Delhi Capitals will aim to solve their opening conundrum quickly and boost their chances of making it to the IPL play-offs when they take on a lacklustre Chennai Super Kings at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Thursday.
Olympian Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Vikash Malik (60kg) fought through intense bouts to enter the pre-quarterfinals but Mandeep Jangra (69kg) bowed out after a stiff second-round contest on a mixed day for India in the World Boxing Championships in Almaty on Sunday.
Punjab are seventh on the points table with 12 points. The Capitals also have a dozen points and are fifth
Ace midfielder Sardar Singh will lead a full strength Indian men's hockey team in the 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia from April 5 to 12.
The match was stopped in the fourth quarter due to heavy rains with around eight minutes left in the match.
India would look to put up a disciplined effort and avoid unnecessary cards, which cost them dearly against England.
The midfield will be spearheaded by Olympic bronze medal-winning former skipper Manpreet Singh, current vice-captain Hardik Singh and young Vivek Sagar Prasad, while India also boasts of a strong, attacking forwardline in Shamsher Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh.
Saurashtra's middle-order batter Sheldon Jackson followed in senior teammate Cheteshwar Pujara's footsteps, completing his century on day two of their Ranji Trophy Group A tie against Rajasthan to guide the defending champions to a 300-plus total in Jaipur on Saturday.
A summary of Ranji Trophy matches played on Thursday.
Down by an early goal, India staged a magnificent fightback to beat two-time champions Pakistan 3-1 in their second outing of the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy 2018, at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, in Muscat, on Saturday.
The choice of Jayant Yadav as back-up off-spinner in Test squad, or picking Baba Aparajith over the likes of Mandeep Singh and Sheldon Jackson in India A, could raise pertinent questions as to whether enough respect has been given by this committee when it comes to selecting performers in domestic cricket.
KXIP had finished the IPL 2020 season at the sixth spot under the leadership of KL Rahul.
What some of our leaders were up to over the weekend...
The batting as a whole has not clicked for Sunrisers and it is no surprise they find themselves in a desperate situation in the second half of the tournament.
Punjab thrashed defending champions Karnataka by nine wickets to storm into the semi-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament, at the Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad, on Tuesday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team comes into the match with two wins on the bounce and, like always, will be tough to beat at their 'den'.
Simranjeet Singh and Rajni Etimarpu will lead the men's and women's sides respectively as Hockey India on Sunday named the Indian teams for the upcoming FIH Hockey5s World Cup to be held in Muscat, Oman.
Two wrist-spinners, who are currently dominating the bowling charts will be itching to show their wares
A young squad, full of Indian Premier League performers, will represent India 'A' in the T20 warm-up against South Africa at the Air force Ground, in Palam, on September 29.
Mumbai sealed a five-wicket win over Vidarbha in the second semi-final clash at Eden Gardens
India went down fighting 1-2 to Belgium in a thrilling final of the first-leg of the Four-Nation Invitational tournament at the Blake Park, in Tauranga, New Zealand, on Sunday.
Images from Friday's IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab, in Kolkata.
The Punjab bowlers led by Kagiso Rabada have fared well. But the likes of Vaibhav Arora, Arshdeep Singh along with Rahul Chahar, who has nine wickets, would need to be on the money.
Sandeep Singh struck twice as local favourites Chandigarh Dynamos came from behind to beat Sher-e-Jallandhar 2-1 in the PHL.
AB de Villiers combined with Mandeep Singh for a game-changing partnership as Royal Challengers Bangalore eliminated Rajasthan Royals following a crushing 71-run victory, in the Indian Premier League in Pune, on Wednesday.
Mandeep Singh and Nick Wilson scored twice each to help hosts Ranchi Rhinos beat Uttar Pradesh Wizards 4-2 in a thrilling encounter and enter the summit clash of the inaugural Hockey India league in front of a packed Astroturf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi.
While India were on the offensive, England were content on defending deep.
'The decision to hospitalise them was taken so as to ensure that the players were attended to at all times and could be given the best possible treatment. All six athletes are in good health and recovering well.'
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals in Mohali, on Thursday.
India 'A' consolidated their position in the second unofficial Test, amassing over 550 runs and then reducing New Zealand 'A' to 198 for five on the second day of the match in Lincoln on Thursday.
SunRisers Hyderabad has the biggest purse while Kolkata Knight Riders has the slimmest purse.
India dominated all throughout but their goal-scoring woes continued for the second match in a row.
Kings XI Punjab rode on a smashing half-century by Mandeep Singh and a superlative performance by their bowers to notch up a comfortable 25-run victory over Deccan Chargers in a lop-sided Indian Premier League match in Uppal on Tuesday.
A rejuvenated India will start as the favourites when they lock horns with Zimbabwe, who have been left bruised and battered after a 10-wicket thrashing, in the series-deciding third and final Twenty20 International in Harare, on Wednesday.
Delhi Capitals need to win all their remaining three matches to keep their hopes alive of making it to the IPL 2022 play-offs.
Images from India's match against Pakistan in the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai on Wednesday.
The barbaric incident at the Line of Control in Kashmir in which the body of an Indian Army jawan was mutilated after being killed by terrorists, aided by the cover fire by Pakistani Army, sparked an outrage on Saturday even as a pall of gloom descended on his native village in Haryana.
Olympic bronze medallist India eked out a hardfought 3-2 win over South Africa to advance to the men's hockey final of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Saturday.
