Senior South Africa batsman J P Duminy defended his team's young bowling attack which failed to defend a decent total of 189 against an inexperienced India 'A' in their warm-up T20 game in Delhi on Tuesday, saying the focus was on assessment of conditions rather than the result.
Skipper Sardara Singh has been rested for third Asian Champions Trophy. In his absence, Hockey India said, midfielder Manpreet Singh will lead India's 18-member squad for the tournament in Kakamigahara, Japan, from November 2-10.
Three members of a Sikh gang, including a woman, were today convicted of slashing the throat of Lt Gen (retd) Kuldip Singh Brar, the hero of the 1984 Operation Blue Star, in London last year.
India went down fighting 1-3 to Australia via the penalty shoot-out in the final of the Champions Trophy hockey tournament, in Breda, the Netherlands, on Sunday.
Having found some light at the end of the tunnel, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be keen to expose the chinks in Kings XI Punjab's armoury during their must-win IPL encounter in Indore on Monday.
The nail-biting win over defending champions Mumbai Indians was certainly a morale-lifter but the inconsistent Kings XI Punjab have another tough battle at hand when they take on table toppers Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League, in Dubai, on Tuesday.
Jammu and Kashmir skipper Parveez Rasool continued his brilliant all-round performance with a five-wicket haul as their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match seemed headed for an exciting finish with Punjab leaving them with a target of 324 for a historic victory in Vadodara.
A desperate Sunrisers Hyderabad would seek inspiration from skipper David Warner to arrest any further slide when they take on Punjab Kings in an IPL match, in Chennai, on Wednesday.
Former captain Sardar Singh was brought back to bolster the Indian hockey team's mid-field while Birendra Lakra was included to shore up the defence line-up for the upcoming Champions Trophy, beginning on June 23 in Breda, The Netherlands.
Sreejesh to lead India as team will experiment with different combinations and execute new tactics
Delhi Waveriders and Ranchi Rays played out a goal-less draw to share four points between them in a pulsating encounter of the fifth edition of the Hockey India League in Ranchi on Saturday.
The men's team last participated in an international competition in February last year when they played the FIH Hockey Pro League matches against Australia in Bhubaneswar.
The match, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, will also be a face-off between skippers KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, both seen as future India captaincy material.
The trial of two Sikh men and a woman accused of stabbing Lt Gen (retd) K S Brar, who led 'Operation Blue Star' in London opened on Monday, nine months after the attack.
India blanked arch-rivals Pakistan 4-0 to open its campaign on a rousing note in the final edition of the Champions Trophy hockey tournament.
IMAGES from the IPL match played between Delhi Capitals and SunRisers Hyderabad in Mumbai on Thursday.
Still very much in the play-offs race after registering their fourth victory on the trot, Kings XI Punjab skipper K L Rahul said his side has at last made winning a habit after a slow start in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
Zimbabwe axed their coach Dav Whatmore and captain Hamilton Masakadza just days before the arrival of India for a five-match limited-overs tour.
Handed a rude shock in the opening game, the Indian youngsters will have to raise their game in the second Twenty20 International to stay afloat in the three-match series against minnows Zimbabwe, in Harare on Monday.
Short of match practice, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ashish Nehra and Ajinkya Rahane will captain the India A team for two warm-up matches against England at CCI, Mumbai next week. Dhoni, who has not played a competitive game in over two months, will lead the India A side in the opening warm-up here on January 10. Rahane, who is coming back from an injury, will captain the team in the second warm-up on January 12.
India will next play mighty Australia on Sunday.
Himachal Pradesh, who were bowled out for 130 in their first innings, were 79 for one at stumps on day three needing another 393 runs for an improbable win.
Three Sikh men and a woman, convicted of carrying out a revenge attack on Lt Gen Brar for his role as commander of Operation Blue Star in 1984 were on Tuesday sentenced by a British court to between 10 and 14 years in prison.
The Indians will have to be at their best in all departments to get the better of the ever-improving Red Lions, who will be out to prove a point after a not-so-impressive opener.
India 'A' will play a one-day tri-series involving Australia 'A' and South Africa 'A' followed by two four-day matches against the hosts.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir's 37th first-class century might have made his case stronger for an India comeback but his knock could not help North Zone overhaul Central Zone's imposing first innings score on Day 3 of the four-day Duleep Trophy semi-final in Mohali.
A win for Punjab will elevate them to the top four, while a victory for KKR will take them to 14 points
Four key players, including ace drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh and midfielder S K Uthappa, were dropped from India's 18-man squad for the Hockey World League semi-final, in Antwerp, Belgium, from June 20 to July 5. Besides Rupinder and Uthappa, forwards Mandeep Singh and Satbir Singh got the axe.
IMAGES from the IPL match played between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Hyderabad on Monday
Senior batter Manoj Tiwary combined with the young Sudip Kumar Gharami to steer Bengal to a hardfought seven-wicket win against Baroda to climb to the top of Group A in the Ranji Trophy.
A summary of all the action from Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Tuesday.
Rajneesh Gupta presents statistical summary of Kings XI Punjab and much more.
Mumbai Indians enter the match high on confidence following successive victories over holders Chennai Super Kings and last edition's finalists Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Sreesanth, who was part of the triumphant Indian squads in the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 World Cup, was earlier named in one of the squads for a local T20 tournament to be conducted by Kerala Cricket Association in Alappuzha from December 17.
To have 11 fielders on the field, Australia had to field their masseur and logistics coordinator Grant Baldwin.
India will next play arch-rivals Pakistan in the round-robin stage on Friday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Kumar and his supporters have booked under IPC section 341 (wrongful restraint) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), the latter attracting an imprisonment of up to one year or a monetary fine of Rs 1,000 or both, police officials said.
Already assured of a place in the Rio Olympics, Asian Games champions India will start their preparations for the mega-event with the 24th Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament where they would face Korea in their opening match in Ipoh on Sunday.
Most candidates hailing from political families emerged victorious in the Delhi civic polls, while the richest contender faced a drubbing.
