There is a possibility that India might play three pacers in the pink-ball Test.
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.
Central will face West Zone in the semi-final at the Alur grounds from July 5. In the second semifinal, North Zone will take on South Zone at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
It is learnt that Shubman has been told that he would bat in the middle-order in the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur, where Ajinkya Rahane will lead the team in the absence of Virat Kohli, who is on a break.
Pace spearhead Varun Aaron wrecked Karnataka with a six-wicket haul to help Rest of India bowl out the Ranji Trophy champions for 244 on day one of the Irani Cup in Bangalore.
Strike bowler Kagiso Rabada swung the contest in Delhi Capitals's favour with the ball in the decisive Super Over against Kings XI Punjab.
KL Rahul said that he has surprised himself with how calm he was on Day 1
KL Rahul has been ruled out of the Border-Gavaskar series after spraining his left wrist while batting in the nets.
Natarajan was added to the Test squad for the remaining two Test matches against Australia on January 1.
Delhi Capitals all-rounder Mitchell Marsh defended his side's Indian batters following their inability to resurrect the run-chase against SunRisers Hyderabad, saying the game was not lost due to their inexperience and the 198-run target was "far too many" in the end.
Mayank Agarwal's 37-ball 60 was in vain as Australia Under-19 registered a 15-run consolation victory over their Indian counterparts in the final one-dayer of the three-match series, in Perth, on Friday. Opting to bat, the Australians accumulated 276 for 7 in 50 overs, thanks to Jason Floros's 59-ball 70 and Joel Garrett's 52 off 47 balls, before skittling out the Indians for 261 in 47.3 overs at the WACA. India won the series 2-1.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan on Friday criticised the Test match pitches in India, terming the tracks as "boring" and heavy loaded in favour of the batsmen.
The cloud over the IPL game was lifted an hour before toss time after the BCCI confirmed that the match will go on despite a sixth COVID positive case being reported in the Delhi camp on game day.
The 6'7" seam-bowling all-rounder's inclusion in Australia's line-up was expected after his impressive hundred in the first warm-up game against India A.
Images from Tuesday's IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab, in Dubai.
India will now lock horns with South Africa for three Tests and three ODIs, beginning December 26.
Images from Sunday's IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab, in Dubai.
Ajinkya Rahane has been retained in India's Test squad, to be led by Virat Kohli, for the South Africa series later this month.
Resuming on the fourth day in the second Test at 140 for 5, New Zealand folded up for 167 in the second innings after India set them a mammoth 540-run target.
Gill, one of the heroes of the Australia tour earlier this year, has not been in great form having failed to score a fifty in four successive Test matches and was troubled by the seam and swing against New Zealand in World Test Championship final.
Liam Livingstone posted an impressive all-round display against the defending champions Chennai Super Kings.
Focus will now be on how Rabada would fare against the likes of Chris Gayle, Lokesh Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and David Miller.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Friday.
Among his wards, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari have taken to Test cricket like duck to water, all-rounder Vijay Shankar is staking World Cup claims, while Shubhman Gill broke into the ODI team in New Zealand.
The Bharat Army showed up in all their splendour at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Day 1 of the 4th Test in Sydney on Thursday.
Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer grabbed their chances with centuries, but seniors like Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishant Sharma had a forgettable series.
Getting his maiden opportunity, Anmolpreet struck 71 off 80 balls at the top of the order to help India A post 275 for eight in 50 overs. His opening partner Ishan Kishan made 39 while Ankit Bawne and Vijay Shankar scored 48 and 42 respectively.
KL Rahul has been undergoing a lean patch, but his place in the Indian line-up isn't under any threat. Is it favouritism or talent?
Images from Sunday's IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings, in Abu Dhabi.
A win for Punjab will elevate them to the top four, while a victory for KKR will take them to 14 points
Cheteshwar Pujara contributed an unbeaten 130 to India's 303 for four on the opening day of the fourth Test against Australia in Sydney on Thursday, keeping the tourists firmly on track for a historic breakthrough with his third century of the series.
India captain Virat Kohli will end the year as the top ranked batsman while Ajinkya Rahane slipped a rung to be seventh in the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Tuesday. Kohli (928) remained 17 points ahead of Australia's Steve Smith who occupied the second spot while New Zealand skipper Kane Willamson (864) ends the year at number three.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Monday reckoned the country will have to bear with the COVID-19 pandemic at least till the end of this year or beginning of 2021, effectively ruling out India's chances of organising the Indian Premier League at home. The BCCI has already zeroed in on the end September-early November window for the 13th edition of IPL.
With two senior pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (thigh injury) and Ishant Sharma (side strain) all but ruled out, Navdeep Saini will certainly be the fourth pacer after Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav.
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.
Five-time champions Mumbai Indians will be desperate for victory by a big margin when they take on wooden spooners Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mumbai on Sunday, in what could also be their last outing in IPL 2023.
Shami shocked everyone with a wayward over, giving away 20 runs as he conceded 53 runs in four overs.
KKR are gradually emerging as a strong contender for a third IPL title
Their bowling attacks struggling to find form, Kings XI Punjab and SunRisers Hyderabad will look towards their power-hitters to do the job when the two erratic teams go head to head in an IPL match, in Dubai, on Thursday.
Umesh Yadav starred with the ball as Royal Challengers Bangalore crushed Kings XI Punjab by 10 wickets to keep their hopes alive of making it to the IPL play-offs.
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