India's opening batsmen have come under fire for poor starts in their last two home series against New Zealand and England but captain Virat Kohli says now is the time to give them support, not show them the door.
Following Monday's selection, Rajneesh Gupta presents the Test career figures of the touring party along with the players' performance against Australia.
Kohli trails Smith by 26 points and will have to produce a string of strong performances to leapfrog the Australian.
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.
The Indian under-23 team lifted the ACC Emerging Trophy tournament as they thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan by nine wickets in the final with opener Lokesh Rahul (93) being the star of a lop-sided chase.
India's most loved controversial reality show is back!
Virat is No 1. Rohit is no 2, but guess who are Nos 3, 4, 5!
Led by skipper Virat Kohli, the Indian Test squad sans opener Lokesh Rahul and coach Anil Kumble arrived in Kolkata along with the New Zealand team ahead of second cricket Test starting on Friday. Rahul has been ruled out of the match because of a hamstring injury while Kumble is slated to join the team on Wednesday morning ahead of their practice session at Eden Gardens in the afternoon, local manager said.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah earned his maiden call-up to the Test squad, while Parthiv Patel made a comeback for the three-Test series in South Africa.
The likes of Virender Sehwag, David Miller and Glenn Maxwell have not managed to live up to expectations for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 8.
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.
'We were expecting death sentences, but now the court has acquitted them, despite Aseemanand himself admitting to his crime in front of a judge.' More importantly, it seems the tag of 'Hindu Terror' coined by the United Progressive Alliance government was wrong all along. Amjedullah Khan, spokesperson for the Majlis Bachao Tehreek, has been tracking the Mecca Masjid blast case from day one and was also involved in securing the release of more than 100 Muslims youths who were falsely accused in different terror cases in the aftermath of the blast. He spoke to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com about the acquittal of Swami Aseemanand and what it means.
The situation has arisen second time since the Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power in 2014.
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.
A new look Kings XI Punjab under Ravichandran Ashwin will take on Delhi Daredevils in their opening encounter of IPL-2018 here tomorrow, as both sides look to begin the T20 tournament on a winning note.
The second-year BSc (Honours) in Mathematics student had returned from Delhi in March this year after those staying in the hostel were asked to go home by the college authorities in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cheteshwar Pujara struck a defiant century in an Adelaide Oval furnace to rescue India after Australia's pacemen threatened to dominate day one of the series-opening Test on Thursday.
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.
Rohit Sharma and Krunal Pandya's late cameos saw Mumbai Indians snatch a thrilling six-wicket victory against Kings XI Punjab to keep their hopes alive, in the Indian Premier League, in Indore, on Friday.
Ahead of the upcoming Test and ODI series against Bangladesh Rajneesh Gupta presents a statistical outlook on India's players selected for the two squads.
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.
Fit again Rohit Sharma and Mohammad Shami on Monday staged comeback in India's 15-member ODI squad.
Rain is expected to play role in 5th ODI in Thiruvananthapuram even as the wicket-keeper batsmen will look to complete 10,000 ODI runs.
RCB began their campaign without skipper and star batsman Virat Kohli as well as another key player A B de Villiers due to injuries and lost their opening match against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad.
India will look to plug the chinks in its armoury and provide finishing touches to its preparation for the four-Test series when it takes on the West Indies Cricket Board Presidents' XI in the final warm-up match, starting in Basseterre, St Kitts, on Thursday.
India's new chief coach Anil Kumble will be keeping a keen eye on speedster Mohammed Shami's fitness along with the form of opener Shikhar Dhawan when the team begin its tour of West Indies.
Factbox on the four-Test series between India and Australia, which starts at Pune on Thursday:
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.
Check out the statistical highlights of the Cuttack T20I.
Images from the third Twenty20 International between India and Bangladesh, in Nagpur, on Sunday.
Australia will need to defy history to chase down the total and survive the wiles of Ravichandran Ashwin on a fifth day pitch.
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 not about four or five bowlers; it's the balance that can get you 20 wickets. Like I have kept saying in the past, it depends on conditions' 'Competition for places, nothing like it. It goes to show everyone is one his toes, nobody will rest on his heels'
Chief selector MSK Prasad told reporters last month that most of the players in the current India side pick themselves and it was a matter of finalising a couple of slots before the World Cup in England and Wales.
Images of the third day's play of the second Test between India and Sri Lanka being played in Colombo.
Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has turned a year older.
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.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji list the Most Valuable Players of the India-New Zealand ODI series.
With 36 different playing XIs in as many Tests under Kohli's captaincy, the Indian line-up is begging for some consistency.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances