The domestic season-ending five-day Irani Cup game between newly crowned Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai and the Rest of India, commencing in Mumbai from Sunday, will provide fringe players a good opportunity to stake claims for the national team. The first class match is the last occasion for hopefuls from both ranks to impress the five-member national selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil before attention shifts totally to the T20 format, commencing with the ICC World T20 Championships. With the country expected to play over 15 Test matches post Indian Premier League till the end of next season, this match is the ideal platform for these players to strengthen their claims for the long Test haul. Mumbai, who clinched the Ranji crown for the 41st time last week by defeating Saurashtra by an innings, have a settled combination led by wicket keeper batsman Aditya Tare. They appear to be better prepared than the motley bunch of Rest of India, being led by Madhya Pradesh stumper Naman Ojha. However, they would take the Rest of India lightly at their own peril as the latter have a good bowling attack at their command even without originally named Barinder Sran and Nathu Singh who have been injured and replaced by Ankit Rajpoot and Anureet Singh, according to their coach Ashish Kapoor.
Former India spinner Murali Kartik assesses the spinning scene in IPL9.
The auction ahead of the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League had in store something on expected lines and some surprises. Here's a look at the top buys after the first round.
Penpix of England players in England's Ashes squad.
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.
'It has been a quick evolution.' 'That is because he saw the big names playing in the IPL and he played alongside them; that transformed him as a batsman.' 'I would say now he is perfect.'
Despite a poor run in domestic cricket the dashing opener believes he is in contention for a place among India's 30 probables for next year's World Cup.
- 'If Kohli can bat as many overs as possible, it will be beneficial to the team' - 'Game-plan has to be complemented by performance'
Yuvraj Singh has emerged as the costliest cricketer in the IPL 8 players' auction, bought for a record Rs 16 crore (USD 2.57 million approx) by Delhi Daredevils.
Nearly two decades ago, then defence minister George Fernandes said: 'China has built roads up to the border, while there has been negligence on India's part.' Since Fernandes uttered these brave words, what has been done on the Indian side? The Modi Sarkar is apparently trying, but little has been achieved so far, says Claude Arpi.
The perfect buildup and distinct home advantage certainly gives India an edge heading into the World Twenty20 Championship but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his team cannot afford to take things for granted given the format's fickle nature. India blanked Australia in their own backyard, beat Sri Lanka at home before capturing the Asia Cup in Bangladesh. In the course of these triumphs, Dhoni's men lost just one game making it the near-perfect build-up campaign for the team which won the inaugural Championship back in 2007. "I think we are running on sixth gear. Technology has gone into the eighth gear but the kind of stuff we are doing on the field is adequate for any level of game. "We have to see the focus should be on from the very first ball. I think everything is set, there're not anymore gears to operate on. I am really quite happy with the progress," Dhoni said at the pre-tournament news conference where the main draw matches will start on March 15. India will be up against New Zealand in their opening match in Nagpur on March 15. "Let's not say it's happening in India so it belongs to us. Especially in the shorter formats, the difference becomes smaller and smaller. Every team has a chance, if we play to our potential and execute our plans then we definitely have a chance."
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma says the team cannot be dependent on him alone to perform in every match and it is time other players put up their hands and started delivering.
Lauding Chennai Super Kings opener Brendon McCullum's unbeaten 100 in his side's second consecutive win in Indian Premier League-8, SunRisers Hyderabad mentor VVS Laxman said the New Zealender's first ton of the season was a 'special innings'.
George Bailey stepped down as Australia's Twenty20 captain on Sunday, saying that he wants to focus on his Test career.
A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Sunday
'Today the Chinese think they can slap India, and there will be no consequences.' 'They must be made to feel the consequences through any and all means,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
India's marauding cricket team will be aiming to reclaim the No 1 spot in ICC rankings when it takes on an unsettled New Zealand in the second Test starting, in Kolkata, on Friday.
Henry Blofeld, who charmed the cricket world for more than 40 years, bids farewell to the microphone come September. Haresh Pandya salutes the Master.
No country has achieved a faster, deeper modern transformation than China, says former ambassador Kishan S Rana.
Ravi Shastri says the learning curve for the Indian side is over and it's time that the players start winning Test matches abroad.
In 2012 Rediff.com had published a feature on the rare aspects of Hawking's life and work, based on a feature by popular edutainment website HowStuffWorks, which we reproduce.
Cricket has few examples of players calling it quits when very much at the top their game. It is anything but coincidence that most of them happen to be from the most successful nation in the history of the sport.
In this exclusive excerpt from his autobiography, A Century Is Not Enough, Sourav Ganguly makes some startling revelations.
Glenn Maxwell played a whirlwind knock of 89 runs before David Miller provided the finishing touches with a breathtaking 19-ball 51 as Kings XI Punjab hammered Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in a high-scoring IPL Twenty20 match in Sharjah.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Friday
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.
Hosts Punjab frittered away the advantage of solid opening stand as they were all out for 270 as Karnataka captain R Vinay Kumar ran through the middle-order with a five-wicket haul in the Ranji Trophy semi-final in Mohali.
Penpix of the Scotland squad for the 2015 cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
It was the greatest series in the history of the game but what has become of those Australian and English players a decade on?
Sachin Tendulkar cautioned the Indian cricket team to guard against complacency ahead of its World Cup game against South Africa, saying the Proteas are a far better fielding unit than Pakistan.
'Indian politics is still very much a closed shop, with leaders in their 80s and 70s still refusing to go into vanaprastha, or retirement.'
The IPL, all of a sudden, may have some catching up to do with the Big Bash.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Friday
Narendra Modi and his government should look at the emerging geo-politics realistically and not get sucked into having to make a choice between China and Japan. India has enough economic space for both, says Mohan Guruswamy.
The eighth edition of the Indian Premier League, says Haresh Pandya, provides Yuvraj Singh a chance to make up for time lost and opportunities missed or squandered.
'If the dimensions of the strategic partnership worked out by India and the US seem like a grand alliance targeted at you-know-who, China had better realise that it has fathered it,' says B S Raghavan, a long time observer of China.
The kind of people Narendra Modi has chosen, the decisions he has taken and the rail and central budgets suggests that he is treading carefully in New Delhi. There is less of innovation and more of continuity, so far. He is not ready to rock the boat and start from scratch, says Sheela Bhatt.
Arvind Subramanian talks about US and China's power play and where India figures in these dynamics.
In an online chat with readers overseas education consultant NNS Chandra addressed queries related to US admissions.
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