Dr Kalam, the scientist with the poet's heart, started the journey of his life from a small town in Tamil Nadu.
Questioning the ICC's new rules on chucking, the off-spinner says, 'If they put Harbhajan through a proper bowling assessment test now, I can safely tell you he will exceed the 15 degrees limit'
Following his return to form in the abruptly-ended West Indies series, Indian batsman Virat Kohli claimed the number two slot in the ICC rankings while swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar broke into the top-10 for the first time in his career.
So it was surprising when a young Team India, led by Dhoni, made it to the final of the inaugural 2007 T20 Championships in South Africa. They met arch-rivals Pakistan in that thrilling, summit clash.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq fell just short of his sixth Test century but his team clung on to their slim hopes of salvaging the second Test against Sri Lanka after a stirring rearguard action in Dubai on Saturday.
Under attack over pro-Pakistan slogans and flags being waved at a rally by hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on Thursday said it was "not acceptable" and "will not be tolerated'.
Five brothers playing first class cricket, including four appearing in Test matches as well, reads like a fairy tale. But it is true. Indeed, cricket historians and statisticians have never been tired of recounting how Hanif Mohammad, who passed into the ages on August 11, and his three brothers dominated Pakistan cricket in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Apart from Hanif, eldest Wazir Mohammad and younger ones Mushtaq Mohammad and Sadiq Mohammad represented Pakistan in the top division of cricket.
'This WC will heavily rely on openers as they have to set the tone'
A Delhi court has dismissed a police plea for permission to conduct brain mapping test of Abdul Karim Tunda after the arrested top LeT bomb expert refused to give his consent for it citing his old age and health problems.
Brian Vitori grabbed five wickets and opener Tino Mawoyo scored a half-century as Zimbabwe took control of the second Test against Pakistan with a 185-run lead on Thursday.
Bangladesh outplayed Pakistan by 79 runs in the first one-day international in Dhaka on Friday, in only their second win over their rivals in 48 games across all three formats.
Bangladesh all-rounder Mahmdullah finished as the MVP in the recently-concluded Asia Cup T20 tournament ahead of compatriot Sabbir Rahman, who was named as the man of the series. Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle present the latest edition of the MVP rankings.
As a row erupted over his meeting with Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed, journalist Ved Pratap Vaidik, considered close to Baba Ramdev, on Monday rejected suggestions by Congress that he might have acted as government's envoy, saying he was "nobody's envoy but my own".
Postponed several times due to a variety of reasons, the much-delayed but the biggest South Asian Games ever begin, in Guwahati, on Friday, with hosts India expected to stamp their superiority in the regional spectacle.
India captain Virat Kohli reclaimed the top batting spot, while Australia's pace ace Josh Hazlewood has achieved the number-one position in the bowlers' rankings for the first time in his career in the latest MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings.
India have won the Asia Cup six times, Sri Lanka five, and Pakistan have won it just twice. As the 14th edition of Asia's own trophy gets underway on Saturday, Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers on the 13 editions so far.
'Pakistan is full of 'religious entrepreneurs' like Hafeez Saeed who poison the minds of the young so that they can be motivated to become terrorists. They work in concert with the rulers of Pakistan. It is a private-public partnership.'
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin surged to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after a superb outing in the first Test against the West Indies in Antigua which the visiting side won by an innings and 92 runs.
'What needs to be pursued as the operations progress is a degree of reconciliation amongst the other parties, less the more orthodox Al Qaeda affiliates.'
The man behind Aligarh Muslim University 200 years on.
Punjab politics has produced a dog's breakfast on the river waters issue. Except, you'd see even dogs eat better, says Shekhar Gupta.
It would be foolish for Pakistan to assume that India would not act no matter what the provocation is, just because it is militarily more powerful than Myanmar and is armed with nuclear weapons, says Anand Kumar.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front with a confident half-century after Sunil Narine stifled Lahore Lions with his magical spin bowling as Kolkata Knight Riders eked out a four-wicket win in a Champions League Twenty20 Group A match in Hyderabad.
Statistical highlights of the one-off Twenty20 international between India and England at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Sunday.
Twenty-eight years ago almost to the day, 37 unarmed Muslims were killed in cold blood, an act of wanton violence for which no one has so far been held guilty. Jyoti Punwani and photographer Uttam Ghosh visited the Meerut locality after the trial court recently acquitted the security personnel charged with the killings, and found a town untouched by its grim past.
Rajneesh Gupta breaks down all the facts and figures from the recent India vs Australia ODI series.
As we write this we still await the crucial India-Australia knock-out in Mohali. But India's individual performances in the T20 World Cup so far haven't been truly impressive. A look at the most valuable player index (MVPI) table reveals that there's no Indian player in the top 20. MVPI merges a player's batting + bowling + fielding performance into a single 'run equivalent'. The formula to compute the MVP is devised to reward batsmen who score runs at a high strike rate, bowlers who take wickets at low economy rate and fielders who field the best (take a lot of catches and participate in run-outs). Since this is a relatively low scoring tournament we have assumed a team's par score to be 150, and each wicket to be worth 15 'runs'. It isn't a surprise that players from New Zealand dominate the rankings so far, although Joe Root tops the table after his 83 in 44 balls against South Africa.
Rajneesgh Gupta salutes Captain Cool.
India's T20 World Cup challenge has ended. But it is likely that Virat Kohli (MVPI of 338) will go on to become the tournament's most valuable player because he enjoys a lead of 109 runs over second-placed Joe Root (229).
India's foremost architect and town planner was renowned as much for his 'breathing' spaces as for his irascible personality
India's batting sensation Virat Kohli, named player of the tournament, is also the most valuable player of World T20 2016. With a fifty and two wickets, England's Joe Root is just behind him.
Pakistan pulled off a thrilling three-wicket victory over hosts Bangladesh to storm into the finals of the Asia Cup cricket tournament, knocking India out of the title race. Shahid Afridi's blistering 59 off 25 balls helped Pakistan set up a summit clash against Sri Lanka. Here are the statistical highlights from the Asia Cup One-dayer played between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Dhaka on Tuesday.
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.
Govt says coastal road is meant to decongest Mumbai, experts believe it would be counter-productive.
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.
The cricketing world is all set for another feast with the Indian Premier League.
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