Bridgetown, Barbados: It was a very  special day indeed as VVS Laxman became only the 4th Indian to complete 8000 runs in Test cricket. He achieved the feat at an average of 47.05 in 122 Tests, including 16 centuries.


He took 201 innings to reach 8000 runs, which is the fourth fastest by an Indian, next only to Sachin Tendulkar (154), Rahul Dravid (158) and Sunil Gavaskar (166). The top Indian run-scorers are - Sachin Tendulkar (14692), Rahul Dravid (12220), Sunil Gavaskar (10122) and VVS Laxman (8000).

Among the international cricketers, Laxman is the 22nd batsman to complete 8000 runs or more in Tests.

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The International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement its executive board had approved a 14-team contest in Australia and New Zealand in 2015, with 10 places going to the Test-playing nations. The second-tier teams will have to pre-qualify for the remaining four places.
The ICC also announced the 2019 World Cup would be a scaled-down 10-team event, with the top eight places going to the top-ranked teams and two berths being awarded in a pre-qualifying tournament.
The about-face on the 2015 World Cup reverses the ICC's decision to limit the tournament to the sport's 10 full-member teams - which left countries such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada and Kenya on the sidelines.

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Saina Nehwal goes down fighting in Indonesia final

Defending champion Saina Nehwal lost 21-12 21-23 14-21 to China's Yihan Wang in the finals of Indonesia Open Super Series badminton tournament.

Saina Nehwal was aiming for a third successive Indonesian Open Super Series title after advancing to the finals with a hard-fought victory over Chinese Taipei's Shao Chieh Cheng.



The fourth-seeded Indian won 21-14 14-21 21-17 in a 45-minute battle against giant-killer Cheng, who had created quite a flutter by upstaging top seed Shixian Wang and seventh seed Xin Liu earlier in the tournament.

Saina, who has won four Super Series titles, has played Wang once in the Uber Cup finals last year and lost in three games.

Her only title this year has been the Swiss Open Grand Prix besides the runners up finish at Malaysia Super Series.

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