The big story: ‘Busy’ winter forces Pietersen to skip IPL

Discarded England batting star Kevin Pietersen has decided to skip the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League. The 36-year-old took to Twitter to announce the decision, citing his busy winter schedule as the reason for his withdrawal. Pietersen added that he did not want to spend April and May away from his young family.

The South African-born batsman was last seen in the Big Bash League, where he represented Melbourne Stars. Pietersen had a poor tournament Down Under and was also released by IPL side Rising Pune Super Giants ahead of the auctions for the upcoming season. Pietersen’s IPL 9 journey was cut short by an injury that he picked up during the early part of the campaign.

Other top stories:

Cricket:

  • Former Australian batsman Michael Hussey warned Steve Smith’s side that sledging “enemy No.1” Virat Kohli would backfire on the visitors during the upcoming Border-Gavaskar trophy starting on February 23. “From an Australian point of view, Kohli is public enemy No.1 and we have to get him out cheaply. I wouldn’t try and fire him [Kohli] up. I think he thrives on that and he’s a real competitor. He loves being in the fight and loves the contest out in the middle,” Hussey was quoted as saying in a PTI report.
  • New Zealand pacer Neil Wagner’s availability for the three-Test series against South Africa at home was put in doubt after picking up an injury during the domestic List A tournament, Ford Trophy. The left-armer fractured his finger.
  • Rookie Bangladesh off-spinner Mehdi Hasan Miraz hailed India’s Ravichandran Ashwin ahead of the one-off India-Bangladesh Test at Hyderabad, and revealed that he would approach the Tamil Nadu tweaker for tips, “Ashwin is a world class cricketer. I’m looking forward to consult him to get some tips after the game. I will be able to see up close how he bowls during a match. That experience will be very useful for me,” Miraz was quoted as saying by IANS.    
  • Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shahryar Khan stated that his board seeked the elimination of the “Big Three” system involving India, England and Pakistan and the idea of four-day Tests in the upcoming International Cricket Council meet in Dubai, “We want the Big Three governance system and revenue distribution formula abolished and we see no constitutional problems for the ICC to do this,” Khan was quoted as saying by PTI.
  • Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke will get a taste of being a coach for the first time at the end of the month. The 35-year-old World Cup-winning captain will be overseeing things for the Prime Minister’s XI against Sri Lanka at Canberra for a Twenty20 International.

Football:

  • Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey has been ruled out for the next three weeks after hurting his calf during the North London club’s stunning 1-2 loss to Watford in a recent Premier League clash.
  • Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero’s agent quashed rumours of the Argentine player leaving the club in the summer and stated that his client was “very, very happy” with life at the Etihad stadium. Aguero was recently dropped from the starting lineup during City’s 4-0 win against West Ham United. 
  • Four-time Ballon D’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo was named the highest-paid sportsman of 2016 by Forbes. 
  • Former Brazil and Barcelona star Ronaldinho has returned to the Camp Nou and was named as the club ambassador. “Ronaldinho will become a club ambassador and representative at various events and activities over the coming years,” Barcelona said in a statement. 
  • City veteran Yaya Toure stated that manager Pep Guardiola’s philosophy of winning in style a labourious task to achieve in the Premier League. “The manager not only wants to win, he wants to win in style. And that is very difficult in the Premier League,” Toure said. 

Tennis:

  • India and New Zealand face-off in the Davis Cup in an Asia/Oceania qualifier starting from Friday in Pune.
  • Simona Halep has withdrawn from the St Petersburg event after failing to recover from the ankle injury she suffered in the recently concluded Australian Open.

Basketball:

  • Two American lawmakers have hailed the International Basketball Federation’s decision’s decision to end their discriminatory policy against athletes who wear the turban and other headgear, “We’re thrilled that the board has endorsed a change that, if adopted, will let Sikhs and other athletes who wear articles of faith play,” Joe Crowley and Ami Bera were quoted as saying in a PTI report.