With Jasprit Bumrah "ready and roaring" after an injury scare, Mumbai Indians will fancy their chances against an erratic Royal Challengers Bangalore when the two star-studded teams square off in the IPL, in Bengaluru, on Thursday. The big sub-plot of the contest will be the world's best ODI batsman -- Virat Kohli -- taking guard against the world's best ODI bowler -- Bumrah -- in a format notorious for its unpredictability.
Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada took three wickets as South Africa bowled India out for 187 to take the opening day honours on a seaming wicket in the third and final Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Whether it is by choice or compulsion of injuries, Kohli's fetish for tinkering with playing XI is well documented -- something that wasn't questioned till the South African debacle happened.
Nursing a toe injury, India opener Rohit Sharma on Monday skipped the team's training session and is likely to miss Tuesday's Asia Cup T20 match against Sri Lanka in Mipur. His opening partner Shikhar Dhawan did train, so did skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had a knock during the two-and-a-half-hour net session at the BCB Academy in Sher-e-Bangla Stadium. Rohit, who took a blow on the left toe off a yorker by Mohammed Amir, did not accompany the team for practice as he stayed back in his hotel room. While he is lucky to have escaped fracture, it is highly unlikely that he will play against Sri Lanka, which might increase the soreness of his left toe. With the World T20 starting in a week's time, the team management will not risk Rohit, who is one of the key players in the top order. Dhawan hit the nets but did not have the usual sprightly strides that one normally associates with the Delhi left-hander. He took a few catches, did a bit of shadow batting and was the last one to come out to bat in fading light.
Yuvraj Singh feels it moved a bit more than SG Test ball while Robin Uthappa's observations varied from colour change to lack of reverse swing as the first set of inputs on the much talked about 'Pink ball' Day-Night experiment in the Duleep Trophy came to the fore.
Warner, Parthiv, Amla, Bhuvi, Jasprit... Rediff.com's Harish Kotian picks his Dream Team after IPL 10.
A timely 52 not out off 29 balls in Royal Challengers Bangalore's easy win over Delhi Daredevils should erase the disappointment of failing to fire in the World T20 final against Sri Lanka.
Mumbai Indians thump Delhi Daredevils by 146 runs in an IPL match in New Delhi on Saturday.
RCB suffered four consecutive defeats to finish the league stage at the fourth spot, SRH registered a hat-trick of wins to edge past Virat Kohli's men in the standings.
India are leading the five-match series 3-0 and should they taste success in the final Test, it will be their biggest against England, the previous being the 3-0 whitewash in 1992-93 under Mohammed Azharuddin's captaincy.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings after the league phase in IPL 10.
Riding on the disciplined performances of their bowlers, Royal Challengers Bangalore thrashed Mumbai Indians by seven wickets for their second straight victory, in the Indian Premier League.
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.
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday.
Mumbai Indians had a break of five days after their 20-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a low-scoring Indian Premier League in Mumbai and captain Rohit Sharma said on Thursday that the short respite was very helpful in recharging their batteries.
High on confidence after their fourth consecutive victory, Mumbai Indians will look to extend their winning run and sneak into the top-four when they lock horns with table-toppers Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League match at the Chepauk on Friday.
Mumbai Indians will look to extend their winning run and sneak into the top-four.
Royal Challengers and Delhi Daredevils, desperate for a victory under their belt, will try to outdo each other in Saturday's Indian Premier League match in Bengaluru.
Mumbai Indians have a 10-5 record against KKR. Can they maintain the advantage?
Royal Challengers Bangalore's West Indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree claimed his first Indian Premier League hat-trick on his debut against the Mumbai Indians, taking the wickets of Parthiv Patel, Mitch McClenaghan and Rohit Sharma on Friday.
I was destined to get a century
Captain Rohit Sharma continued to lead by example as a thoroughly professional Mumbai Indians outclassed Pune Supergiants by eight wickets in an Indian Premier League encounter.
The odds are in favour of table toppers Kolkata Knight Riders as they square off against defending champions Mumbai Indians, experiencing a campaign that is oscillating between high and low, in a potentially exciting Indian Premier League contest in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel on Saturday wreaked havoc recording a career-best List A figures of six for 43 as Gujarat beat Tamil Nadu by 31 runs to set up a title clash with Gautam Gambhir-led Delhi in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy One-Day tournament.
A round-up of the Vijay Hazare Trophy matches played on Monday
World cricket's most intriguing rivalry will once again be renewed when India take on an unpredictable Pakistan with rehabilitated pacer Mohammad Aamir being the focus of attention in a round-robin league encounter of the Asia Cup T20 tournament, in Mirpur, on Saturday.
Ravindra Jadeja ripped the heart out of England's batting order to bowl India to a thumping innings and 75-run victory in the fifth and final Test in Chennai on Tuesday.
Moeen Ali capitalised on an early reprieve to score his fifth Test century and steer England to 284 for four on the opening day of the fifth and final Test against India on Friday. - Scorecard: Opting to bat, England slumped to 21 for two before Moeen added 146 with Joe Root to steady the innings and shared a stand of 86 with Jonny Bairstow to keep the touring side on course for a big total at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
England captain Alastair Cook continued his struggle against Ravindra Jadeja as the tourists reached 68 for two at lunch on the opening day of the fifth and final Test against India on Friday. - Scorecard: With India having already taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series, England went into the match seeking to salvage some pride but that determination did not reflect in the casual shotmaking by their top order after Cook opted to bat.
A summary of Friday's Super League matches in the Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.
CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni missed the game against SRH due to a stiff back but is likely to be back for Sunday's match against Virat Kohli-led RCB.
Images from Friday's IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, in Kolkata.
Images from the IPL match played between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli is all set to give up his opening slot and will bat at No 3, a position he has made his own in the national team.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to shrug off the disappointment of two back-to-back defeats and get back to winning ways when they taken on Sunrisers Hyderabad as they aim to seal their place in the play-offs, in the IPL match, in Sharjah, on Saturday.
Indian batting mainstay Virat Kohli said the Asia Cup starting in Mirpur, on Wednesday, is a perfect platform to assess the team's strengths, weaknesses and its current standing on the global stage ahead of the big-ticket World Twenty20 next month.
India's R Ashwin struck a counter-attacking half-century to help India claw back into the match after the hosts got off to a shaky start on Day 3.
Delhi all-rounder Rajat Bhatia is a surprise inclusion in the 30-man shortlist, for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20, to be held in Bangladesh from March 16 to April 6. It includes young Kerala wicketkeeper Sanju Samson, former India Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand, Railways leg-spinner Karan Sharma and Harbhajan Singh.
Mumbai Indians head coach and former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has said his team has had a good preparation for IPL.
Imran Tahir needed less than 12 deliveries to highlight the folly of his rejection at the Indian Premier League auction in February when the leg-spinner set up Pune's thrilling victory in their IPL opener against Mumbai on Thursday.
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