Akshay Karnewar struck his maiden first-class century to hand Vidarbha a crucial 95-run first-innings lead before Rest of India, riding on a fighting partnership, erased the deficit in the Irani Cup.
Young prodigy Yashasvi Jaiswal is considered the frontrunner to make his Test debut in the West Indies, but there are other options in Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill.
As Sachin turns 50, Rediff brings you 50 fascinating facts about the God of Cricket.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav's places could come under the scanner before the team travels to West Indies for a two-Test series.
The BCCI's 2015-16 domestic calendar, which, in a media statement, boasts that it will host 900 matches in the span of six months, starting October 1, has discarded the inter-zonal competition which was started in 1961-62. The tournament was conducted to perpetuate the memory of K S Duleepsinhji, nephew of K S Ranjitsinhji in whose memory the national cricket championship is played.
Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai suffered a batting collapse to be shot out for a paltry 182 in their second innings but still set the Rest of India an imposing target of 480 to win the Irani Cup title in Mumbai on Thursday. At stumps on the fourth and penultimate day, the Rest, who conceded a huge first innings lead of 297, were 100 for the loss of opener K S Bharat's (42) wicket to whittle down the lead to 380. Vidarbha's Faiz Fazal (41) and Sudip Chatterjee (17) of Bengal were the unbeaten Rest batsmen who will carry on the run chase on Friday at the Brabourne Stadium. Earlier Mumbai, who did not enforce the follow on last evening and resumed today at their overnight second innings score of 2 for 1, were shot out for 182 in 51.2 overs -- mainly by the efforts of spin-pace combine of Jayant Yadav (4 for 93) and Jaydev Unadkat (3 for 16).
'I hope more shows highlight the unsung heroes of our rich history.' 'As for bringing the trophy home, a man can hope, but truly I am just excited to be there.'
Bengal pacer Mukesh Kumar and Madhya Pradesh's run machine Rajat Patidar on Sunday got their maiden India call-up for the upcoming three match ODI series against South Africa, starting in Lucknow on October 6.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja could do with a break, which will allow India to try out new players in the Caribbean.
India and Australia will play the second Test at the Ferozshah Kotla from Friday and it is to be seen if Iyer is able to join the team.
"Surprisingly, not as popular as men's cricket but women's cricket is going to get very popular. The game has taken giant strides in the last two-three years. Hope a lot of people come to watch the tournament,"
A call-up for the West Indies tour for two Tests was inevitable for Yashasvi Jaiswal after proving himself across formats.
With 125 runs in three matches including two half-centuries, Rajasthan Royals opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has made his best start yet to the IPL.
'Once he failed in the Australia series at home, there was very little chance for him but selectors didn't want to change things ahead of WTC final.'
Despite the team's resounding success against England and New Zealand in the Test series, the Indian team will not take Bangladesh lightly in the one-off Test beginning February 9 in Hyderabad, Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha said on Sunday.
Karnataka captain R Vinay Kumar's led from the front with a six-wicket haul as the Ranji Trophy champions gained upperhand against Rest of India on the first day of the Irani Cup match despite a gutsy effort from wicketkeepe-batsman Dinesh Karthik.
The IIFA weekend saw a bevy of Bollywood stars, with green carpet arrivals, performances and awards.
Madhya Pradesh humbled domestic powerhouse Mumbai by six wickets in a one-sided final to win their maiden Ranji Trophy crown, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru on Sunday. It was an achievement of sorts for coach Chandrakant Pandit, who exorcised the ghosts of losing one at the same venue 23 summers ago. It was a record sixth national title for Pandit as a coach.
Opener Faiz Fazal led Rest of India's dominating display with the bat as the visitors chased down a record target of 480 against Mumbai to win the Irani Trophy. Half-centuries from Karun Nair (92), Sudeep Chatterjee (54), Stuart Binny (54) and Sheldon Jackson (59) powered Rest of India to an unlikely-five wicket victory against Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai, on Day 5, at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. Fazal top-scored for the visitors as he scored 127 but Nair fell for 92, the second time he was dismissed in the 90s in the match. Bengal's Chatterjee played a steady innings of 54 before Binny provided the late boost as he smashed 54 from 51 balls. Saurashtra's Jackson carried his team home as he finished unbeaten on 59. For Mumbai, left-arm Iqbal Abdulla claimed five wickets for 154 in 42.4 overs but was still unable to prevent the visitors from chasing down the highest total in the history of the Irani Trophy.
Jaffer, who has played 31 Tests and 2 ODIs, is also the batting coach of Kings XI Punjab, which plays in the cash-rich Indian Premier League.
'He has gone through ups and downs, he knows how to handle himself and is somebody who can get the team together.'
Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad indicated that Wriddhiman Saha will regain his rightful place in the Indian Test for upcoming matches.
'I was not sure whether such a big player would come to my house but he was quite happy to visit my place... which was just unbelievable!'
'A player need to have T20 skills otherwise he is not going to survive.'
'No matter how much runs you score in the Ranji Trophy or Duleep Trophy or Irani Trophy, if you don't have T20 skills in batting or bowling you are not going to go too far.'
'Everything else runs because of the IPL, there is so much money involved so the IPL definitely needs to happen.'
Sachin Tendulkar will sign off from cricket after 24 glorious years in the second Test against the West Indies, starting at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai, on Thursday. Going into the match, his 200th Test, the batting icon has 15,847 runs, the most by a batsman. Rajneesh Gupta looks at his record at the Wankhede stadium.
Parthiv Patel was unlucky to miss out despite a fine showing in the Test series against England as the selectors preferred to recall Wriddhiman Saha for the one-off Test against Bangladesh.
'I have seen Bishan paaji get worked up when he felt the game was losing its character because of some individual.'
'The only place through which I can give an answer is through IPL even if I play for India. I want to face the fear and that's the only way to live life.'
Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar is the only new face in the 18-member Indian squad for the three-Test series against Sri Lanka.
I was destined to get a century
Rahul was the only prominent batsman to miss out on a significant score in India's 358 all out on day two of the four-day tour game in Sydney.
Neither does Shreyas Iyer wants to harp on the past nor is he keen to fret about what the future has in store for him. He just wants to "stay in the moment" and seize the day, as the illustrious Sunil Gavaskar advised him while giving the India cap.
Following the debacle in the New Zealand ODI series, the selectors finally lost patience with the under-performing Suresh Raina and Ishant Sharma and axed them from India's squad for the Asia Cup later this month. Cheteshwar Pujara, who played two ODIs in Zimbabwe in August, made a comeback to the ODI squad.
The IPL has been postponed indefinitely and there is a possibility that it might be held in September when the domestic season is also underway. So far, no other cricketing activity has happened in India at the time of IPL.
Sourav Ganguly says when he was kept out of the Indian team by coach Greg Chappell and he was desperately fighting his way back, his father was unable to bear his struggle and wanted him to retire.
Rest of India's Murali Vijay followed up from last year's double century in the Irani Cup and continued in the same vein as he went on to score another century against
India's domestic cricket season begins with the BCCI Corporate Tournament from September 1 while the league stage of the Ranji Trophy elite competition will be held from November 3 to December 24, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced on Wednesday.
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