Veterans Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir's prospects of making an India comeback are all but over as the celebrated opening duo stayed away from selection in the 15-member North Zone squad for the Deodhar Trophy.
The R Ashwin-led Kings XI slipped to the fifth spot after suffering back-to-back losses against Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively. Overall, the hosts have registered four wins from eight matches this season.
A summary of the first day's proceedings in the Ranji Trophy matches across the country.
Experienced drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh returned to India's men's hockey team, which also features debutant Jaskaran Singh, for the tour of Australia, starting May 10.
Indian defence crumbled under the onslaught of a rampaging Australia as they were handed a 1-5 thrashing by the world champions in their second league fixture of the 25th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh, Malaysia on Thursday. Australia, the eight-time winners of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, launched their campaign to reclaim the title they lost to New Zealand last year with a dominant performance against the Indian side seeking to provide exposure to several youngsters. Blake Govers (fifth minute), Jacob Whetton (13th), Eddie Okkenden (20th), Simon Orchard (25th) and Matt Ghodes (53rd) scored for Australia, who have brought virtually their full-strength squad to prepare for the Olympic Games. India's lone goal came through a penalty corner conversion by Rupinder Pal Singh in the eighth minute. This was Australia first outing in the round-robin league, while India prevailed 2-1 over Japan on Wednesday in an unimpressive campaign opener.
Eyeing a top-two finish, Chennai Super Kings will start as the firm favourites when they take on Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League, in Dubai, on Thursday.
Punjab, who are on eight points from 11 games, need to win the match to keep their play-offs hopes alive, while KKR (10 points from 11 games) also need a victory to boost their hopes.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians will need their famed top-order batting to fire and turn things around when they take on Punjab Kings in the IPL in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Both Gujarat and Delhi Capitals started their campaign in IPL 2022 with wins and they would look to continue in the same vein at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
India's lone goal came from the sticks of Dilpreet Singh in the 34th minute.
SV Sunil's oodles of experience came in handy as his 59th minute strike enabled India to pip a gritty Wales 4-3 in their second Pool B encounter at the Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast.
Punjab Kings head coach Anil Kumble was extremely satisfied with the new players, including Liam Livingstone and Odean Smith, coming to his franchise during the IPL 2022 Player Auction, the dynamics of which were "very different and challenging".
The Indian men's hockey core group will focus on skill development in the next few weeks after restarting the national camp with basic training, head coach Graham Reid said on Saturday, trying to overcome from the jolt of six players contracting COVID-19.
Almost out of reckoning for a place in the play-offs, bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to play party-poopers when they take on an equally struggling Punjab Kings in the battle of laggards in the IPL in Sharjah on Saturday.
RCB batting and fielding coach Trent Woodhill feels out-of-form West Indies opener Chris Gayle should take a cue from skipper Virat Kohli's batting and try regain his old touch.
India's young batting stars Mandeep Singh and Sarfaraz Khan, who played alongside AB in this year's Indian Premier League, said it was like a dream come true for them to share the same dressing room with the South African, who is on the threshold of the unique landmark of 100 Test matches.
India are now atop the leaderboard with five points from two games, but the Manpreet Singh-led side conceded a point to the Netherlands after drawing (during the regulation time) the second match of the contest on Sunday.
Captain KL Rahul has been one of the few consistent performers in the formidable-looking Punjab batting unit and he once again led by example against MI
Before being discharged from PGIMER, Punjab Police chief Dinkar Gupta handed over to Singh his son Arshpreet's appointment letter as a constable in the force.
Chennai Super Kings put an end to their poor run after registering a massive 10-wicket win against Kings XI Punjab in Dubai
The two sides experienced contrasting fortunes in their respective tournament opener.
Here's a look at Indian athletes' performance on Monday, Day 4 of the Games.
Skipper Rishabh Pant (234 from nine games) showed glimpses of his destructive power but the team would want more from its skipper who is more than capable of hammering any attack into submission.
The Indian men's hockey team commenced their Asian Games campaign on a rousing note, blanking Sri Lanka 8-0 following Rupinder Pal Singh's super hat-trick on Sunday.
The dominance of Saurashtra's bowlers could be gauged from the fact that Himachal lost their first seven wickets for just 22 runs.
Defending champions Karnataka also remained in the hunt for the last-eight berth, securing a five-wicket win over Uttar Pradesh that took their net run-rate to 0.292.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the Indian team for the limited overs tour of Zimbabwe starting June 11, while top stars like Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have been rested.
For the visitors, the game against the Mandeep Singh-led India 'A' side will be more about getting into the match simulation mode before they get going against Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team in the opening T20 International at Dharamsala on October 2.
Karnataka captain R Vinay Kumar's led from the front with a six-wicket haul as the Ranji Trophy champions gained upperhand against Rest of India on the first day of the Irani Cup match despite a gutsy effort from wicketkeepe-batsman Dinesh Karthik.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Deepak Hooda finished on a career-best 62 from 30 balls that rallied Kings XI Punjab to 153 for six, as they smashed 40 runs from the last three overs.
Ajinkya Rahane and Prithvi Shaw faltered yet again as Karnataka pacers wreaked a havoc and bundled out Mumbai for a paltry 194 on the opening day of their Elite Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai. Services bowled out Maharashtra for 44 with medium pacer P S Poonia picking up 5/11 in their Ranji Trophy match in New Delhi
Gayle hammered eight sixes in his explosive innings and brought up a staggering 1,000 sixes in T20 cricket with a maximum off Kartik Tyagi.
Rain played spoilsport as the One-Day match between India 'A' and South Africa 'A' was abandoned after 35 overs in the first innings, taking the Manish Pandey-led side to the top of points table in the quadrangular contest. The Indians were struggling for most part of the 35.2 overs bowled today after being put in to bat at the Harrup Park. Openers Mandeep Singh (29 of 51 balls) and Karun Nair (15 of 25 balls) put on 31 in eight overs before the latter was dismissed by Dwaine Pretorius.
As coach Ricky Ponting pointed out, he would expect a better "on his feet" thinking from the young captain.
Around 1,200 protesters demanding scrapping of the amended citizenship act were detained on Thursday when they defied prohibitory orders imposed by the Delhi Police in Red Fort area. Internet, voice and messaging services by Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Reliance Jio were suspended in parts of Delhi-NCR, in perhaps for the first time that the national capital experienced such restrictions.
Defending champions India continued their goal-scoring spree and spanked Japan 8-0 to register their third consecutive win in the men's hockey competition at the Asian Games, in Jakarta, on Friday.
Chennai Super Kings would look to plug the bowling loopholes when they take on a struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore
RR will have to get their combination right as only four foreigners can make the playing XI.
Jeremy stamps class on CWG debut, India climb to sixth in medal table
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