Having missed a few international games in Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka owing to a recurrent hamstring injury, India opener Murali Vijay has said he wants to attain peak fitness before the upcoming home series against South Africa.
War-torn Afghanistan, playing only their third match after being inducted as a Test-playing nation two years ago, completed a famous victory by defeating Bangladesh by 224 runs with 3.2 overs left on the final day on Monday.
Stung by an improved New Zealand the other night, a wary India would like to quickly get their house in order when they square off with Kane Williamson's boys in the third ODI in Mohali on Sunday. While the six-run defeat in Delhi has given India plenty to ponder about, it has also renewed interest in the contest which had been dominated by the home team prior to Thursday, stretching from the one-sided Test series to the first ODI in Dharamsala. From the New Zealand point of view, a victory was all that they needed after a string of deflating defeats. As a result of their first win on Indian soil in 13 years, one can expect a certain spring in the stride of the visitors when they take the field at the PCA Stadium in Mohali.
Swashbuckling former India opener Virender Sehwag has picked India, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies as the teams which will make the semifinals of the World T20 starting in India on March 8. Sehwag has already picked hosts India as favourites to win the coveted title for the second time. "Apart from India I would pick New Zealand in their group. The teams to watch out from other group will be South Africa and West Indies. India remain favourites to repeat the feat of 2007. They are playing good cricket at the moment and the combinations are working well," Sehwag told PTI on the sidelines of the Royal Stag Perfect Strokes event. India are yet to lose to Pakistan in a world event and of late have had an upper hand over the arch-rivals. The two teams meet again in the mouthwatering World T20 clash in Dharamsala on March 19. What is the reason for India's recent dominance over Pakistan? Sehwag said: "It is difficult to pinpoint a reason but to put it simply, India is playing much better cricket than Pakistan and we have better talent than Pakistan."
The Working Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India will meet in Dharamsala on June 24 to take stock of matters, including appointment of the Indian team's head coach.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has termed the West Indies pull out as unfortunate and unprecedented as the visitors cancelled the ongoing series.
With India being outplayed in the Twenty20s, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will face added pressure to perform and lead India from the front against a formidable South African unit in the five-match ODI cricket series starting in Kanpur on Sunday.
Star batsman Virat Kohli says India's triumph in the 2007 World T20 tournament proved the catalyst in the team winning the 50-overs World Cup four years later.
A shorter tournament will mean a smaller share from the shrunken central pool of revenues for the eight IPL franchises, not to mention a reduction in gate receipts. Cricket Australia stands to lose some A$300 million ($174 million) should the coronavirus outbreak derail their high-profile home test series against India later this year.
The money-spinning Indian Premier League has mulled a closed-door edition in a desperate bid to avoid cancellation as the deadly COVID-19 sent Indian sports into quarantine after a government directive for fans to be kept away from all action to prevent the pandemic from spreading.
Selection committee looking to continue building towards World T20 in Australia in October 2020.
Pandurang Salgaoncar's fall from grace has suddenly shifted focus on pitch curators - a section in cricketing community who have a major role to play but are grossly underpaid.
Former captain Graeme Smith feels South Africa's 'powerful' bowling attack will put the Indian batting line-up under serious pressure in the upcoming Test series, starting January 5 in Cape Town.
Sri Lanka batting coach Thilan Samaraweera said the bowlers let the team down in the second ODI against India where they conceded 50-60 runs too many.
Opener Rohit Sharma smashed his third one-day international double century to set up India's comprehensive 141-run win against Sri Lanka in the second match of the series.
The legend of Virat Kohli grew exponentially with his clinical decimation of rivals in a year during which the Indian women's team finally found love and acceptance in the cricket-crazy nation after an emotionally charged World Cup While 'King Kohli' geared up for a watershed next 18 months after nine straight Test series wins, mostly at home, the last six months witnessed Mithali Raj turn from women's cricket team captain into a brand.
India thrashed New Zealand by 53 runs to give veteran fast bowler Ashish Nehra a winning farewell, in the first Twenty20 International in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The government's focus is on containing and controlling coronavirus the ministry of external affairs said on Thursday and advised Indians to stay put wherever they are and travel only under compelling reasons.
Limited over captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be eager to regain his golden touch even as Virat Kohli eyes another smashing knock at his home ground when favourites India lock horns with New Zealand in the second ODI in New Delhi on Thursday. It may be just another ODI in a bilateral series, but there is lot at stake for Dhoni, who has been under pressure after Test skipper Virat Kohli led India to the number one ranking following a 3-0 whitewash.
Kohli ruled out making wholesale changes to the side in the inconsequential match
Captain Virat Kohli led India to a resounding seven-wicket win over South Africa in the second T20 International with an unbeaten half-century, in Mohali, on Wednesday.
As Team India begins its campaign in the Champions Trophy, many await the outcome of the Virat Kohli-Anil Kumble tangle.
Chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav is hoping his hard work will be rewarded with a place in the playing eleven for the third Test against Sri Lanka as he competes with Axar Patel, who is a like-for-like replacement for the suspended Ravindra Jadeja.
Mature and forthright, Kuldeep on learning tips from his idol and bowling without fear against Steve Smith
'My father never saw any success for me. 'When I meet him in the next world, I will proudly say that I didn't buy houses and cars, but I made some art that will hopefully stand the test of time.'
Insisting that Indian players have played on worse tracks back home, vice captain Ajinkya Rahane termed the Wanderers' pitch as 'challenging' and not dangerous.
Cheteshwar Pujara's marathon double hundred complemented by Wriddhiman Saha's dogged century put India in complete command with an imposing total of 603 for 9 against Australia on the fourth day of the third cricket Test.
India are scheduled to play four Test matches in the Caribbean in July-August next year.
Former India captain and Team Director Ravi Shastri on Wednesday said other sports should try to emulate the BCCI to start producing champions at the global level.
Debutants Oman dished out a resolute batting effort to register a nerve-wracking, two-wicket win over experienced Ireland in their Group A qualifying match of the ICC World Twenty20, in Dharamsala on Wednesday.
With India all set to host the ICC World Twenty20 for the first time in 2016, we take a look at the 8 grounds that will host the 58 matches over 27 days from March 8 to April 3.
The India cricket team recorded a comprehensive 37-run win over Australia in the first T20 at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday, and take a 1-0 lead in the three match T20 series. Here are the statistical highlights of the match...
The Indian cricket team went from strength to strength in 2019, especially in Test cricket where they are rightly perched at the top. They went unbeaten in Test cricket in 2019 which included winning their first-ever series in Australia, after which they registered three successive whitewashes against West Indies, South Africa and Bangladesh.
Having surprised India in the second One-day International, New Zealand pacer Tim Southee, on Saturday, said the strength of the side lies in the fact that they don't get 'too far ahead of ourselves' nor 'too down of ourselves' when the results are not going in their favour.
Zaheer Khan discusses India's chances in the upcoming World T20 in March-April. Harish Kotian/Rediff.com listens in.
Important for India was Xi's meeting with representatives of PLA officers and soldiers stationed in Tibet. The video of the encounter was interesting to watch, especially the large number of lieutenant generals and major generals, observes Claude Arpi.
In-form Australia batsman Usman Khawaja expects to be squeezed out of the top order in favour of former captain Aaron Finch when they kick off their World Twenty20 campaign against New Zealand next week.
BCCI Secretary Ajay Shirke explains the process of zeroing in on the preferred candidate from the 57 applications received for the job of India coach.
Australia's Steve Smith, on Friday, felt Ajinkya Rahane will do a good job as skipper in the probable absence of Virat Kohli.
After hammering the Kiwis 3-0 in the Tests, the focus now shifts to white-ball cricket . New Zealand will be bolstered by the presence of star allrounder Corey Anderson as captain Kane Williamson looks to avenge the defeat in Tests. Also, MS Dhoni's men will need to win the ODI series by a 4-1 margin to claim third place on the ICC ODI Championship.
