Asad Shafiq's seventh hundred and a belligerent 96 from Sarfraz Ahmed helped give Pakistan a sizeable lead against Sri Lanka on the fourth day of the opening Test at Galle on Saturday.
Pakistan's most accomplished batsman Younus Khan completed an unbeaten double century on Friday to turn the course of the first Test against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club. At the close Zimbabwe, set 342 for victory when Pakistan declared their second innings closed at 419 for nine, were 13 for one after Tino Mawoyo was dismissed lbw for two by off-spinner Saeed Ajmal.
There was large demand for India vs Pakistan, England vs Australia and the final, all of which were oversubscribed at every price band.
Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes produced a record 273-run partnership in an unbroken opening stand to help Bangladesh whittle down Pakistan's huge lead to 23 runs at the close of the penultimate day of the opening Test at Khulna on Friday.
The New Zealand team struggled to cope with the death of Australia's Phillip Hughes and discussed calling the match off before playing the delayed second day of the third Test against Pakistan, said coach Mike Hesson.
Pakistan grabbed a World Cup quarter-final berth on Sunday following their seven-wicket victory against Ireland that also cleared West Indies' last eight passage from Pool B.
Australia head home from Abu Dhabi this week with plenty to ponder after a humiliating rout by Pakistan brought a shuddering halt to their upward trajectory in Test cricket.
Bowlers are suffering as pitches have gone very flat around the world. Bowlers just have an opportunity in first six to seven overs than it is a batsmen's game. We are seeing that in this World Cup
Pakistan made a winning return on Saturday to the venue where they defeated New Zealand in their 1992 cricket World Cup semi-final.
Australia will have to win both Tests in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to go one point clear of South Africa, who displaced them at the top in July, but there is still little clarity about the side who would walk out for the first match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Speculation is rife that Younis Khan will quit One-day cricket after the World Cup and chances are it would be far from a fairytale farewell for one of Pakistan's modern batting greats.
Following reports of three senior Pakistan players misbehaving with fielding coach Grant Luden, it is learned that opener Ahmed Shehzad may be sent home from the World Cup.
Former cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar, among other sportspersons, lavished praise on the Indian cricket team after the defending champions beat arch-rivals Pakistan by 76 runs in their World Cup opener in Adelaide.
Pakistan's wily spinners gave a masterclass in slow bowling to bamboozle South Africa's batting line-up and lead their side to a 66-run victory in the second one-day international in the United Arab Emirates on Friday.
Pakistan have axed senior batsman Younis Khan for next month's One-day series against Australia in the United Arab Emirates as they announced their ODI and Twenty20 squads on Wednesday.
Cheteshwar Pujara was the highest-ranked Indian batsman despite dropping a rung to eighth while R Ashwin held on to his eighth position in the bowlers' chart of the ICC Test rankings.
Former India captain Rahul Dravid believes that India's batting is heavily reliant on Virat Kohli in the middle overs.
Pakistan's most capped player Inzamam-ul-Haq wants to see the national team create history in the forthcoming Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand by defeating arch-rivals India in the opening match in Adelaide.
Steve Smith cracked his maiden 50-over century as Australia routed Pakistan in 36.3 overs to secure a comprehensive 93-run victory in the first One-day International on Tuesday.
Pakistan's Rahat Ali removed England's top three batsmen as the first Test at Lord's hurtled towards an exciting climax on Sunday's fourth day. At lunch, England were 90 for three in their second innings, needing a further 193 runs to reach their victory target of 283. James Vince was a Test-best 41 not out and the recalled Gary Ballance 15 not out after Rahat had taken three wickets for 36 runs in eight overs. England captain Alastair Cook launched the chase with a four off the very first ball of the innings when he cut a loose Mohammad Amir delivery to the boundary.
Former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed feels that Mohammed Shami is the best Indian paceman on view and his performance has been key to India's good show in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup.
Feel free, fly all over the sky and feel life.
Images from the World cup match between India and Pakistan at Adelaide.
Having played a stellar role many a time in India-Pakistan clashes, all-rounder Irfan Pathan feels that the defending champions have a far superior unit and will do well against the arch-rivals in the high-voltage opening World Cup encounter on February 15 in Adelaide.
Former Pakistan leg-spin legend Abdul Qadir says he would have also liked to see leg-spinners like Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla in the team since India does not have intimidating pace bowlers.
Virender Sehwag exuded confidence about India making it to the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Pakistan fast bowlers Junaid Khan and Bilawal Bhatti scythed through Sri Lanka's batting during an exciting afternoon session to restrict their opponents to 204 on the first day of the opening Test in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
According to Sourav Ganguly, not facing Australian bowlers regularly has helped Dhawan and Team India.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are India's highest-ranked batsman and bowler in third and 13th positions respectively.
'This WC will heavily rely on openers as they have to set the tone'
Ahmed Shehzad smashed 95 off 90 balls as Pakistan thrashed below-par Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the fourth one-day match in Colombo on Wednesday to clinch the five-match series.
Off the field the Board of Control for Cricket in India looks set for a complete overhaul with Supreme Court's stinging observations tightening the noose around the mandarins of the richest sports body.
Rediff photographer-cum-correspondent Rajesh Karkera was the ultimate fly on the wall throughout the five days at Lakme Fashion Week Winter Fest 2016.
Statistical highlights of a Group B ODI match of the ICC Champions Trophy between Pakistan and South Africa in Birmingham on Monday night.
Bangladesh outplayed Pakistan by 79 runs in the first one-day international in Dhaka on Friday, in only their second win over their rivals in 48 games across all three formats.
The International Cricket Council might have confirmed that the tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir can return to cricket after the expire of their bans, but a divided house seems to have emerged in Pakistani cricket.
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara eye top 10 places while Ravindra Jadeja jumps to career-best third position among Test all-rounders.
Following the hard-earned four-wicket victory against West Indies on Friday, Mahendra Singh Dhoni became India's most successful captain in One-Day Internationals played away from home.
After what at one stage earlier this month looked like a vast game of musical chairs, reigning champions India ended up topping the world rankings when the five-month countdown to the 2015 World Cup started on Sunday.
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