Ponting shrugged off Australia's injury worries and the idea of there being risk in rushing Smith and Warner into the team.
Rohit Sharma-led India's main aim would be to settle their middle-order combination and also find a perfect batting position for Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Ian Dev Singh posted a scintillating 145, while Rajat Paliwal and Nitin Saini also scored unbeaten centuries as North Zone amassed a mamoth 591 for eight declared in their first innings against East Zone on the third day of the Duleep Trophy in Kochi on Saturday.
A re-energised Delhi Daredevils would look for their third win in a row when they face table leaders Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Karnataka pacer Abhimanyu Mithun picked a five-wicket haul in their Group B match against UP. While Delhi's Ricky Bhui put his team in a good position against Andhra. A round-up of Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
Lack of intent in Daredevils players has been very surprising.
Rajneesh Gupta presents statistical summary of Sunrisers Hyderabad and much more.
A rampaging Kolkata Knight Riders stand in the way of Delhi Daredevils' revival plan as the two teams, with contrasting runs so far, gear up to clash in an Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture in Kolkata on Friday.
Cheteshwar Pujara waged a lone battle with a fighting 86 but Rest of India's batting line-up floundered against Gujarat's bowling attack and were pushed against the ropes by the newly-crowned Ranji Trophy champions.
Daredevils can be the banana peel and Mumbai Indians will be wary after Chennai Super Kings slipped in their penultimate game. The last time the two teams faced off, the Daredevils won by seven wickets in a last-over thriller.
His songs were the anchor, the substratum, if you will, upon which life unfolded day after day, decade after decade -- across villages, towns, cities, and regions. Siva Sankar pays tribute to S P Balasubrahmanyam, the legendary singer who passed into the ages on Friday.
India 'A' batsmen failed to deliver when it mattered the most as they crashed to a 121-run defeat in the second unofficial 'Test' against South Africa 'A', who rode on seamer Beuran Hendricks' six-wicket haul to level the two-match series 1-1 in Pretoria, on Tuesday.
India A were back to winning ways as they defeated hosts South Africa 'A' by 18 runs via Duckworth Lewis Method in the second round-robin encounter of the tri-series tournament.
Pakistan cricket team masseur was sent back from the ICC Champions Trophy after being accused of sexually harassing a female worker at the London hotel, where the players stayed during the event, a source has claimed.
A top commander of outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was on Thursday killed along with three other militants in an "encounter" with the police in Lahore.
Madhuri Dixit and Sanjay Dutt Dutt will act in a movie again after 21 years.
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.
The ex-army chief is facing a slew of court cases after returning from five years of self-exile in Dubai.
Chennai Super Kings produced a clinical performance to crush Delhi Daredevils by 93 runs and register their first win in the seventh edition of Indian Premier League in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
JP Duminy hit a timely unbeaten 52 after skipper Dinesh Karthik set the foundation with a fighting 56-run knock as Delhi Daredevils edged out Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets in a thrilling IPL Twenty20 cricket match on Saturday.
The India captain will become the first Indian cricketer to be bestowed with the honour on three occasions.
Skipper Dinesh Karthik will face a big test when a struggling Kolkata Knight Riders lock horns with a resurgent Delhi Daredevils, led by double title winning former KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir, in a much-anticipated IPL clash, in Kolkata, on Monday.
Domestic giants Mumbai continued its winning run in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy thrashing Madhya Pradesh by nine wickets in Mumbai on Monday.
The broader NSE Nifty gained 22 points to 10,480.60
India 'A' bowlers were largely ineffective, allowing Steve Smith and senior batsman Shaun Marsh to strike comfortable hundreds as Australia started their Test tour in impressive fashion in the three-day warm-up game in Mumbai on Friday.
The action against Geelani, who was acquitted in the Parliament attack case, comes even as Delhi Police on Thursday registered a case of sedition in connection with a Tuesday event at JNU campus.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Tuesday
Ethesham Siddiqui (31), lodged in Central Jail at Arthur Road in Mumbai, has also done certificate courses in Urdu, Arabic languages and Human Rights, according to a lawyer from Jamiat-ul-Ulema, which is providing free legal aid to Ethesham and some others accused.
An Islamabad court on Friday granted bail to Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the mastermind of 2008 Mumbai terror attack, in a six-year kidnapping case.
Chasing 209 for victory, Pant and Sanju Samson (61 off 31) joined forces to help Delhi go past the massive target.
United States President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated Indian American Manish S Shah to serve on the United States District Courts judgeship for the Northern District of Illinois.
Delhi Daredevils would look to continue the new-found momentum against a struggling Gujarat Lions in New Delhi on Thursday.
'Having taken the first step, Priyanka will do well to remember that politics is not a part-time occupation, nor is it meant for guest appearances and cameos.' 'It can't be that come June 2019 and Priyanka goes back to her cocooned life, to re-emerge five years later because the family business is in trouble again,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
A round-up of results from the Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
Their confidence restored after a bumpy start, a transformed Delhi Daredevils will look to stretch Kings XI Punjab to the limit when they face off in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in New Delhi, on Saturday.
There has only been a boom in the cinema industry in Pakistan in the last few years because of the release of latest Bollywood and Hollywood films if there is any permanent ban you can expect lot of cinema houses and multiplexes to close down.
'Though the river is cleaner than what it was five years ago, a lot more needs to be done.'
KK discusses his top songs with Rajul Hegde/ Rediff.com, and even sings some of them!
There is no shortcut to playing first-class cricket.
The Congress wants the 28 seats it won in 2012 plus 20 seats where the party was runner-up plus 57 seats where it was ahead of the SP in 2012.
