AB de Villiers' masterly 85 in his 100th test could not gloss over South Africa's spin frailty as India took charge of the second Test after dominating the opening day at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
Cheteshwar Pujara rose to the occasion with a maiden century in Australia, pulling India out of a deep hole to a respectable 250 for nine on day one of the first Test in Adelaide on Thursday.
Shikhar Dhawan might have had a nightmarish time with the bat in the ongoing first cricket Test against South Africa, but former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, on Friday, came in support of the opener, saying going by his record the left-hander deserves another chance.
'It's not about four or five bowlers; it's the balance that can get you 20 wickets. Like I have kept saying in the past, it depends on conditions' 'Competition for places, nothing like it. It goes to show everyone is one his toes, nobody will rest on his heels'
South African pace ace Dale Steyn might not turn out to be as big a threat for India in next month's highly-anticipated Test series, feels senior spinner Harbhajan Singh.
A career-best 119 from Virat Kohli lifted India to a respectable 255 for five at the close on an even opening day of the first Test against South Africa at the Wanderers on Wednesday.
Ahead of the upcoming Test and ODI series against Bangladesh Rajneesh Gupta presents a statistical outlook on India's players selected for the two squads.
India's star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin consolidated his position at the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after his match haul of 12 for 167 in the fourth Test against England.
The India captain dropped a hint that a second spinner in either Ravindra Jadeja or Kuldeep Yadav could be an option for the second Test at Lord's as the surface looks dry.
Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow hit half-centuries and combined in a sixth-wicket stand of 110 to launch England's fightback against India in the second Test on Saturday. - Scorecard: The pair kept the hosts at bay all morning on the third day before being separated 10 minutes before lunch as England reached 191 for six at the break, replying to India's first innings 455.
England face an uphill battle to save the second Test at Lord's after slumping to 105 for four at the close of Sunday's fourth day in pursuit of 319 to beat India.
With a tally of 19 wickets in the series so far, Moeen Ali is the second highest-wicket taker from both sides after team mate James Anderson, who has 21 dismissals to his name. Incidentally, only three spinners have taken more wickets against India outside Asia.
England's James Anderson is the first fast bowler to take 600 Test wickets.
At stumps, India were comfortably placed at 157 for 2, after bundling out the West Indies for a meagre 182 by tea, riding on left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha's five-wicket haul.
Veteran opener Gautam Gambhir kept his place, while all-rounder Hardik Pandya was the surprise inclusion in the 15-member Indian squad for the first two matches of the five-match Test series against England, starting in Rajkot, on November 9.
India's carefully devised plan to triumph in England seems to be coming undone with injuries to their key bowlers.
India 'A' coach Rahul Dravid advised Virat Kohli to make Virender Sehwag's unbeaten 201 at Galle (in 2008) as a reference frame for facing the Sri Lankan tweakers.
Captain Virat Kohli scored the first century of the series against New Zealand to steer India to 267 for three on the opening day of the third and final Test in Indore, on Saturday. Check out the stats highlights.
Still on a learning curve as India's Test skipper, Virat Kohli has divulged crucial captaincy lessons learnt in his tenure so far.
Players with the maximum work load in 2015.
Axar Patel and Harbhajan Singh produced an impressive display of spin bowling as India trounced a hapless Zimbabwe by 54 runs in the first T20 International in Harare on Friday. Patel (3 for 17) and Harbhajan (2 for 29) ripped through Zimbabwe's batting order, ending the home team's challenge at 124-7 while chasing a target of 179 on a slow track at Harare Sports Club.
Following Rohit Sharma's fighting half-century, India finished the day on 227-8, taking a massive 339-run lead on Day 3 of the 2nd Test in Kolkata on Sunday. Here are the statistical highlights from the day's play.
When India lost the Wellington Test by 10 wickets, was it the worst defeat for Virat Kohli's team? Rajneesh Gupta has the answers.
Steven Smith (133) became the ninth Australian to score a century on captaincy debut as Australia wriggled out from a precarious 247 for 6 to post a mammoth 505 in their first innings in the second Test against India at the Gabba on Friday. He was well-supported by Mitchell Johnson (88) and Mitchell Starc (52) who made valuable contributions down the order, as the hosts took a first innings lead of 97 runs. India ended the third day on 71 for 1 in the second innings. Statistical highlights from the day's play. Statistical highlights from the day's play.
With India claiming to be in good position after the first day's play in the opening Test, New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner reckoned that his side was not in a bad position either, considering the kind of start the home team got in Kanpur on Thursday.
Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Sanjay Patel defended the omission of five senior players who were part of the victorious 2011 squad from the 30-man World Cup probables, saying their performance in domestic was taken into account.
South Africa off-spinner Dane Piedt says it took a lot out of him to play cricket again after suffering a career-threatening shoulder dislocation last year.
Travis Head (61 batting) and Pat Cummins (10) kept Australia in the game with a 50-run partnership in the last session but India walked away with the advantage after the latter fell towards the end of day's play.
Up-and-coming Karnataka batsman Lokesh Rahul and Uttar Pradesh leg-spinner Karn Sharma were named in India's 19-man Test squad for the tour of Australia, which was announced after the selection committee of the Board for Control of Cricket in India met in Mumbai on Monday morning. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will miss the opening Test, from December 4, at the Gabba in Brisbane, because of an injury and Virat Kohli will stand in for him.
Day 4 in the first Test was dominated by Australian performances. First, spinner Nathan Lyon bagged his sixth five-wicket haul as India were dismissed for 444 in the first innings. Then, opener David Warner continued in his sublime form and struck his second century of the match as the home side put up 290 for five in their second innings, an overall lead of 363 runs. Here are images from Friday's play at the Adelaide Oval.
Indian cricket team will be aiming to pick up pieces while spoiling Alastair Cook's farewell party in the fifth and final Test against England starting Friday.
Cheteshwar Pujara's unbeaten 63 gave India a firm hold on the opening Test against South Africa after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up his 13th five-wicket haul to restrict the touring side to 184 on the second day on Friday.
Insisting that Indian players have played on worse tracks back home, vice captain Ajinkya Rahane termed the Wanderers' pitch as 'challenging' and not dangerous.
Chennai Super Kings seem to hold a slight edge going into the match as they have not only got the better of their southern rivals twice in the league stages but also have the winning momentum going into the match on what promises to be a bouncy track.
Former batsman Chandu Borde has some advice for the Indian batsmen who struggled in the first Test in South Africa - stay a bit outside the crease and leave the balls pitched outside the off-stump.
Left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe picked up a career-best six for 35 to help Australia take command of the first Test against India after 15 wickets fell on a bowler-dominated second day of the contest in Pune on Friday.
Harbhajan Singh has rated the current Australian team led by Steven Smith as the 'weakest ever' in recent times to tour the Indian sub-continent.
The maestro wants a repeat of the teamwork from the current pace battery.
Jacques Kallis marked the end of his Test career with an emotive farewell century on Sunday to give South Africa a chance of victory over India going into the last day of their brief two-match series.
With 36 different playing XIs in as many Tests under Kohli's captaincy, the Indian line-up is begging for some consistency.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances