It remains to be seen whether veteran Gautam Gambhir can make a comeback to the Indian ODI team after being recently called up to the Test squad to replace the injured KL Rahul.
The Punjab spinner bagged 4 for 99 as North Zone scored a 21-run victory over West Zone in the Duleep Trophy match.
Mohammad Shami and Wriddhiman Saha are among the India players, who will get a first-hand experience of day/night cricket with the pink ball when local giants Mohun Bagan and Bhowanipore Club meet in Cricket Association of Bengal's Super League final, starting Saturday.
Yuvraj Singh hit a 110 and Virender Sehwag 79 as North Zone scored 497 for 9 on the second day of the Duleep Trophy match against South Zone.
Elite 'A' bowlers Irfan Pathan (Jr) and Sarandeep Singh claimed three wickets each as Elite B were bundled out for 219
India Red predictably completed the formalities polishing off the India Green lower order early on the fourth and final day to win the inaugural Day-Night Duleep Trophy encounter by a comprehensive 219-run margin in Noida.
But the focus will be on 19-year-old Gill, who has broken into the Indian Test squad for the three-match series against the Proteas, starting on October 2 in Visakhapatnam.
Yuvraj Singh says the thought of not being able to play for India again has crossed his mind and added that it will be very depressing if he fails to make a comeback into the Indian cricket team.
Ravindra Jadeja spiced up an otherwise uneventful final day with another lethal spell of left-arm spin as India Blue notched a crushing 355-run victory over India Red to win the inaugural day-night Duleep Trophy tournament, in Greater Noida, on Wednesday evening.
A record 37 teams, including seven debutants from the northeast, participating in the Ranji Trophy beginning on Thursday pose a massive logistical challenge for a cricket board going through administrative chaos.
Following Pankaj Singh's distinctly unlucky Test debut during the match against England at Southampton, the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had a few words of encourgement for him.
Wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, who was picked as replacement for the rested Mahendra Singh Dhoni for India's first three One-Day Internationals against Sri Lanka, is confident of recovering from injury in time for the opening match in Cuttack on Sunday.
The Sri Lankans have played 17 Tests in India in 35 years, but failed to win a single one.
Indian ODI captain MS Dhoni has joked that the performance by the bowlers in the fifth match against South Africa was so pathetic that he would not count it as "bad" even.
The Australians, led by Steve Smith, arrived in Chennai from Bangladesh after drawing a two-Test series and the match tomorrow would give them opportunity to at least switch to the One-day format.
Senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh feels captain Virat Kohli and chief coach Anil Kumble have got a chance to usher in a new era where Indian cricket teams will not require 'rank turners' to win matches as the long-used tactic is beginning to boomerang on the side.
Arjun Tendulkar, son of cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and a left-arm pacer, has been named in the 15-member Mumbai squad for the upcoming 'Bapuna Cup' to be held in Nagpur.
Rajneesh Gupta gives us all the numbers.
'"Who you know" does not help in scoring runs or taking wickets in front of hundreds of millions of fans, which alone determines your selection to play for your team.'
The Board of Control for Cricket in India awarded the title sponsorship for all international series and the domestic tournaments in India for the year 2013-14 to Star Private Ltd. and ESPN at the base price of Rs two crore per fixture, considerably low compared to their previous deal with Airtel on Thursday.
Skipper Manoj Tiwary continued his blazing form in domestic competitions with a magnificent 151 that powered East Zone to a comfortable 52-run win over North in the Deodhar Trophy semi-final in Mumbai.
Harbhajan Singh has threatened to take legal action against controversial umpire Darrell Hair if the Australian continued to damage his reputation by making provocative comment that youngsters with suspect action have made him a role model.
Going by the nature of the pitch on eve of the three-day game, senior player Ross Taylor said he does not expect the ball to turn much at Kotla, but is aware it won't be the case in the three-Test series, starting in Kanpur on September 22.
Up-and-coming Karnataka batsman Lokesh Rahul and Uttar Pradesh leg-spinner Karn Sharma were named in India's 19-man Test squad for the tour of Australia, which was announced after the selection committee of the Board for Control of Cricket in India met in Mumbai on Monday morning. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will miss the opening Test, from December 4, at the Gabba in Brisbane, because of an injury and Virat Kohli will stand in for him.
'I am willing to help/assist in any way to help bring in a change. It's shocking to say the least that the payment system hasn't been changed since 2004. Imagine the value of 100 rupees then and now. It is so different' 'The guys can't even plan their future because they don't know whether they would earn Rs 1 lakh or Rs 10 lakh in that year and it leads to huge issues in their lives and families and (affects) state of mind. Anyway, let's try and gently make a change for our brothers'
Youngsters including Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, teen sensation Prithvi Shaw will be keen to make a mark and impress the national selectors during Tuesday's One-Day warm-up against New Zealand in Mumbai.
Karnataka batsman Lokesh Rahul gave the selectors food for thought before the upcoming Australia tour, scoring a classy century which gave South Zone a vital first innings lead against Central Zone on Day 2 of the Duleep Trophy final, in Delhi, on Thursday. Replying to Central's first innings total of 276, South rode the opener's unbeaten 168 to end the day on 308 for three, a lead of 32 runs, at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
'I would have loved to see Dhoni play the first ever Test in Rajkot.' Fans from Saurashtra share their excitement with Haresh Pandya.
India's limited overs specialist Jasprit Bumrah is aware that bowling effective yorkers can't remain his only weapon at the highest level.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India's move to have Ranji Trophy matches at neutral venues failed miserably in its first attempt, according to leading domestic players who say the idea did not work due to apathy of the host associations and poor planning.
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Riding on Baba Aparajith's splendid century, South Zone crushed a hapless Central Zone by 116 runs with 13.3 overs to storm into the Deodhar Trophy semi-finals at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
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.
'Dhoni's skills are unbelievable and also his mindset, the way he thinks about the game.'
Madhya Pradesh wicketkeeper-batsman Naman ojha is "not surprised" by his inclusion in India's 19-member Test squad for the tour of Australia. After all, he's been in his stupendous form with the bat in the past 12 months.
Uncertanity over the availability of Wriddhiman Saha, who had a split webbing in his right hand, for the first One-Day International against Sri Lanka seems to be over as the wicketkeeper batsman looked fit ahead of the opening game, in Cuttack on Sunday.
Robin Uthappa has come out as a completely changed batsman this season and the Karnataka opener attributes his consistent scores on "staying true to his skills" just like India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
Despite taking a career-best six for four in an ODI against Bangladesh in Dhaka in June, Stuart Binny is, however, yet to win the confidence of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the team management. He was benched throughout the ODI series in England before being dropped for the recent controversy-ridden ODI series against the West Indies.
It could well be the last of his innumerable comebacks but Dinesh Karthik is not losing sleep over it as he intends to build on the recent gains in international cricket by following the timely advice of India coach Ravi Shastri.
Quick bucks made through popular Twenty20 leagues are spoiling fast bowlers across the world as they stop working hard after initial success, laments Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath. "Biggest issue which I find, probably not just in India, probably around the world is how hard they are prepared to work. "And if they do get little bit of success playing in IPL or big bash in Australia is that they get to that level and they think they have made it and they stop working hard and they stop training as much," McGrath said after attending a coaching clinic for Under-23 pacers at the PCA stadium in Mohali.
