It was nothing less than a Diwali bonus for the Bengal Ranji team as former India skipper Sourav Ganguly announced his availability for the entire Ranji season even as the selectors picked a 16-member side for their first two Super League matches, beginning November 3.
'For me, Dhoni is the main guy in the middle order and people will revolve around him.'
So, will Rahul allow Gill to continue his good form at the top of the order or perch himself out there at the onset with one eye on the Asia Cup?
Former internationals Rohan Gavaskar, Deep Dasgupta and Hemang Badani are among 101 cricketers who have severed links with the rebel Indian Cricket League and applied to the Board of Control for Cricket in India to return to the fold under the amnesty scheme that ended May 31. Seventy-nine current and 11 former Test cricketers -- including ex-captain Ajit Wadekar and off-spin legend Erapalli Prasanna -- have taken advantage of the amnesty scheme.
Unless India performs very well at the T20 World Cup, it could be curtains for chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma.
Opener Hamish Marshall's unbeaten 76 and Upul Chandana's four-wicket haul enabled Royal Bengal Tigers score an eight-wicket victory over Lahore Badshahs in the Indian Cricket League T20 encounter at the Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday night. Chasing a target of 140, Marshall played a fine innings from the beginning and went on to score 76 runs, including two sixes and nine boundaries off 53 balls.
'If he loses his place in the ODI side, I don't know where it puts him, in terms of the India team in all 3 formats.'
Bengal were 199 for five in reply to Maharashtra's 215 in the Ranji Trophy match.
The ICL is expeceted to lay the cards on the table by revealing the names of the players on Monday.
National-award winning actor, producer, hotelier, ex-politician, cricket team owner, philanthropist, highest tax payer, reality show judge, animal lover and, above all, people's hero -- Mithun Chakraborty -- who has been conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award -- is truly a force of nature, notes Sukanya Verma.
Bengal posted a strong 465 for four on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match against Rajasthan.
A top CAB source told PTI that Deep Dasgupta would replace Ganguly as Bengal skipper.
Electing to bat the Kolkata Tigers managed to put on 279 in their 50 overs.
Deep Dasgupta will lead Bengal for the Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup in Hyderabad.
Rohan Gavaskar scored an unbeaten 79 as East Zone scored a one-wicket last ball victory South Zone in the Deodhar Trophy.
Raina last played in the 50-over format in October 2015 and is making a comeback after two years and 8 months.
Required to score 186 for an outright victory in the Ranji Trophy match, Bengal were home just after lunch on the last day.
The former India captain took three wickets and contributed 43 runs as Bengal were 113 runs ahead of Punjab.
Sourav Ganguly will lead a 14-member Bengal team in the Ranji Trophy opener against Punjab.
The Deodhar Trophy is scheduled to begin at various centres of the Central Zone later this month.
The slender 14-run first innings lead in the final against Bengal sufficed for Uttar Pradesh to claim their maiden Ranji Trophy crown.
The opener scored 151 runs as Karnataka piled up 411 runs against Bengal.
In recent times, Kedar Jadhav has been the most under-utilised cricketer, which has led to varied opinions as to whether he is an ideal fit in India's ODI team combination despite averaging 42 plus in 69 games. Jadhav, who had sustained a hamstring injury in the past, bowled only 24 overs in his last 13 ODI games which is even less than two overs per game. Worse is that he hasn't got a single wicket and in four of these games, he wasn't even asked to bowl.
Mongia, Maninder, Das among notable names in contention for senior selectors' posts
For India to do well in the T20 World Cup, it won't be a bad idea to ask KL Rahul to bat in the middle order instead of opening with skipper Rohit Sharma, considering that the top batters, including Virat Kohli, are struggling in the Powerplay overs.
The Australians 'swept' their way to self-destruction in the face of the Indian spinners' guile in the second Test in Delhi on Sunday.
'It is systematic chaos, it is organised chaos.'
In a first among domestic teams in India, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) will be conducting mandatory eye tests for its senior and under-23 teams once training camps resumes post coronavirus. This was decided during discussion between the CAB administration and Bengal coaching unit, which felt that often the eyesight gets affected after the cricketers come back from a long lay-off.
Warner using bat 'sensor' to counter opposition threat
Kartik, a former left-arm tweaker who played eight Tests and 37 ODIs for India, lamented the absence of quality spinners in the country, which according to him is a stark contrast from the past.
A host of former Indian players, including Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, are in favour of the country taking part in the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in the United Kingdom next month.
In case of Umesh, he bowls a fuller length, gets that lethal outswing going his way at 140 clicks but the question is, if India can afford to play a bowler, who has a propensity to bowl too many boundary balls.
Ishant Sharma identified an One-day International match against Australia in Mohali in October 2013 that led to a change in his approach
RediffGURUS Ashwini Dasgupta, Anu Krishna, Dr Karthiyayini Mahadevan and Jinal Mehta answer queries from Rediff readers.
Shubman Gill's stellar show for India A in the recently-concluded two-match unofficial Test series against New Zealand is an indicator that he is ready for Test debut, believes senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. Shubman had scores of 83 and 204 not out batting in middle-order in the first unofficial Test for India A and then scored a hundred while opening the batting in the second game, showing his versatility at different slots. Prithvi Shaw, back in the Test squad after 16 months, is also a contender in the playing XI with his equally dazzling repertoire of strokes.
KL Rahul is the likely first choice in white-ball cricket for the foreseeable future, feel three former India wicket-keepers.
'I don't see Hardik getting a new ball. He is a certainty in the side as playing four fast bowlers would mean a long tail. He is your ideal No 7 batsman but you can use him for 4-6 overs depending on the situation'
Becomes third Test cricketer from Jharkhand
Mental health issues of sports-persons is now a serious topic and recently Australia coach Justin Langer advocated the need to keep a tab on the younger lot as to how they are coping up with trying times.
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