Sir Vivian Richards has been an admirer of Virat Kohli's batting abilities and the West Indian legend feels one should not be too critical of the Indian Test captain's on-field aggression as he possesses the quality to match his attitude. Richards also feels Indian cricket is in good hands as Kohli brings in a positive attitude and a lot of vibrancy to the team. "I see nothing wrong in Virat's attitude. He is very different from (MS) Dhoni. I believe if you are showing passion and aggression on the field, you should have the game quality to match that. Virat has the quality.

Sania Mirza on Sunday created history by becoming the first female tennis player from India to achieve the world number one rank in doubles, following her stupendous title win at the WTA Family Circle Cup with partner Martina Hingis. The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair blew away the challenge of Casey Dellacqua and Darija Jurak 6-0, 6-4 in just 57 minutes in the lop-sided final of the $ 731,000 clay court event.

Andrea Petkovic battled back to advance to the semifinals at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina on Friday while Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka upset yet another seed with a victory over Sara Errani. Last year's champion Petkovic had to rally from a set down to overcome qualifier Danka Kovinic 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 to set up a semifinal against fifth-seeded fellow German Angelique Kerber, who beat Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu 7-6, 7-6. "She played really well in the first set," the third-seeded Petkovic said in a courtside interview. "She has a tremendous serve for her height. It's really one of the best serves that I had to return on the WTA tour." Hradecka's victory continued a string of upsets at the tournament, which has had several early exits of top seeds including Canada's Eugenie Bouchard and Russian Ekaterina Makarova. A decorated doubles player, but ranked only 110th in singles, Hradecka beat fourth seed Errani 6-2 6-4, her third victory against a seeded player on her way to the semi-finals. Hradecka will face seventh-seed Madison Keys, who overpowered qualifier Lauren Davis 6-2 6-2.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored five times as Real Madrid moved to within a point of Barcelona at the top of La Liga with a stunning 9-1 thrashing of Granada on Sunday. Gareth Bale continued his fine form after bagging a brace for Wales last weekend by opening the scoring after 25 minutes. Ronaldo then took over as he scored three times in eight minutes just after the half hour mark. Karim Benzema struck twice either side of Ronaldo's fourth as Real added three more in a four-minute spell just after the break. Robert Ibanez grabbed a consolation for the visitors, but Diego Mainz's own goal made it 8-1 before Ronaldo rounded off the scoring with a towering header. Barca can restore their four-point lead when they visit Celta Vigo later on Sunday. Madrid had only won one of their last four La Liga games before the international break, but coach Carlo Ancelotti was able to welcome back James Rodriguez for the first time in two months after recovering from a foot injury.