Leg-spinner Karn Sharma said he was merely looking to get picked at the IPL Auction and the huge price tag of 3.75 paid for him by Sunrisers Hyderabad had come as a pleasant surprise.
In their quest to be battle-ready for the upcoming Champions League Twenty20, Kolkata Knight Riders sent four of their players -- Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Manvinder Bisla and Kuldeep Yadav -- to Bloemfontein, South Africa for 15 days of training camp that included cycling, running and mountaineering.
Paceman Bhuvaneshwar Kumar followed up his team's superb collective batting effort with a four-wicket haul as India Blue lifted the NKP Salve Challenger Series Trophy with a convincing 50-run victory over Delhi in the final.
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.
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders will open their campaign against Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 11th edition of IPL on Sunday.
RCB to ring in changes against KKR in search of first win
Delhi Capitals assistant coach Mohammad Kaif has pointed out that IPL teams are replacing poor fielders with agile ones during games and hoped that the umpires will take notice of this unfair practice.
Opener KL Rahul continued his dream form as he blazed his way to a brilliant unbeaten 121 after a classy 185 in the first innings as South Zone looked in cruise control in pursuit of 301 against Central in the Duleep Trophy final.
Karnataka batsman Lokesh Rahul gave the selectors food for thought before the upcoming Australia tour, scoring a classy century which gave South Zone a vital first innings lead against Central Zone on Day 2 of the Duleep Trophy final, in Delhi, on Thursday. Replying to Central's first innings total of 276, South rode the opener's unbeaten 168 to end the day on 308 for three, a lead of 32 runs, at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
Their morale on the upswing after back-to-back victories, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will aim to continue the winning run when they take on the inconsistent Sunrisers Hyderabad in their fifth IPL cricket match in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders would look to return to winning ways.
Kolkata Knight Riders might have come up trumps in a high-scoring IPL opener against Mumbai Indians, but skipper Gautam Gambhir was all praise for his bowling unit that was ably led by South African speedster Morne Morkel.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front with two half-centuries in the initial phase and when he failed to contribute, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey have stepped up to do the bulk of scoring.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will stand in the way of two-time former champions Kolkata Knight Riders' bid to make it to the play-offs in a mouthwatering Indian Premier League encounter.
Considering that the tournament Down Under will be played on faster wickets, it's obvious that spinners are unlikely to play a significant role. In these circumstances, having one spinner in the playing eleven is the most one can expect, says Bikash Mohapatra.
Seamers Abhimanyu Mithun and R Vinay Kumar wreaked havoc as Karnataka reduced Uttar Pradesh to 221 for nine, giving themselves a good chance to grab first innings lead, on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final match in Bangalore.
The fact that some of the records in the ongoing IPL are held by KKR players reflects the red-hot form of the team.
A rampaging Kolkata Knight Riders stand in the way of Delhi Daredevils' revival plan as the two teams, with contrasting runs so far, gear up to clash in an Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture in Kolkata on Friday.
Cricket is just a game, but try telling that to the 22 players who will walk out for the India v Pakistan World Cup match
Mumbai Indians put in a clinical performance with both bat and ball to thrash Kolkata Knight Riders by a huge margin of 102 runs, in the IPL match, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
Table-toppers Chennai Super Kings will look to complete the double against Kolkata Knight Riders, just like Delhi Capitals did, when the teams clash in Sunday's IPL match in Kolkata. The home side's consistency has suddenly taken a beating after two defeats on the trot, first in Chennai and then against Delhi Capitals on Friday night. Thus, the Knight Riders will be under immense pressure to arrest the slide when they face mighty Chennai.
Their fate hanging in balance, a loss in the penultimate league round match may virtually sound the death knell for one of the two teams.
Hosts Kolkata Knight Riders run the risk of slipping away when they face resurgent defending champions and 'nemesis' Mumbai Indians in an IPL clash, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Sanjay Patel defended the omission of five senior players who were part of the victorious 2011 squad from the 30-man World Cup probables, saying their performance in domestic was taken into account.
India's selectors went on expected lines, leaving out former champions while giving the nod to top performers in domestic circuit in the 30-man probables' list for the 2015 World Cup.
CSK's Harbhajan Singh and Mumbai Indians' Lasith Malinga were among the other big names to be released by their respective sides ahead of next month's auction.
Delhi done in by poor batting as Karnataka win by 4 wickets
Impressed with Kuldeep Yadav's performance in the ongoing Indian Premier League, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar offered "honest advice" to India's selectors to keep an eye on the young left-arm spinner.
The national selection committee, under Sandeep Patil, is likely to leave it to limited-overs' captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to decide on his availability for the short tour of Zimbabwe, from June 11-20.
New captain Shreyas Iyer led from the front with a scintillating innings as Delhi Daredevils crushed Kolkata Knight Riders by 55 runs, in the Indian Premier League, in Delhi, on Friday.
Carlos Brathwaite's inclusion will lift the spirits of Delhi Daredevils.
Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile said there is a need to have a fresh look at the Indian Premier League rules after a 1.30 am finish to their rain-hit eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
I am planning to practice against the wet tennis balls from 18 yards and also with plastic ball on concrete pitches to reduce my reaction time for strokes, said India's latest batting sensation, Lokesh Rahul.
Irfan's all-round show helps Baroda trounce MP by 53 runs; UP humbles Mumbai and Bengal lose to Vidarbha
Rajneesh Gupta presents statistical summary of Kolkata Knight Riders and much more.
Young Ishan Kishan, whose batting pyrotechnics played a part in Mumbai Indians massive win, on Thursday night, has credited skipper Rohit Sharma for backing him despite his repeated failures.
Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 13 runs in their Indian Premier League match, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Dhoni has turned back the clock with his last three innings, two of them half centuries, adding to the fine run of imposing all-rounder Shane Watson.
Sunrisers Hyderabad stand in the way of two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders, who would be looking to bring their campaign back on track at home during an Indian Premier League T20 cricket clash, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's Paisa Vasool Players.