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.
The Indian women's cricket team suffered a five-wicket defeat to England in the second T20 International, surrendering the series with a sixth straight loss in the shortest format.
It was an anti-climactic result for India, who were well on course for a memorable triumph, sitting pretty at 191 for three in 42.5 before a batting collapse saw them bowled out for 219 in 48.4 overs.
Not considered among the top T20 teams in the world, India produced a power-packed performance, winning the opener against a formidable New Zealand side by 34 runs after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's 51-ball 103.
If the Indian Premier League does not take place this year, then it would really put MS Dhoni's selection in doubt as the cricketer has not played since July last year. Krishnamachari Srikkanth has said he is a huge fan and believer of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and added that he would like to see the wicket-keeper batsman as a part of the Indian T20 World Cup squad
His cricketing brain, always sharp, was blessed with exceptional speed of information absorption and processing. He could quickly zero in on what needed to be done and use the element of surprise to overpower the opposition, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
Australia will be desperately hoping to play a full game under clear skies when they face arch-rivals England in their must-win Champions Trophy clash in Birmingham on Saturday.
India are the overwhelming favourites to win the tournament for a record seventh time while Bangladesh will be hoping to be third-time lucky in a summit clash.
Australia knocked Pakistan out of the ICC World Twenty20 with a convincing 21-run victory, setting up a virtual quarter-final against hosts India to be played in Mohali on Sunday.
Pakistan beat the touring World XI on Friday by 33 runs in the final Twenty20 fixture in Lahore to win the three match series 2-1 and thrill home fans excited by the return of international cricket.
Sports Minister Vijay Goel, Amitabh Bachchan, Ranveer Singh congratulate Team India after 'scintillating all-round performance'
India suffered a 115-run loss against South Africa in the Women's World Cup in Leicester on Saturday.
Tim Paine laments Australian capitulation in third Test amid ball-tampering scandal
Afghanistan will take on Bangladesh in a three-match T20 series, starting Dehradun on Sunday, dividing their focus ahead of the historic Test debut against India in two weeks' time.
Mashrafe Mortaza has issued a rallying call to his Bangladesh teammates, urging them to drum up the spirit of 2007 in a bid to keep their World Cup dreams alive.
Smriti Mandhana continued her impressive run in the Women's Cricket Super League
Former India pacer Javagal Srinath said Mahendra Singh Dhoni's bowling attack has become the talking point in the ongoing ICC World Cup.
International Cricket Council would be sending a World XI squad to Lahore in September to play a T20 international series, a top official of Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed.
Former England captain Mike Gatting fell short of labelling India's Virat Kohli the greatest batsman of his generation for consistency across formats, on Thursday.
Former India players provide perspective on the effects of saliva ban following the first Test between England and West Indies, the first international match played during the pandemic.
In the presence of three selectors, U-19 star Gill hit an unbeaten 106 off 111 balls.
His side's passage to the final was in large due to the work put in both in the field and at the crease, with few players reading conditions quite like the Kiwi skipper.
Undergoing a transition phase, defending champions Sri Lanka may not be in their elements in the build-up to the ICC World T20 but skipper Angelo Mathews today said it is good to carry the underdogs tag as it does not put the team under pressure. "The fact that we are coming as underdogs releases the pressure. Yes, we didn't do well in the Asia Cup but we're getting better day by day. I'm confident of my team's progress," Mathews said on the eve of their Super 10 opener against Afghanistan. Mathews said that his team needed just one win to get the momentum back. "We're not looking too far ahead at the moment and we will take one game at a time. We need one good game to get our momentum back," said the skipper. Afghanistan almost pulled off an upset during the 2015 World Cup in Australia when they threatened to chase down 237 before being bowled out for 232 in 49.4 overs and Mathews said Afghans were no more the minnows.
With strong hosts expected to challenge, a highly-fancied South Africa face their demons.
Steve Smith and David Warner could be in line for an immediate return to the Australian team when their bans expire midway through the upcoming one-day international (ODI) series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
When South Africa lost to India on Sunday, they cemented their reputation for 'choking' in ICC tournaments. Rajneesh Gupta tells us why South Africa's record for freezing in important ICC contests is, alas, well deserved.
India's semi-final hopes suffered a major jolt after Australia notched up a comfortable eight-wicket win, riding on a superb show by their top-order batswomen in the ICC Women's World Cup in Bristol on Wednesday.
Former India wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra, who was Punjab's coach when Shubman Gill made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2017, believes the time is right to blood the youngster into the India's Test team
The 62-year-old claims what makes Ravichandran Ashwin more valuable to India is his ability to contribute with the bat and score runs consistently down the order.
Maxwell closer to return, trains with Victoria
The BCCI has formally sought the clearance of the central government to play Pakistan in Sri Lanka in December, its secretary Anurag Thakur confirmed.
Former chairman of national selection committee Sandeep Patil called Yuvraj Singh 'God's gift' to Indian cricket but said form and fitness will hold the key to the seasoned campaigner's participation in the 2019 World Cup.
India's ace bowler Ravichandran Ashwin hailed M S Dhoni as an illustrious leader and said a lot of leadership lessons can be learnt from him. He also said Virat Kohli, who will now captain the Indian team in all formats, is no less a player and in the right phase to take over. "I think he (Dhoni) is going to be available as a player, his career was wonderful and illustrious. As a captain there are lot of leadership lessons from Dhoni for even big leaders out there," he told reporters in Chennai.
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.
'We need to stick to plan and back our skills to tackle India' 'You've got to be adaptable and you've got to be able to change your game almost mid-innings'
Senior spinner Saeed Ajmal has said that he is ready to retire from international cricket if the Pakistan cricket authorities tell him clearly he is no longer a part of their plans.
New Zealand will have their tails up and eye another upset when they resume the trans-Tasman rivalry with a strong Australian side.
Halfway through the pool phase of the World Cup, an unlikely name, Shaiman Anwar, sits perched among the tournament's best batsmen.
Ricky Ponting said Michael Clarke should relinquish ODI captaincy after the World Cup with Steven Smith taking over the reins.
While multiple-time world champions and Champions Trophy winners Australia are always a tough nut to crack, New Zealand will enter the game at Edgbaston with renewed confidence after their six-wicket warm-up win over Sri Lanka at the same venue.
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