'The only issue for me as far as the Indian team is concerned is the batting.' 'When we lost in New Zealand, the batting was the major issue.'
'There are a lot of uncertainties when it comes to cricket.'
'Smith never attempted any such thing when he was captain at Pune last year.' 'You can't try this in a T20 match.'
'I have to be very careful about how I go forward with my body, my mind and my cricket.'
'... And give him the confidence and freedom to express himself.'
Since the batting icon has expressed his desire to play his landmark 200th match against the West Indies next month in front of his home crowd it is most likely that the BCCI will oblige.
Rest the skipper against a West Indies team whose batsmen would struggle against some Ranji Trophy sides and try out some new players in the Hyderabad Test recommends Harish Kotian.
40 must know nuggets about the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
As the legend turns 40, we take a look at his journey in cricket and life.
'Cricket is a game where if you come back after a gap, then it is not easy to perform immediately.'
With so much focus on turning wickets and spinners, India captain Virat Kohli on Friday stressed that fast bowlers also have an important role to play and the return of strike bowler Ishant Sharma is a big boost for the team.
Should India exploit South Africa's weakness against the turning ball?
India will field a second-string tennis contingent in this month's Asian Games after allowing frontline players, including Leander Paes and Sania Mirza, to play on the professional tours instead to revive their rankings.
He has enjoyed prime form in first class cricket this season, but despite being excluded from the IPL auctions list, Jharkhand's Ishant Jaggi tells Rediff.com's Harish Kotian that he is mentally strong and will continue to perform. He also reckons that the auditions and the simulation tests conducted by the IPL franchises to identify players is not the right way to go about things.
As the newly-appointed head coach Ravi Shastri spells out why he was so desperate to have Bharat Arun as part of his support staff, Rediff.com's Harish Kotian listens in.
At the halfway point, after winning just two games out of seven, CSK are looking set to miss the play-offs for the first time in their history. Harish Kotian tells Captain M S Dhoni and Coach Stephen Fleming how to get CSK back to its winning ways.
A look at Mahendra Singh Dhoni's top five knocks in international cricket.
Aditya Verma, the petitioner in IPL spot-fixing case, has termed outgoing Board of Control for Cricket in India president Shashank Manohar as a "power hungry backstabber" who has failed to keep his promise of cleaning up the game.
Should the struggling Rahane make way for an extra bowler?
South Africa have been traditionally weak against spinners.
Contesting on behalf of the BJP-backed Pawar-Bal Mahaddalkar group, Pawar beat the Shiv Sena-backed 'Cricket First' group's candidate Vijay Patil by 176-142 votes.
'The confidence and the kind of cricket India has played in the recent past will be a big factor.'
'We decided this is the best time to give him the opportunity to lead the team.'
Warner, Parthiv, Amla, Bhuvi, Jasprit... Rediff.com's Harish Kotian picks his Dream Team after IPL 10.
'These girls keep complaining to their godmother or godfather.'' 'The people at the top listen to whatever the players say, but they don't know what is happening in the team.'
The major factor behind Rohit's decision to open is that he won't have much time to prepare for the World Cup, which starts in England on May 30, a couple of weeks after the IPL ends.
Walee Bukhatir and Mazhar Khan, the men who drive cricket in the UAE, tell Harish Kotian/Rediff.com what the game is missing by India and Pakistan not playing at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
India's young batting star Shubman Gill reveals how he made the transition from Under-19, India 'A' and domestic cricket to the international level.
'Without a team nothing can happen, it takes team work or team effort to win matches.' 'Individuals can perform significantly in helping the team win, but if the rest of the guys don't chip in, there is not much an individual can do.'
'It is a big step towards changing something in Test cricket.'
Jharkhand spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and Saurashtra batsman Sheldon Jackson rise to the challenge in these dark times.
'If you are reducing Tests to four days, you are tampering with the time, you are tampering with the skill, you are tampering with the patience, tampering with the technical part.'
'Jay Shah's tenure as BCCI secretary ended in May.' 'Sourav Ganguly's tenure as BCCI president ended on July 26.' 'Why have they not quit?'
'The players who performed were selected.'
The time for experiments is over, Harish Kotian points out.
The BCCI this year hasn't forwarded any name for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the highest honour for active sportspersons in the country, since the Indian cricket board didn't find any fitting cricketer for the award.
David Warner, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina and Zaheer Khan have all led from the front in IPL 9.
Five-time World champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) pipped arch-rival Pinki Jangra to the India's women's squad, while World Championships bronze medallist Shiva Thapa (56kg) made the cut in a star-studded men's boxing team for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in China from March 23.
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