A summary of the second day's play in the Elite division Ranji Trophy matches.
Three Indian players selected for the four-match ODI series in the West Indies are yet to depart because of transit visa problems. Mumbai's Abhishek Nayar, and Tamil Nadu's Murali Vijay and Subramaniam Badrinath are still waiting for UK transit visas to proceed to the West Indies via London, it was learnt on Tuesday.
Mumbai will be without injured pace bowler Dhawal Kulkarni for their Ranji Trophy semi-final against Madhya Pradesh, starting February 13, at Cuttack.
A 127-run opening partnership between Sachin Tendulkar (68) and Sanath Jayasuriya (52), followed by splendid bowling by Lasith Malinga (three for 11) and Abhishek Nayar (three for 13), helped Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 92 runs in the Indian Premier League match in Port Elizabeth on Monday. Chasing an improbable 188 to win, Knight Riders crashed to 95 for nine and suffered their worst defeat in the second edition of the league.
Rohit Sharma cracked an unbeaten ton as Mumbai recovered from a miserable start to reach a decent 297 for six at close on a keenly contested opening day of the Ranji Trophy final against Uttar Pradesh at Hyderabad on Monday.
An interesting battle for the first innings lead is on cards as hosts Mumbai trail visitors Assam by 201 runs with seven wickets in hand on the penultimate day of the Group-A Ranji Trophy Elite division match in Mumbai, on Friday.
The Indian team under Subramaniam Badrinath began their campaign with a bang, crushing local favourites Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) by six wickets in their first match of the Emerging Players Twenty20 Tournament in Brisbane on Monday. After restricting the locals to a modest 101 for seven wickets in their allotted 20 overs, the Mumbai duo of Ajinkya Rahane (43 not out) and Abhishek Nayar (30) guided India to 102 for four in 18.3 overs to complete a facile win.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to field. India made two changes, bringing in Ishant Sharma for Praveen Kumar, while Ravindra Jadeja made way for Abhishek Nayar. West Indies fielded the same team that won the second one-dayer at Sabina Park, Kingston.
Munaf Patel bowled a brilliant last over while Shane Warne overcame a hamstring injury to win his personal duel with Sachin Tendulkar as Rajasthan Royals edged out Mumbai Indians by two runs in an IPL edge-of-the-seat thriller in Durban on Thursday.
Following their 21-run loss at the hands of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore stand-in skipper Virat Kohli said they deserved to lose the match.
Rinku Singh speaks in a matter of fact manner, just like his evening job under arc-lights -- smoke the bowlers to all parts of the park and dip the crowd in delirium.
Abhishek Nayar's 156 coupled with a sedate 69 by Iqbal Abdulla to give holders Mumbai firm control of their Ranji Trophy semi-final match against long-time rivals Delhi on the second day in Mumbai.
Veteran pacer Ajit Agarkar's maiden century (102 not out) rescued Mumbai from a precarious position and enabled them set Himachal Pradesh a target of 252 runs on the third day of the Super League Group A Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai on Thursday.
Opener Ajinkya Rahane's classy 92 went in vain as India slumped to a four-wicket defeat against South Africa in their fourth 50-over match of the Emerging Players Tournament in Brisbane, on Sunday. This was India's third 50-over defeat in the tournament. The Badrinath-led Indian side had also been beaten by the Australian Institute of Sports on July 23.
The IPL pricing so far has been extremely irrational, and one expects franchise owners to correct this in subsequent years.
With this year's Holi restricted indoors due to the terrifying surge of COVID-19 cases, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals celebrated the festival of colours on Monday.
After a fine domestic season that earned him a place among the probables for the T20 World Cup, all-rounder Abhishek Nayar is raring to go in the second edition if the IPL.
Skipper Wasim Jaffer starred with a hundred as West Zone clinched their ninth Deodhar Trophy title, outplaying East Zone by 218 runs in the finals of the Zonal One-Dayers in Cuttack on Wednesday.
S Badrinath stood tall amid ruins before West Zone bundled out South for 199 and stretched their overall lead to 492 runs after day three of the Duleep Trophy final in Chennai on Saturday.
The 29-year-old middle-order batter was bought by KKR ahead of the 2018 season and has been retained by the franchise ever since.
The Auckland Aces fast-bowler has been cleared fit to play after fracturing his right thumb in Sri Lanka last month and will join Blackcaps teammates Tim Seifert and Colin Munro in the 12-man squad.
Middle-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav joined rookie opener Jay Bista in the list of Mumbai centurions as the Ranji Trophy champions amassed an imposing first innings score of 603 against Rest of India in the Irani Cup match in Mumbai on Monday.
Chandrakant Pandit is ready to mould himself within permissible limits when he dons the hat of Kolkata Knight Riders' head coach in IPL 2023.
A fine century by southpaw Abhishek Nayar (105, 85 balls, 13 x 4, 2 x 6) and a gritty half century from opener Wasim Jaffer (50, 143 balls, 8 x 4) helped defending champions Mumbai gain a 111-run lead against Tamil Nadu in the Elite Group 'A' Ranji Trophy match in Chennai on Friday.
Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming rued the the lost opportunity to pick their former net bowler Varun Chakravarthy at the IPL auctions.
Mumbai's bid to clinch their 41st Ranji Trophy crown, and the first after two seasons, got a significant boost with the availability of fit-again pacer Dhawal Kulkarni for the final against Saurashtra in Pune. Kulkarni missed the semi-final against Madhya Pradesh at Cuttack, after picking up an injury during their quarter-final victory over Jharkhand at Mysuru. Other than his inclusion, the Mumbai selectors have retained the squad that secured their place for their 45th title clash in Cuttack. Significantly, when Mumbai clinched their 40th crown, Saurashtra were their opponents in the 2012-13 season. The five-day final will begin on February 24.
'When it comes to strategy or planning for a match, there is nobody better than Dhoni.' 'Whether he is uncapped or capped, every franchise would want to pick Dhoni, no matter what price he is available for.'
Reigning champions Mumbai, gunning for their 42st Ranji Trophy title, on Wednesday inducted uncapped teenage batsman Prithvi Shaw into their squad for the semi-finals against two-time champions Tamil Nadu to be played at Rajkot from January 1 to 5.
Shashank Singh says not finding a place in the Mumbai Ranji team was a turning point for his career.
Young Gujarat batsman Manprit Juneja showed perfect temperament for the longer format of the game, scoring a patient, unbeaten 178 in India A's first innings total of 408 for 7 against New Zealand 'A' at stumps, on the third day of the second unofficial 'Test', in Visakhapatnam, on Wednesday.
'There is no cringe shot in the film which could give me a sleepless night.'
A clinical display by the bowlers gave Mumbai a crucial first innings lead before captain Aditya Tare's fine show with the bat helped them reach to a commanding position on the third day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Hyderabad. On a topsy-turvy day, defending champions Mumbai bowled out Hyderabad, who began the day on 167/3, for 280 with left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil picking up three of the five wickets to fall. Abhishek Nayar, who made 59 in the first innings, took 4 wickets for 60. Hyderabad needed 127 runs to wipe out the first innings deficit and they came within 15 runs of the lead. But a lower order collapse resulted Hyderabad slipping from 255 for 5 to 280 all out. Wicketkeeper Kolla Sumanth battled through to make 44 and he was the last man to be dismissed.
Ajinkya Rahane and his Mumbai teammate Suryakumar Yadav went under the hammer for Rs 7 lakh each.
'He is one of the best bowlers you can have right now in the team. I would want to learn from him a lot, not only about T20 cricket or white-ball cricket but also Test cricket.'
India A conceded a slender 47-run first-innings lead to the West Indies A despite a fighting half-century by Uday Kaul on the third day of the second unofficial Test in Shimoga.
Yuvraj Singh breezed his way to a 56-ball 84 and gave the national selectors another timely reminder of his worth, even as Abhishek Nayar slammed a 39-ball 75, to take India Blue to the final of the NKP Salve Challenger Series with a 11-run win over India Red in Indore on Friday.
Out-of-favour opener Gautam Gambhir cracked his first century in more than two years as India 'A' came up with a solid batting display to take firm control of the third unofficial Test against the West Indies 'A' in Hubli.
Doeschate returns as KKR fielding coach
Set a near impossible victory target of 490 on a track that is offering help for the spinners, Jharkhand were 28 for one in their second innings with two full days' play left and 462 runs to get.
