Rinku Singh has built his reputation as a fearless six-hitter in T20 cricket, but the 27-year-old insists he doesn't want to be boxed into that label. For him, the ultimate dream lies not under floodlights but in the whites of Test cricket.
An interesting battle for the first innings lead is on cards as hosts Mumbai trail visitors Assam by 201 runs with seven wickets in hand on the penultimate day of the Group-A Ranji Trophy Elite division match in Mumbai, on Friday.
Ajinkya Rahane (116 not out) and Ajit Agarkar (78) saved Mumbai the blushes with a 174-run partnership as the visitors reached a respectable 238 for five on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Haryana in Rohtak.
Left-arm spinners Iqbal Abdulla and Harmeet Singh scalped four wickets each as Mumbai crawled back into the game, trailing Himachal Pradesh by just eight runs with 10 wickets and two days in hand on second day of their Super League Group A Ranji Trophy match.
Tanmay and Ajitesh: Once Kohli's U-19 lieutenants are on-field umpires for Australia A series
Mumbai and Karnataka will meet in the final of the Ranji Trophy. Both made the grade by virtue of the first innings lead in the semi-finals against Delhi and Uttar Pradesh respectively.
Stand-in skipper Virat Kohli led from the front with an unbeaten 88 as Delhi spanked Saurashtra by eight wickets to pocket five points from their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match at home on Friday. Chasing 160, the hosts cruised to 161 for 2 in 32 overs, with Kohli and Mithun Manhas (23) guiding them to victory.
Rohit Sharma held the Mumbai innings together with an unbeaten 94, as the defending champions took a vital 61-run lead after scoring 248 for eight in their first essay, on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match against Railways in Delhi on Wednesday.
Riding on fine performances from veteran Ajit Agarkar and left-arm spinners Iqbal Abdulla and Harmeet Singh, Mumbai staged a remarkable comeback to defeat Himachal Pradesh by 85 runs in a Group A Super League Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai on Friday. The hosts, who were bundled out for a paltry 162 in the first innings, thereby conceding an 84-run lead, dismissed Himachal for 166 in 67 overs, 13 minutes before tea, after setting the visitors a target of 252 to win.
Azharuddeen was the vice-captain of the side, and now that role has been handed to Tamil Nadu's N Jagadeesan.
Riding on a 103-run second wicket partnership between Ravi Inder Singh (58) and Uday T Kaul (62), Punjab salvaged a draw against Mumbai in their Ranji Trophy Super League group A match in Chandigarh.
14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the youngest centurion in men's T20 cricket, will once again be the player to watch out for in the Rising Stars Asia Cup.
Kalra was banned from Ranji Trophy as well as U-23 tournaments on a complaint filed by former Delhi captain Kirti Azad's faction, alleging that the left-handed opener has fudged his age since the U-16 level.
Senior opener Shikhar Dhawan is all set to be back in action having recovered from a fractured left-thumb sustained during the second Test match against New Zealand at Kolkata in September.
Facing Kerala in the quarter-finals in Pune from February 8, J&K will be looking to script history as they aim to make it to the Ranji Trophy semi-finals for the first time ever.
A summary of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday
Rookie medium pacer Sudeep Tyagi sliced through Orissa's batting capturing six wickets for 46 as the hosts crumbled for 216 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match against Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
Security beefed up for Kohli's Ranji comeback
Medium pacer Krishnakant Upadhyay's inspiring spell helped Railways restrict defending champions Karnataka in their Ranji Trophy match in New Delhi. A summary of the day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy semi-final matches played on Monday
'He's a hypocrite because he's the one who said that India, when he was not the coach of Team India, said that India and Pakistan should never play a match between them.'
Round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played in different part of the country
Bengal's most potent match winner Ashok Dinda rose to the occasion when it mattered the most as his five-wicket burst ensured a 43-run win against Railways in a Ranji Trophy Group A league encounter in Dharamsala on Sunday. Needing 119 runs on the final day with five wickets in hand to reach a victory target of 315, Railways could manage 271 in 93.2 overs largely due to Dinda's 5/67. Bengal are now firmly on course for a knockout berth with 15 points in their kitty with two outright wins and three points by virtue of first innings lead in a drawn match.
India all-rounder Axar Patel was on Monday ruled out of the remaining two T20 Internationals against South Africa due to illness with the BCCI's selection committee naming Shahbaz Ahmed as his replacement.
Fixtures for the 2013-14 season.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra, who played vital role in helping Rajasthan win consecutive Ranji Trophy titles, has decided to join Himachal Pradesh for the upcoming domestic season.
Domestic veterans Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajat Patidar and Rinku Singh could keep the team management interested going forward in Test cricket.
Round up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played across the country
Yashasvi Jaiswal on Wednesday joined the Mumbai camp after confirming his availability for the next round of Ranji Trophy
The Proteas arrive high on confidence, having fought out a hard-earned 1-1 draw in Pakistan last month under challenging conditions.
A round-up of the opening day action of various Ranji Trophy group league matches on Saturday.
Virat Kohli will miss Delhi's upcoming Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra due to persistent neck stiffness.
'If they had continued playing Test cricket and quit ODIs, then staying in the groove would have been a lot easier.'
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia believes a first Women's World Cup win for India would be a seminal moment, much like Kapil Dev's team in 1983.
The contest will be played at the Golf Club Ground in Nasik.
Those who bowl at 150 kph are kings, but I am also working on slower balls, yorkers: Umran Malik
Tamil Nadu took less than 10 overs to complete the formalities and notch up an emphatic 104-run win over Maharashtra on the fourth and concluding day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match in Chennai on Tuesday.
Hosts Punjab put up a stellar show as they notched up their second successive bonus point as they thrashed a listless Bengal by an innings and 27 runs in a second round Ranji Trophy match in Mohali on Monday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is the unofficial mentor to the Jharkhand cricket team, is set to watch his state side take on Gujarat in its first ever Ranji Trophy semi-final, starting in Nagpur on Sunday.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is set to return unopposed as Cricket Association of Bengal president at its annual general meeting in Kolkata on Monday.