Bruised and battered in their last game, Rajasthan Royals will hope for a much-improved effort from the batting unit against Sunrisers Hyderabad in order to avoid a hat-trick of defeats in the IPL match in Jaipur on Sunday.
A day after their Test careers met with a dead end, veteran batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane on Friday soldiered on for Saurashtra and Mumbai respectively with contrasting results in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Bengaluru.
They are languishing at the bottom and placed eighth in the points table after the first half of IPL 2023.
For skipper Virat Kohli, the primary aim will be to get an idea of his core group of players going into the ICC T20 World Cup in October.
Rajasthan Royals face tough challenge against in-form Chennai Super Kings
Images from Tuesday's third T20 International between India and the West Indies, in Guyana.
Likely to be fit for 3rd Test against England.
Table-toppers Rajasthan Royals need more from their fragile middle-order as they look to return to winning ways against an inconsistent but dangerous Royal Challengers Bangalore in Sunday's IPL match in Bengaluru.
The visitors were 38 for one in 14 overs at the draw of stumps on day three. Ravikumar Samarth (27 not out) and Ankit Bawne (5 not out) were on the crease after Abhimanyu Easwaran was dismissed in the seventh over.
The Group B match between Delhi and Punjab, beginning in New Delhi on Wednesday, will see Yuvraj Singh playing his first match of the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy.
The World Cup disappointment will continue to linger but Kohli will fancy his team's chances in the series, notwithstanding the return of the swashbuckling Chris Gayle.
Left-arm pacer Thangarasu Natarajan earned his maiden call-up to the Indian Test squad after he was named as the replacement for the injured Umesh Yadav for the last two games against Australia.
Virat Kohli's struggles outside the off-stump continued as he was once again snapped behind the stumps during an intra-squad practice game.
Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan also wished their former India teammate.
India pacer Prasidh has been laid low by a lumbar stress fracture that will require the Rajasthan Royals bowling spearhead to go under the knife.
Dhoni refused three singles in the 19th over bowled by Navdeep Saini
It remains to be seen whether India stick to their combination of three specialist pacers and two spinners combination or bring in an extra spinner in Kuldeep Yadav to partner Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja.
Kuldeep Yadav, among all the players in this team, has more experience of playing with pink ball and the kind of revolution he produces, he could make it difficult for batsmen to spot the black seam of the pink kookaburra under lights.
With Royal Challengers Bangalore losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL Eliminator match on Friday, India captain Virat Kohli moved into the bio-bubble created for the Indian players as they prepare for the upcoming tour of Australia.
Narayan Jagadeesan followed up his double ton in the previous game with a magnificent triple century to help Tamil Nadu declare their first innings
Washington Sundar is in awe of AB de Villiers and feels that the South African swashbuckler's legendary ability to perform multiple tasks, including wicket-keeping, lend balance to the IPL side.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami gave an exhibition of high-quality fast bowling on Saturday, on Day 2 of India's warm-up match against New Zealand XI, sending a warning signal for the home team ahead of first Test in Wellington.
Rohit Sharma will certainly leave a gaping hole at the top of the order, something that skipper Virat Kohli wouldn't have fancied at the onset of a gruelling two-month tour.
The Indian team for Australia classified by IPL franchise.
'Bumrah is a class act.' 'Bhuvneshwar makes the ball move and that is why he will be successful over in England.'
Justin Langer said the contest would likely be an exciting one thanks to the two teams being evenly-matched.
Sipper Rohit Sharma hailed Prasidh Krishna's impact in the second One-Day International against the West Indies after the pacer's four-wicket haul helped India defend 237 and win by 44 runs, in Ahmedabad, on Wednesday.
Images from Friday's IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Abu Dhabi.
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli inadvertently applied saliva on the ball after stopping a cracking drive during the Indian Premier League against Delhi capitals, at the Dubai International Stadium, on Monday, thus violating the ICC's COVID-19 protocol.
There were no major surprises with most of the players picking themselves.
KL Rahul has gained 26 points and is now on 760 rating points, just six behind Australia's Glenn Maxwell
Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to shrug off the disappointment of two back-to-back defeats and get back to winning ways when they taken on Sunrisers Hyderabad as they aim to seal their place in the play-offs, in the IPL match, in Sharjah, on Saturday.
An ill Tim Southee and superb debut from Kyle Jamieson helped New Zealand to a tense 22-run victory over India in their second one day international at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday and clinch the three-match series with a game to spare. India were dismissed for 251 in 48.3 overs with Ravindra Jadeja (55) producing a superb rearguard fightback after he came to the crease with his side in trouble at 96-5 and almost won the game in partnership with fast bowler Navdeep Saini (45). New Zealand had scored 273-8 in their innings with Ross Taylor following up his century in the first match in Hamilton with 73 not out.
Images from Wednesday's IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, in Abu Dhabi.
RCB's Devdutt Padikkal now has fifty-plus scores in all his major debut matches -- first-class, List-A, T20, and IPL.
It all starts in Guwahati on Sunday as the biggest city in Assam is slowly getting back to normalcy after protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
India are eyeing a 10th straight bilateral series win over the Caribbean side.
A very exciting opportunity for new guys in limited overs format: Kohli
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday.
Ajinkya Rahane will be aiming to pile on the runs to extend his international career and lead India to a series sweep against a feeble West Indies.
