Many sportsmen are also good musicians. In cricket, though, the examples are few and far between. Rediff.com takes a look some.
India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named captain of ICC's ODI Team of the Year, but none of the Indian players found berth in governing body's Test Team of the Year, led by Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews.
Statistical highlights after the second week of the ongoing Indian Premier League.
Young Shreyas Gopal spun a web around a star-studded Royal Challengers Bangalore batting line-up to claim four wickets for 16 runs and help Rajasthan Royals score a 30-run victory and stay in the reckoning for a play-offs berth in the Indian Premier League, in Jaipur, on Saturday.
Struggling with three pull-outs within one week, Delhi Daredevils would seek to capitalise on the experience of legendary Australian paceman Glenn McGrath when they take on Victoria in their opening Champions League Twenty20 match in New Delhi on Friday.
AB de Villiers became the first Delhi batsman and seventh overall to register a hundred in the IPL. He joined Adam Gilchrist, Sanath Jayasuriya, Shaun Marsh, Brendon McCullum, Andrew Symonds and Michael Hussey. His outstanding innings -- unbeaten 105 off 54 balls -- is also his first hundred in Twenty20.
Following are the statistical highlights of the Champions Trophy match between New Zealand and South Africa played in Centurion.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has retained his top spot in the ICC ODI rankings but is closely followed by South African AB de Villiers, who has narrowed the gap with the Indian captain to just two points.
Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane jumped three places to enter the top-10 in batsman's list while Ravichandran Ashwin maintained his pole position among all-rounders in the latest Test rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Rajasthan Royals spinner Krishnappa Gowtham said they have plans in place to counter the hard-hitting West Indian batsman.
South Africa Test captain Hashim Amla will miss the opening T20 warm-up game against Board President's XI at Palam, New Delhi, on Tuesday because of personal commitments.
Wishing the Sri Lankan team ahead of their quarter-final clash against South Africa, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe warned the Angelo Mathews-led side to "keep an eye on Proteas skipper AB de Villiers" who has been in rampaging form in the tournament.
AB de Villiers and Ashwell Prince added 134 for the sixth wicket on Sunday to put South Africa back in control on the second day of the third and final Test in Bridgetown, Barbados. At the close, South Africa were 285 for six in reply to West Indies' 231 with Prince unbeaten on 55 in a disciplined innings containing only three boundaries.
The second Test between West Indies and South Africa ended in a tedious draw on the final day on Tuesday when the tourists declared and both teams agreed there was no point continuing.
The immense desire to succeed coupled with his hard work has been crucial in the rise of India skipper Virat Kohli as a cricketing superstar, reckons former national selector Vikram Rathour.
Injured Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli, who is yet to feature in the ongoing Indian Premier League, on Wednesday, went through some fielding drills during the team's net session, in Bengaluru.
South Africa eased to a 66-run victory over West Indies thanks to centuries by Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers and some aggressive bowling in the first One-day International on Saturday.
South Africa defeated New Zealand by 13 runs in a Group E Super Eight stage match of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup .
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2021's Most Valuable Players up to Game 21.
The 21-year-old is now level with Englishman Jack Russell (vs South Africa at Johannesburg in 1995) and South Africa's AB de Villiers (vs Pakistan at Johannesburg in 2013).
Rajneesh Gupta brings you all the numbers from the first 17 games in IPL-12.
Royal Challengers BangalorStruggling RCB face inconsistent Supergiant in must-win game will be striving to keep their IPL hopes alive when they meet an equally inconsistent Rising Pune Supergiant in an Indian Premier League encounter, in Pune on Saturday.
Four years after moving from South Africa, former Proteas all-rounder Johan Botha is now officially an Australian citizen. Botha had captained South Africa in 10 ODIs and took the team to the No 1 ranking in the ICC ODI Rankings after they defeated Australia 4-1 away in 2009. The 34-year-old also captained the national side in 11 T20s.
The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League will commence, on Saturday, April 7 and will end on 27th May
Ajinkya Rahane became the first fielder in Test history to take eight catches, achieving the feat in the ongoing first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Friday.
Kedar Jadhav hit a half-century on debut to help Delhi Daredevils beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 17 runs in the Indian Premier League at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore, on Thursday. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra shone with the ball, claiming two for 23 in four overs as Bangalore finished on 166 for nine in their 20 overs.
Akhtar criticised De Villiers for preferring cash-rich leagues when he should have made himself available for South Africa.
Disciplined bowling and an unbeaten half century from AB de Villiers guided Delhi Daredevils to a 14-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League on Sunday. The victory consolidated Delhi's position atop the table. Electing to bat, Delhi rattled up a challenging 150 for three -- largely due to De Villiers' unbeaten 55-ball 79 -- and then restricted Rajasthan to 136 for nine as they notched their ninth victory from 12 matches.
England captain Eoin Morgan hit 17 sixes in his knock of 148, an ODI record.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2021's 50 Most Valuable Players up to Game 11.
Making an assessment is a tough task, particularly when the results aren't on expected lines. In the case of South Africa it is all the more inexplicable.
It will take more than just preparing a turning track to stop the high-flying South Africans in the second and final Test in Kolkata, believes AB de Villiers.
South Africa have now lost five Tests in a row, including two shock home losses to Sri Lanka, and are struggling with on-field know-how to dig themselves out of tough situations.
Proteas batsman AB de Villiers says Rahul Dravid's non-availability for the Test series is a big blow for India, though it is Virender Sehwag who is worrying the South African think-tank the most.
England ran out South Africa captain Graeme Smith among a burst of three quick wickets to reduce the hosts to 175 for five on the first day of the second Test on Saturday.
'I'd quite like to get Virat out, because I was not able to get him in the IPL because I think a leggie got him in every game he played'
South Africa will dearly miss AB de Villiers in the World Cup. De Villiers announced a shock retirement from international cricket last year.
Gibbs back India, England as contenders for ODI World Cup
South Africa captain Graeme Smith's inspirational leadership and prolific batting in the season gone by fetched him the twin honours of 'Cricketer of the Year' and 'Test Cricketer of the Year' at the country's annual cricket awards in Johannesburg.
A blazing half-century from opener Martin Guptill helped New Zealand beat South Africa by 32 runs in Centurion on Sunday to draw the two-match Twenty20 international series 1-1.
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