'Since we cannot trust the net bowlers about their exposure to COVID, it would be ideal to go with a large contingent as we can be assured of all the players' safety as they will be in a bio-secure environment.'
India captain Virat Kohli chalked up his seventh double hundred in Tests before his pacers claimed a few early wickets to leave South Africa reeling, on Day 2, of the second Test against South Africa at Pune.
History has not seen a cricketing rivalry as fierce as this this century, every ball bowled every run taken, coming with no quarter given. Ahead of India's five Test tour of Australia, Norma Astrid Godinho/Rediff.com takes a walk down memory lane, recounting India's sojourns Down Under from 1947 to 2021, in a 4-part series.
Images from the IPL 2023 match between Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Mohali on Saturday.
Left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat took four wickets in the second innings and took his match tally to nine for 116 as Saurashtra thrashed Vidarbha by an innings and 85 runs and booked a place in the Ranji Trophy semi-finals for the first time in three seasons, in Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, on Friday.
Or should they include a fast bowler for the Eden Gardens Test against Sri Lanka?
Up-and-coming Karnataka batsman Lokesh Rahul and Uttar Pradesh leg-spinner Karn Sharma were named in India's 19-man Test squad for the tour of Australia, which was announced after the selection committee of the Board for Control of Cricket in India met in Mumbai on Monday morning. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will miss the opening Test, from December 4, at the Gabba in Brisbane, because of an injury and Virat Kohli will stand in for him.
A battle royale is in the offing as heavyweights Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals clash in a high-profile IPL encounter, in Chennai, on Tuesday.
Fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who took four wickets in the first innings to help India enforce the follow-on, said considering the slow nature of the pitch, bowling as many maiden overs as possible was their plan to create pressure on the West Indies' batsmen.
Will the struggling Manish Pandey make way for Dinesh Karthik?
India's seniormost speedster Ishant Sharma's has done an honest introspection of his bowling and has come to a conclusion that he has not been upto the mark in limited overs cricket unlike longer version where he is the pace spearhead.
Australia were 221 for 4 at close of play, in response to India's 408, on Day 2 of the second Test at the Gabba, on Thursday. Check out some images from the day's play.
Former Australian tear-away pacer Rodney Hogg, says why India don't have a chance to retain the World Cup.
David Warner is very happy for his Sunrisers Hyderabad teammate Thangarasu Natarajan's Test call-up but he is 'not sure' if the Tamil Nadu left-arm seamer can consistently hit one length, over after over, in the five-day format.
Sitting atop the points table, Kolkata Knight Riders would look to consolidate their position when they clash with an equally confident Delhi Daredevils in what promises to be a thrilling IPL encounter, in New Delhi, on Monday.
'Like MS Dhoni, I try to detach myself from the result and focus on small things, which I also refer to as process. And this helps in getting the desired outcome'
Delhi's young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant got his maiden Test call-up as he was picked up as the additional glovesman along with Dinesh Karthik after Wriddhiman Saha was ruled out with injury for the upcoming five-match Test series against England.
Talented Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma made a comeback to the Test squad for the West Indies series, which will also mark the farewell and landmark 200th Test of batting icon Sachin Tendulkar, next month.
Talented Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey, who recently led the India A squad to a tri-series win in South Africa, made a comeback to the team.
Openers Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill fell for ducks as India 'A' batsmen struggled on the opening day of their three-day practice match against Australia 'A' at the Drummoyne Oval, in Sydney, on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royals will take a lot of confidence after snatching a two-run victory from the jaws of defeat against Punjab Kings.
Having made a commendable comeback from the brink of a series defeat, India will look to increase their stranglehold on hosts England to draw parity when the two teams square off for the fourth Test, in Southampton, on Thursday.
A keen contest is on the cards as Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals cross swords in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
As coach Ricky Ponting pointed out, he would expect a better "on his feet" thinking from the young captain.
Spin legend Shane Warne has thanked star batter Virat Kohli for "passionately supporting" Test cricket, a day after he stepped down as skipper of the Indian Test team.
India's pace attack comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar has emerged as a potent force
Lockie Ferguson's inclusion gave the much-needed impetus to the side, but KKR are still struggling with their star all-rounder Andre Russell who capped yet another flop show with the bat.
A series win in Australia will certainly put Kohli on a higher pedestal even though the quality of the home team's batting line-up suffered adversely due to the bans of former skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner.
Captain Rohit Sharma and Evin Lewis hit quickfire half-centuries to help Mumbai Indians crush Royal Challengers Bangalore by 46 runs for their first victory in IPL-11, in Mumbai on Tuesday.
At 876 points he is only eight points behind second-placed India spinner Ravindra Jadeja and 20 behind top-ranked James Anderson of England.
The sub-narratives in the main story will be equally intriguing in the next 13 days.
Siraj's elevation as a Test bowler has happened in the wake of some great performances for Hyderabad and India A at the first-class level.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 3:
India's bowling attack will be lead by Bumrah and will be supported by Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, and Sharma.
Royal Challengers Bangalore pacers blew away the Mumbai Indians' top order before shining in the death overs to set up a much-needed 14-run win, which kept them alive in the Indian Premier League Play-offs race, in Bengaluru, on Tuesday.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja dominated with the ball for India while Virat Kohli ended his long wait for a Test century.
A win on Friday would seal the three-match series for Virat Kohli and Co.
After R Ashwin led India's fightback with a six-wicket haul, India skipper Rohit Sharma at Shubman Gill took India to 36/0 at the end of Day 2 in Ahmedabad.
The legend picked Pujara, Umesh for their feats.
The third and final cricket One Day International between India and South Africa was abandoned after rains intervened at the innings break to leave the home side with a 2-0 series win in Centurion.
