Chennai Super Kings batsman Suresh Raina reckons that the early dismissal of South African swashbuckler A B de Villiers proved to be the decisive factor in CSK's 27-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in their Indian Premier League match in Bangalore on Wednesday.
Led by aggressive Australian opener David Warner, Sunrisers would be relying mostly on foreigners to deliver the goods, given the scarcity of local stars in their ranks.
Promising all-rounder Parveez Rasool took five wickets, but West Indies 'A' hit back after being dismissed for 429 in the first unofficial Test at the Gangothri Glades Cricket Ground in Mysore, on Thursday. At stumps on the second day, India 'A' were in a spot of bother at 124 for three, with skipper Cheteshwar Pujara back in the pavilion.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will aim to stop a rampaging Rising Pune Supergiant when both teams meet in the Indian Premier League, on Saturday, in a bid to cement their place in the play-offs.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's form will remain in focus when the struggling Rising Pune Supergiant square off against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in an Indian Premier League encounter, in Pune, on Saturday.
After making impressive debuts in their respective openers, Rising Pune Supergiants and GujaratLions will test each others' strengths when the two new entrants clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Rajkot on Thursday. The two teams feature a lot of faces from the suspended Chennai Super Kings and at least six players, who played in the same side till last year, will now be in opposite camps. Close friends and CSK teammates Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina will now be devising strategies as rival captains. Both have admitted that playing in a jersey other than 'yellow' has been very "emotional" but have promised to give their all for their new teams. The Dhoni-led Pune Supergiants were very convincing and dominant when they handed defending champions Mumbai Indians a nine-wicket drubbing. They did not even require their middle order, packed with Dhoni himself and players such as Steven Smith, to come out with the top-order delivering it for them comfortably.
A round up of the second day's play from the Ranji Trophy games being played across the country.
While KKR suffered their heaviest defeat of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last game, Pune looked to have found their mojo in the business end of the tournament having registered consecutive wins in their last two matches.
Opener Kieran Powell's half century along with spinners Veerasammy Permaul and Nikita Miller's magical spell, tightened the West Indies A grip over India A on the third day of the first unofficial Test at Gangothri Glades Cricket Grounds in Mysore on Friday.
Young chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav kept the opposition batsmen on tenterhooks with a maiden five wicket haul as he took India Red on the cusp of an outright victory against the Green team in the inaugural Day/Night Duleep Trophy encounter in Greater Noida on Thursday. Chasing a mammoth victory target of 497, the Green team was tottering at 217/7 at the end of penultimate evening with another 280 runs to win the match. Suresh Raina was at the crease batting on 35.
MP was a good team but it was Pandit, who brought about changes that were required to transform it into a champion team
A determined Delhi Daredevils will make another push to stay in the hunt to make the playoffs when they take on bottom-placed Rising Pune Supergiants in the Indian Premier League in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.
It will be a battle for survival for struggling Rising Pune Supergiants when they lock horns with formidable title-contenders Sunrisers Hyderabad in Tuesday's Indian Premier League match in Visakhapatnam.
Rising Pune Supergiants now face an uphill task of taming the rampaging Gujarat Lions in an Indian Premier League clash, in Pune, on Friday.
I am planning to practice against the wet tennis balls from 18 yards and also with plastic ball on concrete pitches to reduce my reaction time for strokes, said India's latest batting sensation, Lokesh Rahul.
Depleted by the absence of high-profile names, Indian Premier League 2014 champions Kolkata Knight Riders have a tough task on hand when they lock horns with formidable Chennai Super Kings in the opening Group 'A' match of the Champions League T20, in Hyderabad, on Wednesday.
A roundup of the matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy One-Day tournament, on Saturday.
Senior batsman Shikhar Dhawan proved his form and fitness in style before the South African series as he led India 'A's strong reply against Bangladesh 'A' with an unbeaten century on Day 1 of the only unofficial Test.
Royal Challengers BangalorStruggling RCB face inconsistent Supergiant in must-win game will be striving to keep their IPL hopes alive when they meet an equally inconsistent Rising Pune Supergiant in an Indian Premier League encounter, in Pune on Saturday.
Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 24 runs in their Indian Premier League match at Chepauk.
Manpreet Juneja's resolute knocks went in vain as India A succumbed to a humiliating 162-run defeat against the West Indies A in the first unofficial Test, giving away a 1-0 lead to the visitors in the three-match series in Mysore.
Stuart Binny and Cheteshwar Pujara led the way with fluent half centuries as India ended day two of their three-day tour game versus Derbyshire at 341/6, enjoying a useful day of batting practice before the first Test begins at Nottingham on July 9.
Getting his team composition right will be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's primary aim as Rising Pune Supergiants meet an out-of-sorts Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League cricket tournament encounter, in Mohali on Sunday.
Mumbai held a slight edge reducing Madhya Pradesh to 197 for five in their Ranji Trophy cricket semi-final after being bowled out for 371 in their first innings, in Cuttack, on Sunday.
Ravindra Jadeja kicked-off Chennai Super Kings' campaign in the opening match of the India leg of the Indian Premier League with a match-winning performance with bat and ball, as the two-time champions easily beat 2012 winners Kolkata Knight Riders by 34 runs, in Ranchi, on Friday night.
Chennai Super Kings produced a clinical performance to crush Delhi Daredevils by 93 runs and register their first win in the seventh edition of Indian Premier League in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Kolkata Knight Riders took a giant stride towards ensuring a play-off berth as they walloped Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets to take their winning streak to five matches in the seventh edition of IPL.
Robin Uthappa and Andre Russell struck belligerent fifties after veteran Brad Hogg's four-wicket haul to help Kolkata Knight Riders return to winning ways with a seven-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in a thrilling Indian Premier League match in Kolkata, on Thursday.
Ajinkya Rahane and Prithvi Shaw faltered yet again as Karnataka pacers wreaked a havoc and bundled out Mumbai for a paltry 194 on the opening day of their Elite Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai. Services bowled out Maharashtra for 44 with medium pacer P S Poonia picking up 5/11 in their Ranji Trophy match in New Delhi
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Wednesday
Riding on Samson's record-breaking unbeaten 212 off just 129 balls, Kerala posted a mammoth 377/3 on the board and restricted Goa to 153/3 after play was called off due to inclement weather.
Kolkata Knight Riders would look to quickly redeem themselves when they face the same opponents in the return leg.
Please fill in your choices and help the Indian selectors make up their mind!
Indian batsmen and bowlers warmed up with a morale-boosting five-wicket win against Derbyshire in their second three-day tour game on Thursday, ahead of the first Test against England in Nottingham starting July 9.
Karnataka's in-form young opener K L Rahul has staked a strong claim for his inclusion in India's Test squad to Australia.
A summary of Day 2 action in the Ranji Trophy matches, played at various venues across the country.
Young and in-form Baba Aparajith smashed his second first-class double hundred while Ramaswamy Prasanna scored an unbeaten half-century to guide Tamil Nadu to a formidable position against Services at the end of second day's play in the Ranji Trophy Group B match in New Delhi on Monday.
Virat Kohli and Steven Smith will be eager to stem the rot when Royal Challengers Bangalore square off with Rising Pune Supergiants in an Indian Premier League encounter.
The Suresh Raina-led side suffered consecutive defeats against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders and title holder Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening two matches.
Half-way through the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League, the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament has witnessed some top quality catches. Rediff.com takes a look at some memorable ones.