RIO DE JANEIRO -- Andy Murray is one of the worlds best in his sport, a proud champion of the Olympics and an outspoken figure in the fight against drugs cheats.Aside from his support for Scottish independence from the rest of the United Kingdom a couple of years ago, there surely couldnt be a better choice of flag bearer for the British team at the Rio Games.Murrays role is not just about leading the?small Team GB delegation in the opening ceremony on Friday and keeping the Union Flag flying high.He will address the other British athletes once or twice and have the chance to inspire the less experienced and successful among them.Murray should provide the benchmark for the others, too, as he has effectively been made the symbol of what the British Olympic Association thinks is good about sport in the UK.From a public relations perspective, Murray is a sharp choice given the Lizzie Armitstead missed-drugs-test furore. Who better to try to move the agenda on before she is due to compete in the womens cycling road race on Sunday?Murray, who has three Grand Slam titles (including this years Wimbledon) to go with his 2012 Olympics gold, is a consummate professional, and the idea of him erring on World Anti-Doping Agencys whereabouts rule seems unlikely. Having the guy who has called for increased testing and transparency as a figurehead cannot be a bad thing.His diligence and work rate should also be a good example to young athletes, as hes known for the attention he pays to the physical side of his game and the time and effort he devotes to it.Murray is a player who has matured and made himself stand out from the crowd despite a lack of the flashy trappings of the famous and wealthy who reside at the top of their sports.He is a father, a husband, a dog lover and a fan of a range of other sports. In fact, looking closely at him, it is a wonder Team GB chef de mission Mark England and his panel considered anybody else.Murray wont be the only flag bearer from tennis in the ceremony; Rafael Nadal will also lead out Spain. Novak Djokovic, who has also arrived to play here when the sports competition starts on Saturday, led Serbia at the 2012 Games in London.Ironically, the two other best players, Swiss Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, have pulled out of the competition,?and 4 of the top 10 highest-ranked players will be missing.Murray, unlike Nadal, was due to stay outside the athletes village during the Games because of the size of the entourage he has with him and his desire to focus on the event.The Spaniard has reportedly run up against the time-consuming issue of other athletes seeking autographs and selfies while he tries to go about his business.But Murray stayed in the village on Tuesday night and may spend more time there before finding some peace and quiet to focus on his game outside the commotion.He summed up his feelings for the Games after his first practice session in Rio on Tuesday. You are around the best athletes in the world and you want to perform well for your country and your teammates, he said.I remember in Beijing, although I didnt perform well, it was nice being surrounded by the best athletes in your country and seeing them come back with medals. It feels a lot more like a team environment and I have enjoyed that throughout my career.Other nations have gone a different route than Britain in selecting their flag bearers, with the U.S. picking Michael Phelps ?-- a character whose image has been a long way off squeaky clean (the swimmer has two DUIs on his record).Nicola Adams, who made history by becoming the first female Olympic boxing champion in 2012, was an alternative to Murray for the Team GB role and would also have represented some laudable values for British sport.But the Scots success, fame, conduct and credentials must have looked undeniable. Those involved in selecting him say he was brimming with pride when he was told about it, too, and the only thing that could take the edge off that would be the fact that wife Kim and daughter Sophia wont be here to see him parade with the team.NHL Jerseys From China .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena. Stitched NHL Jerseys . 1, meaning problems for the doping controls at both major international sports events next year. The World Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended the Moscow Antidoping Center on Sunday, saying its operations must improve or a six-month ban on the facilitys accreditation will be imposed. http://www.cheapnhlcustomjerseys.com/ . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Authentic . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. Authentic NHL Jerseys Cheap . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season.23 Five-wicket hauls for R Ashwin in Tests - the third highest among India bowlers alongside Kapil Dev. Only Anil Kumble (35) and Harbhajan Singh (25) have taken more such hauls. Ashwin is playing his 43rd Test. Harbhajan, Kumble and Kapil took 75, 81 and 114 Tests for their 23rd five-wicket haul respectively. Among bowlers from all teams, only Sydney Barnes has been quicker to 23 five-for in Tests. Barnes took just 27 Tests.7 Five-fors by Ashwin this year - the second time he has taken seven or more such hauls in a calendar year. Ashwin took seven five-fors in 2015 as well. Only one other bowler - Muttiah Muarlitharan - has taken seven or more five-wicket hauls in a year more than once. Muralitharan did it in 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2006. Ashwins 14 five-wicket hauls in the last-two years equal the most any bowler has taken in a two-year period. Muralitharan had taken 14 such hauls between 2000 and 2001 and again between 2006 and 2007.18 Five-wicket hauls by Ashwin in just 26 Tests in India. Only Anil Kumbles 25 such hauls is higher than Ashwins in India. Harbhajan also took 18 five-fors from 55 Tests at home.56.16 Jos Buttlers batting average against India in Tests; his 76 in Englands first innings was his fifth score of 40 or more runs in six innings against them. Buttlers 76 is the highest by a visiting batsman at Wankhede batting at No. 7 or lower since Adam Gilchrists 122 in 2001-02.1975 The only time in 13 Tests before this a team posting a total of 400 or more runs in the first innings a Tests has lost at the Wankhede Stadium.dddddddddddd On that occasion though India had ended up trailing West Indies by 198 runs in spite of putting up 406 runs on the board. Since then, teams posting a total of 400-plus have ended up winning on seven occasions, with other six Tests ending in a draw. This is Englands third 400-plus total in their first innings at the Wankhede Stadium in their last three Tests here. England defe