India lost the fifth and final Test against England by 118 runs on Tuesday despite heroic resistance from K L Rahul and Rishabh Pant, bringing the curtain down on a tour that started as a golden opportunity but ended in disappointment. A mediocre England team, with a fragile batting line-up, won the series by a comprehensive 4-1 margin after India were bowled out for 345 in pursuit of mammoth target of 464.
The England cricket team led by Alastair Cook arrived in Mumbai from Bangladesh to engage hosts India in a five-Test series commencing at Rajkot on November 9. The tourists touched down around 3 pm and reached their hotel in South Mumbai two hours later. This is the sixth five-match Test rubber between the two countries and first in the country since the 1984-85 series between the squads captained by Sunil Gavaskar and David Gower.
Kohli's 147 -- his 15th Test hundred -- and an equally confident 136 by Murali Vijay enabled India to extend their first-innings lead to 51 runs in reply to England's 400.
Leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal felt that unlike England's innings, when there wasn't much assistance for the slow bowlers, the Lord's track helped home team spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali as India lost the second ODI by a comprehensive margin of 86 runs.
It is that time of the year when cricketers from around the world wait with bathed breath as their names come up at the Indian Premier League auction.
England have major concerns about the planned tour to Bangladesh later this year, the team's limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan has said in the wake of Friday's attack by gunmen at an upmarket Dhaka restaurant that left 20 dead.
India's Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah unmoved
Meanwhile, Royal Challenger Bangalore brought in Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga as replacement for Australia's Adam Zampa. In the recent three-match T20I series against India in Sri Lanka, Hasaranga bagged a total of seven wickets, including a four-wicket haul in the final T20I.
England's protracted search for a long-term opening partner for captain Alastair Cook could be over after teenager Haseeb Hameed showed great skill and maturity to score his maiden test fifty on debut against India on Saturday. The 19-year-old Hameed is Cook's 10th partner at the top of the order in the game's longest format since the retirement of Andrew Strauss four years ago.
Former England left-arm spinner Phil Tufnell says India will be better off playing him in the Test series as well, having done the good thing by picking the "rare" talent in the upcoming five-match Test series.
England's Chris Woakes hit a six off Shafiul Islam to seal a series-clinching four-wicket victory in the third and final one-day international against Bangladesh on Wednesday. Sam Billings justified his selection with his maiden fifty and Ben Duckett registered his second half-century of the series but it was Ben Stokes' unbeaten 47 off 48 balls that helped England pull off a tricky 278-run chase with 13 balls to spare. Put into bat in Chittagong, Bangladesh had posted a strong 277-6 on the back of a string of top order cameos and Mushfiqur Rahim's unbeaten 67 down the order.
England face unbeaten New Zealand in the first semi-final of 2016 World T20 at New Delhi's Ferozshah Kotla Stadium on March 30. While England have been champions in 2010, New Zealand will be eyeing their first World T20 title. Following is a factbox of the two teams:
Dawid Malan returned to his home town on Sunday to steer England to a four-wicket win over South Africa in their second Twenty20 international in Paarl as they clinched the three-match series.
India is looking to win the upcoming tournament for Virat Kohli like the batch of 2011 won it for Sachin Tendulkar, feels Virender Sehwag.
India skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday said that he fails to understand why the on-field umpire has to give a soft signal as 'out' when the player is himself unsure regarding whether he has taken catch or not.
Mohammad Hafeez scored a fluent unbeaten 102 to lead Pakistan to a comfortable six-wicket victory over England in the first One-Day International in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Pakistan's spinners handed their team a 2-0 series victory after ripping through England's batting line-up on the fifth day of the third and final Test at Sharjah on Thursday.
Punjab Kings kept their prospects of making the play-offs alive after a a five-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in Dubai on Friday. They are placed fifth with 12 points, after five wins and seven defeats. Victory in Sunday's outing will certainly enhance their chances.
The big question mark is whether England can cope with the level of expectation that surrounds them as favourites on home soil.
India made a strong reply with the bat after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up yet another five-wicket haul as the hosts reached 146 for one on the second day of the fourth Test against England in Mumbai, on Friday.
Australia, bidding to avenge their defeat in the Ashes Test series earlier in the tour, went 1-0 up in the One-Day International encounter when they beat England by 59 runs in Southampton on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Middlesex middle-order batsman Dawid Malan has been confirmed the replacement of Stokes in the ODI squad.
The expected loss of all-rounder Ben Stokes from the third Test against Pakistan has left "a bit of a hole" in the England team, coach Trevor Bayliss has said ahead of the match at Edgbaston, starting next Wednesday.
England beat Pakistan by 44 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis scoring method in a rain-affected first One-Day International in Southampton on Wednesday.
Captain Eoin Morgan hammered 66 from 33 balls, while Dawid Malan hit an unbeaten half-century to power England to a five-wicket victory against Pakistan, in the second T20 International, in Manchester, on Sunday.
The courts in Pakistan have been flooded with petitions as candidates, mostly backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), challenged the results of Thursday's general elections, alleging rigging.
England's lower-order gave India a taste of their own medicine on a benign Chepauk track racking up a commendable 477 in their first innings on the second day of the fifth and final cricket Test in Chennai.
England's sporting global ambitions have never been fully realised since Sir Alf Ramsey's team won the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Whether it is Gary Linekar or Hary Kane, the 'Cup' that they desperately want never came home during the last five and half decades.
The match officials decided to take an early lunch, moving the scheduled break ahead by 30 minutes. Even after lunch, there was no respite from the rain and it went on throughout the afternoon.
Lokesh Rahul has jumped nine places to reach a career-high third spot in the latest ICC T20 rankings
England's chase of 330 appeared all but over when they were reduced to 257-8 in the 40th over but Sam Curran and Mark Wood, who scored 14, kept the side in the hunt with a stubborn 60-run stand for the ninth wicket.
India was able to finish Day 1 of third Test on 307 for six because their batsmen capitalised well on the conditions at Trent Bridge and did not offer any chances in the middle session, said England pacer Chris Woakes.
Buttler hits quickest T20 half-century to give England win in one-off match
Wood, who has 11 one-day international caps but missed the winter tour of India, is joined by fellow paceman Liam Plunkett who is yet to play for Yorkshire this season because of a calf injury.
Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan made half-centuries as Pakistan ambled to 222 for three at the close on day three of the second Test on Saturday, 358 runs ahead of England after Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah had scuttled the tourists lower order before lunch.
England beat New Zealand by four runs in their third one-day international on Saturday.
India captain's 937 rating points are the 11th best in the all-time list for batsmen.
Out of India's total tally of 842 runs in five matches, the duo has rattled up 471 runs -- which accounts to 55 percent of the runs -- at a strike rate of 160.
The West Indies laid down a significant marker ahead of the ODI series as they comfortably beat England by 21 runs in their sole Twenty20 fixture at Chester-le-Street on Saturday.
Former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq will continue to help the touring English spinners in the upcoming ODI series in India.
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