The barren run of skipper Rohit Sharma and the selection conundrum that Virat Kohli's possible return poses are the towering obstacles in India's quest for a series win against England in the second ODI in Cuttack on Sunday.
Ishan Kishan celebrated his 26th birthday by offering prayers at the Shri Sai Baba temple in Shirdi.
A summary of the day's play in the Elite division matches of the Ranji Trophy.
After an impressive comeback on India's tour of South Africa, pacer Zaheer Khan is hoping to inspire Mumbai in the crucial Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Maharashtra, starting Wednesday.
The only sour note in Mumbai's superior display was Sachin Tendulkar's failure in both the innings. The star batsman, who scored a duck in the first innings and was battling a viral fever, batted at number seven in the second essay only to score four runs and fall to Piyush Chawla.
A summary of all the action from Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
Preparation of a turning pitch for the Mumbai Test, resting Jasprit Bumrah and Gautam Gambhir's coaching style were discussed threadbare.
Milind Kumar played seven seasons for Delhi in Ranji Trophy along with stints for Sikkim and Tripura before he migrated to the US in search of better opportunities.
In order to prepare for the two-match Test series against the West Indies next month, Sachin Tendulkar will play for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy preliminary round match against Haryana at Lahli starting on October 27.
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.
The 13 year old, whose official records state his birth date to be March 27, 2011, has come under the scanner for alleged age fraud.
In December, Aryaman Birla made a decision that would surprise many: he announced an 'indefinite sabbatical' from cricket.
Shreevats Goswami finally came out of Wriddhiman Saha's shadow to hit a career best 225 which enabled Bengal post a commendable 475 for 9 on the second day of the Group A league encounter against Madhya Pradesh. At stumps, MP were 19 for 1 with Ashok Dinda getting the wicket of Aditya Srivastava. The day belonged to Shreevats, who played 328 balls hitting 25 boundaries and three sixes en route his maiden double hundred in First Class cricket. It was also a match where Bengal's lower order showed exemplary resilience as the last three wickets produced 268 runs after being reduced to 207 for seven.
Shreyas Iyer struck a sublime 90 to take Mumbai to 327 for seven on day one of their semi-final against Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy, in Cuttack, on Saturday.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah produced his career-best spell in first-class cricket as Gujarat staged a sensational comeback to beat Jharkhand by 123 runs and reach their second ever final of the Ranji Trophy cricket Tournament. Bumrah finished with figures of six for 29 and alongside veteran pacer R P Singh plotted the downfall of Jharkhand, who were skittled out for 111 in their second innings after being set a target of 235 runs on day four of the semifinal.
Kishan, who was dropped from the BCCI central contracts earlier this year due to concerns that he was "prioritising" the cash-rich Indian Premier League over domestic cricket, made his return to the India A setup.
'I will play under him again and I have played under him before, so I will try to learn a lot of things and how he gets performance out of players.'
A clinical display by the bowlers gave Mumbai a crucial first innings lead before captain Aditya Tare's fine show with the bat helped them reach to a commanding position on the third day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Hyderabad. On a topsy-turvy day, defending champions Mumbai bowled out Hyderabad, who began the day on 167/3, for 280 with left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil picking up three of the five wickets to fall. Abhishek Nayar, who made 59 in the first innings, took 4 wickets for 60. Hyderabad needed 127 runs to wipe out the first innings deficit and they came within 15 runs of the lead. But a lower order collapse resulted Hyderabad slipping from 255 for 5 to 280 all out. Wicketkeeper Kolla Sumanth battled through to make 44 and he was the last man to be dismissed.
Shreyas Iyer on Saturday expressed his desire to make a comeback to the Indian Test squad, emphasising the hard work he has put into cultivating patience and resilience for the longer format after undergoing a back surgery.
Sachin Tendulkar, who got off the mark with a boundary with his trademark straight drive, dragged an incoming delivery from pacer Mohit Sharma back on to his stumps and was bowled for five on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy match against Haryana.
'I am excited to join CSK again.'
A summary of all the action from Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
Shami has been steadily rebuilding his form through domestic cricket. Making his Ranji Trophy return last November, he guided Bengal to a season-opening victory with a match haul of seven wickets.
Medium pacers Dhawal Kulkarni and Tushar Deshpande wrecked havoc by grabbing four wickets apiece as Mumbai put themselves in the drivers seat by dismissing Tamil Nadu for a paltry 87 on the opening day in their Ranji Trophy Group A match, in Lahli, on Thursday.
Shah reiterated the Board's position that Indian players will have to prioritise domestic cricket.
Opener Kedar Devdhar hit a stroke-filled 145 as Baroda took a sizeable lead of 303 runs, despite narrowly falling short of Mumbai's first innings total, on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match.
Sri Lanka will start their seven-ODI India tour with a warm-up game in Mumbai on October 22.
Round up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played across the country
The 60-year-old Pandit played five Tests and 36 ODIs for India between mid '80s to early '90s.
Run-machine Sarfaraz Khan had made a promise to his Mumbai teammates and his family after his younger brother Musheer was ruled out of the Irani Cup match against Rest of India, following a road accident: score a double hundred.
The outings of Abhimanyu Easwaran, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Prasidh Krishna will be the primary focal points of India A's four-day match against their Australian counterparts
Dhawal Kulkarni had figures of five for 32 as Saurashtra were shot out for only 82 runs in the second innings of the Ranji Trophy final, on Day 3.
Mumbai's 'Man of all Seasons' Abhishek Nayar once again brought his best out in pressure situation to guide the defending champions to the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy beating Hyderabad by 30 runs in a closely-contested last-eight encounter on Tuesday.
The wait has been a long one, but it looks like it's almost over as Sarfaraz Khan gears up for his Test debut.
Suryakumar Yadav is a big fan of Rohit Sharma's leadership philosophy that inspires him to keep his flock together by understanding his players' psyche.
A summary of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday
The second day of the ongoing Ranji Trophy Group matches in Mumbai and Rajkot will start late by two hours from the regular time due to solar eclipse on Thursday. A source in the Mumbai Cricket Association confirmed the development after the opening day's play between Mumbai and Railways concluded at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Iyer and Kishan were excluded from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) central contracts on Wednesday.
Kedar Jadhav's sizzling century and a cracking innings of 91 from young Vijay Zol helped Maharashtra stun defending champions Mumbai by eight wickets, to storm into the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy, in Mumbai on Saturday.
