India's pace talisman Jasprit Bumrah's absence will certainly hurt India, but the team's quality batting and spin bowling make them title contenders alongside South Africa and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy.
New Zealand picked two uncapped players in all-rounder Daryl Mitchell and pacer Blair Tickner for the three-match T20 International series against India.
His team all but out of contention for a place in the play-offs of the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League, a dejected Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli found his team's horrendous performance inexplicable.
Gujarat Titans, the team to beat in its debut IPL season, will aim to build on a dream start against an inconsistent Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Navi Mumbai, on Monday.
With all hopes faded, coming in to bat with 89 needed off 7 overs, the 32 year old revived the team's fortunes.
India will be expecting more runs from the middle order and discipline in the death overs as they look for a series sealing win against New Zealand in the second ODI in Raipur on Saturday.
Flower batted for the 'Impact Player' rule saying that it allows two Indian players to participate in a game.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who were rested for the series, slipped one place each to 8th and 9th respectively.
New Zealand pace spearhead Trent Boult has recovered from a broken hand to be included in the 13-player squad to face India in the two-Test series, as selectors swung the axe following the dismal tour of Australia. Left-armer Boult broke his right hand in the Boxing Day Test against Australia in December but is fit for the first Test against India starting at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Friday.
Majestic cricket milestones mark T20 World Cup journey
Andre Russell's pyrotechnics proved to be too little too late in the end as Gujarat Titans defended a small total to clinch a dramatic eight-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders in a thrilling IPL 2022 match.
A resurgent Royal Challengers Bengaluru will look for their fourth consecutive victory when they face an unpredictable Punjab Kings as the two sides fight for survival in the Indian Premier League, in Dharamsala on Thursday.
RCB on paper look like a team that can make it to the playoffs and with Dinesh Karthik playing his last IPL, Faf turning 40 and Kohli and Maxwell in their mid-thirties, the Challengers will be determined to win it for the veterans of the team.
Gujarat Titans will need their batters to fire when they take on high-flying Lucknow Super Giants as both teams look to seal IPL play-offs berth at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Tuesday.
Andre Russell produced a superb showing with ball and bat, but it still wasn't enough to prevent the Kolkata Knight Riders from going down by eight runs against the Gujarat Titans.
The likes of skipper Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan, who had produced stellar performances and played a key role in GT's success so far, have floundered against Punjab.
Mohammed Shami's opening spell of 2/6 in two overs gave the Gujarat Titans the early momentum with the new ball.
The only loss that table toppers Gujarat Titans suffered in IPL 2022 so far was against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first round clash.
Images from the third and final T20 International between India and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
IMAGES of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday.
Images from the T20 World Cup match played between New Zealand and Uganda in Tarouba, Trinidad, on Saturday.
Martin Guptill will play in his seventh T20 World Cup and Devon Conway will keep wickets in addition to his batting duties at the tournament
England are an ageing side alright, but few will dare to bet against Jos Buttler's men successfully defending their World Cup title in a few weeks time.
GT (10 points from seven matches) have been a well-oiled unit and looks set for a successive play-off berth, sitting behind leaders Rajasthan Royals on net run-rate with a match in hand.
IMAGES from the IPL match between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru played in Dharamsala on Thursday
Neesham, a batting all-rounder, rocked the Afghanistan innings by his incisive bowling and in the process returned with his career-best figures of 5/31 from his 10 overs. His earlier best was 4/42.
Yadav is the best-placed Indian with 805 points in the batting list headed by Pakistan's Babar Azam.
Latham was just one of three players to have broken bones on the tour, with opening bowler Trent Boult sustaining a fracture in his right hand during the second Test in Melbourne.
England's Johnny Bairstow and Harry Brook smashed half centuries before debutant Gus Atkinson took four wickets to power England to a 2-0 lead over New Zealand in their four-match Twenty20 International series with a 95-run victory on Friday.
New Zealand players were seen bringing the ball back from the stands themselves.
The West Indian achieved this feat during the match against Gujarat Titans at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai after he dismissed Abhinav Manohar, Lockie Ferguson, Rahul Tewatia and Yash Dayal in the 20th over as Gujarat Titans were restricted to 156 for 9 after electing to bat.
Dawid Malan's half-century and Harry Brook's fiery knock helped England rout New Zealand by seven wickets in the first T20 International.
Fast bowler Trent Boult is in line to play his first one-day international in almost a year after being included in New Zealand's 15-man squad for a four-match series against England.
Thousands of fans on Monday flocked the streets of Ahmedabad as the Gujarat Titans took out a victory parade on an open-top bus to celebrate their title triumph in a memorable maiden season in the IPL.
KKR are heading into the contest after an embarrassing batting performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Gujarat Titans are currently at the top of the IPL table with 18 points from 12 games and a win on Sunday will more or less secure them a top-2 finish. That would mean an extra chance of making it to the final.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to unleash their brute batting power on struggling Royal Challengers Bengaluru when the two teams face off in their return-leg fixture of the IPL in Hyderabad on Thursday.
A 'Go To' man in Kolkata Knight Riders for more than a decade, Sunil Narine will have to play out of his skin to justify his place in the playing eleven when his team takes on Punjab Kings in a must-win Indian Premier League game in Kolkata on Monday.
Bangladesh scored 245 for nine against New Zealand in their ICC Men's ODI World Cup match in Chennai on Friday.
Both India and New Zeland have not lost any of their matches in the tournament as of now
