A high-stakes match between cross-city rivals Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Chennai on Friday will usher in IPL 2024, but, beyond the grandeur around it, the two protagonists will have to find early answers to some deep questions as they attempt to enter a rarefied territory.
Put in to bat, India's rejigged top order wilted in no time and the 2007 champions crawled to 110-7 in 20 overs in the Super 12 match. The below-par total was unlikely to test New Zealand's batting might and so it proved.
This will mark Malinga's second involvement with Mumbai's support staff, following his mentoring role in 2018.
Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar's devastating five-wicket haul after a late batting blitzkrieg put India firmly in command as they reduced a hapless New Zealand to 128 for 7 on the rain-hit second day of the second cricket Test, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
New Zealand will play the World Cup-opener against England on Thursday without key pacer Tim Southee, who is yet to recover from his thumb surgery.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the 2nd Test between England and New Zealand played at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Saturday.
Glenn McGrath captured six wickets as Australia bowled out New Zealand for 433 on the second day of the first Test in Christchurch on Friday.
England captain Ben Stokes has changed the game of cricket in a "lot of respects", says batter Ollie Pope, as the maverick all-rounder gears up for his 100th Test appearance in a couple of days' time.
He also scored New Zealand's fastest Test century in a game against West Indies in 1969 before the record was broken by Daniel Vettori 36 years later.
We had to fight really hard to reverse momentum, says Kane Williamson
Bangladesh assistant coach Nic Pothas rated India as the best team in the world and called it a great opportunity for his side to test its skills against the hosts in the ongoing Cricket World Cup.
Rajasthan Royals pulled off the highest run chase in the history of IPL to edge Kolkata Knight Riders by two wickets.
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New Zealand cricket chief Martin Snedden said there should be no knee-jerk reaction.
'I thought it was probably one of the worst bowling displays that we've put on for a very long time'
Eoin Morgan said that all-rounder Liam Livingstone is a "dead cert" or a certain starter for England in the ICC Cricket World Cup, which will take place from October 5 in India.
New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner feels assessing the conditions in Dharamsala and countering an in-form Rohit Sharma will be vital as they eye the "tough" task of beating India at home during their World cup clash on Sunday.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson doffed his cap to pacer Mohammed Shami and the India team after his side was outplayed in the World Cup semi-final.
Centuries from openers Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan powered Titans to an emphatic victory against champions CSK.
As he gears up to surpass legendary Dennis Lillee in the tally of Test wicket-takers for Australia, pacer Mitchell Starc opened up on strong words from his former head coach Tim Nielsen that paved way for his durability and said that it would be humbling to surpass the Aussie icon in wicket-taking charts.
'Bazball' has changed the dynamics of England's batting approach in Test cricket and their Kiwi coach Brendon McCullum is very clear that irrespective of outcome, his team won't deviate from its aggressive tactics against India in the five-Test series, where most tracks will offer substantial turn.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India, which had decided to host its first day-night Test against visiting New Zealand, has acknowledged that it could not go ahead with the plan without testing the waters in the Duleep Trophy.
In anticipation of his team's upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup match against the Netherlands, New Zealand batsman Glenn Phillips expressed his belief that the Dutch side will prove to be a formidable opponent in the tournament.
Conway versus Bumrah. Boult versus Rohit. Ferguson versus Kohli. Santner versus Gill.
New Zealand have never appeared so well-united as they do currently. 'Individually and collectively, under Brendon McCullum's astute leadership, they seem a formidable lot.'
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has been awarded Sir Richard Hadlee medal.
Afghanistan's top-order batsman Hashmatullah Shahidi could not confirm if off-spinner Mujeeb, who missed the last two matches against India and Namibia due to injury, will be fit to face New Zealand.
'We are looking forward to the game against India, had the first warm-up game and have got a game against England in a couple of days. I guess these games care for nothing'
The Kiwi media has said that a greedy India with regard to the menace of match-fixing is the real enemy of the sport of cricket and slumdog billionaires are ruining the show.
Gujarat released a video of Williamson in the early hours of Monday confirming that the Kiwi star was flying home.
Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell played another match-winning partnership to set RCB up for a 7 run win over the Rajasthan Royals.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and coach, Mike Hesson, opined that it will be a "bit of scrap" for the batsmen to face Ravichandran Ashwin & Co. while their own spinners need to adapt quickly to the SG Test from kookaburra ball.
Including foods rich in Vitamin C, such as citrus fruits, berries, kiwi, and leafy greens, can help meet the recommended daily intake, suggests Dr Prasad Kuvalekar.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said 'losing wickets against the run of play' while chasing a tricky target led to the home team's defeat against New Zealand in the second ODI, in New Delhi, on Thursday.
A brilliant performance by New Zealand's seamers and a composed run chase by Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor ensured the Black Caps made history by beating India to win the inaugural ICC World Test Championship.
A fuming Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott slammed his team for their sloppy showing in the field against New Zealand.
'Credit to the way England played, they put us under pressure. They played beautifully, hats-off to England, they were clinical.'
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said his team were 20 to 25 runs short when they slipped to a seven-wicket defeat in Wednesday's World Twenty20 semi-final against England.
It rained fours and sixes in Bengaluru as a total of 549 runs were scored -- the highest aggregate in a T20 match.
