A round-up of Ranji matches played on Friday
It's no secret that the 37-year-old is the first choice wicketkeeper for the England World Cup but a lot will depend on how he performs in the last three ODIs against West Indies.
Sri Lankan Kusal Mendis struck a majestic maiden century on day three of the first Test against Australia to leave the bowler-dominated contest evenly poised at Pallekele on Thursday.
Pakistan ended their tour of Sri Lanka with a dramatic one-wicket victory in the second Twenty20 on Saturday to complete a 2-0 series win, having also triumphed in the Test and ODI encounters.
Anup Sridhar beat Bangladesh's Mostafa Jabed Mohammad 21-3, 21-9 in the men's singles.
Australia fast bowling great particularly impressed with Bumrah. 'The way he bowls his yorkers, and if there is some reverse swing, he is going to be dangerous.'
Off-spinner Dilruwan Perera picked five wickets as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 68 runs in the second Test in Dubai on Tuesday and won the series 2-0. Perera had figures of 5-98 as Pakistan, chasing 317 for victory, were bowled out for 248 in the second hour of fifth and final day at Dubai stadium.
At a crowded beachfront mass, Pope Francis canonised Sri Lanka's first saint on Wednesday.
Brought into the squad only after first-choice opener Murali Vijay was ruled out due to injury, Dhawan made full use of the opportunity and played an entertaining 168-ball innings that was studded with 31 fours. This was his fifth Test hundred.
'The last couple of months have been good with the bat. Playing the series against England Lions gave me time to focus on my skill, then did well against T20s against Australia and then the IPL. I am feeling pretty confident' 'I just know what to expect in England. We were there around this time last year so we know what the conditions will be like. Nobody takes confidence from the last tour and how many runs you scored, you start fresh but yes we are better prepared'
Bangladesh lost four wickets in the final session to slump to 214 for five on day two of their second and final Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Former India players Pragyan Ojha and Ashok Dinda were on Saturday involved in an ugly feud ahead of Bengal's Ranji Trophy group league encounter against Tamil Nadu in Rajkot and both nearly came to exchanging blows during the training session. Both players are important in Bengal's scheme of things and the team management, which includes skipper Manoj Tiwary, coach Sairaj Bahutule and manager Sameer Dasgupta, spoke to them and conveyed that this behaviour was unexpected.
Sri Lanka require 153 runs for a series-levelling victory after Pakistan rode Azhar Ali's obdurate century before being all out for 329 on day four of the second Test on Sunday.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin spun a web around Sri Lankan batsmen with a six-wicket haul as India dismissed the hosts for a paltry 183 in the first innings to gain the upperhand on the opening day of the first Test in Galle on Wednesday.
Pakistan were granted an extra review option after being robbed of a wicket due to an apparent error by TV umpire Paul Reiffel during the second Test in Colombo.
Despite being left out of the central contracts of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB),`out-of-favour` off-spinner Saeed Ajmal is hoping to revive his international career through 'one last chance' to prove his worth. Having notched up a total of 178 wickets in 35 Tests, Ajmal was ranked as the number one bowler in ODIs and was also very impressive in the longest format of the game before being suspended for exceeding the 15-degree elbow flex limit set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in September 2014.
Ishant Sharma will follow the footsteps of his teammate Cheteshwar Pujara as he is set to play English county side Sussex in five first-class and eight List A games.
The 1999 World Cup player of the tournament said Pandya has a fine support system to hone him.
The National Tawheed Jamath is suspected of plotting the deadly Easter blasts.
K L Rahul broke into the top-10 at 9th, while Shikhar Dhawan also attained a career-high position of 28th in the latest ICC Test rankings after India's clean-sweep of Sri Lanka in a three-match series.
Bowing to pressure from the BCCI, Cricket South Africa is likely to keep its CEO Haroon Lorgat out of any future engagement with the Indian Board to ensure that the marquee tour by India goes ahead without any further hiccups.
Saha, 32, possesses none of his predecessor's flamboyance or big-hitting ability with the bat but his dexterity behind the stumps, to go with his determination in front of them, has meant that Dhoni, who now plays only limited-overs cricket, has not really been missed.
Although the PCB is leaving no stone unturned to allow suspended off-spinner, Saeed Ajmal a chance to make a comeback to international cricket, the national selectors and head coach, Waqar Younis are already planning for the World Cup without the services of the suspended spinner.
Hardik Pandya felt as if he was 'playing an ODI' during his whirlwind half-century in his maiden outing.
Sri Lanka pacer Nuwan Pradeep has expressed delight at taking the prized scalp of Indian captain Virat Kohli after bagging his maiden five wicket haul in Tests on day two of the series-opener.
The SC ordered a halt to preparations for snap elections on January 5.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 1 of the 1st Test.
Virat is No 1. Rohit is no 2, but guess who are Nos 3, 4, 5!
Cricket South Africa could lose massive amounts in revenue if India's tour to the country later this year gets shortened, as the BCCI now wants a mere two Tests, three ODIs and two Twenty20 matches, instead of the seven ODIs and three Tests.
RBI, Sri Lankan central bank agree on $1.5 bln currency swap deal.
Should India retain the winning combination for Thursday's ODI against Australia?
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews was handed a two-match suspension for maintaining a slow over-rate during his team's one-wicket defeat against India in the final of the Tri-series in Trinidad.
Guess how many ducks the Sri Lankan and Indian batsmen have scored this series? Rajneesh Gupta has some interesting figures from Day 4.
Dr Anil Jasinghe, Director General of the Health Services, said the larger death toll was released as a result of a calculation error.
As the stylish left-hander, Kumar Sangakkara, draws curtains to his illustrious career, here are tributes pouring from him from across the world.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 3.
Virat Kohli has kept his stranglehold on the top spot in the ICC ODI batsman rankings.
"He (Kohli) is a fantastic captain. I don't know what he does inside dressing room or what he does tactically, as I'm too far away (from the team). I don't know what he speaks in team meetings but the way he looks after his players is remarkable," Ganguly said during a book launch in Kolkata.
Senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that the "actual fun is when one bowls on challenging tracks", which can't exactly be called rank turners. While Ravichandran Ashwin went for 167 runs in 46 overs in the first Test against England, Harbhajan termed it as "one off day". "Mazaa toh tab hain jab wickets challenging ho (It's fun when the track throws up challenge for the bowlers). You have to be consistent with your lines and try different things. You have to toil to get wickets and that brings to the fore your skills as a bowler," Harbhajan said when asked about India's bowling performance on the first day in Rajkot.
Sri Lanka have included pace spearhead Lasith Malinga in their 15-man squad for the Cricket World Cup despite concerns over his fitness after ankle surgery, the country's cricket board said on Wednesday.
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