With a "no-vacancy" sign plastered on India's top order and his utility in the middle questioned by his own captain, Ajinkya Rahane suddenly finds his consistency with the bat means very little. The 27-year-old Mumbai batsman has forced his way into the final 15 for next month's World Twenty20 on home soil but is unlikely to play a major role in the hosts' bid for a second 20-over World title under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The left-right combination of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have locked up the opening slots, followed by batting mainstay Virat Kohli and limited-overs specialist Suresh Raina. An industrious accumulator in a lineup teeming with swashbuckling power-hitters, Rahane can only hope for a middle order slot but Dhoni, forthright as ever, has virtually dismissed the possibility. Dhoni insists Rahane, as evident from his consistent performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 competition, is at his best as an opener and lacks the muscle power to excel as a lower-order slogger.
Chennai Super Kings seem to hold a slight edge going into the match as they have not only got the better of their southern rivals twice in the league stages but also have the winning momentum going into the match on what promises to be a bouncy track.
Depleted by the absence of high-profile names, Indian Premier League 2014 champions Kolkata Knight Riders have a tough task on hand when they lock horns with formidable Chennai Super Kings in the opening Group 'A' match of the Champions League T20, in Hyderabad, on Wednesday.
Virat Kohli's elegant unbeaten 90 and some crafty bowling by their spinners secured India's comprehensive 37-run victory over Australia in the first Twenty20 International at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday.
According to a senior police official, VB Chandrasekhar ended his life by hanging himself at his house in Chennai on Thursday evening due to debts.
'Probably because he was aware that this was his 100th ODI. Or probably because, in the first of its knock-out games, his team had produced the sort of all-round display that induces smiles.'
Claiming to be short of a seamer all-rounder, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he has no option but field three fast bowlers and two spinners in a five-pronged attack for India's first ODI of the five-match series against Australia, in Perth, on Tuesday.
Key facts on the India squad for the 2015 cricket World Cup.
It will be a battle of tactics as a formidable Chennai Super Kings, led by the wily Mahendra Singh Dhoni, square off against a confident Royal Challengers Bangalore under an aggressive Virat Kohli in the second qualifier of the Indian Premier League, in Ranchi on Friday.
Chennai Super Kings completed a fairy tale comeback from disgrace to glory, clinching their third Indian Premier League title after imposing all-rounder Shane Watson single-handedly hammered Sunrises Hyderabad into submission with a blazing hundred in the final, in Mumbai.
India's total of 310 for four is the highest total by a team batting second and winning in the Asia Cup.
India exhibited their batting prowess to perfection with their top order firing in unison to score an easy 6-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their must-win Asia Cup Super Four match and set up a summit clash against the same opponents on Sunday.for eight against India in their Asia Cup super league match.
Ravindra Jadeja's brilliant all-round display, after Dwayne Smith's fine batting, helped Chennai Super Kings defend a modest total and beat Rajasthan Royals by seven runs in Wednesday's IPL match in Dubai.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
A league of this nature will be nothing more than a money-spinning machine, unless it has the added plus of throwing up domestic talent.
Brimming with confidence after a clean-sweep in the Test series, India will look to carry on their dominance over New Zealand when the two teams lock horns in the first cricket One-day International of the five-match series, in Dharamsala on Sunday.
India won the toss and elected to bat in the second ODI in Abu Dhabi.
Images from the Asia Cup T20 cricket match between India and Pakistan on Saturday.
Images from the third and final T20 International between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Expect a battle of wits when Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings lock horns in Wednesday's Indian Premier League match in Bangalore.
Before the selectors meet to finalise the squad, you can take on their role and pick 15 players you feel can deliver the World T20 Cup to India.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni loves players who can take challenges head on and for him that's the reason his trusted lieutenant Ravichandran Ashwin has been his stand-out performers for the Indian team in the ongoing ICC World Cup.
India's leading off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin can use the IPL as a platform to revive his dwindling career in limited overs cricket, feels veteran batsman Subramaniam Badrinath.
David Warner pulverized a listless Chennai Super Kings attack into submission with some breathtaking strokeplay as Sunrisers Hyderabad won by six wickets to keep slim chances of qualifying for the IPL play-offs alive.
The 15-member squad that beat Sri Lanka 6-1 was retained for the first three matches against South Africa.
IPL Season 11 begins on April 7. Rajneesh Gupta has all the numbers.
As India go in to the four-match Test series against Australia that commences in Adelaide on Tuesday, here is a factbox.
Talented Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey, who recently led the India A squad to a tri-series win in South Africa, made a comeback to the team.
Robin Uthappa's innings of 70 runs off 41 balls (SR-170.73) is the third best by any batsman scoring at least a fifty against West Indies
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com's report card on India's three-ODI series in Bangladesh.
The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League will commence, on Saturday, April 7 and will end on 27th May
Mumbai Indians' offie Jayant Yadav reveals the secret
A clinical Chennai Super Kings defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by three wickets in a nail-biting second qualifier to sail into the final of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament in Ranchi, making it a record sixth appearance in eight editions of the event.
Barring Bhuvneshwar Kumar all the Indian bowlers leaked runs in the first ODI against West Indies, but home team skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has backed his underfire bowling attack despite crashing to an embarrassing 124-run loss in the series opener in Kochi.
With Australia taking a 2-0 lead in the four-match Test series against India, the scales are titled highly in favour of the hosts. History also shows that the Melbourne Cricket Ground has been a happy hunting ground for the hosts. With the Boxing Day Test around the corner, here is a quick look at how the teams stand.
Kolkata Knight Riders took a giant stride towards ensuring a play-off berth as they walloped Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets to take their winning streak to five matches in the seventh edition of IPL.
Unstoppable so far with clinical performances, a formidable India will square off against a passionate and sprightly Bangladesh in their quest for continental supremacy in the final of the Asia Cup Twenty20 cricket tournament, in Mirpur, on Sunday.
India will find confidence if they can manage to beat Pakistan.
World cricket's most intriguing rivalry will once again be renewed when India take on an unpredictable Pakistan with rehabilitated pacer Mohammad Aamir being the focus of attention in a round-robin league encounter of the Asia Cup T20 tournament, in Mirpur, on Saturday.
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