Following his impressive batting show in India's 5-0 series win over Sri Lanka, where he was named the man of the series, Virat Kohli has moved to second place in the ICC ODI Rankings for batsmen.
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders would look to assert their supremacy, while Sunrisers Hyderabad will have revenge on mind when the two teams clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator in New Delhi on Wednesday. Both Sunrisers and KKR finished their league engagements on 16 points each but the Gautam Gambhir-led side ended fourth behind Sunrisers due to inferior net run rate. But going into the do-or-die game, KKR have psychological advantage over the Sunrisers having beaten them on both the occasions during the league stage. KKR thrashed Sunrisres by eight wickets in their first meeting this season and came out victorious by 22 runs in a must-win match last Sunday to qualify for the play-offs.
Kolkata Knight Riders spinners dominated to reduce Rising Pune Supergiants to 103/6 in 17.4 overs before rain stopped play in the Indian Premier League game at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday. Both teams had to share a point each and as result of which KKR rises to third spot in the points table. Piyush Chawla claimed 2/21 and bowled 13 dot balls while Sunil Narine, who returned after two matches, gave away a miserly 10 runs from 3.4 overs as Pune Supergiants struggled to break free. Skipper MS Dhoni was in the midst of Pune's terrible struggle as he crawled to eight runs from 22 balls. Pune were however looking good at 70/3 and when Dhoni walked in they were 74/4 in 10.3 overs but by the time the rain interrupted the proceedings their run-rate had slipped to less than six.
Dhoni has to ponder over both the batting and bowling departments of his team.
Riding on the disciplined performances of their bowlers, Royal Challengers Bangalore thrashed Mumbai Indians by seven wickets for their second straight victory, in the Indian Premier League.
English cricketers can "forget" about the shorter format unless they embrace the Indian Premier League, according to the maverick Kevin Pietersen, who says his efforts to get his countrymen to play in the IPL have fallen on "deaf ears".
'It has been a wonderful journey so far. Playing the 50th Test match for the country will be a proud moment for me. Yes, there have been ups and downs but looking at my recent (good) form, I will be keen to score some runs in my 50th Test'
For a visiting cricketer, an India tour conjures up the image of a batsman surrounded by a shoal of fielders and facing relentless spin from both ends and South Africa should not expect anything different in the four-test series starting on Thursday.
South Africa coach Russell Domingo said that a couple of crucial partnerships and performance of the spinners were the key to India's success in the fourth One-Day International in Chennai.
'You have to just adjust to the conditions quickly because there is a big difference in the 50-over and 20-over cricket.' 'Even in Test cricket you can't be a classical spinner, which you were 20 years ago.' 'If I want to hide myself from my limitations, then I don't want to play this game.'
Rajneesh Gupta checks out the numbers for Virat and Faf and their boys.
India opener Lokesh Rahul says the Test series against South Africa beginning next month will be the "biggest challenge" of his burgeoning career.
New Zealand entered their maiden ICC World Cup final, beating South Africa by five wickets in a thrilling rain-reduced World Cup semi-final at Eden spoPark in Auckland on Tuesday. Set 298 to win from 43 overs, the Kiwis, led by fine knocks from captain Brendon McCullum (59 off 26 balls) and Grant Elliott (84 off 73) got across the finish line with one ball to spare. Elliott hit the winning run with a six over long-on off the bowling of Dale Steyn.
Captain Faf du Plessis led from the front with an impressive 120 as he single-handedly took South Africa to 269 for 8 in the first One-Day International against India, in Durban, on Thursday.
Indian Premier League's costliest player Yuvraj Singh feels that Royal Challengers Bangalore is a team where he can express himself in the company of star cricketers like Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle.
"I don't know what to say. It is really a dream come true. I was confident of being picked for my base price of Rs 10 lakh but never thought of the crores. I just hope I get to play in the eleven," a soft-spoken Cariappa said.
This year's auctions will wrap up in one day.
After a dream ODI debut last month, teenaged paceman Mustafizur Rahman announced his Test arrival by claiming three wickets in four balls as Bangladesh bowled out South Africa for 248 on the opening day of the first Test in Chittagong on Tuesday.
It will be a battle of survival for the two national captains as Virat Kohli's struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore square off against a fledgling Pune Supergiants led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in an IPL encounter for the bottom-rung teams in Bengaluru on Saturday. With five defeats in seven games, RCB are currently placed at a lowly seventh spot in the table with four points while Pune are just a notch above in sixth spot courtesy their third win against Delhi Daredevils, on Thursday. It has been a tough journey for the two superstars of Indian cricket as their franchises have dished one disappointing performance after another. RCB with perhaps the most intimidating batting line-ups has had to taste defeat because of a pedestrian bowling attack that has failed to defend 180 plus scores in most of the matches.
Andre Russell returned with a four-wicket haul to guide Kolkata Knight Riders to a seven-run win over Kings XI Punjab and go atop the points table in their return to home in the Indian Premier League.
Getting his team composition right will be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's primary aim as Rising Pune Supergiants meet an out-of-sorts Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League cricket tournament encounter, in Mohali on Sunday.
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.
India retained the No 1 spot in the latest Reliance ODI team rankings while Virat Kohli maintained the number two position with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni static at the seventh place in the batting chart released in Dubai.
'This was not the cleanest game of cricket you've ever seen -- there were too many flubs and fumbles for that. But it was certainly the semi-final this mostly blah tournament has needed -- two tough, well-rounded teams, toe to toe, slugging it out, bleeding and drawing blood until there was only one left standing.'
Images from the India v SA, second Test, day 1, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the finest bowling heroics in the 20th over in recent T20Is.
Rajasthan Royals head coach Paddy Upton termed their final league encounter of the IPL against Kolkata Knight Riders as a virtual quarter-final as it would decide on their team's chances of getting into play-offs.
Rohit Sharma feels that outgoing captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to make him open the batting in the 50-overs format was a 'career-changing move'.
Moises Henriques' gritty fifty and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar's crafty bowling helped Sunrisers Hyderabad stay in the hunt for the play-offs as they beat Delhi Daredevils by six runs in a hard-fought IPL match in Raipur on Saturday.
The International Cricket Council has approved change in rules in the LBW decisions of the umpires concerning the controversial Decision Review System, which is expected to benefit the bowlers, while deferring plans for a radical shake-up of international cricket, including on the proposed creation of two divisions in Test and a new one-day league.
Half-way through the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League, the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament has witnessed some top quality catches. Rediff.com takes a look at some memorable ones.
Half-way through the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League, the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament has witnessed some top quality catches. Rediff.com takes a look at some memorable ones.
Sri Lanka thrashed South Africa by 128 runs in Colombo on Wednesday to wrap up the one-day series 4-1.
Depleted by the absence of high-profile names, Indian Premier League 2014 champions Kolkata Knight Riders have a tough task on hand when they lock horns with formidable Chennai Super Kings in the opening Group 'A' match of the Champions League T20, in Hyderabad, on Wednesday.
Hoping to end their 10-match losing streak in the IPL cricket tournament, Delhi Daredevils will look to turn their fortunes around on home turf when they take on an upbeat Rajasthan Royals at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
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.
West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine got complete backing of his Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir who termed him as an asset and said there can be no back-up for the mystery bowler.
With the teams entering the final phase of their preparations for next year's World Cup, former batting great Ian Chappell said defending champions India, Australia and South Africa are the favourites to win the game's showpiece event.
Publicly labelled 'soft' by former Test bowler Shane Warne only a few months ago, paceman Mitchell Starc has come of age.
India's pace spearhead Mohammed Shami received the biggest compliment in his two-year international career as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time Sir Richard Hadlee termed the young seamer's efforts in the ICC Cricket World Cup "particularly impressive".
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