Virat Kohli's brilliant innings under pressure enabled Royal Challengers Bangalore to eke out a thrilling six wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL cricket tournament on Friday.
Pacer Navdeep Saini, who is among India's standbys for the World Cup, says he is ready for his big break in the mega event should the need arises.
The IPL starts on September 19 and, in all likelihood, all the English and Australian players will land in the UAE via a charter flight on September 17, making them available for their respective team's opening match.
Vernon Philander is enjoying being "mentor" in the twilight of his career and wants more of his contemporaries to give back to the game instead of looking for "greener pastures".
Philander's partnership with Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel has earned the trio the label as the most-balanced and penetrating attack in world cricket.
South Africa captain A B de Villiers on Saturday said his side is not too worried about the problems that India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin could pose during their ICC Cricket World Cup match in Melbourne, on Sunday.
David Miller and J P Duminy scored centuries as South Africa overcame a real challenge from Zimbabwe to record a 62-run victory in their opening World Cup Pool B game in Hamilton on Sunday.
A threat issued by the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti or Patel agitation could affect the game temporarily
'We are at this stage where we have lost almost all of our experience'
Australia's Aaron Finch hit his fifth one-day international century to drive the hosts to a 73-run victory over South Africa in Canberra on Wednesday and a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Buttler departed after an angry exchange with Ashwin and his exit condemned the Royals to a 14-run defeat in their IPL opener in Jaipur.
South Africa set New Zealand a daunting target of 298 runs in 43 overs.
Ravichandran Ashwin is the lone Indian to feature in the top 10 of the latest Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings as he continues to lead the way in the all-rounders list.
There is a definite spring in Ajinkya Rahane's steps after he ended a 17-Test run of not scoring a hundred, a number which has proved to be lucky for him.
'We are known as a team who starts slow, so this time around we have to start well. There is a lot of pressure on players, (but then) it's international cricket and you want to keep it that way.'
Gujarat Lions owner Keshav Bansal expressed happiness that the new franchise managed to get 'experienced and talented' players for the upcoming ninth edition of the Indian Premier League and is confident that captain Suresh Raina can make a strong comeback in the IPL after a dismal showing in the just-concluded World T20.
David Warner and Glenn Maxwell shared the fourth highest partnership in the history of T20 International cricket to set Australia up for a last-ball, five-wicket victory over South Africa in the second T20 International at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday. The series is now locked 1-1 ahead of the decider in Cape Town on Wednesday. Warner (77 off 40 balls, 6 fours and 5 sixes) and Maxwell (75 off 43 balls, 7 fours and 3 sixes) shared a partnership of 161 which was Australia's highest ever and also the highest ever for the fourth wicket and the highest for any wicket at the Wanderers.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club World Cricket Committee, will skip its upcoming meeting at Lord's on August 11-12.
Kumar Sangakkara remained unbeaten after a sparkling half-century as Sri Lanka responded well to the challenge of scoring 370 runs in four sessions in order to win the first Test against South Africa on Saturday.
Australian fast bowler Ryan Harris, who bowled his country to a series victory in South Africa last week, is hoping knee surgery will prolong his Test career through the 2015 Ashes at least.
Kagiso Rabada regained his top spot among bowlers crossing the coveted 900-point mark in ratings even as Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin climbed up a couple of notches to be placed fourth in the ICC Test Player Rankings, released on Tuesday.
JP Duminy, AB de Villiers, Wayne Parnell and Vernon Philander put South Africa on top as they reduced Australia to 112 for four on the second day of the second Test at St George's Park on Friday.
India beat South Africa by 124 runs in the third Test in Nagpur,inside three days, to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series on Friday. Rajneesh Gupta presents interesting numbers from day three of Nagpur Test.
The countries will pin their hopes of victory on their quicks with seamer friendly wickets on order for the Tests in Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Johannesburg, and the contests set to be dominated by fiery exchanges of fast bowling.
Kiwi Ross Taylor's mammoth 290 in the WACA Test against Australia, propelled him to the top-10 list
Twenty-four players, including 14 Indians (of which three are uncapped) and ten overseas, were retained as the retention window for the 2014 Pepsi IPL season closed at 1700 hours on Friday.
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.
Virat Kohli's talismanic presence will be the shot in the arm that India would need in their bid to win the historic first-ever away Test series against South Africa.
It's worse than a nightmare but letting the youngsters in the team wallow in self-pity is the last thing skipper Faf du Plessis would want ahead of their crucial game against world No 2 India.
Fitness clouds and selection dilemmas could hamper South Africa's chances ahead of next month's series against Australia.
Captain Graeme Smith hit an unbeaten double century as South Africa went on a merciless scoring spree to establish a 361-run lead over Pakistan on the second day of the second Test in Dubai on Thursday. Smith was 227 not out and a cramping AB de Villiers scored an unbeaten 157 as the pair set a new South African fifth-wicket partnership record of 326 to put the top-ranked team firmly in command.
Pakistan lost a few early wickets before completing a convincing seven-wicket victory over South Africa in the first Test, in Abu Dhabi, on Thursday.
Seamer Vernon Philander took career-best figures as rampant South Africa claimed a 72-run victory over India in a gripping first Test at Newlands on Monday.
Galle has built a reputation as a spinners' paradise but Australia captain Steve Smith hopes there will be substantial reverse swing at the venue as his top-ranked team bid for a series-levelling win against Sri Lanka in the second test. Sri Lanka inflicted a 106-run defeat on the touring side at Pallekele last week in the opening match of the three-test series with the spinners taking 18 out of 20 Australian wickets to fall.
Captain Virat Kohli was a relieved man after Royal Challengers finally snapped a six-match losing streak in this IPL with a eight wicket win over Kings XI Punjab, in Mohali, on Saturday.
Spectators at the Sydney Cricket Ground were repeatedly treated to the sight of leg-spinner Imran Tahir throwing his head back, screaming with joy and pumping his arms before setting off on an uncoordinated run across the outfield on Wednesday as South Africa thrashed Sri Lanka by nine wickets in the first quarter-final at the World Cup.
Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to consolidate their gains when they take on beleaguered Kings XI Punjab .
Rohit Sharma is likely to miss his third game in a row when Mumbai Indians take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday with both teams aiming to secure their spot in the IPL play-offs.
Unfazed by their loss to Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody blamed the conditions for the 35-run defeat in their Indian Premier League cricket match in Kolkata on Monday.
Statistical highlights on the second day of the second and final cricket Test between India and South Africa in Durban.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances