Rohit Sharma blazed his way to the joint fastest century in T20 Internationals, reaching the three-figure mark off just 35 balls in the second T20 International against Sri Lanka in Indore on Friday.
Australia captain Steve Smith won the toss and opted to bat against an Indian side missing their inspirational skipper Virat Kohli through injury in the fourth and final Test in Dharamsala on Saturday.
Ravichandran Ashwin says leadership tips from Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh will help him immensely in his maiden captaincy stint in the upcoming Indian Premier League.
A patient half-century by Ajinkya Rahane and some disciplined bowling display helped Rajasthan Royal notch up a comfortable four-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL match in Abu Dhabi.
Here is a factbox on the third and final Test between India and Sri Lanka beginning at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday:
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between Sri Lanka and India in Colombo, on Thursday.
Smith was handed a one-year ban along with his then deputy David Warner exactly a year ago for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Captain Manoj Tiwary (83) and Naman Ojha (82 batting) hit aggressive half centuries to rescue India A from initial wobble and take them to a comfortable 304 for six on the opening day of the first four-day match against Australia A.
It was the third time in this year's IPL that a batsman had benefited from the bails refusing to be dislodged.
At 876 points he is only eight points behind second-placed India spinner Ravindra Jadeja and 20 behind top-ranked James Anderson of England.
David Warner blasted a quickfire half-century before Sunrisers Hyderabad survived a sensational onslaught from David Miller to register a thrilling five-run victory against Kings XI Punjab and keep themselves in the hunt for a place in the play-offs of the Indian Premier League, in Hyderabad, on Monday.
Kohli trails Smith by 26 points and will have to produce a string of strong performances to leapfrog the Australian.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji reveal the Most Valuable Players of the India-Australia ODI series.
Among his wards, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari have taken to Test cricket like duck to water, all-rounder Vijay Shankar is staking World Cup claims, while Shubhman Gill broke into the ODI team in New Zealand.
A fake driving license has been issued in the name of All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi in Bihar's Sarna district, following which the state government on Tuesday ordered a probe into it. The present address in the fake license was that of the district magistrate's residence (Chapra) while the permanent address was of Parliament Street, New Delhi. The license also mentioned late Rajiv Gandhi as the father of the license holder.
Rajasthan Police has denied the allegation of a woman who said her full-term pregnant daughter-in-law lost her child after she was assaulted by it during a raid at her house.
Images from Thursday's IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab, in Abu Dhabi.
David Warner slammed a whirlwind 50-ball 92 to set up a comfortable 15-run win for Sunrisers Hyderabad over Royal Challengers Bangalore in their Indian Premier League match, in Hyderabad, on Saturday.
Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has turned a year older.
Minor tweaks to his bowling after the lunch break made all the difference for left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe who claimed a career-best six for 35 to put Australia ahead in the opening Test against India on Friday.
Factbox on the four-Test series between India and Australia, which starts at Pune on Thursday:
The team was hit with a COVID-19 outbreak on Wednesday as Dhawan, reserve opener Gaikwad and middle-order batter Shreyas had tested positive for the virus during their mandatory isolation period before the start of the series.
For Hyderabad, KXIP encounter is the last game where they can avail the services of Warner before he leaves home for Australia's World Cup preparations alongside Steven Smith and Marcus Stoinis.
Australia beat India by three wickets with the final delivery in a low-scoring first Twenty20 international.
Temperamentally poles apart, a cavalier Pant and a composed Ajinkya Rahane eventually wrested the initiative back with a burgeoning 146-run partnership to guide India to 308-4 at stumps.
The spotlight will be on Test captain Virat Kohli as India 'A' go into the second and final unofficial Test against Australia A, starting in Chennai on Wednesday, looking to secure a win after drawing the first match last week.
Responsible batting by young Tamil Nadu all-rounder Baba Aparajith and talented Karnataka batsmen Manish Pandey to guide South Zone to 213 for three at stumps on the day one of the Duleep Trophy quarter-final match against West Zone in Chennai.
In a big blow to India, opening batsman Murali Vijay and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha were ruled out for the remainder of the Test series against Sri Lanka due to injuries.
England pace bowler Stuart Broad swept aside the India middle order batting in an inspired spell on Sunday to propel his team to a crushing innings and 159 runs victory on the fourth day of the second Test at Lord's.
Glenn Maxwell blasted an unbeaten 113 from 55 balls to guide Australia to a seven-wicket win over India that sealed a 2-0 away T20I series victory.
India's young guns will get an opportunity to fire on the big stage and carry forward the team's exceptional dominance over England when they clash with the visitors in the three-match Twenty20 series, starting in Kanpur on Thursday.
Lokesh Rahul is hopeful that premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin would be able to match Nathan Lyon's performance on a track that has crumbled on the first day itself.
Images from Saturday's IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab, in Abu Dhabi.
The emergence of youngsters Lokesh Rahul and Karun Nair will increase the pressure on India's established batsmen to be more consistent as the world's top-ranked Test side look to dominate next year. Under captain Virat Kohli, India have been unbeaten in the last 18 tests, registering series wins in Sri Lanka and West Indies, and thumping South Africa, New Zealand and England at home.
India made a strong reply to England's first-innings total of 477 after half-centuries by debutant Liam Dawson and number nine Adil Rashid underlined the tourists' batting depth in the fifth and final Test on Saturday. - Scorecard: India claimed three wickets on the second morning but the 108-run partnership between Dawson and Rashid in a productive second session for the touring side frustrated the hosts.
Barring Amit Mishra's inclusion, there were no major surprise in India's Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka, the selectors retaining as many as 14 players who had toured Bangladesh for the one-off Test earlier this month.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at the team management's decision to make Ajinkya Rahane bat at number three in the first innings of the second Test against Sri Lanka, on Thursday, saying it "sacrificed" an "uncomplaining" cricketer.
'It's a historic moment for them and an opportunity for us to be part of the occasion'
Three consecutive defeats have more or less sealed their fate and for things to turn around for the Royals, every aspect of their game needs to improve and click for them.
India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are both under an injury cloud ahead of the Boxing Day Test against Australia, leaving the tourists with a potential selection conundrum.
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