The never-ending speculation surrounding Mahendra Singh Dhoni's retirement, Virat Kohli's 16-year-itch, the second chance that life has offered Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma's bleeding heart will make for intriguing sub-plots in the annual carnival called the Indian Premier League starting on Friday.
While the two T20 matches will be a precursor to the ODI series, vice-captain Rohit Sharma is likely to be given a short break to rejuvenate and come back fresh for the ODIs.
For KKR, the biggest cause of concern will be the availability of big-hitter Andre Russell, who hurt his knee when he dived into the advertisement boards after missing a catch on Saturday.
Mumbai Indians fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has credited his side's 41-run victory over Pune Warriors, to the 54-run opening stand between skipper Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar.
The Indian cricket team will assemble in New Delhi on June 5 ahead of the five-match T20I series against South Africa.
KKR are gradually emerging as a strong contender for a third IPL title
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index of IPL 2024 after Game 37.
The world's tallest building showcased a breathtaking LED display and honoured KKR
The 21-year-old had limited opportunity to showcase his skills in the last edition, but this time Kolkata Knight Riders coach Brendon McCullum has already given the opener's slot to him.
Dravid said that Dinesh Karthik has been able to show skills at the backend of the innings during the last 2-3 years.
Team India discards -- Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra, and the Pathan brothers -- will get another opportunity to stake a claim in the national team at the annual NKP Salve Challenger Trophy which gets underway in Nagpur on Monday.
If push comes to shove, Arshdeep looks a better bet than Umran.
Rohit Sharma will lead a second string Indian team, comprising leading performers in domestic (Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 and IPL) tournaments, for the Twenty20 tri-series in Sri Lanka, starting March 6. S hikhar Dhawan will be his deputy in the side that has as many as six changes.
Tons by Sridharan Sriram and Dinesh Karthik helped Tamil Nadu post 481 in their first innings against Railways on the second day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final.
# Gayle (82 not out off 59 balls) became the first batsman to register six fifties in the IPL 2012.
Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Pat Cummins says it's time to make amends for the team's opening match reversal when he leaked 49 runs from his four overs as KKR suffered a record 20th loss to Mumbai Indians.
# Kumar Sangakkara took his dismissals' tally to 13 (12 catches + 1 stumping) in nine matches in the IPL -- the most by a wicketkeeper.
The Rohit Sharma-led, Indian team, on Sunday, departed for the Nidahas T20 Trophy to be played in Sri Lanka from Tuesday.
Despite suffering a narrow six-run loss to Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians skipper Harbhajan Singh has appreciated the efforts of his boys and said he was proud of his team for putting up a fight in their Champions League Twenty20 in Johannesburg.
There were many memorable performances in the league stages.
Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje are expected to spit fire on a track that will offer steep bounce as India's top-order gears up for its toughest test in adverse conditions against a top-notch South African side in the T20 World Cup on Sunday.
Images from the IPL 2022 Playoff Eliminator match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants
Hasaranga's first two strikes changed the complexion of the game. With Markram's wicket a huge partnership was averted. Pooran's dismissal nipped a growing partnership in the bud.
Captain KL Rahul has been one of the few consistent performers in the formidable-looking Punjab batting unit and he once again led by example against MI
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma says a set batsmen needs to bat deep till the end when playing in hot and humid conditions in the UAE.
KKR have so far failed to come together as a unit and slipped to sixth in the table after starting the tournament on a high against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
As the players' auction for the fourth edition of the IPL concluded on Sunday, Kings XI Punjab coach Michael Bevan expressed satisfaction with the team at his disposal.
India were forced to name a depleted squad for the first Test against South Africa after Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and S Sreesanth were ruled out due to injuries, sustained during the recently-concluded tour of Bangladesh. Karnataka fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun was rewarded for an outstanding performance in domestic matches last season, while Bengal wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha was a surprise inclusion, in place of Dinesh Karthik, in the 15-man squad.
Morgan's astute captaincy in using his bowling resources was the highlight as KKR had bowled out MI for a modest 152.
A summary of the Vijay Hazare Trophy matches played on Saturday.
India batsman Dinesh Karthik feels the challenge young wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal encountered in the first ODI against New Zealand will only make them "mentally tougher" for future games.
RCB's fielding complemented the bowling and the team coasted to a well-deserved victory.
The big question for Captain Rohit Sharma and Head Coach Rahul Dravid is to where to accomodate Virat Kohli, who has struggled for runs across formats in the last couple of years.
Following India's disappointing performance at the ICC Champions Trophy, veteran batsman Rahul Dravid was dropped from the 15-member squad for the first two one-dayers against Australia. Virender Sehwag makes a comeback after recovering from injury and will replace Dinesh Karthik.
Gautam Gambhir leads one of the star-studded line-ups in the Champions League Twenty20. The Delhi Daredevils' line-up boasts of the two most dangerous batsmen in world cricket -- Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virender Sehwag.
Chasing a competitive target of 191, Lewis smashed his way to an unbeaten 125 off 62 balls with as many as 12 sixes and six fours as the reigning World T20 champions knocked off the runs in only 18.3 overs.
Sachin Tendulkar threw his weight behind the youngsters in the Indian team who failed terribly during the tri-series in Sri Lanka, but asked them to minimise mistakes and learn to respond to situations swiftly.
India beat South Africa by 16 runs in a high-scoring Twenty20 international in Guwahati on Sunday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Du Plessis, Bangalore's leading scorer this season, fell short of his maiden IPL hundred once again but did not expect to wait too much longer.
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