Kolkata Knight Riders will look to regain their momentum and remain in the hunt for the knockout stage when they clash with laggards Royal Challengers Bangalore in an Indian Premier League encounter, in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
Desperate to break their title jinx, Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore will be hoping for a positive start to their campaign in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League, when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Bengaluru, on Tuesday.
Australia's left-arm spinner Ashton Agar on Friday said wrist spinners will have a big role to play in the five-match ODI series against India starting on Sunday.
Kolkata Knight Riders are back in familiar home conditions but can ill-afford to take Kings XI Punjab lightly, who are showing signs of improvement under a newly-appointed skipper, when the two teams clash in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
Having made a commendable comeback from the brink of a series defeat, India will look to increase their stranglehold on hosts England to draw parity when the two teams square off for the fourth Test, in Southampton, on Thursday.
India have won the first two Tests by comprehensive margins -- by 304 runs in Galle and an innings and 53 runs in Colombo.
'He is that daredevil taking the bike round and round in the 'Well of Death', and we -- those following and witnessing Indian cricket -- are all just along for the ride,' says Chetan Narula.
They might have chased down some tricky targets to notch up three successive wins in IPL-9 but Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Moises Henriques feels his team's strength lies in their potent bowling attack. "It so happened that out of five games, we chased four times. We lost one of them and we won three. But I really feel that actually our strength is our bowling," he told PTI. "So, if we have guys like Mustafizur (Rahman) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Barinder Sran bowling under pressure when we are bowling second, when we are having to defend, it probably would suit us even better than batting second. "We have been very lucky that David scored runs quickly in the last three games in a row. But I still feel bowling is our strength as a team. So, if anything, batting first would probably, actually suit us better as a team," he said. Though the team missed the services of seasoned Ashish Nehra due to injury, the left-arm fast bowler Barinder Sran rose to the occasion, he said.
The Suresh Raina-led side suffered consecutive defeats against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders and title holder Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening two matches.
'We have got a guy like Hardik Pandya, who is a wicket-taking bowler. Every game that he plays, on any surface, he has a knack of picking wickets. He has a great chance of playing as well'
'For all practical purposes, the game ended at the break. The Irish bowlers had neither the pace nor the skill to compete against the Indian line-up; the lack of swing further blunted any edge they could have brought to the contest.'
Teams play safe, retain star players, total purse at Rs 148 crore versus Rs 198 crore last year
The Indian pace attack is getting much attention Down Under, with Varun Aaron being singled out for special praise by Australian cricketers. They feel the youngster's biggest assets - pace and bounce - have troubled the visitors on previous tours Down Under.
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.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings after the league phase in IPL 10.
Former India pace spearhead Javagal Srinath has raised doubts about the team's bowling attack ahead of the upcoming ODI cricket World Cup though he has rated the defending champions' batting line-up as the strongest going into the showpiece event.
After Week 4 in the IPL-11, which players offer the best value for money?
India's Team Director Ravi Shastri on Friday said that South Africa are still a formidable side despite the retirement of some big players recently but his side will continue their aggressive brand of cricket in the upcoming series beginning on October 2.
While KKR suffered their heaviest defeat of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last game, Pune looked to have found their mojo in the business end of the tournament having registered consecutive wins in their last two matches.
Ponting shrugged off Australia's injury worries and the idea of there being risk in rushing Smith and Warner into the team.
All the IPL 10 numbers, from Rajneesh Gupta.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes became the most expensive overseas purchase -- bought by Rising Pune Supergiants for a whopping Rs 14.50 crore even as some unheralded Indian domestic players trumped seasoned names to land lucrative deals at the Indian Premier League players' auction.
Rishabh Pant of the Delhi Daredevils, with a most valuable player index of 897, is the most valuable player of IPL 11.
K L Rahul, the kingpin of the KXIP batting, is second (MVPI: 601), followed by Sunrisers Captain Kane Williamson (543). Jos Buttler, after his match-winning batting for Rajasthan Royals on Friday night, is just 4 'runs' behind at 539, and M S Dhoni is fifth with 538 'runs'.
With it's scandalous past, still fresh in the minds of fans and critics alike, the Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers will look to ensure that the focus remains firmly on cricket when the cash-rich event gets underway with a glamorous opening ceremony on Tuesday.
However, if anyone has unfinished business over a decade of IPL, it is India captain Virat Kohli. He made his intent amply clear earlier this week.
We sorted through countless photographs taken around the world to come up with the top photos of 2019. Together these images tell the story of the year -- capturing moments of hope and heartbreak, triumph and tragedy.
Virat Kohli's inspirational leadership for Royal Challengers Bangalore will be up against the brute force with which David Warner has steered Sunrisers Hyderabad when the two teams, eyeing their maiden IPL title, square off in a high-intensity summit clash in Bengaluru on Sunday. RCB, however, will have a slight advantage over Sunrisers as they have the experience of playing in an IPL final twice in the past -- 2009 and 2011, but on both occasions, they had finished runners-up. Sunrisers' best finish was a play-off berth which they managed in their debut season in 2013.
Sunrisers Hyderabad are lying a lowly seventh with eight points from nine games in the Indian Premier League but head coach Tom Moody is not disheartened by the dismal scenario and said on Wednesday that the team can make it to the play-offs by winning four out of their next five games.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will be in a tight corner without their 'mystery spinner' Sunil Narine, reported for chucking, as they gear up to face Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League match at Eden Gardens. Beginning with Rajasthan, Kolkata will go on to complete all their remaining five home outings by May 9.
- 'If Kohli can bat as many overs as possible, it will be beneficial to the team' - 'Game-plan has to be complemented by performance'
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.
David Warner, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina and Zaheer Khan have all led from the front in IPL 9.
Glenn Maxwell produced yet another blazing innings with the bat before Lakshmipathy Balaji returned a four-wicket haul as Kings XI Punjab registered a crushing 72-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.
Former India captain Gautam Gambhir has said Delhi chief coach KP Bhaskar made talented youngsters "so insecure" that he was left with no option but to ask him a few tough questions.
The eight IPL franchises will submit their 'Player Retention Lists' on Friday, January 10. A look at the players likely to be retained.
Ravi Shastri says the learning curve for the Indian side is over and it's time that the players start winning Test matches abroad.
India Test regulars like Cheteswar Pujara and Ishant Sharma have also thrown their hat into the ring with base prices of Rs 50 and Rs 75 lakh respectively.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances