Images from the World Cup first quarter-final between Sri Lanka and South Africa in Sydney, on Wednesday.
Some strong performances with the bat will help Joe Root to surge to the top and then potentially strengthen his position in the four-Test series against Pakistan, which begins on 14 July.
With it's scandalous past, still fresh in the minds of fans and critics alike, the Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers will look to ensure that the focus remains firmly on cricket when the cash-rich event gets underway with a glamorous opening ceremony on Tuesday.
'Game-changer' Yusuf will do something special, says Gautam Gambhir.
Teams play safe, retain star players, total purse at Rs 148 crore versus Rs 198 crore last year
Anderson becomes number-one ranked Test bowler
India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal feels it would be unfair to compare him and Kuldeep Yadav with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, a combination which has proved itself over the years.
Virat Kohli dropped a position to 11th leaving India with no batsmen in the top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, in the latest update of the ICC Player Rankings released by the International Cricket Council on Tuesday.
Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson fell agonisingly short of centuries but New Zealand's imposing total ensured they beat Sri Lanka by 120 runs in the sixth One-day international on Sunday to take an unassailable 4-1 lead in their seven-match series.
The visitors have a 2-0 lead in the series and can wrap up the contest with another win here before leaving for the last leg of the tour in Colombo.
Unwilling to tinker with the line-up in view of next month's World Twenty20, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday said the team will prefer Suresh Raina in the No.4 slot in the series against Sri Lanka even though vice-captain Virat Kohli's absence has opened the No.3 position. "It did cross our minds (to use Raina at no. 3) but it will be slightly better if he (Raina) bats at the position in which he will most likely bat in the World T20," Dhoni said at the press conference before the first game of the three-match T20 series to be held on Tuesday. "We need to give him that exposure as we are a team, which doesn't play many T20s. It's usually one-game a series. This (three-game) series gives us the opportunity to expose him to No.4 slot for a considerable period of time. It will be more appropriate to keep him at No.4 so that he gets adjusted rather than use him at one drop and ask someone else to bat at 4," Dhoni explained elaborately at the MCA International stadium.
The emergence of young Jasprit Bumrah as a potent death overs bowler has come as a huge relief for Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who complimented the Gujarat lad for being equally effective with the new ball.
Boosted by their 3-0 clean sweep of Australia Down Under, a confident India would seek to continue their winning momentum when they take on a depleted and new-look Sri Lanka in the first of three T20 Internationals, in Pune, on Tuesday.
Brought into the squad only after first-choice opener Murali Vijay was ruled out due to injury, Dhawan made full use of the opportunity and played an entertaining 168-ball innings that was studded with 31 fours. This was his fifth Test hundred.
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.
Sri Lanka are never anybody's pre-tournament favourites but when the dust settles there they are.
Will India go into the 3rd T20I vs Sri Lanka with the same squad or will Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey get a look in?
Rohit Sharma blazed his way to a record-breaking knock of 264 as India trounced Sri Lanka by 153 runs in the fourth One-day International to take a 4-0 lead in the five-match series, at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata, on Thursday. The Mumbai right-hander launched an all-out assault on the Lankan bowling as a result of which India amassed a mammoth 404 for five while batting first. In reply, the islanders were dismissed for 251 in 43.1 overs.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji check out how Team India fared on the Sri Lanka tour and find out which cricketers were truly valuable to the team.
The Virat Kohli-led team must take inspiration from the last trip to Sri Lanka, in 2010, when India beat Sri Lanka by five wickets, thanks to hundreds from Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com assesses the Indian side after the 2-1 series triumph in Sri Lanka.
In the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Australia's Ryan Harris has moved up two places to second following his six wickets against India in the fourth Test at MCG.
After four centuries on the trot with a strike rate of nearly 120, Sri Lanka's run machine Kumar Sangakkara (MVPI: 686) has raced to the top of the most valuable player standing at the ICC World Cup.
A B de Villiers still heads Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup.
The West Indian has blasted his way to the top of Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup with the South African skipper close on his heels.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji are back with Rediff.com's World Cup Most Valuable Players ratings.
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