Former Australia captain Ian Chappell feels even though he backs the hosts to win the series 3-0, India should field five specialist bowlers including two spinners in the final cricket Test, starting January 6.
Sandeep Sharma scalped three crucial wickets as Kings XI Punjab produced a disciplined bowling display to compensate for their batting failure and notch up a comfortable 23-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in an IPL match in Abu Dhabi.
India captain Virat Kohli consolidated his position at the top of the table, while openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan moved up in the latest ICC T20I Player Rankings.
Close on the heels of Parveez Rasool's selection in the Indian team for the Zimbabwe tour, another Jammu and Kashmir cricketer Shubham Khajuria was on Wednesday selected in the India Under-19 squad for the tour of Sri Lanka.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated Abu Dhabi's first Hindu stone temple amid devotional chants and in the presence of spiritual leaders of the Swaminarayan sect.
West Zone produced a clinical all-round performance to score a comprehensive 133-run victory over North Zone in the final and win their third successive Deodhar Trophy in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. Riding on Kedar Devdhar's 94 and skipper Cheteshwar Pujara's patient half-century, West Zone posted a challenging 281 for 3 in 50 overs. Spinners Arpit Vasavada (3-20) and Akshar Patel (2-23) then emerged the pick of the bowlers as North Zone were bundled out for 148 in 37.1 overs at the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.
Kings XI Punjab produced a clinical all-round display to register a convincing 16-run win over Rajasthan Royals and consolidate their position at the top of the table in the Indian Premier League in Mohali on Friday.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni praised Rohit Sharma, who has been in good form in the ODI cricket for the past two years, terming him as someone, who now knows the art of "building on good starts".
England start as the favourites but India have a golden chance to reverse the trend and get into gear just before the World Cup.
After launching their campaign on a winning note, IPL finalists Kings XI Punjab will look to dish out another dominating performance when they face the formidable Barbados Tridents in a Group B match of the Oppo Champions League twenty20 in Mohali on Saturday.
Spinner Akshar Patel did the star turn for India as they fought their way back from a tough situation to set up a title clash with Pakistan after a 46-run victory over United Arab Emirates in the semi-finals of the ACC Under-23 Emerging Teams Cup, in Singapore, on Friday.
India discard Virender Sehwag scored a breezy 48 off just 20 balls as CAG (Comptroller &Auditor General of India) were involved in a tie with Mumbai Customs, in a concluding Group C league match of the Rs 12 lakh tenth All India Dr D.Y. Patil T20 Cup, organised by the D.Y Patil Sports Academy, under the auspices of the Mumbai Cricket Association, at the D Y Patil Stadium, in Nerul, Mumbai, on Wednesday.
Virat Kohli has kept his stranglehold on the top spot in the ICC ODI batsman rankings.
Holders India marched into the quarter-finals of the World Cup with their fourth consecutive win but all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja's form with the bat has left captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni a worried man.
Kings XI Punjab would aim to keep the winning run going when they take on South Africa's Cape Cobras in a Group B encounter of the Champions League in Mohali on Sunday.
Rahul Chahar would have added another dimension to India's attack.
Bolstered by their dramatic come-from-behind win in the last game, India will look to keep the winning momentum going when they clash against West Indies in the fourth One-Day International in Dharamsala on Friday, on what is expected to be a pacy track.
Now that IPL 2014 is over, our data journalists take a look at who the VFM batsmen and bowlers were in the tournament.
'India have played very good cricket for a long time now in your conditions (sic). They are tough to beat. We have taken it to the decider in the last two series. Both teams will want to win (tomorrow).'
Rediff.com brings you these and other exciting news from the week gone by in this photo feature...
Dr Tejas Patel from Akshardham in Gandhinagar showed the world how it is done.
Ajinkya Rahane paced his innings to perfection in the company of comeback man Robin Uthappa, as India cruised to a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in a rain-truncated first One-Day International in Mirpur, on Sunday. Chasing a target of 273 in 50 overs, India were cruising at 100 for one in 16.4 overs when the heavens opened up, leading to play being stopped for nearly two hours.
An excited Ricky Ponting said he can't wait to get working with Delhi Capitals trio Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Rishabh Pant in the IPL later this year after the trio's match-winning performances for India in the recent-concluded four-match Test series against England.
Kings XI Punjab beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 22 runs in a rain-truncated Indian Premier League game in Mohali.
After their best-ever show at IPL 7, Kings XI Punjab will look to continue their aggressive brand of cricket when they start their campaign against Hobart Hurricanes in a Group B match of the Champions League Twenty20 in Mohali on Thursday.
'I am extremely honoured and excited to lead Kings XI Punjab this season. I would like to thank the franchisee for having faith in me and entrusting me this opportunity,' said Australia's T20 captain.
Key facts on the India squad for the 2015 cricket World Cup.
A blazing 115-run stand between David Miller and Glenn Maxwell helped Kings XI Punjab pull off a sensational six-wicket win over formidable Chennai Super Kings in their opening Indian Premier League match in Abu Dhabi.
Delhi Daredevils' final IPL outing was as woeful as their opening one, with table-toppers Kings XI Punjab inflicting a seven-wicket defeat on the tournament's wooden spooners in Mohali on Sunday.
Medium pacer Sandeep Warrier picked up three wickets, while opener Unmukt Chand struck a patient half-century as India's Under-23 team got the better of arch-rivals Pakistan by three wickets in a limited overs Group 'A' match of the ACC Emerging Teams Cup in Singapore.
Skipper Surya Kumar Yadav contributed with bat and ball as the Indian under-23 team beat Nepal by 84 runs in a Group 'A' match of the Asian Cricket Council Emerging Teams Cup in Singapore on Tuesday.
With only couple of days left for India to open their cricket World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan, the team had a gruelling training session in Adelaide on Thursday in preparation for the high-voltage contest.
The Patels of Gujarat are seething and they have warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Anandiben Patel of consequences if their demands for reservations are not met.
Following his impressive batting show in India's 5-0 series win over Sri Lanka, where he was named the man of the series, Virat Kohli has moved to second place in the ICC ODI Rankings for batsmen.
India has taken an unassailable lead in the One-Day International series against Sri Lanka, but skipper Virat Kohli insists his team will not let the intensity slip in the last two matches.
Uncertanity over the availability of Wriddhiman Saha, who had a split webbing in his right hand, for the first One-Day International against Sri Lanka seems to be over as the wicketkeeper batsman looked fit ahead of the opening game, in Cuttack on Sunday.
Chennai Super Kings stormed into their second Champions League T20 final with a crushing 65-run victory over Kings XI Punjab in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Several former players, including India's Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman, on Thursday said that the turning Motera pitch, on which India defeated England by 10 wickets inside two days, was not ideal for Test cricket, an opinion that was not shared by the legendary Sunil Gavaskar.
India are using the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka as preparation for next year's World Cup and home team's captain Virat Kohli says recent performances of the pace bowlers, especially Umesh Yadav, has given him a lot of hope going into the mega-event.
The growing rift among the Board members of National Cricket Academy (NCA) came out in the open on Monday with a key functionary questioning the "restructuring policy" as well as the working procedure at the academy.
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