India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni revealed on Saturday that Virat Kohli's agreement to drop down the order paid the team rich dividends and the strategy would be followed in the remainder of the One-Day series.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to bat first against Australia in their World Twenty20 Super 10 match at Dharamsala on Friday. The Kiwis are on a high after beating hosts India in their Group Two opener and a second win against their trans-Tasman rivals will put them on course for a place in the semi-finals. After their brave gamble to pick three specialist spinners paid off against India, New Zealand decided to bolster the pace attack, dropping off-spinner Nathan McCullum to accommodate Mitchell McClenaghan. "It's nice to get a win early and hopefully we can make an adjustment again on a new wicket," captain Kane Williamson said. Australia captain Steven Smith said he too would have liked to bat first on a dry wicket at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.
India's limited overs specialist Jasprit Bumrah is aware that bowling effective yorkers can't remain his only weapon at the highest level.
'It's happened before. Not just Virat but there's many players that have come up to IPL time and ... look, we know it's a cash rich tournament, there's some money up for grabs.'
351 cricketers -- 230 Indians and 131 foreigners -- will go under the hammer in Saturday's IPL players' auction.
While three of their neighbours -- Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh -- crashed out in the quarter-finals, India remain the only team from the sub-continent to make the last four, and make it in style.
South Africa survived a batting collapse precipitated by a hat-trick from spinner Prosper Utseya to beat Zimbabwe by 61 runs in the third match of the triangular series on Friday.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) stares at financial ruin after its powerful Indian counterpart demanded nearly $42 million in damages for the Caribbean team's abrupt withdrawal from a tour of India last month.
'Kohli is the kind of ethereal athlete who can not only help Elon Musk discover life on Mars, but also test out its gravitational parameters by stroking hundreds in the red dirt.' 'But when playing for India, he needs assistance,' says Dhruv Munjal.
Australia rode on James Faulkner's brutal unbeaten 29-ball 64 to take Australia to thrilling 4-wicket win in Mohali on Saturday.
Australia rode on James Faulkner's brutal unbeaten 29-ball 64 to take Australia to thrilling 4-wicket win in Mohali on Saturday.
The 2016 Indian Premier League season brings with it an opportunity for both the old and new.
Ad guru Prahlad Kakkar, on the other hand, believes Dhoni's saleability would have dropped had he also quit from One-Day Internationals and T20 Internationals.
Virat Kohli produced another breathtaking effort as his superbly crafted unbeaten 154 enabled India to cruise to an easy seven-wicket victory in the third ODI against New Zealand, in Mohali, on Sunday.
All that's transpired on and off the cricket pitch on Monday.
'The impact Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Shivam Mavi, Mayank Markande, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Washington Sundar had on the IPL not only won hearts, but also the approval of the selectors,' says Ayaz Memon.
After four centuries on the trot with a strike rate of nearly 120, Sri Lanka's run machine Kumar Sangakkara (MVPI: 686) has raced to the top of the most valuable player standing at the ICC World Cup.
Strangely, despite four wins on the trot, none of India's players have even figured in the top 20 of the MVPI table.
Ashok Menaria and Kedar Jadhav hit half centuries as India 'A' scored a nail-biting two-wicket victory over New Zealand 'A' in the third and final one-dayer in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. The victory, which was achieved with four balls to spare, gave the hosts a 3-0 series triumph.
'I've played a lot of matches up and down the order so I think I've become a more mature player after 2011' 'I know that if I play till the 50th over, the team can get 20-25 runs extra'
Although A B de Villiers is still the front-runner for the MVP crown of the 2015 World Cup, a new and serious challenger has suddenly appeared out of the blue -- New Zealand opener Martin Guptill.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Sunday
The Aussie series of 1985-1986 will remain a missed opportunity for Indian cricket. But it is least talked about despite all the high points in the series.
'Dhoni has got his own ways of captaining the Indian team. He might not give out details or might not explain, but in his mind he knows very well how to captain the side, which players to pick and the right combination for a particular condition.'
Round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played in different parts of the country
Penpix of the West Indies squad for the 2015 cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Virat Kohli's proactive and aggressive style of leadership will be tested when India take on sprightly underdogs Bangladesh in the one-off Test match starting in Fatullah on Wednesday.
He is regarded as one of the best fast bowlers of the modern era. Extreme pace with the ability to swing the ball both ways makes Dale Steyn a complete pacer. The South African speedster reflects on his 11-year old career at the international stage. How did the dream of playing cricket begin for you and when did it start taking shape? I was about 10 or so when I first came in contact with cricket. I was visiting my family in Zimbabwe and played the game in the backyard. And I remember when I got back to school after the vacations in January, everyone seemed to be playing this crazy sport called cricket. I joined the party and since then there has been no looking back. Why fast bowling? I did everything when I was growing up. I was an opening batter in primary school, but fast bowling was one thing that I was always better at than anybody else. I started playing Men's club cricket at a very young age. I was like this little 14-year old playing against full grown men who were 25 years and upwards. You know, you start to get this confidence that you can get grown men out. Your own teammates fill you up with a lot of confidence when they see you get a great batsman out. I was lucky enough to be a part of the Northern Titan Cricket Academy. This was the same time when the 2003 World Cup was on and I got a chance to bowl to all the international pros who came for practice, made them jump around a little bit and built confidence from there.
A summary of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Sunday.
A summary of the second day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches.
Captain Yuvraj Singh fell cheaply in his Ranji Trophy season opener before Uday Kaul and Gurkeerat Singh led Punjab's recovery against Railways on day two of the Group A match, in New Delhi, on Friday.
'Put cricket, first and foremost, at the centre of every decision you take.' 'The bottom line must always be the sport that we love.' Rahul Dravid as eloquent as always in his M A K Pataudi Memorial Lecture.
Prem Panicker, a keen follower of the game and one of cricket's finest writers, interacted with readers on the Rediff World Cup Chat.