Rugby World Cup: Surprise package Italy, Japan's Kamaishi one of the 12 hosts, and other facts

In 1963, Kepler Wessels, aged six, was introduced to cricket by his sister’s then boyfriend. The 1970 ban on the South African cricket team for racial segregation resulted in a mass exodus of several talented players, including Wessels. He migrated to Australia and donned the ‘baggy green’ for 24 Test matches and 51 ODIs. In 1991, the ICC reinstated South Africa to the fold of Test-playing nations, marking the end of exile for many players. Wessels came out of retirement to captain South Africa, playing 16 Tests and 55 ODIs for the Proteas.

Lagarto-born Diego Costa represented Brazil twice in international friendlies in 2013 prior to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Costa was granted Spanish citizenship earlier that year after having lived there for six years. According to FIFA rules, a player can switch teams if he hasn’t played competitively for another country at a senior level. The move was not immediately fortuitous for Costa, as defending champion Spain crashed out in the group stage of the World Cup. Costa has since netted 10 times for La Furia Roja, as Spain are known.

An ethnic Hungarian, Monica Seles started playing tennis at the age of five under the tutelage of her father, a professional newspaper cartoonist in erstwhile Yugoslavia. He was a vocal critic of the Communist regime. In 1986, the family relocated to Florida, and Seles was enrolled at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. Her talent was spotted by coaches, and she soon started out at the senior tour, beating Steffi Graf to win the French Open. Seles was 16 at the time. She became a naturalised American citizen in 1994, but the change did not bode well for her fortunes. She won only one of her nine Grand Slams representing the US, though she may have won more if she hadn’t been stabbed by a Steffi Graf fan in 1993.

Born in Johannesburg, Steve Nash holds British and Canadian passports. The family moved to Canada in 1975, a time when racial tensions were high in South Africa. After dabbling with ice hockey and football in high school, Nash won a scholarship to play basketball for Santa Clara University, Cali fornia. A career in the NBA followed. He won consecutive MVP awards in 2004-05 and 2005-06. Nash became the first player in NBA history to carry the Olympic torch when Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympics in 2010.