The indomitable Chennai Super Kings will have the advantage of familiarity with the conditions but the unbeaten Kolkata Knight Riders would still be a tough nut to crack when they clash in the Oppo Champions League T20 final at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com's report card on India's three-ODI series in Bangladesh.
Ahead of the upcoming Test and ODI series against Bangladesh Rajneesh Gupta presents a statistical outlook on India's players selected for the two squads.
Led by aggressive Australian opener David Warner, Sunrisers would be relying mostly on foreigners to deliver the goods, given the scarcity of local stars in their ranks.
India's long tour of England ended on a heartbreaking note as England held their nerve to pull off a thrilling three-run victory in the only Twenty20 International.
It will be a battle of tactics as a formidable Chennai Super Kings, led by the wily Mahendra Singh Dhoni, square off against a confident Royal Challengers Bangalore under an aggressive Virat Kohli in the second qualifier of the Indian Premier League, in Ranchi on Friday.
India lead South Africa by five points and need to win two matches in order to stop falling behind the Proteas.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji's Most Valuable Player Index after the South Africa ODIs presents a depressing view of the Indian players' showing in the first half of the ongoing tour
Praising centurion Virat Kohli for his superb batting in the team's series-levelling win against South Africa on Thursday, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that it was the first game in which his team did well in all the three departments.
Images from the sixth ODI of the tri-series, between India and England, on Friday.
Chennai Super Kings overcame some anxious moments before huffing and puffing to a five-wicket win over a fighting Sunrisers Hyderabad in a thrilling Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket match in Sharjah on Sunday.
'Probably because he was aware that this was his 100th ODI. Or probably because, in the first of its knock-out games, his team had produced the sort of all-round display that induces smiles.'
A potential conflict of interest situation could have played in Dhoni's mind when he decided to quit, report Sai Manish and N Sundaresha Subramanian.
'India have got a great side and have great momentum going.'
'When Dhoni walked in, India needed 105 to win with 32 overs to play. The situation called for calm, nerveless, ice-cold execution without necessitating any adrenalin-fueled impestuosities -- the sort of situation that is the Indian captain's spiritual home.'
Chennai Super Kings will look to avenge their first leg loss against Rajasthan Royals.
England start as the favourites but India have a golden chance to reverse the trend and get into gear just before the World Cup.
The same bowling which was India's weakest link coming into the World Cup has remarkably become their strongest suit as the reigning champions eased into the last four in impressive style.
On paper as well as on current form, West Indies are no match for defending champions India, who have registered convincing victories against Pakistan, South Africa and UAE in their first three matches of the ICC World Cup.
Back in form with an impressive performance against South Africa in the recently-concluded Test series, Ravindra Jadeja is likely to make a comeback when the national selectors meet in New Delhi on Saturday.
India stormed into the final of the ICC World T20 with a resounding six-wicket victory over South Africa in the second semi-final, in Mirpur, on Friday night. Chasing South Africa's competitive total of 173, India, led by a scintillating unbeaten 76 by Virat Kohli, completed the task with five deliveries to spare and reach their second World T20 final.
So overwhelming was India's domination in the series, that Zimbabwe's most valuable player, Elton Chigumbura, is only seventh in the combined list with a MVPI of just 175, according to Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Monday made a comeback to the Indian team for the first two Tests against South Africa, replacing veteran Harbhajan Singh, who was the only casualty from the team which won the Test series in Sri Lanka last month.
Some teams have completely overhauled their squads. Others retained their core at the IPL Players Auction.
Steve Smith scored a brilliant century to help Australia knock out defending champions India and set up a mouth-watering final against neighbours New Zealand, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, on Thursday.
All set to defend their cricket World Cup crown in less than a month, India will get their preparations underway with the aim of finding the right combination for the marquee event.
Litmus test awaits India and MS Dhoni in second ODI against South Africa.
India's quest for a historic treble ended in heartbreak as Sri Lanka came up with a clinical performance to beat them by six wickets in the final of the World T20 in Mirpur on Sunday. While Sri Lanka emerged third time lucky in a World T20 summit clash, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's hopes of adding a second World T20 title to the 50-over World Cup triumph in 2011 and Champions Trophy in England two years later ended in disappointment.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present the Most Valuable Player Index of the just-concluded three-match series between India and Zimbabwe.
Barring Bhuvneshwar Kumar all the Indian bowlers leaked runs in the first ODI against West Indies, but home team skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has backed his underfire bowling attack despite crashing to an embarrassing 124-run loss in the series opener in Kochi.
'It was a good performance,' M S Dhoni said after the match. It was a little bit more than that, in that it came just when the team needed to reverse trends, to find self-belief, to be able to look ahead rather than behind.'
Already out of the reckoning, Gujarat Lions severely dented Kings XI Punjab's play-off chances with a comfortable six-wicket victory in an Indian Premier League match, in Mohali, on Sunday.
Opening batsman Quinton de Kock provided the early flourish with the bat with his seventh century while fast bowler Morne Morkel applied the finishing touch with four wickets as South Africa beat India by 18 runs on Sunday to take a 2-1 series lead in Rajkot, on Sunday.
Team India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja tells Haresh Pandya what attracted him to Reeva Solanki.
The most consistent team across all seasons of the IPL, Chennai Super Kings would look to put behind the off-field distractions and do what they are best at when they take on previous edition's bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils in their opening match of the Twenty20 league.
Under-fire Mahendra Singh Dhoni marked his return to form with an unbeaten 92 as India recorded a 22-run victory over South Africa in the second One-Day International to level the five-match series 1-1 at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, in Indore, on Wednesday.
Rookie seamer Ishwar Pandey was named in India's Test and ODI squads for the tour of New Zealand. Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the team on the tour, which starts with the first One-Day International in Napier on January 19, 2014.
India needs to get the team composition right in the third and final Twenty20 International to prevent South Africa from recording a clean sweep, in Kolkata, on Thursday.
Opener Aaron Finch knows he's the one Australian batsman struggling for runs ahead of Thursday's World Cup semi-final against India but, ever confident, thinks a big innings is just around the corner.
India will aim to crush a gutsy Ireland in their penultimate group encounter.
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