The selectors also picked uncapped Delhi spinner Amit Mishra and Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath in India's 15-man squad.
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and elected to bat in the fifth and final one-day international against India in Colombo on Friday. Having already won the series, India left out Subramaniam Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar and drafted in Pragyan Ojha, R P Singh and Irfan Pathan.
Abhinav Mukund feasted on Uttar Pradesh's pedestrian attack and slammed his fourth century of the season as Tamil Nadu cruised to 296 for two wickets on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semi-final match in Nagpur on Sunday. Dinesh Karthik's decision to bat first stood vindicated as Mukund (100) and Murali Vijay (69) added 167 runs for the opening stand before both fell in the span of seven overs.
A look the Test career statistics of the 15-man squad selected to play Australia in the first two Tests.
Chasing a daunting 678 for victory, South Zone squandered the fine start given by their openers Robin Uthappa (94) and M Vijay (63) to end the fourth and penultimate day of the Duleep Trophy final against West Zone at a precarious 232 for four in Chennai on Sunday. Still 446 runs adrift of an unlikely win, the hosts had captain and first innings centurion Subramaniam Badrinath (35 not out) and Dinesh Karthik (27 not out) at the crease at stumps.
S Badrinath stood tall amid ruins before West Zone bundled out South for 199 and stretched their overall lead to 492 runs after day three of the Duleep Trophy final in Chennai on Saturday.
West Zone took command of the Duleep Trophy final after scoring 459 in the first innings and then reducing South Zone to 106 for 4 by stumps on the second day of the five-day match in Chennai on Friday. Skipper Subramaniam Badrinath, who was unbeaten on 54 at stumps, holds the key to South's fortunes. Keeping him company at stumps was Dinesh Karthik on 5. Earlier, West, resuming at the overnight score of 303-5, were dismissed for 459.
Efforts are on to rescue the two trekking teams trapped in the Gharwal Himalayas due to heavy rains hitting the area for the past two days and they are reported to be safe.
Disciplined bowling performance by medium pacer Laxmipathy Balaji and leg spinner M Suresh helped South Zone to thrash North Zone by a huge margin of 411 on the fourth and final day of four-day Duleep Trophy semi-final played in Rajkot on Sunday.
The Australia 'A' team, led by left-hand batsman Simon Katich, will arrive in Bangalore on Friday. It will play two three-day games against its Indian counterparts, before participating in a triangular one-day series of 'A' teams. New Zealand is the third team.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to field in the second one-day international of the five-match series against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on Wednesday. Praveen Kumar has come in for Pragyan Ojha while Subramaniam Badrinath is making his debut, replacing Gautam Gambhir, who was ruled out due to a stiff neck.
Subramaniam Badrinath struck an unbeaten 93 to guide Tamil Nadu to an eight-wicket victory over Bengal and take his side to Ranji Trophy semi-finals on the fourth and final day in Bangalore on Monday. After conceding a first innings lead of 39, Tamil Nadu bounced back by bundling out Bengal for 187 before notching up the victory target of 227 losing two wickets in the process.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played in various part of the country.
With nothing really to lose and a lot to gain, Team India hopefuls, under the leadership of Yuvraj Singh, will try every trick in the book to pull off an upset when Board President's XI take on Australia in a four-day warm-up match, starting in Hyderabad, on Thursday.
Fresh incidents of cloudburst, landslides and house collapses were reported in Uttarakhand after moderate to heavy rains lashed the state.
The 25-year-old pacer had figures of 4 for 31 as Delhi were bundled out for 177 in their first innings on Day 2 of the Irani Trophy match. In their second essay, Rest of India were 99 for 1 close, for an overall lead of 174 runs.
The number of tourists visiting Uttar Pradesh last year was 106.8 million, of which 1.3 million were foreigners.
Cheif selector Dilip Vengsarkar warned the seniors that performance alone would grant them a place in the team.
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra wrecked South Africa with a three-wicket haul to guide India to a 12-run win in the Twenty20 match of the quadrangular Emerging Players tournament in Australia on Monday. Batting first, India were bundled out for 87, but Mishra's brilliant spell of three for 11 helped them bowl out South Africa for 75.
After its openers put on 127 runs, indiscreet shot selection cost Tamil Nadu dear as they ended the first day at 250 for 9 in 89.3 overs against Delhi in their last match of the Ranji Super League in Chennai on Tuesday.
'Varun did Karan Johar's films at whatever price Karan wanted to pay him.' 'But in a film Varun will do with his mentor in 2018, Varun will get his full market price.' 'His new market price.'
Gautam Gambhir, India's top performer in the Twenty20 World Cup triumph, is eyeing a permanent place in the Test and ODI teams.
The accident took place at Vishnuprayag when the driver of the bus carrying 45 passengers lost control of the wheel on being hit by a boulder which rolled down a hillside due to a landslide in area, police said, adding that 41 bodies had been retrieved.
Tamil Nadu captain and star batsman Subramaniam Badrinath says his performance against South Africa 'A' in the four-day match in Delhi and the one-dayer at Rajkot clinched him a place in Team India.
If anything has become clear during this campaign, it is this: Mr Modi can bat on almost any wicket and hit the ball over the ropes, points out T N Ninan.
Yomahesh's incisive spell of seam bowling backed by Parthiv Patel's sparkling century gave India 'A' a stranglehold on their three-day tour match.
Karan Johar keeps his hit run intact with Student of the Year 2.
Brilliant centuries by skipper S Badrinath and opener M Vijay saw Tamil Nadu in a strong position amassing 302
Himachal Pradesh medium pacer Ashok Thakur came up with a career best six for 34 to help dismiss Tamil Nadu to 234 in their first innings on the opening day.
A brilliant century by 19-year-old debutant Abhinav Mukund, who scored 108 runs, and an unbeaten 93 by skipper S Badrinath, enabled Tamil Nadu score 289 for 5 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka.
A fire that broke out in the evergreen forests of Uttaranchal last week continues to spread, destroying rare species of flora and fauna in the region, official sources said on Tuesday.
Parthiv Patel's unbeaten 161 helped Rest of India fightback on day two of the Irani Trophy match against Mumbai.
The victory enabled the Indians clinch the three-match one-day series 1-0.
The Shankaracharya of the Jyotirmath Peeth in Badrinath alleged that the devotees of the Shankaracharya of Dwaraka stole ornaments of Goddess Purnagiri.
A Rs 195 crore-package was announced by the government on Friday for reconstruction of the 'Char Dham' pilgrimage circuit, which was badly affected by the Uttarakhand rain disaster.
Tamil Nadu were 80 for three in reply to Haryana's 287 on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match.
So far, 15 bodies have been recovered from the debris, while 12 persons are still missing.
