Mahendra Singh Dhoni's leadership as well as finishing skills will be put through a stern test when an inconsistent India take on a rejuvenated New Zealand in the series-deciding fifth and final cricket ODI in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. With the series locked at 2-2, Dhoni and his men will be eager to clinch the issue while history beckons Kane Williamson's men as they have a glorious opportunity to taste their maiden success in a bilateral ODI rubber. The only thing that can play spoilsport is the cyclone threat which can lead to complete washout.
India have won six ODI series on the trot. New Zealand have never won an ODI series in India.
Any other result than India's resounding win looks highly unlikely, consdering the visitors' rampaging run in the preceding Test and ODI series, where they whitewashed the hosts 3-0 and 5-0 respectively.
The ruling party seems in far better shape than the Congress, which is yet to finalise seat-sharing agreements in several states.
Sukanya Verma lists her top 15 songs of the year.
India's young guns will get an opportunity to fire on the big stage and carry forward the team's exceptional dominance over England when they clash with the visitors in the three-match Twenty20 series, starting in Kanpur on Thursday.
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara hit centuries and shared a stand of 209 to lead India to 319-4 in their first innings on the third day of the opening Test in Rajkot, on Friday, trailing England by 218 runs.
New Zealand beat India by 19 runs in the fourth one-day international to level the five-match series at 2-2 as the hosts suffered a mid-innings collapse at Ranchi on Wednesday. - Scorecard: Chasing 261 for a series clinching win, India were all out for 241 with eight balls to spare. Opener Ajinkya Rahane's fluent 57 put India on course for the chase and the right-handed batsman added 79 for the second wicket with the in-form Virat Kohli (45).
Cricket South Africa Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said the franchise based league will have teams from top cities like Johannesburg, Cape Town and that they are looking at potential Indian investors.
India's out-of-favour seniors Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag have been omitted from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's contracted players' list for 2013-14. The retiring Sachin Tendulkar, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin are the five players in Grade 'A', and will pocket Rs 1 crore for the 2013-14 season.
Rajneesh Gupta lists some amazing coincidences in cricket -- a feature guaranteed to amuse you in these anxious times.
A clutch of Indian stars led by India and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli are either sidelined or ruled out of this edition of the tournament, lessening the wow factor of the IPL.
Pleased with his world record feat of eight catches in a Test match, Ajinkya Rahane credited former India captain Rahul Dravid for guiding him on slip catching and overall fielding.
India are in sight of their first series triumph on Sri Lankan soil in 22 years, having reduced the hosts to 67 for 3 after setting them a daunting target of 386 in the third and final Test in Colombo on Friday.
India will go for the kill against a determined England in the Garden City, setting the stage for a tantalising series-deciding third and final Twenty20 International in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
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.
Ravichandran Ashwin produced a bowling masterclass to grab 7 for 83 as India recorded their biggest ever win outside the subcontinent by thumping the West Indies by an innings and 92 runs in the first Test at Antigua to take a morale-boosting 1-0 lead in the 4-match Test series on Sunday. It was Ashwin's first five-wicket haul outside the subcontinent.
Rupani announced in Gandhinagar that the finance portfolio had been given to Patel and that the issue was over now.
On a roll after a poor start, Delhi Daredevils will look to complete a hat-trick of victories on home turf when they take on defending champions Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League encounter, in New Delhi on Saturday.
Bishen Singh Bedi has praised Ravichandran Ashwin for his consistent showing in the three matches but came down hard on the other bowlers.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead an 18-man squad for the Test series against England. Opener Gautam Gambhir, whose last Test was in 2012, makes a comeback while two uncapped medium pacers - Ishwar Pandey and Pankaj Singh - find a place in the team after Zaheer Khan, who had to set out of the India leg of the Indian Premier League following a back injury, was overlooked.
A threat issued by the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti or Patel agitation could affect the game temporarily
Photos from Day 3 of the first Test played in Galle on Friday.
India lead South Africa by five points and need to win two matches in order to stop falling behind the Proteas.
Parthiv Patel was unlucky to miss out despite a fine showing in the Test series against England as the selectors preferred to recall Wriddhiman Saha for the one-off Test against Bangladesh.
India's batting woes persist, but skipper Virat Kohli has no complaints. Harish Kotian/Rediff.com reports from Nagpur.
A stat pack of India and New Zealand's ODI careers...
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Monday made a comeback to the Indian team for the first two Tests against South Africa, replacing veteran Harbhajan Singh, who was the only casualty from the team which won the Test series in Sri Lanka last month.
Ravichandran Ashwin displayed his magic yet again to record career-best figures of 7 for 66 as India took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series against South Africa after an emphatic 124-run victory in the third match in Nagpur on Friday.
Indian cricket ushered in a new era as Virat Kohli was officially anointed captain for all three formats as he took over from Mahendra Singh Dhoni as India's limited overs captain from the series against England, starting on January 15.
The Indians dominated the Test match for four days at Sabina Park with both bat and ball. Yet, they fell short of the victory marker on the fifth and final day when they needed to take six wickets in 98 overs.
With Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra tormenting Sri Lankan team in the first two Tests, former captain Sanath Jayasuriya feels that the newer crop of batsmen emerging from the island nation have not done proper assessment of their ability to handle quality spinners.
RCB began their campaign without skipper and star batsman Virat Kohli as well as another key player A B de Villiers due to injuries and lost their opening match against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The 22-yard strip at the Feroz Shah Kotla will be the cynosure of all eyes as a buoyant India seeks their biggest series triumph against South Africa when they square off in the final Test of the four-match rubber in Delhi on Thursday.
An inspired Pakistan hammered a blundering India by 180 runs to lift the ICC Champions Trophy, riding on a scintillating hundred from rookie opener Fakhar Zaman and a sensational bowling spell from Mohammad Amir.
Outwitted in both the T20 and the ODI series, India will seek redemption in the Test format by trying to spin a web around the formidable South Africans in the four-match series starting in Mohali, on Thursday.
India's Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin thrived on a spinners' paradise in Mohali, bamboozling South Africa's batsmen in the first Test to secure a 108-run victory with more than two days to spare on Saturday.
Cheteshwar Pujara's unbeaten 63 gave India a firm hold on the opening Test against South Africa after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up his 13th five-wicket haul to restrict the touring side to 184 on the second day on Friday.
Images from the 2nd T20 played between India and England in Nagpur on Sunday
The Indian bowlers had a torrid time against South African batting line-up led by AB de Villiers but senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has said he "enjoyed the challenge" as he managed to hold his own for the better part of the limited overs series.
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