A look at the 10 cricketers who were punished for drug related offences.
Virat Kohli's inspirational leadership for Royal Challengers Bangalore will be up against the brute force with which David Warner has steered Sunrisers Hyderabad when the two teams, eyeing their maiden IPL title, square off in a high-intensity summit clash in Bengaluru on Sunday. RCB, however, will have a slight advantage over Sunrisers as they have the experience of playing in an IPL final twice in the past -- 2009 and 2011, but on both occasions, they had finished runners-up. Sunrisers' best finish was a play-off berth which they managed in their debut season in 2013.
India edged out Bangladesh by one run in a thrilling World Twenty20 match on Wednesday to keep alive their hopes of reaching the semi-finals.
Jolted by the shock loss to New Zealand in the opening game, India will be fighting a survival battle quite early in the tournament when they take on arch foes Pakistan in what is being seen as the marquee clash of the ICC World Twenty20 in Kolkata on Saturday. The hosts, who started clear title-favourites, were in for a blow in the first match itself when New Zealand's spinners bamboozled their famed batting line-up on a turning Nagpur track. As a result, the world No.1 side is staring at an early elimination should it lose to Pakistan in the high-voltage game at the Eden Gardens. As is the case with most India-Pakistan contests, this game too has been preceded by its share of drama. The match was originally scheduled to be held in Dharamsala but was shifted here after the Himachal Pradesh government expressed inability to provide security to the Pakistan team owing to protests by ex-servicemen and their families.
With momentum on their side, Dhoni and Co need to justify the favorites' tag and go the distance.
If India can boast of Virat Kohli then the West Indies have a far more dangerous player in Chris Gayle, who has achieved a legendary status in T20 cricket with his ability to win matches on his own on a consistent basis.
Suresh Raina blasted a blistering century pulverising Kolkata Knight Riders into submission as Chennai Super Kings exacted a sweet revenge clinching the Oppo Champions League T20 in style with a eight-wicket victory in a thoroughly one-sided final, in Bangalore.
Winning is all what matters to Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir as he intends to be "mean winner than a polite loser" when the reigning IPL champions take part in the upcoming Oppo Champions League Twenty20.
It will be a different sort of challenge for Mahendra Singh Dhoni when he captains a new-look Indian cricket team against Zimbabwe in the first ODI of a short series starting in Harare on Saturday.
He has been Virat Kohli's go to bowler on unresponsive Indian tracks and seasoned pacer Umesh Yadav credits his "enormous mental strength" for keeping him in the game despite a stop-start international career for the past 10 years. The 32-year-old Vidarbha speedster with more than 250 international wickets (259) across formats, doesn't feel the need to respond to perceptions of being a Test specialist as the time spent away from the 22-yard pitch is more about honing skills and remaining battle-ready.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com picks five performances that took spectators' breaths away in week 9: Five wonderful knocks and one magical spell of bowling.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com comes up with a pretty strong playing eleven from the long list of big names warming the benches this IPL season.
India turned in a fine all-round show to beat Australia by 27 runs in the second Twenty20 International and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Friday.
Even as the dust settles down on IPL 9, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com presents his Dream XI.
A summary of the Ranji matches played across India on Sunday.
'People tell me to forget, but it is something to learn from.' 'A couple of seconds can change your life completely.'
It will be a battle for survival for struggling Rising Pune Supergiants when they lock horns with formidable title-contenders Sunrisers Hyderabad in Tuesday's Indian Premier League match in Visakhapatnam.
Jiwanjot Singh's brilliant century and captain Mandeep Singh's fluent half-century helped Punjab stage a great comeback to gain the upperhand against Delhi, on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Group A match in New Delhi, on Tuesday.
The most successful team in the history of Ranji Trophy, Mumbai, did it again! With splendid performance by their players, Mumbai managed to secure quarter-finals berth.
Round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played in different parts of the country.
As we write this we still await the crucial India-Australia knock-out in Mohali. But India's individual performances in the T20 World Cup so far haven't been truly impressive. A look at the most valuable player index (MVPI) table reveals that there's no Indian player in the top 20. MVPI merges a player's batting + bowling + fielding performance into a single 'run equivalent'. The formula to compute the MVP is devised to reward batsmen who score runs at a high strike rate, bowlers who take wickets at low economy rate and fielders who field the best (take a lot of catches and participate in run-outs). Since this is a relatively low scoring tournament we have assumed a team's par score to be 150, and each wicket to be worth 15 'runs'. It isn't a surprise that players from New Zealand dominate the rankings so far, although Joe Root tops the table after his 83 in 44 balls against South Africa.
India's off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said he is not intimidated by the Australian batsmen's strategy of attacking him as he has the ability to handle the onslaught and pick wickets as well.
Irfan Pathan discloses on how he coped with the disappointment of getting dropped from the Indian team and what inspired his superb comeback in domestic cricket this season which he hopes lead to bigger things and eventually into a 'a really good story and inspiration' for others.
With 59 matches spread across 10 cities, the cash-rich league starting Saturday will unearth new domestic talents apart from giving some of the tried and tested faces a shot at redemption during the next seven weeks of what is again expected to be a perfect marriage of cricket and entertainment.
India's T20 World Cup challenge has ended. But it is likely that Virat Kohli (MVPI of 338) will go on to become the tournament's most valuable player because he enjoys a lead of 109 runs over second-placed Joe Root (229).
The win at Edgbaston was not the first time an Indian team had vanquished Pakistan in an ICC competition. Rajneesh Gupta surveys the landscape of India-Pakistan encounters in ICC contests.
There are bowlers who have a better statistical record than the 311 wickets in Tests and 282 in ODIs, but those figures do not reveal Zaheer Khan's match-winning abilities in all conditions
The call to make brand ambassadors accountable has rattled filmstars and sports stars.
A look at the squads for the seventh season of the Indian Premier League at the conclusion of the two-day auction in Bangalore.
India's batting sensation Virat Kohli, named player of the tournament, is also the most valuable player of World T20 2016. With a fifty and two wickets, England's Joe Root is just behind him.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag says he would love to be a mentor or a batting consultant for any IPL team which will give him a chance to share his knowledge with youngsters.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player ratings for the ongoing IPL 8
With a MVPI of 619, David Warner is currently IPL 8's most successful player. A B de Villiers (603), after his recent magic at Wankhede stadium, is just behind, and could still be this IPL's top player if Royal Challengers Bangalore can make it to the semi-finals.
Andre Russell of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is emerging as the player offering the best performance at the lowest cost.
There are some batsmen reputed, respected and feared for what they are: Destructive! They are the game-changers. It is not bats, but bludgeons that they wield.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji analyse IPL performances in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings.
IPL 8 is past the half-way mark, and Andre Russell of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is emerging.
In-form Virat Kohli leads the MVP rankings in the IPL with a MVPI of 1062 but David Warner, enjoying a sensational run with the bat and currently at third with a MVPI of 878, has the RCB captain in his sights.
Chasing a tough victory target of 399, Punjab were tottering at 108 for four at stumps on the third day with Test discard Yuvraj Singh unbeaten on 19 in company of Uday Kaul, who is yet to open his account.
Dwayne Bravo edges past A B de Villers in IPL8.
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