Harbhajan Singh's lackluster performance in the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka has put him under pressure.
Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews was on Wednesday dropped from their limited-overs squad to face England next month, two days after the country's cricket board asked him to relinquish his captaincy in the shorter formats of the game.
A country which produced champion players of spin bowling such as Roy Dias, Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, it has been sharp downward slide for Dinesh Chandimal's men, who have consistently failed against Indian spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
'As a spinner, some will go your way some days and some won't, that is cricket. I don't look too much into that. I want to contribute with bat, ball and in the field. When my opportunities come I want to make sure I take them.'
Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq steadied the Pakistan second innings with an unbroken 113-run stand after their team appeared to be heading for a heavy defeat by losing three quick wickets in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Dubai on Friday.
India return to place from where journey to glory began.
Off-spinner Dilruwan Perera picked five wickets as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 68 runs in the second Test in Dubai on Tuesday and won the series 2-0. Perera had figures of 5-98 as Pakistan, chasing 317 for victory, were bowled out for 248 in the second hour of fifth and final day at Dubai stadium.
When India lost the Wellington Test by 10 wickets, was it the worst defeat for Virat Kohli's team? Rajneesh Gupta has the answers.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath captured four more Pakistan wickets to take his match tally to a career best 13 as Sri Lanka edged closer to victory in Mahela Jayawardene's farewell Test on Sunday.
South Africa reclaimed top spot in the Test rankings after grimly hanging on for a draw in the second and final Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo, on Monday to win the series 1-0.
Trent Boult took two quick wickets after lunch to help New Zealand complete a 122-run victory over Sri Lanka on the fifth day of the first Test at University Oval in Dunedin on Monday.
Outstanding centuries from Quinton de Kock and captain AB de Villiers helped South Africa coast to a series-clinching 82-run win over Sri Lanka in the third and final one-day international on Saturday.
The Sri Lankan selectors, on Sunday, dropped batsman Kusal Mendis from their 15-member squad while Angelo Mathews returned to lead the side in the upcoming tour of India.
Gary Ballance scored an unbeaten 104 as England fought back in the evening session to finish the fourth day on 267-8 and lead Sri Lanka by 389 runs going into the final day of the first Test at Lord's.
Murali Vijay celebrated his return to the India side with a hundred, while Cheteshwar Pujara continued his golden run with another century as India dominated the second day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Nagpur on Saturday.
He is on an 18-match unbeaten streak as India's Test captain, but Virat Kohli was left out of the ICC Test Team of the Year.
Sri Lanka set Australia a stiff 268-run victory target before claiming three wickets in a truncated afternoon session to take the upper hand on the penultimate day of the first Test in Pallekele on Friday.
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between Sri Lanka and India in Colombo, on Thursday.
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between Sri Lanka and India in Galle, on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews will appear before police on Tuesday to record a statement in connection with a match-fixing scandal that has led to the suspension of a fast bowling coach.
The Lankans were 160-3 after their spinners bowled out Bangladesh for 188 in 44 overs on the first day of the first Test.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews and paceman Dhammika Prasad pushed England to the brink of defeat as the home side, set 350 to win, slumped to 57 for five on the fourth day of the second and final Test on Monday.
In the same event, Rinku picked up a bronze medal to make it an India-dominated podium. The F46 category of disability covers upper limb deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired range of movement.
Ashwin moves into top-10, Dhawan in career-high 32nd spot in the latest ICC Test rankings
Dinesh Chandimal-led Sri Lankan squad,on Wednesday arrived for their six-week tour of India, which starts here with the first of the three-Test series, beginning on November 16.
Gurjar came up with his season's best effort of 61.22m to claim the top spot.
Kagiso Rabada claimed a six-wicket haul on Thursday as South Africa bowled Sri Lanka out for 224 in their second innings to win the second Test by 282 runs with a day and a half to spare and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Sri Lanka failed to last the first session of the fourth day at Newlands, having resumed on 130-4 and being dismissed after just over 100 minutes of play.
Pujara and Vijay added 209 runs for the second wicket to set a platform from where India would look to bat the Islanders out of the contest.
Sri Lanka crushed a hapless Bangladesh by an innings and 248 runs, with more than a day to spare, to win the first Test and go 1-0 up in the two-match series on Thursday.
Cheteshwar Pujara's innings is the highest by a subcontinent batsman and third highest by any visiting batsman on the opening day of a Test in Australia, reveals Rajneesh Gupta.
Sri Lanka sealed a place in the World Twenty20 semi-finals after left-arm spinner Rangana Herath bowled them to a 59-run victory over New Zealand in a decisive match in Chittagong on Monday.
Kumar Sangakkara remained unbeaten after a sparkling half-century as Sri Lanka responded well to the challenge of scoring 370 runs in four sessions in order to win the first Test against South Africa on Saturday.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews and debutant Dilruwan Perera narrowly missed centuries but guided Sri Lanka to a solid first innings total on the second day of the third and final Test against Pakistan in Sharjah on Friday.
'We are an experienced team now, we played good cricket. All bases were covered and I'm really happy with the way things went in this Test'
South Africa captain Hashim Amla remained unbeaten after his 22nd Test hundred but off-spinner Dilruwan Perera's career best figures gave Sri Lanka a big first innings lead at the end of the third day of the second Test on Saturday.
England paceman James Anderson has received an International Cricket Council code of conduct reprimand for showing disrespect to umpire S Ravi during the third Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's, the global governing body said.
Pakistan batsmen Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad scored fluent half centuries as the first Test against Sri Lanka ended in a tame draw on the fifth day in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
He has been roped in to arrest the downslide in Sri Lankan cricket and Asanka Gurusinha's assessment of the fall is quite simple -- not grooming anyone to fill in Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara's shoes.
Trent Boult took two wickets in one over and broke a partnership that had threatened to take the game out of New Zealand's reach as Sri Lanka reached 264 for seven by the end of a rain-shortened first day of the second Test on Friday.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has been called up as his replacement for the second Test against Australia.
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