Defending champions Mumbai and Karnataka took the upper hand in their Ranji Trophy matches on Sunday.
Young chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav kept the opposition batsmen on tenterhooks with a maiden five wicket haul as he took India Red on the cusp of an outright victory against the Green team in the inaugural Day/Night Duleep Trophy encounter in Greater Noida on Thursday. Chasing a mammoth victory target of 497, the Green team was tottering at 217/7 at the end of penultimate evening with another 280 runs to win the match. Suresh Raina was at the crease batting on 35.
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.
A B de Villiers produced one of the most devastating Twenty20 innings as he smashed an unbeaten 89 from just 42 balls as Royal Challengers Bangalore pulled off a sensational four-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a dramatic IPL match in Bangalore on Sunday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to exploit the home advantage when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad.
A summary of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday
It will be a battle for survival for struggling Rising Pune Supergiants when they lock horns with formidable title-contenders Sunrisers Hyderabad in Tuesday's Indian Premier League match in Visakhapatnam.
Sunrisers Hyderabad surprised quite a few by opting to release the fast bowling duo of Ishant Sharma and Dale Steyn, while they also let go of England discard Kevin Pietersen.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Friday
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday
Madhya Pradesh recovered from the loss of two cheap wickets to a healthy 254 for four at stumps on the first day of their five-day Ranji Trophy quarter final against Bengal at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, on Wednesday.
Pushed to the bottom of the heap after three successive losses, it will take an extraordinary effort from Royal Challengers Bangalore to overpower table-toppers Rajasthan Royals when the two sides clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Maharashtra batsman Ankit Bawne scored a gutsy century under pressure as West Zone took a vital 43-run first innings lead against East Zone on the second day of the Duleep Trophy quarter-final in Lahli.
How does Yuzvendra Chahal's 6/25 stand up against other fine T20I performances? Fascinating figures from Rajneesh Gupta.
Speaking at the media conference that followed the IPL Players' draft, Pune spokesperson Subrato Talukdar said Dhoni. was an automatic choice for the new franchise.
Delhi all-rounder Rajat Bhatia is a surprise inclusion in the 30-man shortlist, for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20, to be held in Bangladesh from March 16 to April 6. It includes young Kerala wicketkeeper Sanju Samson, former India Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand, Railways leg-spinner Karan Sharma and Harbhajan Singh.
Playing for Jharkhand, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was playing his first domestic match in eight years, made just nine before he was dismissed by Jammu and Kashmir's left-arm spinner Waseem Raza.
Virat Kohli and Steven Smith will be eager to stem the rot when Royal Challengers Bangalore square off with Rising Pune Supergiants in an Indian Premier League encounter.
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.
India's selectors went on expected lines, leaving out former champions while giving the nod to top performers in domestic circuit in the 30-man probables' list for the 2015 World Cup.
The reliable Wasim Jaffer led from the front and scored his 35th Ranji century to guide Mumbai to 242/2 on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group A clash against Odisha at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be eager to break the sequence of reverses and get Rising Pune Supergiants' campaign back on track when they lock horns with in-form Kolkata Knight Riders.
Vidarbha piled up a mammoth 511 in their first essay and then reduced Mumbai to 169 for six on the second day of their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy Game in Nagpur on Monday.
Captain Manoj Tiwary led from the front with an unbeaten century as East Zone posted a respectable 278 in their first innings against West Zone on the opening day's play of the four-day Duleep Trophy quarter-final, in Lahli.
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played on Tuesday.
Round up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played across the country
Table-toppers Mumbai Indians will be itching to avenge their double defeat against Rising Pune Supergiant in the league stage when the two teams face-off in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League in Mumbai, on Tuesday.
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.
The out-of-favour opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were handed a lifeline by the national selectors on Tuesday when they were included in the India 'A' squad for the second and third four-day matches against the touring West Indies 'A' later this month.
Shreyas Iyer stroked his way to an unbeaten half-century in an otherwise unimpressive batting display by India 'A' in reply to Australia's first-innings total of 469 for seven declared on the second day of the three-day practice game in Mumbai.
Karnataka inched closer to winning the Irani Trophy crown after Chidambaram Gautam's brilliant 122-run knock guided them to a mammoth 606 in their first innings against Rest of India on the third day in Bangalore.
Chasing a target of 283, India 'A' knocked off the runs in 39.4 overs.
Round up of the Ranji Trophy games being played in different parts of the country.
Owing to their first innings lead, Bengal grabbed three crucial points against Haryana after their Group A Ranji Trophy match ended in a draw at the CH Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, Lahli on Monday.
Riding on the disciplined performances of their bowlers, Royal Challengers Bangalore thrashed Mumbai Indians by seven wickets for their second straight victory, in the Indian Premier League.
A round-up of the Ranji matches played on Friday
A summary of the day's matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament.
A round-up of the Ranji matches played across India on Sunday
Even on paper, there is not much to choose, especially with Pune beating MI thrice this season including a comprehensive victory in Qualifier 1. But a impressive show by Mumbai in the final cannot be ruled out.
Mumbai Indians would look to bounce back when they take on a formidable Royal Challengers Bangalore.