He may have silenced his detractors with a fine knock in Mohali but India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, assessing his batting in recent times, on Sunday said "I am losing an ability to freely rotate in the middle". - Scorecard Dhoni struck 80 off 91 balls and shared a 151-run partnership for the third wicket with Virat Kohli (154) to guide India to a seven-wicket win over New Zealand in the third ODI and help the hosts take a 2-1 lead in the five-match ODI series. The captain moved himself up to number four.
The series already in their pocket and the number one ranking cemented, a dominant India go into the third Test against New Zealand in Indore on Saturday, aiming yet another clean sweep of a Test rubber at home. The hosts had blanked Australia 4-0 in 2012-13 and the West Indies in the next season. They nearly repeated the feat against South Africa last year and this impressive history in recent past makes India favourites in the first-ever Test being hosted by this city which has a long tradition in the game.
It was India's players all the way, with batting sensation Virat Kohli emerging the most valuable, ahead of senior spinner Amit Mishra. Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji graphically depict the top players from the recently concluded India-New Zealand ODI series.
Amit Mishra produced a magical spell to send New Zealand crashing for a lowly 79 as India won by a massive margin of 190 runs to clinch the five-match series 3-2, in the fifth and final One-Day International in Visakhapatnam, on Saturday.
67 players, including 23 overseas, were sold and Rs 86.8 crore spent on them by the eight franchises in Bangalore on Monday.
At the face of it, there is apparently no danger to Dhoni's captaincy since the team is still winning matches. But if one digs deeper, Kohli has slowly and surely been the man everyone is looking forward to as the leader, across all formats for India.
India's marauding cricket team will be aiming to reclaim the No 1 spot in ICC rankings when it takes on an unsettled New Zealand in the second Test starting, in Kolkata, on Friday.
The McCullum brothers -- Nathan and Brendon -- came up with match-winning performances as Otago Volts crushed Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in the inconsequential sixth and final qualifying match of the Champions League T20, in Mohali, on Friday.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the fascinating career numbers of players in the World Cup.
India Test regulars like Cheteswar Pujara and Ishant Sharma have also thrown their hat into the ring with base prices of Rs 50 and Rs 75 lakh respectively.
India's batting ace Yuvraj Singh commanded the highest price, Royal Challengers Bangalore paying a massive 14 crore for him, while Dinesh Karthik was a surprise pick at 12.5 crore by Delhi Daredevils.
New Zealand rode on a superb unbeaten hundred from Ross Taylor to thrash India by seven wickets in the fourth One-Day International and take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series, in Hamilton, on Tuesday. The defeat also handed the tourists their second straight series defeat overseas, following the 2-0 loss to South Africa last month.
Barring Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, all players have declared their allegiances to IPL franchises over their respective countries' domestic sides ahead of the upcoming Champions League Twenty20.
The International Cricket Council released the provisional squads of the 12 teams for next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand on Friday. However, co-hosts Australia and minnows Ireland decided against releasing the provisional list although they submitted 30 names to the parent body within the stipulated deadline.
Yuvraj Singh has emerged as the costliest cricketer in the IPL 8 players' auction, bought for a record Rs 16 crore (USD 2.57 million approx) by Delhi Daredevils.
A look at the squads for the seventh season of the Indian Premier League at the conclusion of the two-day auction in Bangalore.
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