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.
The change in format may bring about some strategic shift in the playing eleven for India with captain Virat Kohli expected to open the innings.
Unwilling to tinker with the line-up in view of next month's World Twenty20, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday said the team will prefer Suresh Raina in the No.4 slot in the series against Sri Lanka even though vice-captain Virat Kohli's absence has opened the No.3 position. "It did cross our minds (to use Raina at no. 3) but it will be slightly better if he (Raina) bats at the position in which he will most likely bat in the World T20," Dhoni said at the press conference before the first game of the three-match T20 series to be held on Tuesday. "We need to give him that exposure as we are a team, which doesn't play many T20s. It's usually one-game a series. This (three-game) series gives us the opportunity to expose him to No.4 slot for a considerable period of time. It will be more appropriate to keep him at No.4 so that he gets adjusted rather than use him at one drop and ask someone else to bat at 4," Dhoni explained elaborately at the MCA International stadium.
'As far as batting is concerned, obviously the one area we look to focus on is to maintain our batting techniques and use T20s and ODIs as an extension of our Test batting' 'But I think these guys have shown character and stuck it out whenever we've been under pressure. And that, to me, is the stand out of this series as a captain'
Australia's most successful wicketkeeper-batsman of all-time, Adam Gilchrist, is the latest name to be added to the growing list of stars taking part in the MCC versus Rest of the World match at Lord's on July 5. Gilchrist will be reunited with former teammate Shane Warne in the Rest of the World line-up, which the spin legend will captain.
The auction ahead of the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League had in store something on expected lines and some surprises. Here's a look at the top buys after the first round.
Gut feeling and a sense of timing has always marked Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision making process in his illustrious captaincy stint and he once again showed that when he 'stumped' one and all with his decision to step down as skipper of India's limited overs team. No one knows whether Dhoni has read the poem 'Invictus' or watched Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman recite it in his deep baritone: "I am the Master of My fate, I am the Captain of My soul". The context of the poem may have been different but in spirit somewhere, Dhoni may find it eerily similar to his thought process leading up to the decision last night.
Congratulatory messages poured in for Anurag Thakur after he took over as the BCCI President in Mumbai on Sunday with senior players and his board colleagues expressing confidence that Indian cricket would continue to flourish in his tenure.
It was purely a 'Batsman's Evening' with Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund and talented Bengal boy Sudeep Chatterjee's twin tons took India Red to a commanding 354-run lead against India Green on the second day of the Duleep Trophy on Wednesday in Greater Noida. After the bowlers ruled the roost with 17 wickets on the first day, it was the turn of southpaws Abhinav (162 batting, 212 balls) and Sudeep (114, 182 balls) to conjure up a 240-run partnership for the second wicket.
Having found some light at the end of the tunnel, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be keen to expose the chinks in Kings XI Punjab's armoury during their must-win IPL encounter in Indore on Monday.
Buoyant Kolkata Knight Riders will look to continue their winning momentum when they face defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
Unlike before when England players were not available for the lucrative Indian Premier League auctions, the scenario will be different this time feels limited overs captain Eoin Morgan.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Friday said the Election Commission should take suo moto cognisance of the manner in which Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi filed his nomination from Varanasi at the time when the sixth phase of polling was being held all over the country, including Uttar Pradesh.
Hoping to end their 10-match losing streak in the IPL cricket tournament, Delhi Daredevils will look to turn their fortunes around on home turf when they take on an upbeat Rajasthan Royals at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
A summary of the third day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches played at various venues across the country.
67 players, including 23 overseas, were sold and Rs 86.8 crore spent on them by the eight franchises in Bangalore on Monday.
'When it comes to remaining cool and delivering under pressure, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the best.'
Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran's maiden double hundred went in vain as Bengal failed to qualify for the knockout stages after their final Ranji Trophy Group B encounter against Punjab ended in a draw in Kolkata.
India's batting legend Sachin Tendulkar shared his superstition of wearing the left pad first and using his favourite bat even if it was broken by fixing it in his hotel room. The batting maestro, who was in Amravati, Maharashtra to inaugurate a sports complex said, "I used to take off the handle, add glue, replace the handle and put chairs on it so that it got properly stuck for the next day's play. I used to do it at my hotel room," he said. Tendulkar, who was greeted by cheering students in Amravati said that winning the World Cup was the most memorable moment of his life. "It was my childhood dream to play for India and win the World Cup. To realise that dream I toiled consistently. "I never gave up and finally achieved it. It took me 22 years to realise it. I succeeded because I kept trying. So, if you want to achieve anything in your life, don't turn your back and try to achieve it till you succeed," the master told his young fans.
For India, who are considered as title contenders, a good showing in the Asia Cup will give them the much-needed boost going into the World T20.
Abhimanyu Mithun's brilliant bowling at death enabled defending champions Karnataka to edge out Bengal by six runs in a thrilling semi-final of the National One Day Championship for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, in Ahmedabad.
Young chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav kept the opposition batsmen on tenterhooks with a maiden five wicket haul as he took India Red on the cusp of an outright victory against the Green team in the inaugural Day/Night Duleep Trophy encounter in Greater Noida on Thursday. Chasing a mammoth victory target of 497, the Green team was tottering at 217/7 at the end of penultimate evening with another 280 runs to win the match. Suresh Raina was at the crease batting on 35.
India's middle-order batsman Manish Pandey said his main aim is to keep scoring runs whenever he gets an opportunity and push for a permanent berth in the playing eleven.
'Kapil will always be my friend.' 'Sometimes it's nice to remain silent.'
Right now, our mindset is very similar, to go out there and enjoy our cricket, which we have done in the past few years, says Kohli at a press conference before the defending champions' departure to England for the Champions Trophy. Rediff.com's Harish Kotian listens in as the young Indian captain speaks.
Shikhar Dhawan continued his love affair with the ICC Champions Trophy with yet another elegant hundred, guiding India to an imposing 321 for six.
All-rounder Stuart Binny tormented the East Zone batsmen with his controlled swing bowling as they lost as many as 14 wickets with South Zone marching towards a comprehensive innings victory at the end of second day in the semi-final of the Duleep Trophy.
Punjab captain Harbhajan Singh made a superb return to competitive cricket as he smashed 92 off only 80 balls to rescue his team from a precarious position against an impressive Jammu and Kashmir bowling attack on the first day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals.
'A man who is sometimes loved and loathed in equal measure, a man we're seemingly tired of seeing yet can't imagine life without.' Dhruv Munjal salutes the incomparable M S Dhoni.
Rohit Sharma smashed a scintillating 98 not out at his favourite Eden Gardens as India scored a comprehensive 45-run win over the West Indies in their World T20 warm-up match.
'Mahendra Singh Dhoni has at his disposal a range of multi-skilled players who possess the ability to turn the game around at the flick of a switch.'
Karnataka defended their title in grand style after their top-order led by centurion Mayank Agarwal rose to the occasion to crush a hapless Punjab by 156 runs in the Vijay Hazare one-day tournament final in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Team Director Ravi Shastri expects a winning start from his Indian players in the Asia Cup, which kick-starts in Fatullah, in Bangladesh, on Wednesday.
A B de Villiers produced one of the most devastating Twenty20 innings as he smashed an unbeaten 89 from just 42 balls as Royal Challengers Bangalore pulled off a sensational four-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a dramatic IPL match in Bangalore on Sunday.
So 52 games have already been played in the Indian Premier League this season. Here are the Most Valuable players and some random observations by Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle.
India registered a resounding victory in the T20 series-opener against Australia, and following their clinical performance Sunil Gavaskar feels the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side will start as favourites at the upcoming World Twenty20 at home.
Former India bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad said that Zaheer Khan's second spell is becoming a 'struggle' for the veteran left-arm pacer and also stated that none of the current India bowlers have the required variations to bowl with new field restrictions in ODI cricket.
Team India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja tells Haresh Pandya what attracted him to Reeva Solanki.
India head coach Ravi Shastri on Friday dispelled doubts about Mahendra Singh Dhoni's future, stating that the stalwart is not even "half finished yet" and is very much in the scheme of things for the 2019 World Cup in England.
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