Factbox on the four-Test series between Australia and India, which begins on Thursday
Desperate to get their campaigns back on track, the two bottom placed teams in the Indian Premier League -- Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore -- lock horns in Mohali on Monday, aiming to keep their winning momentum going to stay afloat in the ninth edition of the T20 league.
Australia beat India by 48 runs in a thrilling end to the first Test at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, with Nathan Lyon picking up seven wickets after Virat Kohli scored an inspired century for the visitors.
67 players, including 23 overseas, were sold and Rs 86.8 crore spent on them by the eight franchises in Bangalore on Monday.
Former India players Maninder Singh and Chetan Chauhan have thrown their weight behind an "aggressive and impressive" Virat Kohli, saying the skipper was correct in going for victory rather than trying to save the first Test against Australia in Adelaide on Saturday.
Australia need five wickets in the second Test to secure a series-levelling victory with India's daunting run chase on a menacing pitch teetering at stumps on day four on Monday.
Time is fast running out for the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings, a team which desperately needs its batting to click when it takes on SunRisers Hyderabad in Dubai on Tuesday in a battle to keep its IPL hopes alive.
CSK would be looking to continue the momentum.
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.
Seamer Jasprit Bumrah took five wickets as India seized control of the third and final Test against South Africa on Thursday, going to the close of the second day with a 42-run lead on a treacherous wicket at the Wanderers.
Delhi Daredevils beat Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Ferozshah Kotla.
"Look, the injury (to Kohli) may not be very serious. But he is a man who loves to be on the field, and the fact that he was not on the field means that the injury was a little more than what is given out (to be). So, he can rest completely... he can be fit for the next Test," Gavaskar said.
Skipper Unmukt Chand anchored the chase to perfection with an unbeaten 77 to guide India B to a five-wicket victory against India A in the opening match of the Deodhar Trophy one-day cricket tournament at Kanpur on Monday. Put into bat, India A could manage only 161 in 44.2 overs with skipper Ambati Rayudu (58) and all-rounder Parvez Rasool (66) adding 104 runs for the sixth wicket after they were reeling at 29 for five. In reply, India B scored the runs in only 29.2 overs with skipper Unmukt remaining unbeaten from 82 balls, his innings laced with nine fours and a six. He had two partnerships ---56 for the opening stand with Shreyas Iyer (24) and 75 for the fifth wicket with veteran Dinesh Karthik (34).
India frittered away a solid start as a middle-order collapse saw them reduced to 291 for 9 on the opening day of the first cricket Test against New Zealand despite half-centuries from Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara in Kanpur on Thursday.
Still licking their wounds after a sound thrashing in the lung opener, India will have to regroup quickly and fortify the chinks in their armoury when they take on a determined West Indies in the second One-Day International in Delhi on Saturday.
Despite being the world's top-ranked Test side India have struggled with their opening combination, which, in turn, has heaped pressure on the middle order.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead an 18-man squad for the Test series against England. Opener Gautam Gambhir, whose last Test was in 2012, makes a comeback while two uncapped medium pacers - Ishwar Pandey and Pankaj Singh - find a place in the team after Zaheer Khan, who had to set out of the India leg of the Indian Premier League following a back injury, was overlooked.
India's long winning streak in Test cricket is under threat in a quick-fire three match series against South Africa this month, where their status as the top ranked nation in the format faces a stiff examination.
Former batsman Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Rohit Sharma is on a self-destructive mode and said it will be difficult for him to retain his place in India's Tests squad.
India captain Virat Kohli addressed the media after the rain-ruined second Test against South Africa in Bangalore. Harish Kotian/Rediff.com reports.
With the trio of KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay struggling, Rohit was posed a question if he would like to open the innings in Test matches too.
Punjab batsman Gurkeerat Singh Mann, a surprise inclusion as the 17th member of the squad for the Bangalore Test, retained his place for the next two matches as well.
Captain Virat Kohli roared back to form with a scintillating unbeaten 83 as India further consolidated their position with whopping overall lead of 403 runs at stumps on Day 3 of the fourth and final Test against South Africa at the Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi, on Saturday.
Some highlights from this action-packed weekend we give to in this beautiful package...
The four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy is locked at 1-1 and the match at Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA), which is organising it's first-ever Test, is set to be a make-or-break affair for both teams.
Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar says Indian team's recent success at home and an in-form captain Virat Kohli gives him confidence that they will enjoy success during next year's overseas tours.
India captain Virat Kohli has confirmed that fit-again opening batsman KL Rahul will return to the side for the second test against Sri Lanka, with Abhinav Mukund appearing the player most likely to lose his spot.
Indian limited-overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Monday retained in Group A of the men's player contracts for 2015-16 by the BCCI.
"Virat has told the selectors that he needs some time to take a call on whether he will be playing the T20s or not. That's reason why they have not announced the T20 squad," a BCCI official, privy to selection matters, told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
India have the perfect opportunity to find a solution to their top-order batting woes before their year-end series in Australia when the world's top-ranked side host two Tests against lowly West Indies, starting on Thursday.
India survived a scare before managing to draw the first Test against England, who gained the psychological advantage after enjoying the upper-hand for the better part of the five days, in Rajkot, on Sunday.
Wasim Jaffer defied age and modern fitness norms to flay a young Rest of India Mumbaikar attack throughout the second day of Irani Cup as Vidarbha reached a mammoth 589 for three, riding on Mumbai maestro's unbeaten 285.
After completing his first assignment as coach of the Indian team by winning the 4-match Test series 2-0 in the West Indies, Anil Kumble has a special praise for his captain Virat Kohli and ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Having witnessed Kohli's progress since his formative years, Kumble admits he's extremely impressed by the dedication of India's star batsman. "The last time I saw him closely was in 2012 (with Royal Challengers Bangalore)," Kumble said, referring to the Indian Premier League franchise he captained and then later mentored.
Shikhar Dhawan's poor technique in testing conditions along with the fitness status of Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin will come up for discussion when the selectors pick the Indian team for the two-Test series against the West Indies.
Delhi's young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant got his maiden Test call-up as he was picked up as the additional glovesman along with Dinesh Karthik after Wriddhiman Saha was ruled out with injury for the upcoming five-match Test series against England.
For the Indian team, the Trent Bridge Test will be their last chance to save the series after being outplayed in the first two Test matches -- by 31 runs Edgbaston and then by an innings and 159 runs at the Lord's.
Young Karun Nair cracked a brilliant unbeaten half-century to guide Rajasthan Royals to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils in their IPL-7 match at the Ferozshah Kotla stadium in New Delhi.
India's batting woes persist, but skipper Virat Kohli has no complaints. Harish Kotian/Rediff.com reports from Nagpur.
Senior opener Shikhar Dhawan is all set to be back in action having recovered from a fractured left-thumb sustained during the second Test match against New Zealand at Kolkata in September.
In a desperate bid to get their team combination right, the Indian cricket team summoned Karnataka all-rounder Stuart Binny as the 16th member of the Test squad ahead of the second Test, starting Thursday.
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