Kedar Jadhav claimed he never lost faith in India's bowlers to deliver victory in a last-over thriller with Afghanistan. Jadhav's careful half century, alongside captain Virat Kohli's 67, were the two highlights in a difficult day at the crease for India's batsmen in their latest ICC Men's Cricket World Cup clash at the Hampshire Bowl.
'I still don't know why I was ruled unfit when I was fit enough to play'
Afghanistan has shown great promise in taking its game to the next level, as its journey from the lower divisions to competing on cricket's biggest stages testifies. Since the ICC World Cup 2015, Afghanistan has won 25 of 44 games across formats. That includes 11 Twenty20 Internationals wins in 13 matches. Those statistics, and the fact that it has never lost a T20I to Scotland, will give Afghanistan a mental boost when the two sides lock horns in Tuesday's (March 8)second Group B match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. Afghanistan certainly has all the ingredients to beat Scotland and this contest should be a keenly fought one.
Eight teams have formed some of the best combinations from a pool of 64 top cricketers in the players' draft for T10League -- the limited ten-over format cricket -- that will be played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Lost in transition, defending champions Sri Lanka will look to come out of the rut and start well against a spirited Afghanistan in their World Twenty20 Super 10 opener at Eden Gardens on Thursday. The defending champions, who were also runners-up in 2009 and 2012, have managed to win only four of their 14 matches since they beat India to win the 2014 edition in Mirpur. They are in the middle of a transition phase after Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene's exit. The build-up to the tournament was also forgettable with series defeats in New Zealand and India followed by an early ouster in Asia Cup. To add to the misery, their 2014 WT20 winning skipper Lasith Malinga has stepped down as leader of the team, following concern over his slow recovery from a knee injury. Now Test and ODI skipper Angelo Mathews' task is cutout. Having joined the squad on Tuesday, Malinga is a doubtful starter for the match. His presence in the team would impact the team a lot.
The Asia Cup to be played in Bangladesh from February 24, will be played in the T20 format for the first time in the tournament's history. The tournament which precedes the vital World T20 to be held in in India in March, has a rich history with India and Sri Lanka winning it five times each. Pakistan have been victorious on two occasions while Bangladesh's best finish has been their runner-up performance in the 2012 edition. Team India will be led by MS Dhoni and the tournament will also see Virat Kohli returning after taking a break from the recently concluded three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. Dhoni will be chasing history to become the most successful skipper in the tournament history. The Indian skipper and former Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga have both recorded same number of nine victories and four defeats in the Asia Cup All the matches will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur. The qualifying rounds involving Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Oman has begun from Friday.
Afghanistan's controversial campaign, marred by poor on and off-field decisions, has gone from bad to worse. They now face the onerous task of squaring off against a galaxy of world class players, whose performance graph is on the upswing.
Neesham, a batting all-rounder, rocked the Afghanistan innings by his incisive bowling and in the process returned with his career-best figures of 5/31 from his 10 overs. His earlier best was 4/42.
Thisara admitted his side were far from perfect after another batting disaster, he insisted they always knew they had a chance of success if their bowlers stepped up.
Images from the the T20 World Cup Super 12s match between Afghanistan and Namibia, in Abu Dhabi, on Sunday.
The only problem for India in the Asia Cup so far has been lack of batting time for the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik.
Rajneesh Gupta profiles the cricketers playing the World Cup 2019.
Jasprit Bumrah in full flow is always a joy to watch, six or seven stuttering steps, a skip and a shuffle, followed by undiluted fire and fury.
Advancing into the Super 10 stage for the first time in three attempts, minnows Afghanistan will face a formidable challenge when they clash with South Africa in the ICC World Twenty 20 Championship at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
This was Sri Lanka's second loss in as many matches, and, as a consequence, they have been knocked out of the tournament.
India vice-captain Rohit Sharma says R Ashwin's presence in the playing XI is always an advantage as the seasoned off-spinner is on the lookout for wickets at all times.
Their campaign back on track after a stunning victory over South Africa, a resurgent England will be looking to plug their bowling loopholes when they take on an ever-improving Afghanistan in a Super 10 Group 1 match of the ICC World Twenty20, in New Delhi, on Wednesday.
South Africa won their first game at the World Cup, beating Afghanistan by nine wickets (DLS). Imran Tahir finished with figures of 4 for 29, the best figures by a spinner in the tournament so
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji identify the Most Valuable Players of World Cup 2019.
Rashid Khan dismissed Ravindra Jadeja in the final over as Afghanistan pulled off a thrilling tie against India in a Super Four match of the Asia Cup in Dubai on Tuesday.
IMAGES from the World Cup match played between India and Afghanistan in Southampton on Saturday
England captain Eoin Morgan hit 17 sixes in his knock of 148, an ODI record.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji identify the Most Valuable Players at World Cup 2019.
With Jadeja almost clinching victory with a boundary and Khaleel Ahmed scampering home for his life to tie the scores, only a single was all that was required off two deliveries.
Penpix of the Afghanistan squad for the 2015 cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand
The International Cricket Council released the provisional squads of the 12 teams for next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand on Friday. However, co-hosts Australia and minnows Ireland decided against releasing the provisional list although they submitted 30 names to the parent body within the stipulated deadline.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the fascinating career numbers of players in the World Cup.
590 cricketers -- including 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players -- will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
Sri Lanka, who won the last edition of the World T20 in 2014, have 21 wins from 31 matches in the six editions of the tournament, while India have 17 victories from 28 games. Check out the records of the previous five editions of the World T20.
India Test regulars like Cheteswar Pujara and Ishant Sharma have also thrown their hat into the ring with base prices of Rs 50 and Rs 75 lakh respectively.
As the top 10 teams prepare to battle for the World T20 crown, Rajneesh Gupta breaks down each squad's T20 performance and their showing in previous editions of the event.
