ranked batsman behind Virat Kohli (second), with Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni slipping seven places to 13th position in the latest rankings.
- India, after winning the Sydney ODI, has retained their second position.
- Maxwell scored 169 runs in the series, has moved up two places to eighth, Smith’s 315 runs have helped him raise five places to 15th, and Warner has jumped five places to 18th after scoring 220 runs.
- Ajinkya Rahane 25th after contributing 141 runs.
- Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has dropped two places to 11th, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has slipped seven places to 20th, James Faulkner has plummeted seven places to 28th, Axar Patel has fallen four places to 33rd and Umesh Yadav has plunged five places to 41st.
- Outside the top 50, Ishant Sharma has gained 15 places and is now in 71st spot.
4) P V Sindhu clinches Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold title.
- Two-time World Championship bronze-medallist, India’s P.V. Sindhu made a rousing start to the new season as she clinched the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold title after defeating Scotland’s Kristy Gilmour in straight games in the final in Penang
- This is sindhu’s second Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold title, having won it in 2013 as well.
- She also completed a hat—trick at the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold.
5) India beat Pakistan to win first T20 blind Asia Cup.
- India defeated arch-rival Pakistan by 44 runs to win blind T20 Asia Cup in Kochi
- India scored 208/5 in 20 overs and Pakistan in their reply could just manage 164 runs.
- Pakistan topped the group stage and India came second. However, the Men in Blue managed to turn the tables in the final and win the first-ever blind T-20 Asia Cup.
6) Izumo Takuto and Zhu Chengzhu won ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals.
- Japan`s Izumo Takuto and Hong Kong`s Zhu Chengzhu became champions in the boys` and girls` categories, respectively, at the ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals at the Abhay Prashal Stadium, Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
- Each winner rewarded with 3800 US dollars while the runners-up received 2100 US dollars each.
About International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) :
- The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all international table tennis associations.
- The role of the ITTF includes overseeing rules and regulations and seeking technological improvement for the sport of table tennis.
- The ITTF is responsible for the organization of numerous international competitions, including the World Table Tennis Championships that has continued since 1926.
7) ICC released Test, ODI, and T20I Rankings.
- The International Cricket Council (ICC) launched the official ICC men’s Team Rankings from Test, One Day International (ODI) and T20I cricket.
- India returned to the summit of the Test rankings for the first time since August 2011. India is the new leader with 110 rating points followed by Australia and the South Africa.