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.
Tiwary (303) became only the second player from Bengal, after Devang Gandhi (323), to score a first-class triple ton, when he hammered the Hyderabad bowlers all over the park on Day 2 of their Ranji Trophy match on Monday.
My captain no more, but will always be with me, says Sunil Gavaskar
'Obviously we need a lot of more experience with that ball, but it's a great time for us to play a day-night Test'
Sourav Ganguly emphasised the need for playing day/night Tests to attract more spectators to stadiums.
Mumbai youngster Prithvi Shaw and Andhra batsman Hanuma Vihari were the two surprise inclusion in India's squad for the last two Tests of the ongoing five-match series against England.
Punjab rode on some brilliant batting by India discard Yuvraj Singh to thrash Haryana by 120 runs in the Group B Ranji Trophy match in Patiala on Wednesday. The man-of-the-match made it count for the Mandeep Singh-led side by scoring 59 in the first innings and a brilliant 130 in the second. A summary of the action in matches across the country.
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.
Former India captain and CAB president, Sourav Ganguly, is working overtime to get everything in order at Eden Gardens, which is set to host the country's first pink-ball multi-day cricket match under lights. With drone flying over him under the dazzling Eden floodlights, the iconic lefthander was seen shooting promotional with the pink Kookaburra. "Eden Gardens will hold the first day-night (four-day) match in India. It has given us many moments to celebrate, now it's getting ready to host yet another moment to remember," Ganguly said in the promotional. Later talking to media, Ganguly, who is also the BCCI technical committee chairman, said, "Pink ball is the future... This will be the ultimate form of Test cricket. What will be the use of doing something which will have little interest left."
Batsman Lokesh Rahul is sure not taking comparisons with his namesake, Rahul Dravid, seriously but the talented Karnataka opener is keen to emulate South African ODI captain AB de Villiers in style of play.
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.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India president Anurag Thakur, on Saturday, made a no-holds-barred attack on ICC chairman Shashank Manohar, accusing him of abandoning the Board when it needed him like the 'captain of a sinking ship'.
The peaks Prithvi Shaw scaled on the first day of his Test career in numbers, via Rajneesh Gupta.
Seamer R Vinay Kumar, on Thursday, threw his weight behind in-form wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik who was a surprise choice to lead the two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL).
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 Indian team management, headed by coach Ravi Shastri, intimated the Committee of Administrators that the team will take at least 18 months to prepare for the Day-Night Test.
The Duleep Trophy final was Central Zone skipper Piyush Chawla's 100th first-class match and the thrilling nine-run win was termed by the UP leg-spinner as one of the "most memorable wins" in his career.
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.
'Under lights, with the late swing, it is challenging for batsmen'
Tendulkar, who had earlier voiced his concern about tackling the dew factor, said the Indian cricket think-tank should do a postmortem after the match gets over.
Rohit Sharma knows he must score away from home to erase any lingering doubts about his Test credentials.
Known for his proficiency in Tests and a prolific scorer in first class cricket, Cheteshwar Pujara has set himself a task - of forcing people to take notice of his prowess in the T20 format too and play in the upcoming Indian Premier League season.
The world was in a "sheer shock" in the past few months due to the coronavirus pandemic but BCCI president Sourav Ganguly is confident that life will be back to normal once the vaccine for the virus is developed. Ganguly believes once the vaccine is out, the virus will be like any other health issues like flu or jaundice but with a cure.
Tendulkar's sterling performances, his fascinating duels for supremacy with contemporaries -- Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Inzamam-ul Haq, Jacques Kallis among batsmen; Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Wasim Akram among bowlers -- embellished modern cricket and globalised the game, asserts Ayaz Memon who has observed the cricketing colossus from the day he made his Test debut in November 1989.
'A player need to have T20 skills otherwise he is not going to survive.'
'No matter how much runs you score in the Ranji Trophy or Duleep Trophy or Irani Trophy, if you don't have T20 skills in batting or bowling you are not going to go too far.'
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.
The teams for both the matches are a mix of experience and youth.
Wicketkeeper Kona Bharat has showcased his skills with the gloves and bat in the several games he has played for India 'A' in the past year or so and is close to selection in the Test team.
Of all the things that went right in the Test series opener against New Zealand, Cheteshwar Pujara's transformation from an obdurate accumulator of runs to a free-scoring batsman when needed must be the most pleasing for India captain Virat Kohli.
Out-of-favour India opener Gautam Gambhir feels spinners will decide the fate of the upcoming three-match Test series between India and New Zealand, starting in Kanpur on September 22.
'I was not sure whether such a big player would come to my house but he was quite happy to visit my place... which was just unbelievable!'
'Everything else runs because of the IPL, there is so much money involved so the IPL definitely needs to happen.'
'When you saw him, you immediately knew that he was something special.'
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.
Kuldeep Yadav, among all the players in this team, has more experience of playing with pink ball and the kind of revolution he produces, he could make it difficult for batsmen to spot the black seam of the pink kookaburra under lights.
As Sachin turns 50, Rediff brings you 50 fascinating facts about the God of Cricket.
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.
'I think personally the home country should have the right to schedule matches as it sees fit and start them at whatever time of day they want'
India's limited overs specialist Jasprit Bumrah is aware that bowling effective yorkers can't remain his only weapon at the highest level.
Despite just one bid and the sponsorship rights going for its base price, the Board of Control for Cricket in India expressed satisfaction with its deal with Star India Pvt Ltd and ESPN for all 13 home international fixtures till March 2014.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances