India captain Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 49 to deny England victory in an intriguing final session of the opening Test of the five-match series in Rajkot on Sunday.
Carlos Brathwaite's inclusion will lift the spirits of Delhi Daredevils.
Ajinkya Rahane paced his innings to perfection in the company of comeback man Robin Uthappa, as India cruised to a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in a rain-truncated first One-Day International in Mirpur, on Sunday. Chasing a target of 273 in 50 overs, India were cruising at 100 for one in 16.4 overs when the heavens opened up, leading to play being stopped for nearly two hours.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, on Friday, ridiculed the media attention on the pitch for the first Test, saying most of the batsmen got out by playing bad shots.
Part-time spinner Dean Elgar ripped through India's batting line-up with four wickets as South Africa made the hosts rue their decision to bat first on the opening day of the first Test in Mohali, on Thursday.
On a roll after five wins on the trot, table toppers Mumbai Indians will look to continue their domination when they clash with struggling Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League game, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
Considering that the tournament Down Under will be played on faster wickets, it's obvious that spinners are unlikely to play a significant role. In these circumstances, having one spinner in the playing eleven is the most one can expect, says Bikash Mohapatra.
The track for the opening Super 10 Group 2 encounter in the ICC World Twenty20 here on March 15 is likely to be a batting-friendly wicket, unlike the VCA Stadium pitch that was on offer during the third India-South Africa Test match late last year. The track at the stadium situated on the Nagpur-Wardha road that was used for the third Test between India and South Africa was given a "poor" rating by the ICC match referee, Jeff Crowe in his report. India clinched the match by 124 runs inside three days with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin leading the hosts' charge with a 11-wicket haul, supported well by the left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and leggie Amit Mishra. The ICC later announced that the stadium has been given an official warning under the ICC's Pitch Monitoring process following the third Test held in November, 2015. In reaching the verdict, the ICC agreed with the "poor" rating given to the pitch by New Zealand's Crowe, the match referee for the Test played from November 25 to 27, who observed that it did not allow a fair contest between bat and the ball.
IMAGES from the second One-Day International between India and New Zealand in New Delhi, on Thursday.
Injury-hit RCB and Delhi look to outshine each other.
Kolkata Knight Riders' leg-spinner Piyush Chawla says attacking the batsmen comes naturally to him and this strategy was precisely the reason for his success.
India lead South Africa by five points and need to win two matches in order to stop falling behind the Proteas.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lashed out at his batsmen after losing to South Africa by six wickets in the second T20 International in Cuttack on Monday, saying they did not address their shortcomings.
Virat Kohli held centrestage with a delightful unbeaten 85 after a collective bowling effort as India cruised to an easy six-wicket victory over New Zealand taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series in Dharamsala on Sunday. After bowling out New Zealand for 190 in 43.5 overs, India reached the target in a mere 33.1 overs in a match that turned out to be thoroughly one-sided.
In the other matches, Manipur trounced Nagaland by 10 wickets in the battle of newcomers while Jammu and Kashmir defeated Andhra Pradesh by five wickets.
Shikhar Dhawan was all guts and grit while negotiating tough conditions in his comeback game as he boosted Delhi's morale with a well-controlled 137 against Hyderabad in their Ranji Trophy Group A match in New Delhi. A round up of Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
Gujarat left-arm spinner Akshar Patel was recalled to the Indian squad for the last two One-Day Internationals against West Indies, while senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin continues to be rested.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni revealed on Saturday that Virat Kohli's agreement to drop down the order paid the team rich dividends and the strategy would be followed in the remainder of the One-Day series.
Daredevils look to end losing streak against Kings XI.
Delhi all-rounder Rajat Bhatia is a surprise inclusion in the 30-man shortlist, for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20, to be held in Bangladesh from March 16 to April 6. It includes young Kerala wicketkeeper Sanju Samson, former India Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand, Railways leg-spinner Karan Sharma and Harbhajan Singh.
Sitting comfortably with a 304-run lead, India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said the plans of batting just once during the match seems to have worked for the team.
India's Test captain Virat Kohli is unhappy that some of the former international cricketers have run down the team despite their comprehensive 3-0 win against South Africa in the recently concluded Test series.
India's middle-order mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara scored his last half-century six innings ago but the Saurashtra batsman is 'not too worried' about his own form, saying he is happy as long as he is contributing in the team's success.
Virat Kohli's maiden double century was followed by Ravichandran Ashwin's third ton in Tests as India piled misery on a listless West Indies bowling attack to declare at 566 for 8 on day two of the first Test at Antigua on Friday. The West Indies in reply, lost their opener Rajendra Chandrika (16) with pacer Mohammed Shami forcing his outside edge to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. The home team were 31 for the loss of one wicket at stumps with Kraigg Brathwaite (11) in company of night-watchman Devendra Bishoo (0).
Team India has two members - MS Dhoni and Ishant Sharma - of that victorious 2009 side returning to New Zealand for the One-Day International series, which commences on Sunday. The hosts, however, are almost a completely overhauled unit. The teams may not appear equal on paper but the home advantage is something than should benefit New Zealand. Rajneesh Gupta presents a statistical lowdown of the teams ahead of tour opener in Napier.
'When I came here yesterday, I was worried and I couldn't sleep at night. But thanks to Brijesh, we found a way out. He asked me if it would help if we covered the pitch from above, and got a waterproof shamiana erected'
A confident India, with a new coach at the helm, will seek to record a third consecutive Test series triumph on the Caribbean soil when the Virat Kohli-led side clashes with an inexperienced West Indies in the first cricket match, in Antigua, on Thursday.
India's Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin thrived on a spinners' paradise in Mohali, bamboozling South Africa's batsmen in the first Test to secure a 108-run victory with more than two days to spare on Saturday.
Cheteshwar Pujara's unbeaten 63 gave India a firm hold on the opening Test against South Africa after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up his 13th five-wicket haul to restrict the touring side to 184 on the second day on Friday.
The Indian bowlers had a torrid time against South African batting line-up led by AB de Villiers but senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has said he "enjoyed the challenge" as he managed to hold his own for the better part of the limited overs series.
Former India speedster Javagal Srinath thinks India have a "more balanced bowling attack in the longest format" compared to South Africa which will provide them the edge in the upcoming four-Test series starting November 5.
Praising centurion Virat Kohli for his superb batting in the team's series-levelling win against South Africa on Thursday, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that it was the first game in which his team did well in all the three departments.
India's selectors went on expected lines, leaving out former champions while giving the nod to top performers in domestic circuit in the 30-man probables' list for the 2015 World Cup.
'Frankly, we should have won this game ... We missed Ash's (Ravichandran Ashwin) six overs that was crucial because he was our best spinner ... until that point the plan was working beautifully but I had to get more overs from Binny and Raina'
IPL Season 11 begins on April 7. Rajneesh Gupta has all the numbers.
Gujarat Lions will have to fight off the fiery pacers of the Sunrisers Hyderabad when the two teams clash in the Indian Premier League Qualifier 2, in New Delhi, on Friday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the Indian team for the limited overs tour of Zimbabwe starting June 11, while top stars like Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have been rested.
Nothing but a win will keep their play-off hopes alive as defending champions Mumbai Indians take on Gujarat Lions in a do-or-die battle, which will be their final IPL league match in Kanpur on Saturday. With seven wins in 13 matches, Mumbai are currently placed fifth, tied on 14 points with Royal Challengers Bangalore (3rd) and Kolkata Knight Riders (4th) -- both having better net run-rate with one match to go. A loss on Saturday will knock them out of the race for play-offs and Mumbai will hope to pull the rug from under the feet of the Lions this time after suffering a defeat during their home leg on April 16.
A fiery spell of fast bowling from Mitchell Starc and Varun Aaron followed by Chris Gayle's quickfire half-century helped Royal Challengers Bangalore crush Delhi Daredevils by a convincing 10-wicket victory in the Indian Premier League match at the Feroz Shah Kotla, in New Delhi, on Sunday.
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