1932 - Birth England soccer player Geoff Bent. He played 12 games for Manchester United before losing his life from the tragic Munich air disaster in 1958 where 23 people died, out of 44 on board including the entire Man United team

1948 - Birth of Zimbabwean all-rounder Duncan Fletcher, who later (in 1999) became England’s first overseas coach in 1999. In 2011, he took over as India Coach. Fletcher made 69 not out and took 4/42 as Zimbabwe pulled off a stunning victory over Australia, who included Border, Lillee, Marsh, Thomson et al, in Zims’ first-ever official One-Day International (ODI) win, at Trent Bridge in the 1983 World Cup

[caption id="attachment_163866" align="alignnone" width="456"] Duncan Fletcher during his memorable knock against Kim Hughes’ Aus in the ’83 World Cup. Fletcher led Zims to win in this first ODI of his country[/caption]

1962 - Birth of New Zealand medium pacer Gavin Larsen, who played 121 ODIs between 1990-99 taking only 113 wickets. But his outstanding economy rate of 3.76 runs per over was noteworthy. He was part the “Thriftiest of Triumvirates” of the 1992 World Cup - Larsen, Chris Harris, and Rod Latham who were also called then as “Dibbly, Dobbly, and Wobbly”

1965 - Birth of American basketball player and coach Steve Kerr, who won five NBA titles as a player for Chicago Bulls and SA Spurs

1973 - Birth of the Sri Lankan medium pacer Pulasthi Gunaratne. The D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo product was 28 when he made his Sri Lanka debut in an ODI against Bangladesh in August 2002, taking two in two

[caption id="attachment_163867" align="alignnone" width="456"] Happy birthday ‘Pula’ Gunaratne, who played 23 ODIs during 2002-03 taking 27 wickets at 33.62. Here is he in the 2003 World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa[/caption]

1976 - Birth of Francesco Totti who is considered one of the greatest Italian footballers of all time

1980 - Marvin Hagler defeats Alan Minter to claim boxing world middleweight championship in London. They have to be escorted away by police after a riot forms

1981 - Birth of New Zealand wicket-keeper batter Brendon McCullum, who is much remembered for his 158 off 73 balls (4x10, 6x13) in the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) very first match on 18 April 2008, in Bengaluru, for Kolkata Knight Riders

1991 - Birth of Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, winner of the French Open 2018 and Wimbledon 2019

2014 - All Blacks beat Argentina 34-13 in La Plata and claim their third straight Rugby Championship

[caption id="attachment_163869" align="alignnone" width="456"] All Blacks beat Argentina in 2014 in La Plata to claim their third straight Rugby Championship[/caption]

2020 - Aus women’s cricketer Alyssa Healy goes past Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s record of 91 dismissals to become the most prolific wicket-keeper in T20 Internationals

[caption id="attachment_163870" align="alignnone" width="454"] Alyssa Healy (on left) with her uncle and former Australian ’keeper Ian Healy[/caption]