Robin Smith established himself as a belligerent middle-order batter known for his ability against fast bowlers.
Manchester United missed the chance to go fifth in the Premier League when they were held 1-1 by West Ham United at Old Trafford on Thursday, a result which keeps the visitors in the relegation zone.
This chase marked the sixth time under the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum leadership that England had hauled in targets of 250 or more in the fourth innings.
Premier League leaders Arsenal needed two own goals, the second deep in stoppage time, to scrape a 2-1 home win over bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers and open a five-point gap, while earlier on Saturday Mohamed Salah put aside a tumultuous week to help Liverpool beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0.
'I don't think that's fair, because we have other competitions as well we have to try to accommodate.'
Who do you think should be part of the Indian team for the first Test against England?
India finished Day 3 on 90/2 to lead England by 96 runs at stumps in the opening Test on Sunday after England were dismissed for 465 in the first innings.
'There's always some calculated thinking behind it.'
Manchester City seized the opportunity of Arsenal's 2-1 loss at Aston Villa earlier in the day to climb within two points of the leaders.
Another India lower-order collapse gave England a fighting chance of a thrilling victory in the first Test at Headingley on Monday, with the hosts 21/0 in their second innings at the close of play on day four, chasing 371 to win.
To say the least, a relatively inexperienced batting line up led by Shubman Gill would be relieved to see the name of James Anderson
Arsenal missed a chance to tighten their grip on the Premier League title race with a 1-1 draw at 10-man Chelsea on Sunday.
Arsenal marked Mikel Arteta's 300th game in charge with a convincing 2-0 home victory over West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday.
Arsenal maintained a searing pace at the top of the Premier League with a straightforward 2-0 win at Burnley, while Liverpool snapped a dreadful four-match losing run with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa to climb provisionally to third.
Shubman Gill joined an unwanted list following the loss to Australia in the first ODI at Perth, becoming the second Indian skipper after Virat Kohli and overall ninth captain to lose their first matches in all three formats as captain.
'It is people, their support and strength that made him a Bahubali.' 'I am proud of my father, who is innocent and wrongly framed.'
As part of workload management for the injury-prone star pacer, the management had decided to play him in three out of five Tests. That plan doesn't change with four games remaining.
Crystal Palace scored a stoppage-time winner to edge Liverpool 2-1 while Manchester United and Chelsea lost by an identical 3-1 margin in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Erling Haaland took his league tally this season to 11 in eight games with both goals in City's 2-0 home win over Everton -- a result that temporarily put City above Arsenal on goals scored.
Josh Inglis slammed a brilliant century as Australia completed the highest chase in an ICC men's tournament against England in Lahore on Saturday.
The swashbuckling left-hander has a solid record in England, with 808 runs in 10 Tests and 19 innings at an average of 42.52, with four centuries and two fifties. His best score is 146.
Harshit Rana has been included in the India Test squad as a cover and travelled with the rest of the team via train to reach Leeds
Newcastle United have signed German forward Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart in a club-record deal.
Sonny Baker's dream moment turned into an absolute walking nightmare after he went at the top of an unwanted record
A summary of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
All-rounder Jamie Overton, who played the only Test match of his career back in 2022, has been recalled to the 15-member England squad
Mohammed Siraj has revealed the close bonding he shares with Test captain Shubman Gill, highlighting both their on-field and off-field camaraderie.
The temperatures in Leeds are expected to hover between 15 to 21C which is not ideal for batting, especially under cloudy skies and breezy conditions.
England still have hopes of winning this game. This prognosis is based on their fourth innings exploits over the last three years and the fact that India galloped to 321 runs in 70 overs, suggesting the wicket isn't particularly tricky. However, the big difference from Leeds in June this year, or Birmingham in 2022, is that this track still has plenty of juice.
ndia will be very happy after a technical masterpiece from Rahul and the flamboyance and exuberance that you can imagine from Pant
Rishabh Pant is only the second wicketkeeper in the history of Test cricket to hit two hundreds in the same match.
"If anyone doubted he was ever a team man, they got to see it first-hand today. That requires more than just steel," Shastri said in a video posted by the BCCI on its website.
Gautam Gambhir will join the Indian squad on Tuesday, three days before the start of the first Test against England at Leeds.
Yograj also spoke of his son Yuvraj's reaction to captain Shubman Gill's blistering performance with the bat, which steered India to its first Test win at Edgbaston.
Siraj dismissed Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton before bowling Gus Atkinson to end the match.
Sai Sudharsan was shadow batting on a covered square at Old Trafford on the eve of the fourth Test, an old habit that keeps the top-order batter mentally ready for the next opportunity that comes his way.
Thakur, who resumed Day 3 unbeaten, brought up his century with ease, reinforcing his case as the ideal seam-bowling all-rounder ahead of the Leeds Test.
England captain Ben Stokes on Tuesday dismissed the chatter surrounding Jasprit Bumrah's availability for only three Tests out of five as "India's problem" and said he is expecting the "passionate" visitors to fight hard in the second Test irrespective of the team composition.
In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to Pant's disciplinary record, for whom it was the first offence in 24 months.
Across the first Test at Leeds, which India lost by five wickets, the visitors were relying heavily on Bumrah for wickets and cutting the flow of runs.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances