The legend of Chris Gayle continued to grow in company of young KL Rahul as Kings XI Punjab outclassed Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets in a rain-hit IPL encounter, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
India included young Ishant Sharma in place of Ranadeb Bose for the three-day match.
Adam Zampa picked up two wickets in a miserly spell of leg spin bowling as Australia edged India by four runs in an enthralling rain-shortened Twenty20 International in Brisbane on Wednesday.
The best-case scenario for RR would be Kings XI Punjab losing their last match and Sunrisers Hyderabad winning no more than one in their last two outings.
India last won a Test series in England in 2007 under Rahul Dravid, and it will be no easy task ahead of the Virat Kohli-led side to replicate that feat.
With 10 points from 11 games, it is a must-win encounter for Dinesh Karthik and his men if they want to keep their play-off chances alive.
Table-toppers Mumbai Indians are on course to make it to the play-offs but the game is crucial for Rajasthan, who are languishing in seventh place. Defeat would mean a step closer to elimination.
Spinner Kuldeep Yadav starred with an impressive four-wicket spell as he set up Kolkata Knight Riders to a comfortable six-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League match in Kolkata, on Tuesday.
The big question is of bench strength and chances for the likes of KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik and Umesh Yadav.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan said poor fielding cost India the game after the visitors lost by four runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method against Australia in the first Twenty20 International.
Dinesh Karthik scored a fighting fifty (58 off 44) but it went as vain as the Lions kept losing wickets at crucial junctures to make a hash of the chase.
With Yuvraj Singh in prime form and Australian Moises Henriques and Ben Cutting making all-round contributions, Sunrisers are favourites going into the match.
India have won the Asia Cup on seven occasions, Sri Lanka on five occasions, with Pakistan winning it twice.
Mumbai Indians put in a clinical performance with both bat and ball to thrash Kolkata Knight Riders by a huge margin of 102 runs, in the IPL match, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
India sailed into the ICC World Cup semi-finals and eliminated opponents Bangladesh after Rohit Sharma's century and Jasprit Bumrah's four-wicket haul secured a 28-run victory over their neighbours on Tuesday.
The World Cup is just a couple of months away, and even after even a 0-2 loss in the just-concluded T20 series there won't be any shift in plans as far as skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri are concerned.
India will strive to play with the same grit they displayed in the second match in Pune when they square off against New Zealand in the third and final One-Day International of the series, in Kanpur, on Sunday.
Gujarat Lions would look to better their debut season's success and aim for a winning start against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League match, in Rajkot on Friday.
Gujarat Lions will have their task cut out when they lock horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad.
While Kings XI's biggest star Chris Gayle scored a 47-ball 79 in the Jaipur match, his Jamaican compatriot Andre Russell also looked in blistering touch for KKR in the match against Sunriserrs Hyderabad. Their rivalry will be one of the sub plots of Wednesday's clash in Kolkata.
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.
With a debate raging over the run out, it remains to be seen how Ashwin and Co. start afresh in what will be their first away match of the season.
Captain Virat Kohli hit an unbeaten half-century, while Krunal Pandya picked up a career-best four-wicket haul to guide India to a series-levelling victory in the third and final T20 International against Australia.
Delhi Daredevils would look to continue the new-found momentum against a struggling Gujarat Lions in New Delhi on Thursday.
Australian cricket, in contrast, has been dogged by structural reform in the wake of the ball-tampering saga in South Africa in March and it has resulted in turbulence on the field as well.
Images from Friday's IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders, in Mohali.
Australia meet South Africa in a one-off T20 match on the Gold Coast on November 17, before three T20s against India starting in Brisbane on November 21.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will be aiming for revival when they clash against out-of-sorts Gujarat Lions in an Indian Premier League match.
Kings XI Punjab will look to go all guns blazing against down and out Gujarat Lions in Mohali.
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.
Rajneesh Gupta presents a complete statistical IPL dossier.
Punjab are lying at the bottom of the table with only one win from six matches, while the in-form Lions are the top of the IPL standings with six wins from seven matches.
Having found some light at the end of the tunnel, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be keen to expose the chinks in Kings XI Punjab's armoury during their must-win IPL encounter in Indore on Monday.
It will be a test of character and battle for supremacy when Delhi Daredevils and Gujarat Lions, two of the most impressive teams of IPL 9, lock horns against each other at the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday. Barring one bad day in office, both Daredevils and Gujarat Lions had a near perfect campaign so far in the tournament. While new outfit Gujarat Lions are comfortably placed at the second spot in the eight-team standings with eight points from five matches, the Daredevils are a place below in the third position with six points from four games.
Hetmyer smacked three sixes and eight fours in his entertaining knock, helping his side chase down a modest target of 128.
Suresh Raina's return could not have been better-timed as Gujarat Lions, jolted by the tournament's biggest ever defeat, seek to revive their campaign when they face off with Kolkata Knight Riders.
ujarat Lions face the challenging task of gathering themselves and bounce back when they square off against the consistent Kolkata Knight Riders.
The shocking loss to Kings XI Punjab in their last match, notwithstanding, table-toppers Gujarat Lions will have to get their act together quickly if they wish to end their home campaign on a winning note against a formidable Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League match, in Rajkot on Tuesday.
Gujarat Lions would be looking to get back to winning ways when they lock horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Virat Kohli took a giant stride towards exorcising the ghosts of 2014 with a masterful century as he single-handedly pulled India out of the woods against England on an eventful second day of the first Test, in Birmingham, on Thursday.
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