Rafa Nadal said it was sad news that his great rival Novak Djokovic will be missing from the U.S. Open, adding that the absence of a player of the Serbian's calibre was an important miss for the hardcourt Grand Slam.

Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka on Friday said victory in the Asia Cup would lift the spirits of fans in the cricket-crazy island nation as it struggles through its worst economic crisis.

When it comes to tales of the Asia Cup, Bangladesh are the team that have always been so close, yet so far, reaching the final of the tournament three times but failing to lift the trophy even once.

The cricket fanatics can brace themselves for some exhilarating T20 contests over the next 16 days as the 15th edition of the Asia Cup is set to begin today with the game between hosts Sri Lanka and Afghanistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Wasim Jnr. has been ruled out of the Asia Cup due to a side strain, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement on Friday.

Top seed Daniil Medvedev will open his U.S. Open title defence onMonday against American Stefan Kozlov but faces major hurdles on the path to a second Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows, including in-form Australian Nick Kyrgios.

Bangladesh moved into the top-six spot of the 21st Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship as they fought back in exciting 3-2 sets win over a strong Qatar team in the 1st-12th place-deciding match at the Isa Sports City Hall in Riffa, the second largest city in Bahrain, today.

The Bangladesh team have played three finals in the last four editions of the Asia Cup. This time the Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan hopes for a new champion outside of India-Pakistan-Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh’s newly-appointed technical consultant Sridharan Sriram will also be in charge of the side for the Asia Cup with head coach Russell Domingo excluded from T20 plans and instructed to focus on ODI and Tests by the BCB. The new coach said that his biggest strength would be that he will be starting ‘fresh’ and without the baggage of Bangladesh’s poor run of performances in T20s and also his own frustrations from playing days.

Bangladesh practiced at ICC Academy in Dubai yesterday, hoping to get a good feel of their new way of doing things under newly-appointed technical consultant Sridharan Sriram and acclimatising to the conditions in the UAE.

A match between traditional rivals India and Pakistan always evokes raw emotion, adrenaline and pride.

The Asia Cup is just a day away from making the much-awaited comeback after a four-year interval -- the longest since the 2008 edition -- with some of the world’s top teams prepared to lock horns in the United Arab Emirates, where its maiden edition commenced in 1983.

Rashid Khan was named ICC’s T20I Player of the decade in 2020 and it is a testament to how he has carried forward the art of leg-spin in the modern era.

The Daily Star (DS): You were part of Bangladesh’s maiden Asia Cup campaign in 1986. Can you share your experience?

Bangladesh appear to be the fifth-best among the top five teams heading into the Asia Cup tournament.

“They won everything except the Cup! Beware world, Bangladesh is the new terror!” The great Brian Lara had thusly cautioned the world through Facebook after Bangladesh’s agonising two-run defeat against Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup final.

Former tennis world number one Novak Djokovic said on Thursday that he will not be able to travel to New York to compete at the U.S. Open, the last Grand Slam of the year that begins next week.

The widow of the late basketball star Kobe Bryant was awarded $16 million by a jury on Wednesday over the sharing of photos of human remains at the helicopter crash site where her husband, their 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in 2020, according to multiple media reports.

The Asia Cup is set to begin on August 27 in the UAE. 

India's Virat Kohli has the chance to find form before the World Cup while Babar Azam will look to keep Pakistan's psychological edge when the rival countries clash as the headline acts of the Asia Cup starting this weekend.