Pakistan secured a place in the ICC Champions Trophy after defeating Sri Lanka by four wickets in their third and final one-day international on Wednesday.
Harish Kotian offers a quick look at the six former players in the running to be selected for world cricket's most-sought-after job.
Images from the 5th ODI between India and Australia, played in Nagpur on Sunday
In the end it came in as a quiet announcement on the social network. But MS Dhoni had made the decision. He knew it was the right time.
Up against fancied India, Bangladesh's ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza says the home team should be 'realistic' and enter the one-off Test with an aim to achieve a draw.
'We were very disappointed we lost 11 ODI games in a row but one thing is very important, we believed in ourselves'
But with increased focus on social distancing and personal hygiene to contain the spread of the virus, the sport stares at a changing landscape.
Test cricket returned to Pakistan for the first time in ten years with the Sri Lankan team playing two matches in Rawalpindi and Karachi, with the hosts winning the second match to clinch the series 1-0 after the rain-curtailed first game ended in a draw.
The 50-year-old Lara also gave his opinion as to what the team is required to do to become successful in the longest format of the game.
India pulled off a brilliant all-round performance to trounce New Zealand by 178 runs in the second Test and clinch the series with an unassailable 2-0 lead, a win that propelled the team to the top of the ICC rankings, dethroning arch-rivals Pakistan.
Australian captain Steve Smith was, on Saturday, ruled out of the Twenty20 series against India due to a shoulder injury, a massive setback for the already struggling visitors.
National chairman of selectors MSK Prasad on Tuesday said that he doesn't believe "you know more when you have played more", hitting back at his detractors for constantly demeaning his panel owing to its modest international record.
Australia's hopes of capturing the only title that has evaded their grasp vanished when Sri Lanka beat them by six wickets in the first round of the ICC World Twenty20. Sri Lanka, replying to Australia's 159 for nine in 20 overs, finished with 160 for four in 19.
Skipper Jhulan Goswami says if India had beaten New Zealand in the Super Six stage, the women's World Cup would have been within the team's reach. India finished third in the just-concluded tournament, which was won by England.
New Zealand beat Australia by six wickets in the second ODI at the MCG on Friday to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Australia's fifth successive defeat meant that India displace them from the No 2 spot in the ICC ODI rankings.
The 50-year-old Englishman, who had served as batting coach of Sri Lanka cricket team, will step in the shoes of Neil McKenzie, who stepped down last August citing family reasons.
The Kiwis will have greater concern over their lack of finishing after squandering two last over winning positions in two consecutive games, and the series along with.
Mandhana became the number one ODI batter in the ICC Women's Rankings last month following her exemplary run of form.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has expressed disappointment at former captain Mahela Jayawardene taking up the role of consultant with the England team for the upcoming ICC World T20.
Cricketers from the team of the Emirald Isle are under suspicion following their dismal performance in the recently concluded New Zealand tour
South Africa and Australia will contest a four-Test series for the first time in almost 50 years when they clash in March and April 2018, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Wednesday. Australia will tour South Africa seeking revenge for their 2-1 home series loss in November and will play four Tests for the first time since being humbled 4-0 on South Africa soil in the 1969/70 season.
Former Pakistan batsman and current Under-19 head coach Ejaz Ahmed feels that his side can beat defending champions and arch-rivals India in the forthcoming ICC Under-19 World Cup, beginning in South Africa on January 17. Ejaz, who has played 60 Test and 250 ODIs, was head coach of the Pakistan Emerging side which beat India before eventually winning the title in Bangladesh last year.
So overwhelming was India's domination in the series, that Zimbabwe's most valuable player, Elton Chigumbura, is only seventh in the combined list with a MVPI of just 175, according to Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji.
Captain Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane struck sublime half-centuries before Australia staged a strong fightback to bowl India out for 252 in the second One-Day International, in Kolkata, on Thursday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni replaced Australia captain Ricky Ponting as the top ODI batsman in the ICC rankings
Riding on his stupendous performance in the series against South Africa, India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, on Thursday, rose to a career-high first in the International Cricket Council's Test rankings for bowlers.
Chasing 294 for victory on a batting pitch, Hardik Pandya (78 off 72) and Manish Pandey (36 off 32) took India to the finish line after Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane had laid the platform for the victory with a 139-run opening stand.
India won the twin T20 Internationals in Auckland by margins of six and seven wickets respectively to go 2-0 up in the five-match series.
It's all about the crowd that creates this kind of environment. It's good to have people coming to see the match when it is an India-Pakistan game, feels India batsman Kedar Jadhav
A win on Friday would seal the three-match series for Virat Kohli and Co.
It has been reported unlike in the past that captain Kohli will no say in selection of the new coach.
Formidable India will hope to get more answers for their unsettled middle-order puzzle when they take on a reeling West Indies in the five-match ODI series, starting Sunday and ticking off the home team's countdown to the 2019 World Cup.
Shoaib Akhtar said he hopes MS Dhoni gets a resounding farewell despite his resolute silence on what the future holds. Dhoni, who has not played a competitive game since the World Cup semifinal in July, was preparing to make a much-anticipated comeback with the IPL, which is now unlikely to take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unlike in the T20I series, England do not have the option of battling this phenomenon with a practice outing against the spin-bowling machine, Merlyn. With both teams travelling to London on Friday, there might not even be enough time to sit down for some video analysis. In that light, the English batsmen will have to contend mentally with how to play Yadav on Saturday.
Rising star Babar Azam hit his third successive hundred to anchor Pakistan's 3-0 clean-sweep of the West Indies with a comfortable 136-run win in the third and final one-dayer on Wednesday. Azam smashed a 106-ball 117 while skipper Azah Ali returned to form with a 109-ball 101 as Pakistan compiled 308-6 before restricting West Indies to 172 in 44 overs on a flat Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann expects the upcoming limited-overs series against India to be an exciting one given the 'aggressive' brand of cricket that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men have been playing of late.
New Zealand are flying low at the World Cup and that suits them down to the ground, according to James Franklin. The seven-time semi-finalists are playing it cool in England and Wales, with the understated Kane Williamson at the helm.
England captain Eoin Morgan indicated that they will replace out-of-form opener Jason Roy with Jonny Bairstow.
India pacer Jasprit Bumrah was more than happy to take advantage of the helpful conditions with ball in hand and the 25-year-old took great pains to ensure the magnitude of the occasion didn't adversely affect him.
Run-machine Kohli capped a memorable 2018 by becoming the first to win the International Cricket Council's (ICC) cricketer, Test and One-day international (ODI) player of the year awards last month.
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