Robert Griffin 3 agrees to contract with Ravens

Quarterback Robert Griffin has agreed to a one-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens.

The former Heisman Trophy winner and 2012 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year reportedly was offered a contract by the Ravens last offseason, but he ultimately turned them down and remained out of football. “He came in last week, worked out. Griffin took to social media to confirm the same. He posted “#PlayLikeARaven” on Twitter.Had a real good workout and we were able to come to an agreement,” Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome is reported to have said.”He will probably be here early next week to sign the deal,” he added. Griffin completed 59.2 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and three interceptions in five games during the 2016 season with the Cleveland Browns before being released.

Kohli, Kapil lash out at Afridi for comments on Kashmir

A day after Shahid Afridi dubbed the conditions in Kashmir as “appalling and worrisome” and called for United Nation’s intervention to stop the “bloodshed”, Indian skipper Virat Kohli said his priority stays with his nation and that he would never support anyone who opposes his country.

“As an Indian you want to express what is best for your nation and my interests are always for the benefit of our nation. If anything opposes it, I would never support it for sure. But having said that, it’s a very personal choice for someone to make comments about certain issues,” Kohli said.

Kohli, who is set to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore in the upcoming 11th edition of the Indian Premier League, added, “Unless I have total knowledge of the issue and the intricacies of it I don’t engage in it.”

Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev also hit back at Afridi. “Who is he? Why are we giving importance to him? We should not be giving importance to certain people,” Dev said.

Aussie players’ union says bans too harsh

Smith, Bancroft won’t challenge ban 
Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft will not challenge the bans imposed on them for their role in the ball-tampering scandal.

 The players’ union has asked Cricket Australia to take into account “extraordinary contrition’” shown by Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft over the ball-tampering scandal and suggested that the length of their bans be reduced. Smith and Warner received bans of 12 months each and Bancroft nine months after the ball-tampering incident during the third Test between Australia and South Africa at Cape Town on March 24. “I think Australia cried with Steve Smith.  I know I certainly did,” Australian Cricketers’ Association president Greg Dyer said “We ask for this extraordinary contrition to be taken into account by Cricket Australia just as it would be in any fair and proper process.”

Kapoor replaces Prasad as junior chief selector

Former India player Aashish Kapoor has been named as a replacement of Venkatesh Prasad in the three member All-India Junior Selection Committee of the BCCI. Kapoor was a part of the original five member panel selected in 2016 but was later kept out as BCCI pruned it to three as per Lodha panel recommendations. “Since selectors can only be replaced in an AGM, BCCI for past one year has been paying Kapoor his monthly salary. When Prasad resigned, it was only natural that Kapoor comes back in the panel. Since he has played international cricket, he was preferred over Amit Sharma,” a senior BCCI official told media in India. Gyanendra Pandey and Rakesh Parikh are the other two members of the panel.

Djokovic splits from Agassi, Stepanek  

Former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, struggling back from a long injury layoff after he had split with his coaches Andre Agassi and Radek Stepanek. The 12-time Grand Slam winner lost his opening game at the ATP Miami Masters last month.