India's senior batsman Ajinkya Rahane is confident that if the play to their potential then they will be able to defend the Champions Trophy won in 2013.
Rahane is playing back-to-back Ranji games after a long time and it would be a good opportunity for him to get some runs under his belt, especially at his home turf, before he heads for New Zealand with the India 'A' team.
Images from Day 2 of the third and final Test between India and New Zealand in Indore on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royals have traded bowling all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham to Kings XI Punjab before the IPL players' transfer window expires on Thursday.
IMAGES from the IPL match played between Rajasthan and Delhi in Jaipur on Monday
Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane on Thursday blamed the Indian team's much-vaunted batting line-up's failure to complement the bowlers for their Test series defeat in England.
A look at the best catches in the CSK-SRH game.
India hinted at a recall for Ajinkya Rahane in the third cricket Test against South Africa, days after his omission from the first two matches of the series raised eyebrows.
Ajinkya Rahane's struggles in limited-overs' cricket continued as India B comfortably beat India C by 30 runs to enter the Deodhar Trophy final, in New Delhi, on Wednesday.
Easwaran compiled an unbeaten 151 off 212 balls, and laced his innings with 12 fours and a six on the third day of the match at the Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Images from Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy final played between Mumbai and Vidarbha at the Wankhede in Mumbai, on Tuesday.
Ajinkya Rahane rated his knock of 132 against Sri Lanka as one his best on spin-friendly tracks as he predicted tough times for batsmen in the remainder of the second Test.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Friday.
K L Rahul's diving catch was one of the highlights of LSG's fine showing against CSK.
Stylish batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who has been named the vice-captain for India's upcoming tour of the West Indies, said he enjoys taking responsibilities and the new role will help him to improve his performance. "I had toured the West Indies as part of India A around 3-4 years back, at that time the wickets were little slow. In international cricket, there will be different wickets. I have heard there is good bounce and pace in Barbados, Jamaica," Rahane told PTI in Mumbai. "At the same time, I feel the wickets may be spin-friendly. We will get the idea of the wickets once we go there. But it is an exciting tour in the West Indies. We are going with a young Test team. We have done well recently and so we are looking forward to the tour," he added. Talking about his new role as a vice-captain, Rahane said: "As a vice-captain there will be responsibilities and I like to take responsibilities. When I toured Zimbabwe as a captain, I learned a lot from my team-mates, it was a good experience and we had won in Zimbabwe.
Images from Day 4 of the first Test between India and the West Indies in Antigua.
Sitting comfortably with a 304-run lead, India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said the plans of batting just once during the match seems to have worked for the team.
Captain Virat Kohli played a pivotal role with a workmanlike 82, lifting India from a double blow at the beginning of innings to 172 for three in the second Test against Australia in Perth on Saturday.
The Rahane-led side outclassed the depending champions Mumbai Indians by seven wickets on Sunday, courtesy a whirlwind unbeaten 94 by opener Jos Buttler who stuck his fifth consecutive fifty in the tournament.
A battle-hardened Vidarbha won't make it easy for 41-times Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy final, starting on Sunday.
Batsman Ajinkya Rahane is expecting the Kanpur wicket to assist the Indian spinners and says the team's performance in the first Test will set the tone for a long home season, comprising 13 five-day games.
India captain Virat Kohli held on to his second position while stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane broke into the top 10 after gaining five places in the latest ICC men's Test batting ranking released on Thursday.
Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane flopped with the bat as defending champions Mumbai were shocked by Baroda by 84 runs.
It is highly unlikely that he will be India's number four at the World Cup but India's Test vice-captain is keen to add on to his 90 ODIs.
Wadkar said he was also keeping an eye on Mumbai leader Ajinkya Rahane to see if he was frustrated with Vidarbha's fightback. In return, the 29-year-old got nothing but only leadership lessons from Rahane.
After the one-off Afghanistan Test match, Rahane has nothing to look forward to as he has been dropped from the limited-overs side which is going to UK first. The Test series against England is scheduled to start on August 1 after a limited-overs series featuring three T20 Internationals and an equal number of ODIs beginning July 3.
IMAGES from the Ranji Trophy final played between Mumbai and Vidarbha at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Can't give excuses: Rahane on batting failure in IPL Eliminator
The national selectors want all the players to be available for the Duleep Trophy ahead of the two Test series against Bangladesh next month.
There remains a big question mark over who will be India's No.4 in the World Cup.
Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming admitted that seamer Deepak Chahar's latest injury "doesn't look good" but he is hoping for a positive report from the franchise's medical team ahead of the business phase of the ongoing IPL.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni or Rishabh Pant? Whose knock did you enjoy most?
Steve Smith may have been disgraced for his role in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa but newly-appointed Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane said that he still respects him as a world-class batsman.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane shared an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 93 to keep alive India's hopes of a series-levelling win over Australia, giving the hosts a lead of 126 on a see-saw third day of the second Test in Bengaluru on Monday.
India's injury woes continued as batting mainstay Ajinkya Rahane was ruled out of the remaining two Tests against England due to injury. He will be replaced by Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey. Apparently, Rahane sustained a finger injury on his right index finger during India's training session at the Wankhede stadium on Wednesday.
'All of us have played domestic cricket in almost empty stadiums, so that's an experience all cricketers are used to'.
Shreyas Iyer would be aiming to revive his start-stop international career, while Ishan Kishan would aim to clear the popular perception about his allegedly 'misplaced priorities'.
'It's completely mental (adjustment). The good thing in this team is anyone can bat at anywhere. We have that flexibility. I have batted at top, numbers 3,4 and 5. It's important to handle that situation and utilise that situation. If you adjust in mind, you can adapt anywhere' 'He did not say anything about my technique but spoke only on the mental aspect'
The lure to play an extra bowler in Hardik Pandya along with an in-form Rohit Sharma in the opening Test against South Africa has cast doubts over Ajinkya Rahane's place in the playing XI despite having the best away record among the current crop of batsmen.
Vihari, Gill and Iyer have all played Tests for India in the absence of regular players and Rohit said a decision on the composition of the side against Sri Lanka was yet to be made.
