India's One-Day International captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, on Tuesday, lamented the absence of a good attacking batsman lower down the order for the forthcoming tour of Australia for a One-day series, starting on January 12.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to shrug off the disappointment of two back-to-back defeats and get back to winning ways when they taken on Sunrisers Hyderabad as they aim to seal their place in the play-offs, in the IPL match, in Sharjah, on Saturday.
Jadeja, Shami also return for limited overs series starting Jan 12
Back-to-back losses denting their confidence, defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to put their campaign back on track when they take on Kings XI Punjab in their IPL match, in Hyderabad, on Sunday.
Ajinkya Rahane and Prithvi Shaw faltered yet again as Karnataka pacers wreaked a havoc and bundled out Mumbai for a paltry 194 on the opening day of their Elite Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai. Services bowled out Maharashtra for 44 with medium pacer P S Poonia picking up 5/11 in their Ranji Trophy match in New Delhi
'Batting at No 4 is my forte'
Their bowling frailties thoroughly exposed in the first two ODIs, India are left with no option but to bank heavily on their batsmen to steer the side and upstage the rampaging Australians in the must-win third one-dayer in Melbourne.
Battered and bruised after four successive defeats, India will make a last-gasp effort to avoid the embarrassment of being whitewashed by an unrelenting Australia when the two sides clash in the fifth and final One-Day International in Sydney, on Saturday.
Their pride bruised following disastrous campaigns, Kings XI Punjab and Rising Pune Supergiants will look for a graceful exit from the ninth edition of the IPL when they square off against each other for one last time in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. Supergiants are coming into the contest after a victory over Delhi Daredevils at the same venue, their home ground, while Punjab have lost their last two outings -- against RCB and table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad. Punjab's fourth and last win this season had come at this very ground, when they had got the better of Mumbai Indians.
Images from Wednesday's Indian Premier League match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, in Abu Dhabi.
'Binny's slot could go to a spinning all-rounder in Nagpur. It could be either Rohit or Mann.'
Rising Pune Supergiant look to build on gains against Kings XI Punjab.
The series already in their pocket, India would aim for a clean sweep against the hosts and end the tour of Australia on a high when the two teams clash in the third and final Twenty20.
Iyer's 147 is the highest T20 score by an Indian and in the process he surpassed wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who had scored an unbeaten 128 for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.
With an aim to stay relevant till the business end, a desperate Kings XI Punjab will be aiming a comprehensive victory against a down and out Royal Challengers Bangalore in an Indian Premier League, in Bengaluru, on Friday.
On a roll with four consecutive victories, two-time champions Mumbai Indians would look to continue the winning streak when they take on Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League match, in Indore, on Thursday.
RCB began their campaign without skipper and star batsman Virat Kohli as well as another key player A B de Villiers due to injuries and lost their opening match against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Punjab batsman Gurkeerat Singh Mann, a surprise inclusion as the 17th member of the squad for the Bangalore Test, retained his place for the next two matches as well.
Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad will start favourites when they take on the struggling-for-survival Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League match, in Mohali, on Thursday.
Their confidence restored after a bumpy start, a transformed Delhi Daredevils will look to stretch Kings XI Punjab to the limit when they face off in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Despite Gaikward's brilliance, Maharashtra could not qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.
With days left for IPL 2021 to kick off, several key players will miss the biggest show in the cricketing universe.
Lavishing praise on Gurkeerat Singh for his match-winning heroics against Australia A in the tri-series final, India A captain Unmukt Chand said that the middle-order batsman batted well at a crucial time to bail the hosts out of trouble.
Batting first, Board President's XI made 295 for 9 in 50 overs and then bowled out the tourists for 265 in 47.4 overs.
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.
A round-up of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 matches on Tuesday.
Jaydev Unadkat was smashed for as many as 25 runs in the 19th over which all but sealed the contest in RCB's favour.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Monday made a comeback to the Indian team for the first two Tests against South Africa, replacing veteran Harbhajan Singh, who was the only casualty from the team which won the Test series in Sri Lanka last month.
Table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to quickly bounce back from the disappointing loss against Delhi Daredevils and seal their place in the play-off when they take on a resurgent Kings XI Punjab in an IPL clash in Mohali on Sunday. Knowing that there is scramble among top teams for the playoff berth and holding on to top position is not an easy task, SRH will have to put the loss against Delhi behind and look to put up an all-round performance on Sunday. What has made this game at the I S Bindra PCA stadium even more important for Hyderabad is the fact that Punjab, which has struggled through the tournament, has suddenly started turning over a leaf under their new captain Murali Vijay, whose appointment was made mid-way. The Punjab outfit, which is lying at the seventh place with four wins from 11 outings, pulled off a comprehensive seven-wicket victory against Mumbai Indians at Visakhapatnam on Friday night.
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.
Kings XI Punjab will once again be facing a 'do-or-die' situation during their penultimate round encounter against table toppers Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Kings XI Punjab will look to go all guns blazing against down and out Gujarat Lions in Mohali.
Spinner Ravindra Jadeja reaped rich dividends for reading the pitch well and grabbed 5 for 95 as India Blue looked all set to win the first-ever day/night Duleep Trophy, having secured a huge 337-run first-innings lead.
Rewarding for his all-round show during the on-going India 'A' ODI series against Bangladesh, the Indian selectors have picked up youngster Gurkeerat Singh Mann for the three T20 Internationals and the first three ODIs for the upcoming home series against South Africa.
Rediff.com gives you a lowdown of some of the best catches taken during the group phase of the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League.
Paceman Bhuvneshwar Kumar will miss India's three-match Twenty20 series in Australia with a thumb injury and will be replaced by all-rounder Rishi Dhawan.
Royal Challengers Bangalore thrashed Kings XI Punjab by 82 runs via D/L method in a rain-hit IPL clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels the team needs a 'brave' bunch of youngsters going forward.
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.
The Indian cricket team would get into the groove for the short limited-overs series against Australia with a couple of warm-up games against a Western Australia XI at the WACA ground on Friday and Saturday. While the first match tomorrow is slated to be a T20 affair, the second match scheduled the day after will be a 50-over warm-up game against the same opposition. It will certainly not be the first team of Western Australia which is better known as Perth Scorchers, which will be playing in the warm-up games. It will be a second string squad that will take on the Indians.