Indian captain Virat Kohli, day said head coach Ravi Shastri was the brain behind promoting all-rounder Hardik Pandya up the order, which eventually paid rich dividends for the home side in the series-clinching five-wicket win over Australia in the third One-day International in Indore.
The Australians, led by Steve Smith, arrived in Chennai from Bangladesh after drawing a two-Test series and the match tomorrow would give them opportunity to at least switch to the One-day format.
Following the senior cricket team's inspirational tri-series win in the West Indies, India's U-19 team added to that cheer for cricket fans. Indian bowlers ripped through the Australian line-up as the team thrashed the hosts by eight wickets to be crowned champions in the Under-19 International Series after a lop-sided final clash in Darwin on Friday.
'Where do you leave a boy like Hiten, whose parents are not heavyweight politicians? He scores runs and someone's parent just writes a letter that he is fit, doesn't play a match and is in the team'
'It's a performance that puts the Bachchan hysteria to shame,' observes Sreehari Nair.
'We need to stick to plan and back our skills to tackle India' 'You've got to be adaptable and you've got to be able to change your game almost mid-innings'
India were in with a very good chance of levelling the series in Melbourne on Friday after reducing Australia to 132 for 7 in 19 overs but rain put paid to their hopes.
Following their 11-match winning streak, Kolkata Knight Riders will be aiming to keep their juggernaut rolling as they meet Perth Scorchers in their third Group A league match of the Champions League T20 in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
'India have been in great form in all formats over a long time now. But it is going to be a great opportunity for us to come out, play aggressively and express ourselves. We can take the game on and really try to take it to India'
'Our Lockdown Life has a sort of schizophrenic, Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde personality about it,' says Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
Australia spinner Nathan Lyon fought hard to cement his place in the Test team and now hopes to convince selectors of his white ball prowess in time for the World Twenty20 in India.
The mood in the Indian camp was summed up best by the skipper after a green pitch was unveiled on eve of the maiden Test at the new facility.
Communalising law and order situations is fraught with danger; we need to tread cautiously. Interjecting a communal angle into what is purely a law and order issue does nobody good; it muddies the picture, fuels unrequited passion and distracts us from the core issue, says Vivek Gumaste.
Stopping a resurgent Australia would not be easy but a confident India would look to end the series on a high when they compete in the fifth and final ODI match, in Nagpur, on Sunday.
'Parrikar is living for Modi and Shah, not for his motherland or Goa'
Australia coach Darren Lehmann has been fined 20 percent of his match fee for "inappropriate comments" about England's Stuart Broad made ahead of the fifth Ashes Test, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Thursday.
What's in a name? A lot if an election is at stake and you have three other people with the same name standing up against you. And that's the case for Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who filed his nomination from Varanasi on Thursday. Modi is facing 77 rivals, including three other Narendras.
'The current government must act sooner rather than later,' asserts Vivek Gumaste.
Just 20 years old, Inderlal Kamalsingh Dhurve is a migrant labourer, a part-time farmer, a sole breadwinner and one of four survivors from the group that was mowed down by a goods train near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, 10 days ago, claiming 16 lives.
With the batting firepower in Australia's ranks, they cannot be ruled out as contenders to grasp it at the sixth attempt.
Following his consistent performances, Pandya is expected to carry the weight of expectations like other star players of the team
Young wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav feels that he can dismiss David Warner 'anytime' as the Australian vice-captain seems 'under pressure' while facing him.
The Australians are struggling against India's new spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal and the hosts would like to ensure that it doesn't get any easy as the series progresses.
A look at the top tweets from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
Gurkeerat Singh turned in a superb all-round showing as India 'A' beat fancied Australia 'A' by four wickets in the final of the 'A' teams triangular series in Chennai on Friday.
'There was a time in my life when I looked for work because I didn't have any work,' Govinda tells Sonil Dedhia.
Everyone has his/her own views on TV actor Prayusha's suicide but none as ridiculous as Rakhi Sawant.
'It's a dream, but will I give it up? No bloody way,' Umesh Pandey, the former Bangkok Post editor turned Opposition candidate, tells Rahul Jacob.
England pair Joe Root and James Anderson broke the all-time Test record for a 10th-wicket partnership on Saturday but the first Test against India at Trent Bridge looks like ending in a draw.
Australia spinner Steve O'Keefe is aware that taming the Indians would be a 'big job' but exuded confidence that his team is capable of doing 'some damage' during their four-Test series.
"Features of the Bill are anti-people and anti-Constitution...it is a very dangerous act," the fiery TMC MP said.
The ripping off the lid, that Mekhail did, on the chain of episodes that lead up to his sister's murder, while condemning Indrani for her actions, for the first time, paradoxically, allowed a more human -- if flawed and complicated -- picture to emerge of Indrani, allegedly The Woman Who Killed Her Own Daughter and shocked a nation.
Having flattered to deceive on most occasions after his transition from Under-19 to senior cricket, Delhi boy Unmukt Chand would like to make amends as he leads India 'A' in the tri-nation 'A' series, considered a launch pad to the senior team.
India 'A' off-spinner Baba Aparajith struck late to claim five wickets, but it was opener Cameron Bancroft's strokeful 150 that powered Australia 'A' to a crucial first innings lead on Day 2 of the second four-day unofficial cricket 'Test' in Chennai on Thursday.
'A lot of people ask me about joining politics and I tell them that just because my father is politician, doesn't mean I should be a part of it.'
On Amitabh Bachchan's 75th birthday, we bring you the unseen pictures of the legendary actor from his life.
Against a quality side like Australia, the performers at the domestic level will get a chance to test themselves against the likes of Josh Hazlewood or Mitchell Starc if Steve Smith and Darren Lehmann decide to give them a few overs.
Their path to the semi-finals looking relatively easier in comparison, Australia will fancy their chances when they lock horns with a struggling Pakistan side whose hopes hangs by a thread in the ICC World Twenty20, in Mohali, on Friday.
Joe Burns is determined to avoid membership of the burgeoning club of Australian batsmen who have made brief cameos.
The dates selected by the organizers, particularly for Kanpur and Lucknow, could once again ignite communal trouble.
