Virender Sehwag was at his vintage best as he smashed a power-packed 122 to guide Kings XI Punjab to a convincing 24-run victory over Chennai Super Kings and a place in the final of the Indian Premier League on Friday night.
Rediff.com presents the best catches from the eighth edition of the IPL.
Inspired by skipper David Warner's whirlwind fifty, Sunrisers Hyderabad outplayed Chennai Super Kings by 22 runs to notch up a much-needed win and hand the table-toppers their second consecutive defeat in the IPL match on Saturday.
Robin Uthappa and Andre Russell struck belligerent fifties after veteran Brad Hogg's four-wicket haul to help Kolkata Knight Riders return to winning ways with a seven-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in a thrilling Indian Premier League match in Kolkata, on Thursday.
Former India batsman V V S Laxman, who always reserved his best for the mighty Australia, feels that Suresh Raina 'needs a lot of clarity' as to how he would find a solution against short-pitched bowling.
India edged out Bangladesh by one run in a thrilling World Twenty20 match on Wednesday to keep alive their hopes of reaching the semi-finals.
Jolted by the shock loss to New Zealand in the opening game, India will be fighting a survival battle quite early in the tournament when they take on arch foes Pakistan in what is being seen as the marquee clash of the ICC World Twenty20 in Kolkata on Saturday. The hosts, who started clear title-favourites, were in for a blow in the first match itself when New Zealand's spinners bamboozled their famed batting line-up on a turning Nagpur track. As a result, the world No.1 side is staring at an early elimination should it lose to Pakistan in the high-voltage game at the Eden Gardens. As is the case with most India-Pakistan contests, this game too has been preceded by its share of drama. The match was originally scheduled to be held in Dharamsala but was shifted here after the Himachal Pradesh government expressed inability to provide security to the Pakistan team owing to protests by ex-servicemen and their families.
It will be a different sort of challenge for Mahendra Singh Dhoni when he captains a new-look Indian cricket team against Zimbabwe in the first ODI of a short series starting in Harare on Saturday.
With momentum on their side, Dhoni and Co need to justify the favorites' tag and go the distance.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com picks five performances that took spectators' breaths away in week 9: Five wonderful knocks and one magical spell of bowling.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com comes up with a pretty strong playing eleven from the long list of big names warming the benches this IPL season.
India's champions from the last edition who will be missed when the action commences in Australia-New Zealand next year.
The most successful team in the history of Ranji Trophy, Mumbai, did it again! With splendid performance by their players, Mumbai managed to secure quarter-finals berth.
Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed bagged five wickets for 28 runs on debut as India were dismissed in 25.3 overs in the second ODI in Mirpur. But the pace combination of Stuart Binny (6-4) and Mohit Sharma (4-22) saved India from humiliation by bundling out the hosts for just 58 in 17.4 overs. Following the Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting statistics.
The former opening batsman picked India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand as the four semi-finalists in the upcoming tournament Down Under.
Suresh Raina smashed an unbeaten half-century as Chennai Super Kings booked a berth in the second qualifier with a comfortable seven-wicket win over holders Mumbai Indians in the IPL eliminator in Mumbai on Wednesday.
As India and Sri Lanka get set to duel in the make-shift ODI series, starting Sunday, Rajneesh Gupta gives us a look at how both teams stand in One-dayers.
India turned in a fine all-round show to beat Australia by 27 runs in the second Twenty20 International and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Friday.
Debutant Hardik Pandya stellar performance in Tuesday's T20 International against Australia caught the attention of India supporters, and India's ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the youngster can lend the side some much-needed stability if he performs consistently.
Virat Kohli's inspirational leadership for Royal Challengers Bangalore will be up against the brute force with which David Warner has steered Sunrisers Hyderabad when the two teams, eyeing their maiden IPL title, square off in a high-intensity summit clash in Bengaluru on Sunday. RCB, however, will have a slight advantage over Sunrisers as they have the experience of playing in an IPL final twice in the past -- 2009 and 2011, but on both occasions, they had finished runners-up. Sunrisers' best finish was a play-off berth which they managed in their debut season in 2013.
India's batting ace Yuvraj Singh commanded the highest price, Royal Challengers Bangalore paying a massive 14 crore for him, while Dinesh Karthik was a surprise pick at 12.5 crore by Delhi Daredevils.
Chasing a tough victory target of 399, Punjab were tottering at 108 for four at stumps on the third day with Test discard Yuvraj Singh unbeaten on 19 in company of Uday Kaul, who is yet to open his account.
A round-up of results from the matches played at the Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 cricket tournament across the country.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player ratings for the ongoing IPL 8.
Jiwanjot Singh's brilliant century and captain Mandeep Singh's fluent half-century helped Punjab stage a great comeback to gain the upperhand against Delhi, on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Group A match in New Delhi, on Tuesday.
Suresh Raina blasted a blistering century pulverising Kolkata Knight Riders into submission as Chennai Super Kings exacted a sweet revenge clinching the Oppo Champions League T20 in style with a eight-wicket victory in a thoroughly one-sided final, in Bangalore.
As we write this we still await the crucial India-Australia knock-out in Mohali. But India's individual performances in the T20 World Cup so far haven't been truly impressive. A look at the most valuable player index (MVPI) table reveals that there's no Indian player in the top 20. MVPI merges a player's batting + bowling + fielding performance into a single 'run equivalent'. The formula to compute the MVP is devised to reward batsmen who score runs at a high strike rate, bowlers who take wickets at low economy rate and fielders who field the best (take a lot of catches and participate in run-outs). Since this is a relatively low scoring tournament we have assumed a team's par score to be 150, and each wicket to be worth 15 'runs'. It isn't a surprise that players from New Zealand dominate the rankings so far, although Joe Root tops the table after his 83 in 44 balls against South Africa.
Winning is all what matters to Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir as he intends to be "mean winner than a polite loser" when the reigning IPL champions take part in the upcoming Oppo Champions League Twenty20.
India's off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said he is not intimidated by the Australian batsmen's strategy of attacking him as he has the ability to handle the onslaught and pick wickets as well.
With 59 matches spread across 10 cities, the cash-rich league starting Saturday will unearth new domestic talents apart from giving some of the tried and tested faces a shot at redemption during the next seven weeks of what is again expected to be a perfect marriage of cricket and entertainment.
Rajneesh Gupta's fascinating look at the routes RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad took to the IPL 9 final.
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).
Rajneesh Gupta presents how the teams have performed in eight seasons of the IPL.
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.
Irfan Pathan discloses on how he coped with the disappointment of getting dropped from the Indian team and what inspired his superb comeback in domestic cricket this season which he hopes lead to bigger things and eventually into a 'a really good story and inspiration' for others.
There are bowlers who have a better statistical record than the 311 wickets in Tests and 282 in ODIs, but those figures do not reveal Zaheer Khan's match-winning abilities in all conditions
Former India opener Virender Sehwag says he would love to be a mentor or a batting consultant for any IPL team which will give him a chance to share his knowledge with youngsters.
The call to make brand ambassadors accountable has rattled filmstars and sports stars.
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.
There are some batsmen reputed, respected and feared for what they are: Destructive! They are the game-changers. It is not bats, but bludgeons that they wield.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances