Andrés Iniesta has signed a three-year contract extension

FC Barcelona midfielder Andrés Iniesta will remain at Camp Nou until summer 2018 after Azulgrana president Sandro Rosell confirmed the 29-year-old has agreed terms on a new contract.

Iniesta – who joined Barcelona aged 12 and has gone on to register 48 goals in 479 games in all competitions – has secured a three-year extension with the Spanish champions and current Liga leaders.
Since making his debut in a UEFA Champions League tie at Club Brugge KV in 2002, the Albacete-born player has collected three UEFA Champions League winners' medals and six Liga titles. Iniesta has also triumphed on the international stage where – across 93 appearances for Spain – he won UEFA EURO 2008, UEFA EURO 2012 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, scoring the clinching goal against the Netherlands in South Africa.
Gerardo Martino's team will continue their quest for European glory when they resume their UEFA Champions League challenge in the round of 16 against Manchester City FC on 18 February and 12 March.

Sourav Ganguly's cricket coaching centre banned for a year

Kolkata:  After being found guilty of fudging age, two cricket coaching centres run by former India captain Sourav Ganguly and former Bengal skipper Sambaran Banerjee were among 13 which were banned by the Cricket Association of Bengal for one year on Thursday.

Cracking down on the menace of age fudging prevalent in age group cricket, the CAB, at its cricket committee meeting, also decided to ban 42 players for two years.

"Next time, we will be stricter. A coaching centre will be banned for life time, while a player for 10 years to take part in any CAB organised tournament if found guilty of age fudging. We want to set a precedent to curb the menace," CAB joint secretary Subir Ganguly said.

The CAB had cracked down on 49 sub-junior and junior cricketers during the CAB Ambar Roy Under-14 Sub-Junior and Under-17 Junior tournaments earlier in September while the cricket committee today announced the punishments.

Hailing the decision, an official of the Sourav Ganguly Academy in Saltlake said, "We never checked their certificates thinking that it's done by the CAB in a tournament.

"But this would not happen again as we would cross check the birth certificates with the municipal corporations from here on."

Brendan Rogers- Luis Suarez has matured since match ban for biting

Luis Suarez has matured since his 10 match ban for biting and is thriving on the leadership role he has been handed by the club says manager Brendan Rogers.

The Uruguayan striker has been in scorching form since returning from suspension for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic last season, scoring 17 goals in 11 league appearances, more than the total managed by half the clubs in the Premier League.

Having appeared to be on his way out of the Anfield club during the off-season and at odds with his manager, he is now more settled in Merseyside. His redemption following a litany of off-field dramas continued on Monday when he was given the Football Supporters' Federation Player of the Year award, which was voted for by more that half a million fans.

"I think he's just matured," Rogers said in a news conference ahead of Saturday's visit of 15th-placed Cardiff City.

"He's really felt the love of the supporters after the 10-game ban, it was extremely difficult for him to cope because he's a man that plays football because of the love of the game, I think you see that in him every week and every day at training I'm fortunate enough to see that.

"I just think he's maturing, he is accepting the role and responsibility that I've given him. He is one of the senior players... one of the pillars of the group."

The 26-year-old was named captain for Sunday's 5-0 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur in the absence of the injured Steven Gerrard and Daniel Agger, who was on the bench, and Rogers said his enthusiasm was rubbing off on his younger team mates.

"We are a young side, our average age is probably the lowest it's been for a number of years in the Tottenham game, and he's taken on that mantle in order to help and support those players, whilst having that real x-factor that he has to his game."

Liverpool are second in the table, two points off leaders Arsenal and on track for Champions League qualification for the first time since failing to progress from the group stage in the 2009-10 season.

British media have reported that the club has started talks with Suarez's agent over a new contract, but Rogers would not be drawn on the situation.

"There's nothing to report on that. Obviously anything contractually is private so at the minute we are just focusing on his football."

Pujara slips to seventh spot in ICC Test rankings

DUBAI: India's Cheteshwar Pujara slipped a rung to seventh in the batting list but R Ashwin remained steady at fifth in the bowling chart of the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Thursday.

Apart from Pujara, Virat Kohli, who struck a hundred on the opening day of the first Test against South Africa on Wednesday, is the only other Indian in the top-20 of the batting list. He is unchanged at 20th.

Among the bowlers, Pragyan Ojha moved up a spot to eighth. Ashwin, meanwhile, continued to hold the top position in the all-rounders' list.

Elsewhere, Australia opener David Warner has moved up three places after stellar performances against England in the Perth Test, which the home side won by 150 runs on Tuesday to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-Test series.

Warner, who scored 60 and 112 to be the leading run-getter to date in the series, earned 51 ratings points to end at 741 ratings points, which has given him a lift of three places to put him just outside the top 10 in 11th position.

The other centurions from the Perth Test - Shane Watson and Steven Smith of Australia, and Ben Stokes of England - have also moved up the rankings.

Watson has jumped six places to 32nd, Smith has gained gain eight places to 37th, and Stokes has rocketed 81 places to 73rd.

South Africa's duo of AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla continue to head the rankings for Test

India made 280 runs in first inning against South Africa

South Africa bundle out India for 280 runs on Day 2 in first Test

NEW DELHI: Vernon Philander snared four wickets and Morne Morkel took three, as South Africa bundled out India for 280 runs in their first innings on the second day of the first Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Scorecard

India lost their last five wickets for just 25 runs as the Proteas pacers altered their lengths, taking full advantage of an overcast morning.

Morkel dismissed Indian captain MS Dhoni before Philander got rid of Ajinkya Rahane and Zaheer Khan off consecutive deliveries.

Morkel had Indian captain MS Dhoni caught behind by AB de Villiers in the ninth over of the day.

Morkel lured Dhoni on to the front foot with a length ball just outside off, the Indian captain got only half-forward as he poked at it and ended up edging the ball through to the keeper.

In the next over, Philander too had Rahane (47) caught behind and on the next delivery trapped Zaheer plumb in front of the wicket for a first ball duck.

India then lost their ninth wicket when Philander clean bowled Ishant Sharma with an incoming delivery.

The day's play started with Rahane and Dhoni resuming the Indian first innings.

On Day 1, centurion Virat Kohli and the determination of the new-look middle-order ensured that India reached 255/5 by stumps.

There was an intent shown by every Indian batsman to honour Dhoni's bold move to bat first on a bouncy track with a tinge of green. Even the openers Shikhar Dhawan (13) and M Vijay (6) looked to leave a lot of balls, something that they had worked on over the last one week.

Dhawan, though, threw it away trying a hook off Steyn with both deep square-leg and deep fine-leg back. Morne Morkel, coming in one change, bowled a few short ones to push Vijay on the backfoot and then pitched one up to induce the nick.

Cheteshwar Pujara took the brunt of the South African pacers as Kohli looked to express himself. But the best thing about the 89-run partnership that lasted 27 overs was the level-headed approach of the two batsmen. Both left a lot of deliveries on length, forcing the South African pacemen to change the off-stump line. The Kookaburra ball was also losing its nip and it allowed both Kohli and Pujara to take control.

A horrible mix-up led to Pujara's run out but by then the initial storm had blown over. Kohli had settled down very well and was looking equally comfortable both on the front and back foot. He was not playing at anything outside the off-stump and was choosy about playing the hook shot. He played the hook only when he was in line, thus ensuring that he had the shot always under control.

Rohit Sharma (14) was also looking good, but the habit of playing far away from his body led to his downfall. He nicked a well-pitched up delivery off Vernon Philander and the AB de Villiers didn't make any mistake.

But Kohli at the other end was unstoppable and reached his fifth Test ton. 

Sachin Tendulkar the most searched sportsperson 2013

Sachin Tendulkar the most searched sportsperson 2013NEW DELHI: India's cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, who recently retired from all forms of the game, is the most searched sportsperson and also features among the top-10 most searched Indian personalities of 2013, according to Google.

Besides Tendulkar, the other most searched sportspersons are athletic legend Milkha Singh, India cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, Sania Mirza, Rahul Dravid, Chris Gayle, Ravindra Jadeja and Saina Nehwal.
In a survey carried out by Google India, the much scandalised 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) is the second in the top trending list. This year's IPL was rocked with charges of spot-fixing and betting charges.

Google India in a statement said that the sixth edition of the IPL broke records for the amount of online searches for latest scores and results.

"From a search trends perspective, 2013 was clearly the year of entertainment. Shah Rukh's Lungi Dance from Chennai Express, the Bollywood romantic drama Aashiqui 2, national heart-throbs Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, Telugu actor Kajal and her counterpart, the young rebel star Prabhas and singer Honey Singh ruled 2013 and drove millions of Indians to the web," said Rajan Anandan, VP and managing director, sales and operations, Google India.

Dravid, who led Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, and India's Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal also featured among the top-10 most searched news.

Dravid was in the news after his three Rajasthan Royals teammates Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested by Delhi Police for their involvement in spot-fixing in the IPL. Dravid has agreed to be a prosecution witness in the case.

David Moyes hopeful over Rooney injury

Man Utd hope Wayne Rooney will not miss Christmas fixtures

Manchester United hope striker Wayne Rooney will recover from a groin injury in time for Saturday's Premier League match at home to West Ham.

Rooney was ruled out of Wednesday's Capital One Cup quarter-final victory against Stoke with a groin strain.
When asked whether Rooney would feature against West Ham, manager David Moyes replied: "He has got a chance, yes."
United are already without Robin van Persie and play four league games between 21 December and 1 January.
Rooney, 28, has been one of United's most impressive performers, scoring 12 goals in 26 appearances during an inconsistent season for the club,
The absence of England striker Rooney would leave Moyes short of options in attack as the Scot will be without Van Persie - last season's leading scorer - until January.
The Dutchman, sidelined for a month with a thigh strain, could return for the league match against Chelsea on 19 January.