Nerves will play a big role when title-hungry Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad look to outdo each other and regain the coveted IPL crown when they square off in the final in Mumbai on Sunday.
Captain Virat Kohli and opener Murali Vijay pulverised a hapless Bangladesh attack into submission with majestic hundreds as India reached a commanding 356 for three on Day 1 of the one-off Test match.
Mohammad Hafeez struck his maiden Test double hundred as Pakistan feasted on Bangladesh's limited bowling resources to post a commanding 537 for five wickets on day three and take charge of the opening match at Khulna on Thursday.
South Africa made a sedate start to their second innings after conceding a 78-run first innings lead to a spirited Bangladesh on day three of the opening Test at Chittagong on Thursday.
A dominant India remained in pursuit of a comprehensive victory after Bangladesh finished the penultimate day at a precarious 103 for three, chasing a mammoth target of 459 in the one-off Test in Hyderabad.
For India, who are considered as title contenders, a good showing in the Asia Cup will give them the much-needed boost going into the World T20.
Having suffered an unexpected defeat against Sri Lanka in their tournament-opener, it is highly unlikely that India will experiment against a resurgent Bangladesh in their final league stage match.
A PCB official said the suspended off-spinner has been named in the preliminary squad as he was in the process of correcting his action and would soon appear for an ICC biomechanics test.
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.
Hasina, the president of the Awami League, won the 11th parliamentary elections with a landslide victory even as the Opposition rejected the "farcical" polls marred by violence that claimed 17 lives, making it one of the deadliest polls in the country's history.
Battered and bruised, Australia scored a consolation victory, thrashing Bangladesh by seven wickets, to round off a disappointing campaign in the ICC World Twenty20, in Mirpur, on Tuesday.
Demoralised Bangladesh will look to end their campaign on a high when they face a rampaging New Zealand.
Mahmudullah Riyadh produced an all-round effort to guideBangladesh to a comprehensive 51-run win against United Arab Emirates, as the host opened their account in the Asia Cup T20 tournament in Mirpur on Friday. Batting first, Bangladesh managed only 133 for eight largely due to rearguard action from Man-of-the-Match Mahmudullah, who scored a quickfire 36 off 27 balls with the help of a boundary and two sixes. However UAE's batting faltered once again as they produced a below-par effort to get bowled out for 82 in only 17.4 overs. Mahmudullah took 2/5 along with a brilliant catch to make it a memorable outing for him. Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza (2/12), left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahaman (2/13 in 4 overs), Shakib Al Hasan (2/20) and Al-Amin Hossain (1/8) were also amongst wickets. It was a day where Mahmudullah showed his all-round skills taking a smart diving catch at gully to dismiss Shaiman Anwar off Mortaza's bowling.
As far as the Indian team is concerned, even a 3-0 result against the hosts will not be enough for the second-placed side to claim the number one spot in the ICC rankings, while a favourable outcome for the home team will boost its qualifying chances for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
Bangladesh shocked New Zealand by five wickets to keep their hopes alive of making it to the semi-finals at the ICC Champions Trophy in Cardiff, on Friday.
Kumar Sangakkara struck his maiden triple hundred and became the ninth batsman to score 11,000 Test runs as a dominant Sri Lanka took control of the second and final Test against Bangladesh on Wednesday.
India will look for another colossal victory and inch closer to the semi-finals when they square off against an embattled Bangladesh.
Records were broken by the runs while Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin hammered the West Indies bowlers and scored their respective tons in the first innings of the first Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The Pakistani Supreme Court ordered for a joint investigation team to probe the allegations of money laundering against his family.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan picked Virat Kohli as India's key player, but asserted that his team cannot take the other batsmen lightly when the teams meet in the ICC World T20 match in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers from the T20 series against England.
Tom Latham and Colin de Grandhomme guided New Zealand to a series-sweeping nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the second Test in Christchurch on Monday after the visitors suffered another second-innings collapse on the fourth day.
Off-spinner R Ashwin, who has been phenomenal in home conditions, has made it to the Test team as the 12th man, while pacer Mohammed Shami has been included in the ODI team.
India's batting maestro Virat Kohli held on to the number two position in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batsmen released on Monday, while Rohit Sharma dropped a place to seventh.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 4:
Rajneesh Gupta lists some amazing coincidences in cricket -- a feature guaranteed to amuse you in these anxious times.
India are favourites to retain the Champions Trophy on Sunday but they would probably have preferred to face different opponents than arch-rivals Pakistan in what is sure to be a highly-charged final.
Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur says his team is calm ahead of the big match against arch-rivals India and says he will field a wicket-taking attack on Sunday
Bukhari also backs Trinamool Congress but says no support to SP and BSP. Kavita Chowdhury reports.
As far as Bangladesh were concerned, there was nothing worth mentioning except for a fifty each from captain Mushfiqur Rahim (59) and Shakib Al Hasan (52), the latter emerging as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) on account of his all-round showing in the series as he also claimed six wickets with his left-arm spin.
A rampaging Kolkata Knight Riders stand in the way of Delhi Daredevils' revival plan as the two teams, with contrasting runs so far, gear up to clash in an Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture in Kolkata on Friday.
If Manto, the film, falls short of being a masterpiece it's because Nandita Das could not quite crack the Manto code: She couldn't quite see the wholeness of her subject with the same eyes that Manto saw his people. This imperfection in the film, in a way, becomes the greatest tribute to Manto, feels Sreehari Nair.
Rohit Sharma slammed a quickfire 83 to power India to a comprehensive 45-run victory against Bangladesh in the first match of the Asia Cup T20 tournament in Dhaka, on Wednesday.
590 cricketers -- including 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players -- will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
West Indies registered a controversial two-run victory against Zimbabwe to enter the quarter-finals of the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Chittagong, on Tuesday.
One of the finest fast bowlers in current times, Mohammed Amir would be pitted against the talismanic Virat Kohli in what could turn out to be a battle primarily between India's vaunted batting line-up and against Pakistan's potent bowling attack.
Images from the World Cup Group A match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Melbourne.
Bangladesh defeated Pakistan by five wickets to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup.
Bangladesh all-rounder Mahmdullah finished as the MVP in the recently-concluded Asia Cup T20 tournament ahead of compatriot Sabbir Rahman, who was named as the man of the series. Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle present the latest edition of the MVP rankings.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kedar Jadhav claimed three wickets each followed by Rohit Sharma's quickfire half-century as India registered a comprehensive eight-wicket victory against Pakistan.
