The best football player in the world Luka Modric got his first Croatian Sportsman of the Year award while discus thrower Sandra Perkovic won her seventh Croatian Sportswoman of the Year title. Croatian sports daily newspaper Sportske Novosti was handing out the awards for the best man, woman and team for men and women for the 67th year in a row and this time the jury didn't have an easy task with a group of world and European champions among the candidates. However, the majority of the votes from 322 sports journalists that took part in the process went to the best footballer of the year and the discus queen who won the European champion title in 2018 for the fifth time in a row, reports Xinhua news agency.

India rode on excellent half-centuries from debutant Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara to reach a commanding 215/2 at stumps on the opening day of the crucial Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Wednesday.

Barcelona midfielder Arthur Melo has expressed the hope that Brazil teammate Neymar will return to the Catalan club, less than 18 months after his world-record transfer to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Neymar has scored 44 goals in 49 matches for the French side but there has been speculation that the 26-year-old is unhappy and angling for a return to the Camp Nou. "Personally, I'm praying that he comes because he is a great player," Arthur was quoted as saying by Brazil's Uol news portal on Tuesday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was formally inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Spain's Real Sociedad on Wednesday announced that it has parted company with its first team's head coach Asier Garitano as well as his staff member Miguel Perez.

India were 123/2 at tea on the opening day of the third Test on Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Wednesday.

Australia captain Tim Paine asserted on Tuesday that the inclusion of all-rounder Mitchell Marsh in the playing XI for the third cricket Test against India will improve the team's bowling options for the crucial contest.

India made a steady start reaching 57/1 at lunch on the opening day of the third Test on Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Wednesday.

Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp said he was not excluding Chelsea or Arsenal from English Premier League (EPL) title contention despite trailing the Reds by 11 points in the standings.

Fresh from his spat with Australian counterpart Tim Paine, India skipper Virat Kohli said on the eve of the Boxing Day Test that he does not get affected by all the talk about his public image and people who know him and understand what he is.