So 52 games have already been played in the Indian Premier League this season. Here are the Most Valuable players and some random observations by Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle.
With momentum on their side, Dhoni and Co need to justify the favorites' tag and go the distance.
'This was not the cleanest game of cricket you've ever seen -- there were too many flubs and fumbles for that. But it was certainly the semi-final this mostly blah tournament has needed -- two tough, well-rounded teams, toe to toe, slugging it out, bleeding and drawing blood until there was only one left standing.'
With mind and body both more willing now, the only way for the World No 3 is up, says Dhruv Munjal.
'During the 2015 IPL, Kohli Sir greeted me with folded hands after I scored a 21-ball 45.' 'Everybody knows he has played many such innings, but what he was doing was motivating a 17 year old.' 'It speaks volumes of him as a captain and human being,' Sarfaraz Khan tells Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com
The top order failed to fire in difficult conditions, but the bowlers stood out, not only performing with the ball but scoring vital runs as well.
Veteran Ashish Nehra dished out a brilliant spell of pace bowling after Suresh Raina's sparkling half-century as Chennai Super Kings registered a comfortable 27-run victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their Indian Premier League match in Bangalore, on Wednesday.
Mitchell Starc was the Player of the Tournament, but he ranks only 5th on Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player ratings list, revealing how this World Cup was so much in the batsmen's favour.
10 all-rounders who may leave a mark on the World T20.
Rajneesh Gupta salutes Tamim Iqbal's courage in the Asia Cup's opening game on Saturday and lists instances where cricketers braved injuries to battle it out for their teams.
Photos from Day 2 of the 3rd Test match played in Nagpur on Thursday
Dwayne Bravo edges past A B de Villers in IPL8.
Having decimated South Africa inside three days on a turning track in Mohali, India will again look to unleash their troika of spinners to spoil A B de Villiers's landmark 100th match when the two sides meet in the second Test, in Bangalore, on Saturday.
Opening batsman Quinton de Kock provided the early flourish with the bat with his seventh century while fast bowler Morne Morkel applied the finishing touch with four wickets as South Africa beat India by 18 runs on Sunday to take a 2-1 series lead in Rajkot, on Sunday.
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.
Star batsman Yuvraj Singh smashed a magnificent 68 not out in a stunning six-hitting exhibition to power Royal Challengers Bangalore to a 16-run victory over Delhi Daredevils in an IPL match in Bangalore.
Featuring Yusuf Pathan, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Marcus Stoinis, Ashish Nehra.
A clash of contrasting styles, the ICC World T20 final in Kolkata on Sunday gives both England and the West Indies a chance to create history.
Rohit Sharma's blistering century went in vain as South Africa began their long tour of India on a winning note by scripting a thrilling seven-wicket victory in the first Twenty20 International match in Dharamsala.
Season 9 of the IPL has seen many youngsters punch above their weight. Some of them make Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com's Young Guns XI.
The third and final cricket One Day International between India and South Africa was abandoned after rains intervened at the innings break to leave the home side with a 2-0 series win in Centurion.
'It has been a quick evolution.' 'That is because he saw the big names playing in the IPL and he played alongside them; that transformed him as a batsman.' 'I would say now he is perfect.'
A staggering 20 wickets fell on a dramatic day as India shot out South Africa for a record-low first innings score of 79 before setting the visitors a formidable target of 310 to win the third and penultimate cricket Test and clinch the series.
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni says "getting used to the pace and bounce" in South African conditions will be the biggest challenge for his young team, which will play three ODIs and two Tests on the current tour.
How will young batsmen brought up on T20 learn to build an innings? What about the technique to patiently negotiate hostile seam bowling conditions or the skill to play on difficult dusty turners? What about leaving the swinging ball outside off stump?
Rajneesgh Gupta salutes Captain Cool.
India stormed into the final of the ICC World T20 with a resounding six-wicket victory over South Africa in the second semi-final, in Mirpur, on Friday night. Chasing South Africa's competitive total of 173, India, led by a scintillating unbeaten 76 by Virat Kohli, completed the task with five deliveries to spare and reach their second World T20 final.
Rajneesh Gupta presents how the teams have performed in eight seasons of the IPL.
'The biggest challenge is not to be too predictable.' 'If you can execute the yorker well, it can be a good ball at the death.'
There are some batsmen reputed, respected and feared for what they are: Destructive! They are the game-changers. It is not bats, but bludgeons that they wield.
'In the merry-go-round of Indian cricket, amid abhorrent match-fixing scandals and incessant politicking, Ravi Shastri is a multifaceted personality who, when called upon, can don any hat with ease.'
Sangakkara, Dhoni, McCullum, de Villiers... Cricket has never had so many amazing wicketkeeper-batsmen in the same era...
'This was Kohli's veneration for his master: The man who had inspired him to pick up a cricket bat in the first place, the man he had grown up watching. Just that now, he was exactly like him, or, dare it be suggested, maybe a shade better while chasing down daunting totals,' says Dhruv Munjal.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player ratings for the ongoing IPL 8
With a MVPI of 619, David Warner is currently IPL 8's most successful player. A B de Villiers (603), after his recent magic at Wankhede stadium, is just behind, and could still be this IPL's top player if Royal Challengers Bangalore can make it to the semi-finals.
With a MVPI of 1128 the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain has set records that even he might find hard to surpass.
As the top 10 teams prepare to battle for the World T20 crown, Rajneesh Gupta breaks down each squad's T20 performance and their showing in previous editions of the event.
Shreyas Iyer, whose swagger is taking batting to the next level, tells Rediff.com that when he gets the opportunity to don India colours he will make it count.
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