Smith was handed a one-year ban along with his then deputy David Warner exactly a year ago for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Rohit could not have dreamt of a better start to his journey to reinvent himself as a Test opener
Delhi Daredevils skipper Jean-Paul Duminy blamed poor batting and fielding as well as lack of intensity for his team's 14-run loss to Rajasthan Royals In an IPL match at the Brabourne Stadium.
Images from Day 1 of the second Test between India and West Indies at Queen's Park Oval, in Port of Spain, on Thursday.
As coach Ricky Ponting pointed out, he would expect a better "on his feet" thinking from the young captain.
Ashwin became the first spinner in over 100 years of Test cricket to earn the distinction of dismissing a batsman off the very first ball of an innings.
Rajneesh Gupta previews Game 45 in IPL 12: Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Watched by India head coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharat Arun, 18-year-old Arjun first bowled to left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan and then to Kohli.
Shaun Marsh's sensational strokeplay helped Kings XI Punjab edge past Rajasthan Royals via the Super Over after the match had finished in a tie in the Indian Premier League, in Ahmedabad, on Tuesday.
The truth of the matter is that India lost their second successive WTC final on day two of this encounter when they collapsed to 71/4 in response to Australia's first-innings total of 469.
A round-up of Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday
Captain Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers smashed brisk half centuries to guide Royal Challengers Bangalore to a well-deserved 13-run victory over Rising Pune Supergiants in the Indian Premier League match, in Pune, on Friday.
Interestingly, the two players were named in the 15-member squad in place of Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India not specifying any reason for leaving out the two players.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who was left out of the first Test, is back in the mix as Shardul Thakur seems to have done his hamstring some damage during the training session at Lord's on Monday.
Andre Russell's all-round brilliance kept Kolkata Knight Riders in contention for a play-off berth as they recorded a comprehensive 54- run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a must-win IPL game.
With two senior pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (thigh injury) and Ishant Sharma (side strain) all but ruled out, Navdeep Saini will certainly be the fourth pacer after Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav.
Rajasthan Royals celebrated their return to their home ground at the Sawai Mansingh stadium with a 10-run win over Delhi Daredevils in the rain-hit Indian Premier League match in Jaipur on Wednesday.
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka in Kolkata on Thursday.
Ravindra Jadeja's superb all-rounder show powered Chennai Super Kings to a thumping 28-run victory against Punjab Kings.
India internationals Shardul Thakur and Shivam Dube starred with the ball and the bat respectively as 41-time champions Mumbai took an upperhand over Assam on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match in Mumbai on Friday.
The former Australian spinner has straight away included both Ajinkya Rahane and Steve Smith in Delhi Capitals' probable playing XI and expects the top four batsmen to drive in fourth gear right from the word go.
IMAGES from the IPL match between CSK and SRH in Chennai on Friday.
A final decision by the team's think-tank will be taken after the final practice session on Friday.
Pant's keeping was criticised after he dropped Australia opener Will Pucovski twice on the opening day but his batting heroics underlined why India keep playing him ahead of the technically superior Wriddhiman Saha.
Ajinkya Rahane's India have a mountain to climb, even if a draw would be enough to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy two years after their breakthrough 2-1 win in the 2018/19 series in Australia.
Rohit Sharma's second successive century was once again overshadowed by Australia's collective batting might as the hosts continued their dominance over Indian bowlers to notch up a seven-wicket victory in the second One-Day International in Brisbane.
India might have levelled the series against Australia with a dramatic 75-run win in the second Test in Bengaluru but the hosts will head off to Ranchi knowing their recent batting woes have not gone away.
With the national selection committee and the team management deciding to promote Rohit as an opener, keeping his spunky strokeplay in mind, the next five Tests could be a make or break for the 32-year-old stylish right-hander.
Despite being the world's top-ranked Test side India have struggled with their opening combination, which, in turn, has heaped pressure on the middle order.
New Zealand's three-pronged attack could spell trouble for India on a spiced-up track and Will Somerville, who played a gutsy knock in Kanpur, might have to sit out.
India face Australia in the WTC final on June 7 at The Oval in London.
Shreyas Iyer's dream Test debut has put India in pole position in the opening Test against New Zealand but it also presented his team with a selection headache for the second and final test in Mumbai next week.
'On Sunday against South Africa, Shikhar Dhawan took the spotlight and eventually, the Man of the Match award, with a century, but it was Ajinkya Rahane's innings that held the key to India topping the 300 mark.' Prem Panicker's match report card, for Rediff.com.
However, Rajasthan would be a bit more desperate than Delhi as they are languishing at the second last position in the points table with just three wins from nine outings.
The Australians are struggling against India's new spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal and the hosts would like to ensure that it doesn't get any easy as the series progresses.
Bess impressed in his maiden outing on Indian soil
India gave themselves a boost before next month's Twenty20 World Cup at home as Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed four wickets in their series-clinching nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the third and final Twenty20 international on Sunday.
'Sometimes KG needs a rocket. You could then almost sense the intensity and focus... he was in the zone.'
Even as the dust settles down on IPL 9, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com presents his Dream XI.
Shikhar Dhawan has been named as the replacement for the injured Murali Vijay for India's upcoming Test series in Sri Lanka.
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