Swing and seam friendly conditions, a lack of truly scary Australian bowlers and New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum's retirement are all themes that will resonate when the first Test gets underway in Wellington on Friday.
Australia captain Michael Clarke said he could not have asked for a better performance from his team following their 405-run mauling of England in the second Ashes Test at Lord's.
Throughout, Mekhail spoke calmly, with hardly an inflection making even the barest attempt to hijack his tone. His tone was so empty it made his narrative all the more touching. And ugly and grey, as the monsoon sky beyond the window.
With a new cricket director, coach and chairman, England return to the field of play in the first Test against New Zealand on Thursday following an extraordinary period of upheaval.
Summary of World Cup qualifiers played across the world on Thursday
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who did not make it to the final eight selected by TIME for the annual 'Person of the Year' title, has been hailed as one by its readers in an online poll conducted by the publication. Let's take a look at the 10 names that forced Modi out of reckoning for the title.
As the gunfire stopped at a parking garage in downtown Dallas, where five police officers were killed and seven others injured in "ambush style" firing during a protest against the fatal police shootings of black men this week, a new trend in crime-fighting crawled into spotlight.
No one will be able to match up to his iconic sense of style!
Soha Ali Khan's look at her self in her debut book, The Perils Of Being Moderately Famous, may seem indulgent but is not, says Manavi Kapur.
As Indrani, Sanjeev Khanna and Peter pass cupboard no 6 -- where the skull is stored -- what thoughts pass through their mind?
The overall winners will be announced on October 15 at an awards ceremony in the Natural History Museum's iconic Hintze Hall.
The Republican Party has warned several mainstream United States news channels against airing programmes on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is seen as a potential Democratic candidate for the 2016 presidential polls.
Accused No 1 announced that there had been a change in the circumstances of her health condition. She produced a thick 19-page document, written in her neat, very feminine handwriting, detailing her condition, its symptoms and the consequences it could have on her health and well-being.
Ian Pont, a former Essex player and fast bowling coach, now at the Ultimate Pace Foundation in Bengaluru, analyses England's disastrous World Cup campaign in an exclusive conversation with Manu Shankar/Rediff.com.
Back to Sheena Bora's grave, via e-time travel
The selectors have much to ponder after England slumped to a crushing 405-run defeat by Australia in the second Ashes Test at Lord's with calls for change in the top order coming a week after the team were lauded for their first-test victory.
Alan Pardew's dream of reprising a celebrated 25-year-old FA Cup triumph was scuppered by Liverpool as the seven-times champions came from behind to book a place in the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday. This year's shock-laden competition had continued with second-tier Blackburn Rovers' 4-1 thrashing of the Premier League's Stoke City.
'Could the Khar police and the CBI have tinkered with the driver's call data records?' 'And did their fiddling with the information not make it that they were tampering with the lives of people that were in the balance as a result of this case?'
Here's what you need to know more about dominant batsman Ross Taylor.
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest stories from around the world.
England skittled out shell-shocked Australia for 60 and piled up 274 for four in reply to take control of the fourth Ashes Test on a dramatic first day at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
Her elfin face could be seen and once more after many days the victim of this murder had a face and a presence.
In the 25 odd days that he has appeared before CBI Special Judge Jayendra Chandrasen Jagdale, you have experienced the entire range of emotions just observing him. Everything from pity to irritation. To bafflement. And shock. You have scoured his face, gazed into his eyes, watched his expressions and body language, searching vigilantly for motives. And come away no wiser. Who is Shyamvar Rai? Does anybody know?
According to Sukanya Verma, The Hobbit series continues to exhilarate and astound with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
It is becoming more and more apparent that Shyamvar Rai is like an onion. And a pretty pungent one at that. As layer after layer of his life gets peeled off, in full view of the court, new layers of his character are exposed.
Veterans Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks lost out to Frances McDormand and Gary Oldman at the Golden Globes 2018.
The attempts to unearth the document started getting more and more frantic. The clerks began to flip pages of files full of documents, some hand written, some bearing thick seals or multiple stamps, some in Hindi, some in Marathi. Several junior lawyers joined in, perusing different files and dockets. But in spite of the best of efforts the document was not to be found.
Clarke now averages 16.71 for the series, the worst performer among Australia's recognised batsmen who have played more than two Tests in the series.
Michael Clarke's touring side will attempt to win the urn on English soil for the first time in 14 years and Alastair Cook's hosts will try to win back the trophy following their crushing 5-0 defeat in the last series Down Under.
The Nissan Kicks does tick all the right boxes as a convincing Hyundai Creta competitor.
Indrani, radiant in an immaculate white and gold salwar-kurta that matched the moment, her hair open, a bindi gleaming on her forehead, beamed placidly, fully enjoying this small minute of victory.
Wayne Rooney ended his eight-game Premier League scoring drought with a 2-0 victory against a dogged Sunderland.
Indrani was cheering Pasbola on from the back, with little, happy whoops, that she muffled with her chunni. Indrani was in her element on Friday. The defence's cross-examination was clearly going her way and Indrani was delighted.
Armed with deep customer knowledge, low operational overheads, new funding opportunities and help from online marketplaces, the local brand is turning David to every Goliath that steps into its neighbourhood, says T E Narasimhan.
England roared back in the final session following a feeble batting display as wickets tumbled on a dramatic opening day of the first Ashes Test against Australia at Trent Bridge on Wednesday.
Shivade then asked if the skeleton finally came out of the ground in many parts. It was difficult not to gasp aloud at that revelation. Bhagat said that was true.
When Deepika Padukone walked on the Cannes red carpet this year she followed in the footsteps of the biggest global beauty icons of two decades. Divya Nair looks back.
'It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.' This is what Mother Teresa taught the nuns and her co-workers.
Indian Americans speak up about the daunting challenges on the 16th anniversary of the tragedy.
