Harish Kotian/Rediff.com assesses the Indian side after the 2-1 series triumph in Sri Lanka.
From Michael Clarke to Rohit Sharma, the global cricket fraternity on Thursday woke up singing paeans to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, hours after India's most successful skipper sprang a surprise by stepping down from limited overs captaincy. Former England skipper Michel Vaughan described Dhoni as one of the greatest captains to have ever led a cricket team. "Even one of the greatest captains of all time decides enough is enough ... Well done @msdhoni on an incredible leadership term," Vaughan wrote on his Twitter page.
Kerala blew away home favourites Bengal by nine wickets and with a day to spare for their second successive win in the Ranji Trophy, consolidating the position atop the Elite Group B standings.
It is difficult to expect that selectors would ring in changes when an Indian cricket team wins a series 3-0 on Australian soil which is precisely the reason why Pawan Negi is "pleasantly surprised" after knowing about his selection for the T20 series against Sri Lanka.
One warm sunny day, Abhilasha Ojha stumbles upon the soul of Bahrain.
The India Test spinner had one wicket to show in 21 overs during Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy Group B match against Madhya Pradesh.
A resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad have been on a slow but sure climb but it is defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders who hold a psychological edge when the teams face-off in their Indian Premier League match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday.
SunRisers Hyderabad beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 16 runs (via Duckworth/Lewis method) in their rain-curtailed Indian Premier League match in Visakhapatnam.
An inconsistent Delhi Daredevils will look to break the home jinx when they take on Mumbai Indians in their sixth match of the IPL cricket tournament at Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on Thursday.
Facing early elimination, two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders need to record a win to stay afloat when they take on table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad.
India's fast bowlers led by Varun Aaron made full use of the seamer-friendly conditions, as they dismissed an inexperienced Cricket Australia XI for 219 on Day 1 of their opening two-day warm-up match in Adelaide, on Monday.
Punjab pummelled Delhi by 10 wickets for their maiden win of the season on Friday while handing the hosts their first Ranji Trophy loss at home in five years.
Delhi suffered another batting collapse to brighten Punjab's prospects of recording an outright victory in their Ranji Trophy Group B match in New Delhi on Thursday.
Their winning momentum punctured after a loss to Rising Pune Supergiants, Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to get back to their winning ways when they take on a struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore in an Indian Premier League Twenty20 match, in Hyderabad, on Saturday.
Youngster Shreyas Iyer slammed his third ton of the season, a strokeful 137, while senior batsman Rohit Sharma hit an unbeaten 110 as Mumbai made an imposing 407 for four on day one of their Group B Ranji Trophy match against Uttar Pradesh, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Monday made a comeback to the Indian team for the first two Tests against South Africa, replacing veteran Harbhajan Singh, who was the only casualty from the team which won the Test series in Sri Lanka last month.
The Most Valuable Player (MVP) race will be a direct face-off between Kings XI Punjab's hard-hitting batsman Glenn Maxwell and Kolkata Knight Riders' dashing opener Robin Uthappa.
Chasing a victory target of 159, Mumbai achieved the target in 18.4 overs with youngster Nitish Rana scoring 45 and veteran keeper Parthiv Patel scoring 39 off 24 balls.
The out-of-favour opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were handed a lifeline by the national selectors on Tuesday when they were included in the India 'A' squad for the second and third four-day matches against the touring West Indies 'A' later this month.
Team India, set for a gruelling tour of Australia, looked in top gear as they practiced diligently during a nets session on the eve of the first Test in Adelaide on Monday.
The India cricket team recorded a comprehensive 37-run win over Australia in the first T20 at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday, and take a 1-0 lead in the three match T20 series. Here are the statistical highlights of the match...
Central Zone spinners, led by captain Piyush Chawla, weaved magic on a helpful track to steer the team to the Duleep Trophy title with a thrilling nine-run triumph over South Zone in New Delhi on Sunday.
Satvik food is de rigueur this time of the year in most Western and Northern Indian homes, say chefs and food historians Arundhuti Dasgupta and Shally Seth Mohile.
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders would look to assert their supremacy, while Sunrisers Hyderabad will have revenge on mind when the two teams clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator in New Delhi on Wednesday. Both Sunrisers and KKR finished their league engagements on 16 points each but the Gautam Gambhir-led side ended fourth behind Sunrisers due to inferior net run rate. But going into the do-or-die game, KKR have psychological advantage over the Sunrisers having beaten them on both the occasions during the league stage. KKR thrashed Sunrisres by eight wickets in their first meeting this season and came out victorious by 22 runs in a must-win match last Sunday to qualify for the play-offs.
Delhi Daredevils produced an all-round effort and defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets to jump to the third spot in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
As India kicks off its run in the World Test Championships on Thursday, Rajneesh Gupta tells you all you need to know about the India-West Indies on-field rivalry.
Bengal wrapped up what was meant to be a four-day Ranji Trophy contest in just one-and-a-half day after blowing away Odisha for an unbelievable 37, prompting the livid visiting team to lodge a complaint about the nature of the pitch with the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
A summary of the third day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches at various venues across the country.
Unbeaten in all the three games they have played so far in the tournament, Gujarat Lions would look to continue with their impressive winning run when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL match in Rajkot on Thursday. The Lions have been in red-hot form in their debut season with convincing wins in all the three games and they would seek to maintain a clean slate tomorrow at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium. The home side will also be bolstered by the return of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja who did not play in the Lion's seven-wicket thrashing of defending champions Mumbai Indians in Mumbai due to his wedding.
Left with nothing, many survivors staying at a relief camp in UP, recount the horror of Saturday's earthquake.
Lasith Malinga and Mitchell McClenaghan came up with stellar bowling display to help Mumbai Indians defend a modest score and beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 20 runs in their Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede stadium.
Rajasthan Royals outplayed Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets in their Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad, thereby registering their fifth straight win of the season.
Delhi Daredevils defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by four runs.
Karnataka inflicted an innings and 20 runs defeat on Mumbai with more than a day to spare in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final in Nagpur on Sunday to move into the semi-finals in convincing fashion.
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played on Friday
This year's auctions will wrap up in one day.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Sunday
Karun Nair kept Delhi Daredevils' slender hopes of qualifying for the play-offs alive with a 59-ball unbeaten 83 that guided them to a six-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Friday's Indian Premier League match, at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh stadium in Raipur, that went down to the wire.
Virender Sehwag scored a fluent fifty, but it was not enough to prevent formidable Delhi from going down to India Blue by 18 runs in the opening game of NKP Salve Challenger Series in Indore on Thursday.
In a team that mostly includes aggressive stroke-players, the 22-year-old Rahul's fortitude makes him just the right choice. The fact that he played in Australian conditions in recent times, having opened for India 'A', will be an added advantage.