New Zealand's bowlers kept chipping away at the wickets to reduce India to 239 for seven on Day 1 of the second Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, on Friday. The 24-year-old from Christchurch, who replaced Ish Sodhi, dismissed Shikhar Dhawan (1) and Murali Vijay (9) in the first 50 minutes in his brilliant first spell of 6-2-14-2 as the Kiwis seamers utilised the grassy condition to full effect after Kohli opted to bat.
Skipper Vinay Kumar took five for 34 as defending champions Karnataka skittled out Tamil Nadu for 134 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament final, which saw 14 wickets tumble at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Rookie seamer Ishwar Pandey was named in India's Test and ODI squads for the tour of New Zealand. Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the team on the tour, which starts with the first One-Day International in Napier on January 19, 2014.
"Look, the injury (to Kohli) may not be very serious. But he is a man who loves to be on the field, and the fact that he was not on the field means that the injury was a little more than what is given out (to be). So, he can rest completely... he can be fit for the next Test," Gavaskar said.
With Australia taking a 2-0 lead in the four-match Test series against India, the scales are titled highly in favour of the hosts. History also shows that the Melbourne Cricket Ground has been a happy hunting ground for the hosts. With the Boxing Day Test around the corner, here is a quick look at how the teams stand.
The four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy is locked at 1-1 and the match at Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA), which is organising it's first-ever Test, is set to be a make-or-break affair for both teams.
Hanuma Vihari's role as an opener is a stop-gap one and he will be given enough opportunities in his preferred middle-order spot should he fail at the top, assured chairman of selectors MSK Prasad.
Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane struck fluent centuries as India fought back bravely before a flurry of late wickets allowed a sloppy Australia to take a slight edge on stumps on Day 3 of the third Test, in Melbourne
Images from the India v SA, second Test, day 1, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru.
Australians can expect a backlash from the top ranked Test side in the world, according to former captain Ricky Ponting.
Australia need five wickets in the second Test to secure a series-levelling victory with India's daunting run chase on a menacing pitch teetering at stumps on day four on Monday.
A Mitchell Johnson bouncer that struck India captain Virat Kohli on the helmet during the first Test on Thursday might actually help players get past the shock of Phillip Hughes's death, according to Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
'(And) we've got a fourth guy who's a regular opener for India who's not fit (Vijay). We've got all four openers firing now. Shikhar was supposed to go (home) to Melbourne, now he's got a 190 in Galle. So, anything can happen in life'
The Indian team management, headed by coach Ravi Shastri, intimated the Committee of Administrators that the team will take at least 18 months to prepare for the Day-Night Test.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the 2nd Test at Perth on Monday
Chennai Super Kings will look to continue their winning streak when they lock horns with Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Mohali, on Sunday.
Should the struggling Rahane make way for an extra bowler?
Chennai Super Kings will aim to maintain their pole position with a victory over a struggling Kings XI Punjab
Murali Vijay regained his form while playing for Essex after being dropped from India's Test squad but the opener insists that neither he tinkered with his technique during his county stint nor he played there to reclaim his place.
Lakmal's sensational spell, in which he struck thrice without conceding a run in six overs, saw him remove opener Lokesh Rahul on the first ball of the match after play began three and a half hours late due to wet conditions.
Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming is a man on a mission as he looks to rekindle the magic that turned the team into one of the most successful ones in the opening decade of Indian Premier League.
India captain Ajinkya Rahane has applauded his team for playing as a unit, saying that every member of the side contributed in the 3-0 whitewash against Zimbabwe in the ODI series.
CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni missed the game against SRH due to a stiff back but is likely to be back for Sunday's match against Virat Kohli-led RCB.
A record 37 teams, including seven debutants from the northeast, participating in the Ranji Trophy beginning on Thursday pose a massive logistical challenge for a cricket board going through administrative chaos.
A near-perfect series for Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Senior opener Shikhar Dhawan is all set to be back in action having recovered from a fractured left-thumb sustained during the second Test match against New Zealand at Kolkata in September.
CSK will be brimming with confidence having defeated the Royals earlier in the season
Getting his team composition right will be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's primary aim as Rising Pune Supergiants meet an out-of-sorts Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League cricket tournament encounter, in Mohali on Sunday.
The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators announced a new category 'A+' with an annual retainership of Rs. 7 crore. The top category includes the likes of captain Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.
Delhi Daredevils beat Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Ferozshah Kotla.
After a five-year wait, opener Murali Vijay finally registered his maiden One-day International half-century, in the second match against Zimbabwe on Sunday. The India opener is now determined to make a mark in the 50-over format.
The current fiasco now completely established that there is no communication between the selectors and senior players, who decide their own schedule. 'Dhoni feels that it would not be fair for him to join us at this stage, given that the team has done so well and reached the quarter-final stage in his absence. He does not want to upset the team balance'
Dwyane Bravo recorded his best IPL figures with a four-wicket haul before Aaron Finch smashed 74 runs off 47 balls as Gujarat Lions thumped hosts Kings XI Punjab by five wickets to make a winning entry into the Indian Premier League match in Mohali.
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India opener Murali Vijay hit an unbeaten century and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni slammed a half-century to frustrate England on the opening day of the first Test at Trent Bridge, on Wednesday.
India have the perfect opportunity to find a solution to their top-order batting woes before their year-end series in Australia when the world's top-ranked side host two Tests against lowly West Indies, starting on Thursday.
Shikhar Dhawan's poor technique in testing conditions along with the fitness status of Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin will come up for discussion when the selectors pick the Indian team for the two-Test series against the West Indies.
Skipper Unmukt Chand anchored the chase to perfection with an unbeaten 77 to guide India B to a five-wicket victory against India A in the opening match of the Deodhar Trophy one-day cricket tournament at Kanpur on Monday. Put into bat, India A could manage only 161 in 44.2 overs with skipper Ambati Rayudu (58) and all-rounder Parvez Rasool (66) adding 104 runs for the sixth wicket after they were reeling at 29 for five. In reply, India B scored the runs in only 29.2 overs with skipper Unmukt remaining unbeaten from 82 balls, his innings laced with nine fours and a six. He had two partnerships ---56 for the opening stand with Shreyas Iyer (24) and 75 for the fifth wicket with veteran Dinesh Karthik (34).
Needing just 106 runs to win with all 10 wickets intact at the start of the fourth day, the hosts eased past their target before lunch for the loss of just two batsmen.
Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada took three wickets as South Africa bowled India out for 187 to take the opening day honours on a seaming wicket in the third and final Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
The bad blood between Australia and India continued with spin all-rounder Glenn Maxwell making fun of host captain Virat Kohli's shoulder injury while fielding on day three of the third Test in Ranchi on Saturday.
