'There was a point of time -- I am very honest about it -- that I was not raring to even put on whites. I wasn't part of any team -- I wasn't part of any first-class team. There was a time when I was dropped from my own first-class team. To have this opportunity to be part of the Indian team is such a huge bonus'
'I don't want to run around things too much. I am going to keep doing my work and follow my process. I love doing my fitness drills and work on my skill level. I knew if it has to come, it will come'
South African speedster Dale Steyn will miss the fourth and final test against India with a lingering groin injury that has limited his participation in the four-match series to a solitary contest in the series-opener in Mohali.
Sri Lanka paceman Suranga Lakmal took three quick wickets before Tillakaratne Dilshan smashed a 32-ball 59 to lead Sri Lanka to a tense one-wicket win in a rain-curtailed first one-dayer against West Indies.
Part-time spinner Kraigg Brathwaite took six wickets in an inspired bowling performance as West Indies bowled Sri Lanka out for 206 in their second innings to leave the touring side with a target of 244 to win the second Test.
The Delhi high court, on Thursday, directed a top mobile company official to be present before it in a contempt case filed by ace cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni alleging that the firm was using his name by projecting him as its brand ambassador despite the termination of the agreement between them way back in December 2012.
The Indian contingent of more than 300 navy personnel was assisting in the relief, with divers searching the brackish waters and medical teams seeing patients in makeshift tents set up at shelters.
Bangladesh lost four wickets in the final session to slump to 214 for five on day two of their second and final Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Bishen Singh Bedi has praised Ravichandran Ashwin for his consistent showing in the three matches but came down hard on the other bowlers.
The India team sent out a message saying Ashwin was after all to be included in the squad and a decision on whether he played would not be made until the first morning of the match on Thursday.
Statistical highlights from Day 4 in the second Test between India and Sri Lanka, in Colombo.
Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews led by example, hitting an unbeaten 77 to help his team overcome a top order wobble and take a 291-run lead against Pakistan at the end of the third day's play in the third and final Test at Pallekele on Sunday.
Team India's Jasprit Bumrah, India women's cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur and shooter Heena Sindhu have exceeded expectations to make the cut.
Nic Pothas appointed as interim coach of Windies
Against England on Monday and then Wednesday's game versus Australia, the Indian team management would look to give the players who are still not automatic choices in the playing XI, more overs to bat or bowl to get a better idea about their current form.
Starting January 24, India will be playing five T20 Internationals, three ODIs and two Test matches, and squads for the tour will be picked on Sunday.
Senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that the "actual fun is when one bowls on challenging tracks", which can't exactly be called rank turners. While Ravichandran Ashwin went for 167 runs in 46 overs in the first Test against England, Harbhajan termed it as "one off day". "Mazaa toh tab hain jab wickets challenging ho (It's fun when the track throws up challenge for the bowlers). You have to be consistent with your lines and try different things. You have to toil to get wickets and that brings to the fore your skills as a bowler," Harbhajan said when asked about India's bowling performance on the first day in Rajkot.
Pakistan have named Azhar Ali as their One-day captain following the retirement of Misbah-ul-Haq from One-Day Internationals after this month's World Cup.
The ball was old, the stage set and expectations high but India's Rohit Sharma again spurned the opportunity to assert his long-form credentials in the first test against New Zealand on Thursday. Often hailed as the next big thing to come out of Mumbai since Sachin Tendulkar, the 29-year-old is an automatic choice in the limited-overs side and the only batsman to score two one-day international double centuries.
Kohli had on Wednesday said the "overdose" of India-Sri Lanka cricket needs to be analysed as the islanders are touring for a return series in space of three months.
Sri Lankan cricket and the island's once-powerful side arrive at the World Cup struggling for form under a newly appointed captain who has played a single One-day international since 2015.
West Indies head into World Cup with little or no expectations of success.
Fast bowling all-rounder Doug Bracewell on Saturday admitted that New Zealand felt the heat after Mumbai hammered 402 on day two of their only warm-up match in New Delhi on Saturday. Mumbai ended the day at 431 for five in reply to New Zealand's 324 for seven declared on the opening day.
One of Indian cricket's best chairmen of selectors, the 'Colonel' is confident that Virat Kohli's men will have a smooth ride to the semi-finals and can take it from there on.
Maithripala Sirisena, who scored a stunning victory, was on Friday sworn-in as Sri Lankan president, bringing the curtains down on the 10-year rule of Mahinda Rajapaksa, marking a smooth transition of power.
Maithripala Sirisena, the Sri Lankan president-elect, will be sworn-in on Friday evening following his stunning victory in the tightest-ever presidential race that ended the 10-year-rule of Mahinda Rajapaksa.
'Unmatchable' duo of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli could help India lift their third World Cup
Rajapaksa is the first president to be sworn in outside Colombo.
Kumar Sangakkara laid the foundation before Angelo Mathews completed a nervy chase as Sri Lanka beat England by six wickets in the fourth One-Day International.
Sri Lankans were on the edge on Tuesday as they waited whether embattled Gotabaya Rajapaksa will honour his offer to resign as president, amid signs that key members of the erstwhile powerful ruling family were attempting to flee in the face of massive public anger against them for mishandling the economy that has bankrupt the country.
A leisure trip to Sri Lanka proved fatal for JD-S workers when the blast took place very close to the dining table as they sat for breakfast at Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, one of the major targets of the deadliest terror strikes in the island nation's history, family members said.
India's Virat Kohli slipped a rung but is still the best-placed Indian batsman in third position in the latest the International Cricket Council One-Day batsmen's rankings released on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya has said that the hastily-arranged five-match ODI series in India, to be held in early next month, will help the fringe players prove their worth before next year's World Cup.
His earlier thoughts of a 'more challenging' contest in One-day Internationals did not materialise as Sri Lanka hardly gave a fight to the Indians but the visiting captain Virat Kohli on Sunday expressed happiness at winning the series 5-0.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was almost ruled out for a crunch India-Pakistan match in the Asia Cup last year after he suffered an injury but the then Captain's determination saw him not only turning up for the game but also winning it, according to national chief selector M S K Prasad.
For someone who has spent six agonising months on the sidelines battling doping allegations, Sri Lankan Kusal Perera cannot think of a better place for his return than the hallowed turf of Lord's in the third and final test against England on Thursday. The 25-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman was sent home from the tour of New Zealand in December after it was announced he had failed a drugs test last July. He was cleared last month when the International Cricket Council (ICC) dropped all charges against him after the Qatar-based laboratory that conducted the test withdrew its initial findings. Perera was not allowed to train with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) coaches and was called up in England only after a shoulder injury had ended paceman Dhammika Prasad's tour.
Former batsman Mahela Jayawardene feels the fear of failure is impeding the growth of the Sri Lankan cricket team, which is currently being outplayed by India.
Newly appointed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Shaharyar Khan criticised Ahmed Shehzad for offering religious advice to Sri Lankan player Tillakaratne Dilshan during an ODI last week, saying it was a "stupid statement" on part of the Pakistani batsman.
It has taken India 10 years to finish a Test in 3 days.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers from the Kandy Test, Day 2.
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