After making impressive debuts in their respective openers, Rising Pune Supergiants and GujaratLions will test each others' strengths when the two new entrants clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Rajkot on Thursday. The two teams feature a lot of faces from the suspended Chennai Super Kings and at least six players, who played in the same side till last year, will now be in opposite camps. Close friends and CSK teammates Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina will now be devising strategies as rival captains. Both have admitted that playing in a jersey other than 'yellow' has been very "emotional" but have promised to give their all for their new teams. The Dhoni-led Pune Supergiants were very convincing and dominant when they handed defending champions Mumbai Indians a nine-wicket drubbing. They did not even require their middle order, packed with Dhoni himself and players such as Steven Smith, to come out with the top-order delivering it for them comfortably.
Australia scrambled over the line for a two-wicket victory in the fifth one-day international against South Africa on Sunday to move back to the top of the world rankings less than three months before the World Cup.
Chris Gayle will return to the top of the batting order as West Indies look to continue their winning run and secure a semifinal berth when they take on South Africa in the ICC World Twenty20 in Nagpur, on Friday.
South Africa's pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada feels the upcoming T20I and Test series against India is a chance for his embattled team to figure where it stands against the world's best in a tough transition journey.
Here are the statistical highlights from the opening day's play of the fourth and final cricket Test between India and Australia, played in Dharamsala on Saturday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor VVS Laxman pointed out that Ishant's no-ball problem is one of the reasons for his exclusion from the side.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 2 of Pune Test.
South Africa survived a batting collapse precipitated by a hat-trick from spinner Prosper Utseya to beat Zimbabwe by 61 runs in the third match of the triangular series on Friday.
Shreyas Iyer, on Sunday, said that the India 'A' tour to Australia has helped him grow as a player.
For the first time in a decade, South Africa have been forced to acknowledge they are on the decline following back-to-back series losses to India and England that have knocked them off the top of the Test rankings.
Shane Watson claimed a hat-trick as Rajasthan Royals restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to a 134 for 9 in the IPL match in Ahmedabad on Thursday. However, his effort was in vain as Hyderabad came back with a vengeance to dismiss the former champions for 102 and win by 32 runs for only their third victory this season.
India will need to win at least a game in the upcoming one-dayer series against Australia to retain their current second position in the ICC ODI Team Championships, even as second-placed Virat Kohli looks to close in on AB de Villiers in the batting chart. World champions Australia go head to head with former winner India in a five-match series in Perth on Tuesday. Australia (127) lead second-ranked India (114) by 13 points and even if they lose all the five matches of the series, they will drop points but still finish a point ahead of India.
Virat Kohli's hundred in the first Test against England provides just the kind of inspiration that a struggling Indian batting line-up needed, feels Chris Gayle.
"This will probably be the biggest World Cup, so there will be great expectations and I know we will do very well for the people of the West Indies," he added.
The players auctions for this year's IPL is scheduled for this weekend. Rajneesh Gupta looks at the players retained and released by the teams for IPL 2017.
AB de Villiers' masterly 85 in his 100th test could not gloss over South Africa's spin frailty as India took charge of the second Test after dominating the opening day at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
So many players start to panic if they don't get runs during the Powerplay, but Rohit doesn't. Even when he starts slowly, he is dangerous, says former India opener Kris Srikkanth.
India captain Virat Kohli shot up 10 slots to reach a career-high fourth position in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after producing a man of the match performance in the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam.
India lead South Africa by five points and need to win two matches in order to stop falling behind the Proteas.
South Africa went through several anxious moments before their bowlers clinched a nail-biting six-run victory over minnows the Netherlands in their World Twenty20 match in Chittagong on Thursday.
At a time when boorish players' behaviour is a cause of concern for cricketing nations, the man earned love, respect, plaudits with his sheer cricketing skills.
Dismissing the notion that the Mohali pitch was a vicious turner, South Africa captain Hashim Amla on Saturday said most dismissals in the opening Test match was due to lack of spin rather than excess of it. He also came down hard on his batsmen, saying they could have applied themselves better.
David Warner took over from Mitchell Johnson as South Africa's tormentor-in-chief as the Australian opener blitzed a quickfire century to extend his team's huge lead on the third day of the first Test on Friday.
Images from Day 3 of the second Test between South Africa and India, in Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
Opener Dean Elgar struck a magnificent century for South Africa but Sri Lanka came back strongly with four wickets in the final session to balance the scales on the opening day of the first Test on Wednesday.
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting on Wednesday said that the 2001 Test series in India, which was won by the hosts, was one of the most remarkable series that he has ever played in. The 41-year-old right handed batsman walked down the memory lane and talked about the historic 2001 India-Australia series, saying: "2001 series was probably the most remarkable Test series I have played in.
An upbeat Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to carry on their winning momentum to book a berth in the play-offs when they take on an equally-keen Royal Challengers Bangalore in a crucial IPL match at Uppal, in Hyderabad, on Friday.
Kevin Pietersen failed to fire in his first match for Delhi Daredevils, as Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on brilliant batting by Aaron Finch and David Warner to notch a four-run victory in Friday's IPL match in Dubai.
Former New Zealand fast bowler Geoff Allott says the national team's performance in the World Cup has brought the 'lost fans' back to the game.
When Vinoo Mankad ran out Bill Brown, he created cricketing history -- and eternal controversy.
The calm, assured manner in which New Zealand chased down South Africa's imposing total on Tuesday to advance to their first cricket World Cup final is a hallmark of a team that has developed into a cohesive unit over the last two years.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin surged to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after a superb outing in the first Test against the West Indies in Antigua which the visiting side won by an innings and 92 runs.
Pakistan skipper Misbah ul Haq, who is often blamed for his slow approach to game, showed that he can be an attacking skipper when situation demands. In the crucial game against South Africa, the 40-year-old was seen adopting a carefree approach, which helped the sub-continent nation stun the one of the pre-tournament favourites by 29 runs.
A hostile trio of Pakistan left-arm fast bowlers took full advantage of a pitch freshened by rain to hand pre-tournament favourites South Africa their second defeat in the ICC World Cup.
Explosive all-rounder Ben Stokes and relentless run accumulator Steve Smith could not be more different in their approaches to the game but both roared back from personally adversity to bestride an extraordinary cricketing year. Virat Kohli and his men top the confused and confusing World Test Championship table with seven wins in as many matches, including their first pink-ball Test against Bangladesh last month. That victory marked their 12th consecutive Test series win at home.
Gujarat Lions would be looking to get back to winning ways when they lock horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The ignored trio of KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma were part of an optional practice session at Newlands, even as South Africa coach Ottis Gibson warned they would continue to torment India with pace.
All their efforts to stop a rampaging England ending in smoke, South Africa's all-rounder Jean-Paul Duminy said it was the bowlers who let them down by giving too many extras during their two-wicket loss in the ICC World Twenty20 pool match in Mumbai on Friday.
A ruthless India equalled their biggest victory margin, decimating a lacklustre Sri Lanka by an innings and 239 runs in the second Test to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Photos from the ICC World Cup match played between South Africa and Ireland on Tuesday.
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