Young batsman Shreyas Iyer pounded the Australian bowlers with his career-best unbeaten 202 before the three-day warm-up game between India A and the visitors ended in a draw, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Kumar Sangakkara scored an unbeaten 113 and then returned to break the world record for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in One-day internationals as Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 34 runs in the seventh and final match in Wellington on Thursday.
To say Joe Root has been galvanised since being dropped for the fifth Ashes Test that completed England's dismal 5-0 rout in Australia in the early days of last year would be an understatement.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's retirement from Test cricket has left the Indian think-tank fretting over the ideal playing combination that will take on Australia in the fourth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground starting next Tuesday.
Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada and wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock have achieved career-high positions in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings after firing South Africa to an emphatic 177-run victory over Australia in the opening Test of the three-match series in Perth on Monday.
England captain Wayne Rooney scored twice after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain headed the opener in a 3-1 win over Scotland as the visitors dominated a typically passionate Auld Enemy friendly at Celtic Park on Tuesday.
Even as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decide if a film backed by a streaming service qualifies for a 'regular' feature nomination, both critics and audiences hope Mudbound makes it to the Oscars, says Nikita Puri.
An inconsistent Delhi Daredevils will look to break the home jinx when they take on Mumbai Indians in their sixth match of the IPL cricket tournament at Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on Thursday.
'We are pretty comfortable as a side and any combination that we go in with.'
Trent Boult took two wickets in one over and broke a partnership that had threatened to take the game out of New Zealand's reach as Sri Lanka reached 264 for seven by the end of a rain-shortened first day of the second Test on Friday.
Glenn Maxwell took the India A bowlers to the cleaners yet again, smashing a quickfire half-century, to help Australia A win by 25 runs and storm into the final of the A teams tri-series in Pretoria, on Sunday.
Strangely, despite four wins on the trot, none of India's players have even figured in the top 20 of the MVPI table.
Following his impressive batting show in India's 5-0 series win over Sri Lanka, where he was named the man of the series, Virat Kohli has moved to second place in the ICC ODI Rankings for batsmen.
Tailender Jason Holder was left stranded on 82 not out as West Indies were dismissed for 220 in their first innings against Australia in Jamaica on Saturday, a deficit of 179, on the third day of the second Test in Kingston, Jamaica.
As Cheteshwar Pujara plays a landmark Test against Sri Lanka, Rajneesh Gupta salutes the batsman's career thus far in numbers...
India frittered away a solid start as a middle-order collapse saw them reduced to 291 for 9 on the opening day of the first cricket Test against New Zealand despite half-centuries from Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara in Kanpur on Thursday.
International Cricket Council chairman Narayanswami Srinivasan said the event's success has proved that the One-Day International format is in good health.
Veteran Luke Ronchi smashed a quick century as New Zealand 'A' recovered from a precarious position to post a respectable 310 against India 'A' on the second day of their three-day match in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
Sergeant Rupert Frere, who transferred from a role in bomb disposal to become a photographer in the Royal Logistic Corps, won no fewer than five of the professional categories.
After four centuries on the trot with a strike rate of nearly 120, Sri Lanka's run machine Kumar Sangakkara (MVPI: 686) has raced to the top of the most valuable player standing at the ICC World Cup.
As the countdown to 2018 starts, it's time to rewind those moments in sport that stood out this year.
But Smith believes the world champions have a quality squad to bounce back in the series.
Virat Kohli, who recently became the fastest batsman in ODIs to score 9,000 runs, is the Most Valuable Player of the ODI series against New Zealand. Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji explain why the Indian skipper is tops.
Images from the fourth One-Day International between Australia and India in Canberra, on Wednesday.
'That was the key to a game where, on paper, there is nothing to separate the two sides: Intensity. From the first ball of the innings to the run out of Southee, the Australian bowlers and fielders buzzed around like predatory yellow-jacketed wasps.' 'Adding teeth to the bowling and relentless fielding is the captaincy of Michael Clarke, leading in his last one day international. His body may require an entire college of medical specialists to maintain, but his mind is scalpel-sharp, cutting through the complexities of the game to hit on simple solutions.'
Images from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
South Africa were left to rue the loss of cheap wickets after battling to 214 for five on the opening day of the second Test against Australia on Thursday.
- 'At no point did we back off. If at any stage that we had in mind that we might play for a draw, we would have lost by 150 runs' - 'I was playing positive and going by my instincts'
Australia stunned world champions New Zealand 27-19 to claim a first Rugby Championship title in the fourth year of the competition and a welcome boost ahead of the World Cup on Saturday.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji figure out who are the most valuable players after the league phase of the World Cup intheir latest update.
As we write this we still await the crucial India-Australia knock-out in Mohali. But India's individual performances in the T20 World Cup so far haven't been truly impressive. A look at the most valuable player index (MVPI) table reveals that there's no Indian player in the top 20. MVPI merges a player's batting + bowling + fielding performance into a single 'run equivalent'. The formula to compute the MVP is devised to reward batsmen who score runs at a high strike rate, bowlers who take wickets at low economy rate and fielders who field the best (take a lot of catches and participate in run-outs). Since this is a relatively low scoring tournament we have assumed a team's par score to be 150, and each wicket to be worth 15 'runs'. It isn't a surprise that players from New Zealand dominate the rankings so far, although Joe Root tops the table after his 83 in 44 balls against South Africa.
Effusive in his praise for Ravinchandran Ashwin, Indian captain Virat Kohli on Monday said the off-spinner is a "priceless" cricketer to have in the team having contributed with both bat and ball in the massive win over New Zealand in the opening Test in Kanpur.
Ian Bell and Stuart Broad shared an unbroken century partnership to lift England to 326 for six on a compelling third day of the first Ashes Test against Australia on Friday.
Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson fell agonisingly short of centuries but New Zealand's imposing total ensured they beat Sri Lanka by 120 runs in the sixth One-day international on Sunday to take an unassailable 4-1 lead in their seven-match series.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Michael Clarke all but ruled himself out of the remainder of the Test series against India after limping off the field with a hamstring strain on the fifth and final day of the opening match in Adelaide.
A B de Villiers still heads Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup.
Virat Kohli hit a splendid century but Mitchell McClenaghan claimed four wickets to lift New Zealand to a thrilling 24-run victory against India in the first One-Day International in Napier.
The West Indian has blasted his way to the top of Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup with the South African skipper close on his heels.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji are back with Rediff.com's World Cup Most Valuable Players ratings.
