The coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad Tom Moody is hoping for Yuvraj Singh's speedy recovery ahead of season nine of the Indian Premier League. The Hyderabad-based franchise made some smart picks in the 2016 IPL Player Auctions. But the biggest name that caught everyone's attention was Yuvraj. However, the senior all-rounder is recovering from an injury, that he sustained during the World T20 and is expected to miss out on the first two weeks of IPL. "A player like Yuvraj Singh is important to any team. He is not only a match-winner with the bat but he is a very useful bowler in those middle overs," Moody said. "Sadly, Yuvraj will be out for a couple of weeks but we don't know how long that is going to be," Moody hoped for Yuvraj's speedy recovery from an ankle injury.
Two-time World Cup-winning Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has no doubt that wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will be a 'successful' India captain if he is handed the responsibility in the future.
Season 9 of the IPL has seen many youngsters punch above their weight. Some of them make Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com's Young Guns XI.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's mentor VVS Laxman has said that opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan's form is not a matter of concern for the team and added that domestic players need to score runs.
Henry Nicholls also stroked his way to 107 - his fifth Test century - as the hosts declared at 432 for six for a 221-run first innings lead after tea on the fourth day.
Rajasthan Royals' director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara on Friday said that all-rounder Chris Morris, who was brought by the franchise for Rs 16.25 crore in the IPL auction, will have a "very specific role of supporting" pace spearhead Jofra Archer.
For Kohli, what matters is applying himself according to the demands of the situation.
There were times when MS Dhoni let emotions get the better of him.
Liton Das and Tamim Iqbal scored a hundred each as Bangladesh thrashed Zimbabwe by 123 runs in a rain-hit third One-Day International to complete a clean sweep in the three-match series, in Sylhet, on Friday.
Images from the T20 World Cup Super 12s match between Bangladesh and England, in Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday.
Desperate to break their title jinx, Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore will be hoping for a positive start to their campaign in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League, when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Bengaluru, on Tuesday.
SunRisers Hyderabad has the biggest purse while Kolkata Knight Riders has the slimmest purse.
India Test skipper Virat Kohli has been named as the 'Captain of the Year'.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Dubai, on Monday.
While India's rivalry with Pakistan is historic, the one against Bangladesh has been a bitter one post the controversial 2015 World Cup quarter-final at Melbourne.
Images from the T20 World Cup match between West Indies and Bangladesh, in Sharjah, on Friday.
Hosts Kolkata Knight Riders run the risk of slipping away when they face resurgent defending champions and 'nemesis' Mumbai Indians in an IPL clash, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
Back to their winning ways after sucessive victories, a rejuvenated Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to continue their good run when they take on laggards Kings XI Punjab in an IPL T20 clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium on Saturday.
The only problem for India in the Asia Cup so far has been lack of batting time for the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik.
Eyeing their first win of the season, Sunrisers Hyderabad would be looking to put up an improved show in their home ground where they lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders, who would also be keen to get back to winning ways in the Indian Premier League.
Bangladesh's World T20 campaign has plunged into a spot of bother with the bowling actions of pacer Taskin Ahmed and spinner Arafat Sunny coming under the scanner. According to reports, right-arm pacer Taskin Ahmed and left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny were both reported during the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 match between Bangladesh and Netherlands. Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurasinghe, did not seem too pleased with the timing of the decision. In a press conference, he was asked if the timing of the decision to question the bowling action was a cause of concern. "No I haven't spoken to them (ICC) but that's a concern," he said. "If they have a concern about my bowlers, I have a concern about their actions as well. I don't see anything wrong.
They might have chased down some tricky targets to notch up three successive wins in IPL-9 but Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Moises Henriques feels his team's strength lies in their potent bowling attack. "It so happened that out of five games, we chased four times. We lost one of them and we won three. But I really feel that actually our strength is our bowling," he told PTI. "So, if we have guys like Mustafizur (Rahman) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Barinder Sran bowling under pressure when we are bowling second, when we are having to defend, it probably would suit us even better than batting second. "We have been very lucky that David scored runs quickly in the last three games in a row. But I still feel bowling is our strength as a team. So, if anything, batting first would probably, actually suit us better as a team," he said. Though the team missed the services of seasoned Ashish Nehra due to injury, the left-arm fast bowler Barinder Sran rose to the occasion, he said.
Shikhar Dhawan struck an unbeaten 47 after a clinical display by his bowling team-mates as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Gujarat Lions by five wickets in their IPL match.
He along with Sunrisers' bowling coach and spin legend Muthiah Muralitharan were seen engaging in an intense planning from the dug-out when Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers were batting in full-flow at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday. Sunrisers batting coach VVS Laxman may be disappointed with his team's defeat in the first game of IPL 9, but the legendary Indian batsman had special praise for U-19 star and RCB finisher Sarfaraz Khan. Laxman also feels that it was Sarfaraz, who took the game away from them, when the 'enormously talented' Mustafizur Rahman had pulled it back by dismissing AB and Watson in quick succession. Here is what Laxman had to say after the match.
Australia will start favourites in Thursday's clash but a passionate Bangladesh are expected to make life tough for the holders.
Images from the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, in Mumbai, on Monday.
With India needing 34 runs off the last two overs, Karthik hammered 29 not out off just eight deliveries, his third six sealing India's third, and the most hard-earned, victory over Bangladesh in the tournament.
South Africa made a sedate start to their second innings after conceding a 78-run first innings lead to a spirited Bangladesh on day three of the opening Test at Chittagong on Thursday.
Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya smashed half-centuries to propel India to a formidable 324 for seven before Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav sent Bangladesh crashing for 84, in the ICC Champions Trophy warm-up match at The Oval in London, on Tuesday.
Bangladesh have come close to a victory on many occasions but have failed to cross the line, especially against top teams like India losing the T20 series 1-2.
The Asia Cup to be played in Bangladesh from February 24, will be played in the T20 format for the first time in the tournament's history. The tournament which precedes the vital World T20 to be held in in India in March, has a rich history with India and Sri Lanka winning it five times each. Pakistan have been victorious on two occasions while Bangladesh's best finish has been their runner-up performance in the 2012 edition. Team India will be led by MS Dhoni and the tournament will also see Virat Kohli returning after taking a break from the recently concluded three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. Dhoni will be chasing history to become the most successful skipper in the tournament history. The Indian skipper and former Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga have both recorded same number of nine victories and four defeats in the Asia Cup All the matches will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur. The qualifying rounds involving Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Oman has begun from Friday.
India are the overwhelming favourites to win the tournament for a record seventh time while Bangladesh will be hoping to be third-time lucky in a summit clash.
The little known Thangarasu Natarajan's life changed in a matter of few minutes as Rs 10 lakh base price saw a quantum 30-time jump reaching Rs 3 crore.
Veteran seamer Ashish Nehra on Tuesday said that his habit of putting in a few extra hours every day has helped him maintain his pace despite undergoing 10 surgeries.
If MI have their problems to sort out, having lost at the death in all three games so far, RCB too have their own shortcomings to address with only one win in three games under their belt.
IPL 9 was not just about unfancied Sunrisers Hyderabad's triumph, Virat Kohli's run spree or Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman's economy rate.
In other big movements, Punjab Kings have released their last edition's captain Mayank Agarwal, while West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Afghanistan will take on Bangladesh in a three-match T20 series, starting Dehradun on Sunday, dividing their focus ahead of the historic Test debut against India in two weeks' time.
Opener Jason Roy smashed a quickfire 91 to power Delhi to a seven-wicket victory against Mumbai Indians in the ninth match of the Indian Premier League in Mumbai on Saturday.
Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav sizzled with the ball as two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders rode on its spin attack to advance into the play-offs of the ongoing Indian Premier League with a 22-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.