Notwithstanding Rising Pune Supergiants' poor run in IPL-9, Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor VVS Laxman considers the debutante side as a formidable unit and said his team will have to put its best foot forward when they clash with them in their IPL match on Tuesday. "It goes without saying that (RPS Captain M S Dhoni) Dhoni will be looking forward to use Ashwin against Warner and Shikhar. I believe that Pune has got a very formidable batting line up," Laxman said in a pre-match press conference at Hyderabad. "Lot of people talk about Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, Faf Duplessis being similar. They are all extrordinary T20 players. We cannot at all be complecent or we cannot at all underestimate the batting strength of Pune. We are very mindful," he added. The former Test batsman, however, exuded confidence that SRH can take on any opposition if it sticks to its plans and executes them well. "But, I believe that if we concentrate on our plans and try to execute our plans, then we can do well against any opposition. It's more about concentrating and playing to our strength, while strategizing for each and every opposition batsman or bowler," he said. Noting that the MS Dhoni-led Pune team would look to bounce back strongly, Laxman said no team can be ruled out as it is still the early part of the long IPL tournament.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the finest bowling heroics in the 20th over in recent T20Is.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji analyse IPL performances in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings.
India restored some pride with a consolation 77-run win over Bangladesh in third and final ODI to prevent the spirited hosts from securing a 3-0 series whitewash.
The battle for the final two available places in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 will hot up when Bangladesh squares off against South Africa in the opening match of the three-One-Day International series in Mirpur on Friday and Sri Lanka hosts Pakistan in the first of five matches in Dambulla on Saturday.
Rohit Sharma slammed a quickfire 83 to power India to a comprehensive 45-run victory against Bangladesh in the first match of the Asia Cup T20 tournament in Dhaka, on Wednesday.
Mumbai Indians will fancy beating a floundering Kings XI Punjab when both sides face-off in a must-win match
'...then Bangladesh would have been the world champions a long time ago!'
India's T20 World Cup challenge has ended. But it is likely that Virat Kohli (MVPI of 338) will go on to become the tournament's most valuable player because he enjoys a lead of 109 runs over second-placed Joe Root (229).
Some teams have completely overhauled their squads. Others retained their core at the IPL Players Auction.
India's batting sensation Virat Kohli, named player of the tournament, is also the most valuable player of World T20 2016. With a fifty and two wickets, England's Joe Root is just behind him.
India captain Virat Kohli reclaimed the top batting spot, while Australia's pace ace Josh Hazlewood has achieved the number-one position in the bowlers' rankings for the first time in his career in the latest MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings.
Karthik's gem of a cameo got him 29 off 8 balls with two boundaries and three sixes -- the last of them which will be forever be etched in the memory.
590 cricketers -- including 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players -- will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
Rajneesh Gupta's fascinating look at the routes RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad took to the IPL 9 final.
In-form Virat Kohli leads the MVP rankings in the IPL with a MVPI of 1062 but David Warner, enjoying a sensational run with the bat and currently at third with a MVPI of 878, has the RCB captain in his sights.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the fascinating career numbers of players in the World Cup.
Star batsman Suresh Raina will look to get some batting practice ahead of the upcoming South Africa series along with some of the other fringe players as India 'A' take on Bangladesh 'A' in a three-match One-Day series, starting in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
351 cricketers -- 230 Indians and 131 foreigners -- will go under the hammer in Saturday's IPL players' auction.
As the top 10 teams prepare to battle for the World T20 crown, Rajneesh Gupta breaks down each squad's T20 performance and their showing in previous editions of the event.
Rohit Sharma stamped his class with an authoritative hundred in the company of magnificent Virat Kohli as India annihilated Bangladesh by nine wickets to set up a bumper summit showdown with arch-rivals Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy, in Birmingham, on Thursday.
With a MVPI of 1128 the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain has set records that even he might find hard to surpass.
Ahead of the start of the ninth season of the IPL, Rajneesh Gupta presents a detailed statistical analysis of the players involved.
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