The INDIAN pair creates Grand Slam history

The Indian mixed doubles pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza is the first all-Indian duo to win a mixed doubles Grand Slam final at the Australian Open defeating Nathalie Dechy of France and Andy Ram of Israel in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 in Melbourne.

While it was Sania's first ever Grand Slam title, Mahesh has won eleven Grand Slams for the country. Sania Mirza is the first Indian woman in senior category to win a Grand Slam title. The Sania-Bhupathi duo had entered the finals at the Australian Open last year too, but they were beaten in the final by Tiantian Sun and Nenad Zimonjic.
So far Mahesh Bhupathi has won seven Mixed Doubles Grand Slam titles and four Doubles Grand Slam titles overall. Including this victory, Bhupathi has won seven mixed doubles Grand Slam titles all with different partners. The previous title was won at the Australian Open in 2006 when he played along with Martina Hingis.

Serena Williams wins 10th Grand Slam

Serena Williams won the Australian Open 2009 final against Dinara Safina in straight sets. Williams was so superior that Safina didn't feel deserving of being on the same court. Safina was just playing in her second major final. Williams' 6-0, 6-3 overwhelming defeat of Dinara Safina brought her the 10th Grand Slam title and the No.1 ranking. Williams tightly closed her fist when she aced for 30-0 when serving for the match.

Two points later Safina’s backhand was wide to end the final after just 58 minutes. She grabbed her second trophy in Melbourne this year after she and sister Venus took the women's doubles title. By winning the singles and doubles finals, she had become the richest woman in sports. And her $1.3 million for the singles title upraised her earnings more than $23.5 million.

Jayawardene steps down as Sri Lankan captain

Mahela Jayawardene decided to quit from his captaincy after India won the One-day series 4-1. A day after his decision to step down from captaincy, Jayawardene suggested that Kumar Sangakkara would be his perfect successor as captain. Jayawardene led Sri Lanka to the 2007 World Cup final in the Caribbean, where they lost to Australia.He said Sangakkara has supported him all the time be it in the field or out of the field in establishing a powerful team. In 94 ODIs under him, Sri Lanka won 54 and lost 35 while the remaining five ended in no-results. He has led Sri Lanka in 26 Test matches, winning 15, losing seven with four draws.
During his period as captain, Jayawardene made his country one of the most esteemed teams in world cricket. No Sri Lankan was punished for violating the code of conduct during that period.

Lakshmipathy Balaji makes a comeback

The National selection Panel headed by Krish Srikkanth, picked Lakshmipathy Balaji for India’s tour of New Zealand. The fit-again speedster is being selected after four years in the Test squad.
The 27 year old did not play a Test match since March 2005 because of a career-threatening stress fracture to his back. He is now one in the 16-man squad for the three Test match series against New Zealand.
The South Indian bowler, who is known for claiming wickets with the new-ball, acquired 27 wickets in eight Test matches before suffering from injury. The squad also includes the 20-year-old inexperienced Dhawal Kulkarni, who claimed 41 wickets in his maiden first-class season to help Mumbai win the Ranji Trophy.
Previously when India toured New Zealand in December 2002, they lost both the Tests with low scores of 161, 121, 99 and 154 in the four innings on greentop pitches.
New Zealand also went on to win the one-day series 5-2.

Everton knock out Liverpool in FA Cup fourth round

Dan Gosling, the 19-year-old scored with just two minutes left in the extra time to give Everton a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the fourth round replay of the FA Cup. Liverpool were down with 10 men as Lucas Leiva was sent off for a second yellow card in the 76th minute for tripping Joleon Lescott.

The teenager Gosling fired in a deviated chip from Andy van der Meyde's cross in the 118th minute which went in off the post. Liverpool's night was impaired to a greater extent by an injury to their captain Steven Gerrard, who left the field after 15 minutes with a left hamstring problem.
Everton had numerous possibilities of scoring in extra time, Tim Cahill’s header went just wide and goalkeeper Pepe Reina made a great save off Leon Osman before 19-year-old Gosling stole the front page and ensured a fifth-round tie against Aston Villa. Everton will host Aston Villa in the last 16 of the FA Cup.

India clinches No.2 spot as New Zealand beat Aussies once again

New Zealand beat Australia with 6 wickets in hand in the second ODI in Melbourne with seven balls to spare. The loss ensured that India ascended to the second spot in ICC rankings in ODIs. Australia not only descended in rankings but also succumbed to their fifth consecutive defeat at home.
The victory against Sri Lanka in the 4th ODI was the ninth successive win for the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led men in blues, including the 5-0 white-wash against England last year. This is India’s best ranking ever.The Black-caps (Kiwis) started calmly with McCullum (43) engaged in two 40-plus partnerships with Peter Fulton and Ross Taylor (47) to ensure his team didn’t give away early wickets. Taylor then accumulated 72 runs with Elliot. Broom gave good support to Elliot, who made 61*, which helped the Kiwis through to a victory and a 2-0 lead against the Aussies.

English Players bought for the highest price in IPL Auction

England's Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff became the highest-paid cricketers in the IPL Auction after being bought for US$1.55 million each. Pietersen and Flintoff, both former captains, easily went past their reserve prices of $1.35 million and $950,000 respectively. Pietersen was bought by the Bangalore Royal Challengers -- while Flintoff is headed for the Chennai Super Kings.The Mumbai Indians picked JP Duminy for $950,000 -- $650,000 more than his backlog price and Shaun Tait went to the Rajasthan Royals for $375,000. Paul Collingwood of England was sold for $275,000, a little above his reserve price of $250,000.

Rajasthan laid out an astonishingly great amount for South African all-rounder Tyron Henderson, who went for $650,000, the fourth-largest price of the day and more than six times his reserve price. The most spectacular bid came for Bangladesh's Mashrafe bin Mortaza, whose reserve price was $50,000 but went up 12 times that amount before Kolkata Knight Riders secured him for $600,000.