Zimbabwe will be the second time that the leg-spinner will represent India at the international level. Few are aware that the then junior national chess champion represented India at the World Youth Chess Championship in Greece in 2002.
The astronomical fee paid for Ben Stokes at the IPL auction is a confirmation of his status as the modern game's finest all-rounder.
Royal Challengers Bangalore grabbed an impressive second spot in the IPL Play-offs with a six-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils as Virat Kohli continued with his superlative batting show by hitting a responsible 54-run knock, in Raipur on Sunday. The second position will provide RCB with two chances to qualify for the final.
Andre Russell returned with a four-wicket haul to guide Kolkata Knight Riders to a seven-run win over Kings XI Punjab and go atop the points table in their return to home in the Indian Premier League.
'The challenge is that we start the next game well and are able to play 40 overs of good cricket. So far, we have been able to play 30 overs of good cricket and that's not enough.'
A clutch of Indian stars led by India and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli are either sidelined or ruled out of this edition of the tournament, lessening the wow factor of the IPL.
'I just go out there and do my thing; try to express myself. I'm glad people enjoy it,' Rishabh Pant tells Dhruv Munjal.
Suresh Raina currently endorses Ceat Tyres, Pureplay (apparel brand) and is expected to sign on Intex, a petroleum brand (he launched Repsol by Gulf Oil last year), and a health care brand.
Sunrisers Hyderabad produced a clinical performance to seal their place in the Qualifier 2 as they crushed the hopes of two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders with a comfortable 22 runs win in the IPL Eliminator.
In-form Virat Kohli leads the MVP rankings in the IPL with a MVPI of 1062 but David Warner, enjoying a sensational run with the bat and currently at third with a MVPI of 878, has the RCB captain in his sights.
Rising Pune Supergiants will stand in the way of Kolkata Knight Riders's revival when they clash in an Indian Premier League T20 match?
Desperate to get their campaigns back on track, the two bottom placed teams in the Indian Premier League -- Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore -- lock horns in Mohali on Monday, aiming to keep their winning momentum going to stay afloat in the ninth edition of the T20 league.
Hardik Pandya staged a late assault to help Mumbai Indians pull off a thrilling four-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders for their first win in the Indian Premier League in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Ashish Nehra produced a sensational spell of pace bowling after Shikhar Dhawan shone with the bat with a scintillating unbeaten 82 as Sunrisers Hyderabad spanked Mumbai Indians by 85 runs in a lopsided IPL match in Visakhapatnam.
They might have chased down some tricky targets to notch up three successive wins in IPL-9 but Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Moises Henriques feels his team's strength lies in their potent bowling attack. "It so happened that out of five games, we chased four times. We lost one of them and we won three. But I really feel that actually our strength is our bowling," he told PTI. "So, if we have guys like Mustafizur (Rahman) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Barinder Sran bowling under pressure when we are bowling second, when we are having to defend, it probably would suit us even better than batting second. "We have been very lucky that David scored runs quickly in the last three games in a row. But I still feel bowling is our strength as a team. So, if anything, batting first would probably, actually suit us better as a team," he said. Though the team missed the services of seasoned Ashish Nehra due to injury, the left-arm fast bowler Barinder Sran rose to the occasion, he said.
Misfiring Mumbai Indians, struggling to get their team combination right, will take on the formidable batting might of Royal Challengers Bangalore in a potentially explosive Indian Premier League clash at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai. On Wednesday.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings after the league phase in IPL 10.
Apple CEO landed in Kanpur for IPL match as jet to Vizag was late; he also got to see Lucknow
Captain Virat Kohli smashed his second century of the season in a magnificent batting display to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore to a thrilling seven-wicket win over Rising Pune Supergiants in an IPL match.
'In two years there will be consolidation. Look at the Indian brands now. Only three of us are surviving, many others have died. What will differentiate us are two things -- timing of our launches in the market and the communication to the consumer," Narendra Bansal, CMD of Intex, tells Arnab Dutta.
'This little incident might seem trivial to most people. But when such things happen in the BCCI's own backyard...'
'People didn't associate Dinesh with hitting sixes. He had the ability to hit fours and the odd six, but hitting sixes (regularly) is one aspect of the game we have really worked hard on.'
351 cricketers -- 230 Indians and 131 foreigners -- will go under the hammer in Saturday's IPL players' auction.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji analyse IPL performances in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings.
Former India spinner Murali Kartik assesses the spinning scene in IPL9.
Ahead of the start of the ninth season of the IPL, Rajneesh Gupta presents a detailed statistical analysis of the players involved.