Completely outsmarted by Sri Lanka, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday admitted that lack of experience in the pace attack and failure to build partnerships proved costly for his team in the opening Test in Galle.
The Indian cricket team, sans newly-married skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will leave for Sri Lanka from Chennai on Friday to play three Tests and a tri-nation ODI series starting July 18.
Skipper Subramanium Badrinath notched up a crucial 136 as South Zone took control of the Duleep Trophy final against North Zone, posting 477 in their first innings in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
Soon after India had suffered a humiliating innings and six runs defeat in the opening Test at Nagpur on Tuesday, the selection panel made changes in the squad for the second Test at Kolkata that weren't too convincing. The All-India Senior Selection Committee decided to include Dinesh Karthik, S Sreesanth and Suresh Raina in the squad at the expense of Wriddhiman Saha, Abhimanyu Mithun and Sudeep Tyagi.
Mohammad Kaif led from the front with a patient 112 while Piyush Chawla struck a brisk, unbeaten 70 as Central Zone reached 300 for seven on day one of the Duleep Trophy semifinal match against South Zone at Indore on Tuesday.
Openers Abhinav Mukund and Robin Uthappa bulldozed the North Zone bowlers to script a brilliant run chase as South Zone clinched the Duleep Trophy with a day to spare in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
Paras Dogra saved North Zone from a disaster as he smashed an aggressive unbeaten 147 to take his side to 266 for seven on the first day of the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone on Wednesday.
Abhimanyu Mithun (5/82) and Sreenath Arvind (3/43) rose to the occasion as Karnataka defeated Himachal Pradesh by 67 runs in their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match in Dharmasala on Saturday.
Sri Lanka assistant coach Stuart Law was all praise for the Indian attack for their gritty effort but said the home team has more balance in their bowling department to take 20 wickets and win the third cricket Test in Colombo.
Images from day two of the second Test between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo, on Tuesday.
India suffered a severe jolt ahead their three-match Test series against Sri Lanka starting on July 18 with strike bowler Zaheer Khan being ruled out due to a shoulder injury.
Kedhar Jadhav struck a timely 78 and the tail wagged as Rest of India took a slender first innings lead over Karnataka on Day 2 of the Irani Cup match at the Chinnawsamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday.
Abhimanyu Mithun's brilliant bowling at death enabled defending champions Karnataka to edge out Bengal by six runs in a thrilling semi-final of the National One Day Championship for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, in Ahmedabad.
Round up of the Ranji Trophy games being played in different parts of the country.
In mixed doubles, the husband-wife Indian pair of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy defeated Malaysia's Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien 21-17, 21-19.
Karnataka defended their title in grand style after their top-order led by centurion Mayank Agarwal rose to the occasion to crush a hapless Punjab by 156 runs in the Vijay Hazare one-day tournament final in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
A round-up of Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday
Sheryas Gopal strcuk a timely unbeaten half-century on Saturday as Saurashtra and Karnataka were headed for an exciting finish in their Ranji Trophy semifinal clash, in Bengaluru.
After a dominant batting display, India Blue dished out a lethal bowling effort to bundle out India Green for just 237 runs and virtually secure its place in the final of the four-day Duleep Trophy cricket tournament, in Greater Noida on Tuesday. In reply to India Blue's mammoth first innings total of 707, India Green's fightback lasted for just 61 overs.
Manoj Tiwary, one of India's 30 probables for the 2015 World Cup, had a close shave after being hit by a rising delivery from Abhimanyu Mithun on the final day of his team's Ranji Trophy cricket match against Karnataka at the Eden Gardens.
Mayank Agarwal blasted 162 to help Karnataka demolish Andhra Pradesh in a South Zone match of the Vijay Hazare National One Day Championships in Secunderabad, on Friday.
Half-centuries from Ankit Bawne and Chirag Khurana frustrated Karnataka and helped Maharashtra finish the opening day on a respectable 272 for five in the Ranji Trophy final in Hyderabad.
From land of hockey to cricket stardom, Vidwath Kaverappa takes seven-star route
Back in the mix after one and half years, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha justified the selector's faith by rocking Australia A top-order with three quick wickets as the visitors reached 185 for four against India A at stumps on the second day of the first unofficial cricket Test in Chennai.
Punjab thrashed defending champions Karnataka by nine wickets to storm into the semi-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament, at the Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad, on Tuesday.
Manish Pandey continued his good form in the limited-overs' format, scoring an unbeaten 99 as defending champions Karnataka beat Mumbai by four wickets to enter the semi-finals of the National One-Day Championship, for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, in Vadodara, on Friday.
Seeking to shrug off the defeat in their IPL campaign opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to put their best foot forward in their match against Kolkata Knight Riders, coach Tom Moody said.
South Zone took command of their Duleep Trophy semi-final after dismissing Central for a mere 209 and scoring 137 for 2 in reply on the second day of the match, in Chennai, on Friday.
A summary of the day's matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 tournament.
The likes of Robin UthaManoj Tiwaryppa, Manoj Tiwary and Kedar Jadhav will get another chance to impress the selectors and push their case for a comeback to international cricket when Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka clash against Rest of India lock in a five-day Irani Trophy match, in Bangalore, starting on Tuesday.
Central Zone's batsmen, led by Robin Bist, were guilty of poor shot selection as they finished on 237 for 7 against South Zone on Day 1 of the Duleep Trophy final, in Delhi, on Wednesday. Bist blew away a chance to register a hundred, getting out for 79 off 153 balls. His three-and-a-half hours' stay at the wicket was studded with 12 sweetly-timed boundaries and a six.
The focus will be firmly on India's Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and young prodigy Prithvi Shaw when Mumbai take on Karnataka in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B game, beginning in Mumbai on Friday. Both Rahane and Shaw failed with the bat in the last Ranji Trophy game against Railways which the domestic giants lost by 10 wickets inside two and half days.
Rajneesh Gurbani's sensational bowling guided Vidarbha to their maiden Ranji Trophy final after they stunned defending champions Karnataka by five runs in a thrilling semi-final, in Kolkata, on Thursday.
Debutant medium pacer Murli Prasidh Krishna hogged the limelight on his first-class debut, claiming five wickets for 49 runs, as Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka dismissed star-studded Bangladesh 'A' for a paltry 158 on Tuesday, the opening day of their three-day game in Mysuru.
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played on Sunday.
He said the Board will have to strengthen its Anti-Corruption Unit to deal with these kind of issues.
Pacer Mukesh Kumar took six wickets to help Bengal beat Karnataka by 174 runs and enter the final of the Ranji Trophy for the first time in 13 years, in Kolkata, on Tuesday. Chasing 352 for victory, Karnataka were bowled out for 177 in their second innings with Mukesh taking 6-61 in 21 overs, while Ishan Porel and Akash Deep took two wickets each.
Pujara hit his 49th first class hundred and shared an unconquered 201-run fourth-wicket stand with Sheldon Jackson (90) to help his side end the fourth day at 224 for three, just 55 runs away from the victory.
Resuming at the overnight score of 36 for 2 on Day 3, Bangladesh 'A' were shot out for 151 in 39.3 overs, with Ishwar Pandey (3-28), Jayant Yadav (3-48) and Abhimanyu Mithun (2-23) doing the bulk of damage at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
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