In a bizarre incident, the start of a Ranji Trophy match between Vidarbha and Andhra on Monday was delayed by a few minutes after a snake entered the ground in Vijaywada.
Chahal, who has been an automatic choice in the limited overs format has not played any first-class cricket since December 2016 (against Haryana in Ranji Trophy), but the Indian team management and especially skipper Virat Kohli has indicated that he wants the wiry leg-spinner for five-day matches also.
Wasim Jaffer missed out on a triple hundred but Vidarbha, in their bid to out-bat Rest of India, posted a mammoth 702 for five at stumps on a rain-curtailed third day of the Irani Cup, in Nagpur, on Friday.
Wasim Jaffer missed out on a triple hundred but Vidarbha, in their bid to out-bat Rest of India, posted a mammoth 702 for five at stumps on a rain-curtailed third day of the Irani Cup, in Nagpur, on Friday.
Zimbabwe axed their coach Dav Whatmore and captain Hamilton Masakadza just days before the arrival of India for a five-match limited-overs tour.
Left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat took four wickets in the second innings and took his match tally to nine for 116 as Saurashtra thrashed Vidarbha by an innings and 85 runs and booked a place in the Ranji Trophy semi-finals for the first time in three seasons, in Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, on Friday.
India A could not take advantage of a strong opening partnership and lost four quick wickets for an addition of just 16 runs as they ended the third day of their four-day game against Australia A at 158 for four, still needing 108 runs to avoid the innings defeat, in Brisbane on Saturday.
Skipper Parthiv Patel struck an exemplary fifty, while Axar Patel chipped in with an unbeaten 36, after picking two crucial wickets, as Gujarat edged out Vidarbha by two wickets and advanced to the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy One-day tournament, in Alur, Karnataka, on Thursday.
Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal announced that the entire prize money will be donated to the families of the CRPF personnel martyred in the dastardly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on Thursday.
A round-up of Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Sunday
Middle-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav joined rookie opener Jay Bista in the list of Mumbai centurions as the Ranji Trophy champions amassed an imposing first innings score of 603 against Rest of India in the Irani Cup match in Mumbai on Monday.
Hardik Pandya stood tall amid the ruins with an unbeaten 79 as India collapsed to 169-9 on a rain-hit opening day of the second four-day Quadrangular A Series match against Australia, in Brisbane, on Thursday.
A summary of all the action from Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Tuesday.
The domestic season-ending five-day Irani Cup game between newly crowned Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai and the Rest of India, commencing in Mumbai from Sunday, will provide fringe players a good opportunity to stake claims for the national team. The first class match is the last occasion for hopefuls from both ranks to impress the five-member national selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil before attention shifts totally to the T20 format, commencing with the ICC World T20 Championships. With the country expected to play over 15 Test matches post Indian Premier League till the end of next season, this match is the ideal platform for these players to strengthen their claims for the long Test haul. Mumbai, who clinched the Ranji crown for the 41st time last week by defeating Saurashtra by an innings, have a settled combination led by wicket keeper batsman Aditya Tare. They appear to be better prepared than the motley bunch of Rest of India, being led by Madhya Pradesh stumper Naman Ojha. However, they would take the Rest of India lightly at their own peril as the latter have a good bowling attack at their command even without originally named Barinder Sran and Nathu Singh who have been injured and replaced by Ankit Rajpoot and Anureet Singh, according to their coach Ashish Kapoor.
Despite Gaikward's brilliance, Maharashtra could not qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.
Manoj Tiwary's belligerent 101-ball 130 followed by seamer Veer Pratap Singh's six-wicket haul enabled Bengal to beat a spirited Vidarbha by 17 runs and enter the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Odisha also booked a last four berth.
The former Australia wicketkeeper joins former England coach Trevor Bayliss, who was appointed Sunrisers head coach last month.
Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai decided against enforcing the follow-on after taking a huge lead of 297 runs over Rest of India on Day 3 of the five-day Irani Cup match at the Brabourne stadium, in Mumbai, on Tuesday.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Saturday.
Vihari, who had scored a hundred in the last Irani Cup, once again held the innings together, scoring 114 off 211 balls with 11 fours and two sixes. It was in complete contrast to Agarwal's innings which was laced with 10 fours and three sixes.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar blew away Bengal top-order in an incredible five-wicket haul
Having already clinched the series, India would look to hand Zimbabwe a third successive whitewash while testing more youngsters when they take on the lacklustre hosts in the third and final One-day International in Harare, on Wednesday.
Pandit guided an unheralded Vidarbha side to second successive titles with a mix of strategic acumen and old school discipline.
Displaying steely resolve, Dhruv Shorey stood out with an unbeaten century and steered Delhi to 271 for six, but Vidarbha did just enough to share honours on day one of the Ranji Trophy final in Indore.
A summary of all the action from Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
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.
Central Zone's Madhya Pradesh duo of Jalaj Saxena and wicketkeeper batsman Naman Ojha took full advantage of dropped catches and took an inexperienced North Zone attack to the cleaners as they posted 344 for three at stumps, on the first day of their Duleep Trophy semi-final, at Mohali, on Wednesday.
In a big setback for North Zone ahead of the Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone, captain Harbhajan Singh has been forced to sit out due to viral fever as Gautam Gambhir will step in to lead the team, in Mohali, on Wednesday.
It will be a different sort of challenge for Mahendra Singh Dhoni when he captains a new-look Indian cricket team against Zimbabwe in the first ODI of a short series starting in Harare on Saturday.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji identify Rediff.com's Most Valuable ODI Player in the 2016-2017 season so far.
Vidarbha claimed their maiden Ranji Trophy after beating Delhi by nine wickets in the final of India's premier domestic tournament, in Indore, on Monday.
At stumps on the second day, Jaffer was batting on 61 off 120 balls and Akshay Wakhare was yet to open his account, as Vidabha trailed by 89 runs.
It proved to be a good toss to lose for Saurashtra, who succeeded in removing the most impactful Vidarbha batsmen -- Jaffer (23) and captain Faiz Fazal (16) -- cheaply.
Skipper Manish Pandey led from the front with a timely century while Dhawal Kulkarni showed his all-round prowess as India A defeated South Africa A by 3-wickets in the quadrangular One-Day series in Townsville, Australia on Wednesday. Pandey anchored the innings with a brilliant unbeaten 100 off 105 deliveries that had hit nine boundaries and a six. He was ably supported by Kulkarni, who chipped in with 23 as the pair added 47 runs for the unbroken eighth wicket stand after India A were in trouble at 187 for 7.
Karnataka inflicted an innings and 20 runs defeat on Mumbai with more than a day to spare in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final in Nagpur on Sunday to move into the semi-finals in convincing fashion.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar gave a thumbs up to the selection committee's decision to reward the domestic players while naming a new-look India squad for the upcoming limited overs series in Zimbabwe.
Wasim Jaffer defied age and modern fitness norms to flay a young Rest of India Mumbaikar attack throughout the second day of Irani Cup as Vidarbha reached a mammoth 589 for three, riding on Mumbai maestro's unbeaten 285.
Shreyas Iyer was the lone ranger as his unbeaten 191 helped Mumbai to 328/6 in their Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match against Gujarat in Hubballi on Wednesday. At stumps on the third and penultimate day, Mumbai trailed Gujarat by 109 runs with four wickets remaining in the first innings. Gujarat were all out for 437 in their first essay after Priyank Kirit Panchal slammed 232.
A summary of the first day's play at different venues in the Ranji Trophy.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final matches played on Saturday.