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.
A round-up of Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Tuesday.
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.
This was Mumbai's second successive win after they had beaten Delhi in the lung-opener.
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.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League will commence, on Saturday, April 7 and will end on 27th May
Senior cricketers Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina will lead India Red, India Blue and India Green teams respectively in the Duleep Trophy to be played at Greater Noida International Cricket Stadium from August 23 to September 14. The four-day tournament will be played for the first time with pink ball and under lights.
Rajneesh Gupta presents a complete statistical IPL dossier.
Ajinkya Rahane was chosen as captain of the depleted Indian team for the limited overs tour to Zimbabwe next month as the selectors decided to rest several seniors including Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
'When you saw him, you immediately knew that he was something special.'
Kerala hit back to reduce Gujarat to 97 for 4 after being bowled out for 185 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals.
KXIP are riding a roller-coaster ride, having to endure a controversy involving their captain Ravichandran Ashwin who 'Mankaded' Rajasthan Royals batsman Jos Buttler in their first match, an act which was legal but criticised by some as against the 'Spirit of Cricket'.
Devdutt Padikkal continued his terrific form ahead of the IPL with a third successive century as the defending champions stormed into the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinals
A dominant India hammered arch-rivals Pakistan 5-1 with SV Sunil striking twice in a round-robin league match of the Sultan Azlan Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh on Tuesday. The highlight of the match was four fantastic field goals from India while the other came from a penalty corner conversion. After their scrappy win over Canada in the last match, the Indians rose to the occasion and looked more organised and purposeful against Pakistan. It took India just four minute to take the lead through Manpreet Singh, who scored with a fierce reverse shot from a tight angle after being fed by Sunil. But Pakistan equalised three minutes later when skipper Muhammad Irfan (7th minute) converted the second of their successive penalty corners. India restored their lead in the 10th minute through Sunil, who scored with a deft touch off Manpreet's shot from outside the circle.
Delhi Daredevils won the 'Battle of the Minnows' as they defeated Pune Warriors by 15 runs in the Indian Premier League in Raipur on Sunday.
While Kings XI's biggest star Chris Gayle scored a 47-ball 79 in the Jaipur match, his Jamaican compatriot Andre Russell also looked in blistering touch for KKR in the match against Sunriserrs Hyderabad. Their rivalry will be one of the sub plots of Wednesday's clash in Kolkata.
With a debate raging over the run out, it remains to be seen how Ashwin and Co. start afresh in what will be their first away match of the season.
Chahar started the rot for KKR early in their innings when he trapped opener Chris Lynn in front of the wickets as the Aussie missed a pull off a delivery that kept low. Lynn was sent back inside the first over for a duck. He came into the equation in the next over when he took a brilliant catch, running backwards, to dismiss Sunil Narine for just 6 off the bowling of Harbhajan Singh.
'An India-Pakistan hockey match still attracts a lot of excitement, but the pressure thing is gone nowadays' 'We rallied after conceding an early goal and took the lead, but could not win due to a very high level of performance by India'
Railways wrested the initiative in the final session to leave Rajasthan struggling at 56 for three in reply to their first innings score of 405 on the second day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Group A match in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
India, eying their maiden Champions Trophy title, had earlier crushed bitter-rivals Pakistan 4-0 in their campaign opener on Saturrday.
India were off to a disappointing start at the Lanco International Super Series hockey tournament. They squandered a one-goal lead and lost 1-2 to England in Perth on Thursday. Gurvinder Singh Chandi gave India the lead before England bounced back through goals from Daniel Fox and David Condon.
Ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh's hat-trick went in vain as table toppers Delhi Waveriders eked out a close 4-3 win over Mumbai Magicians in a thrilling round-robin match to continue their dream run in the ongoing Hockey India League in New Delhi on Saturday.
If Irrfan could have been our finest professor of empirical philosophy, and Nawaz is our foremost poet of that space halfway between the gutter and the stars, then Jaideep Ahlawat has to be our greatest artist-scientist, asserts Sreehari Nair.
Afghanistan's Rashid Khan came up with a brilliant all-round effort as Sunrisers Hyderabad scored a 13-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in the second qualifier and made the final of the Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens on Friday.
Gujarat Lions would look to better their debut season's success and aim for a winning start against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League match, in Rajkot on Friday.
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.
India dazzled with a near-perfect performance to stun world champions Australia 4-3 in a pulsating round-robin match of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament at Ipoh on Monday.
Young Affan Yousuf scored two goals as Dabang Mumbai defeated Delhi Waveriders 3-2 in a closely-fought round robin match to stay on top of the leaderboard in the fifth edition of Hockey India League, in Mumbai, on Monday.
The fact that some of the records in the ongoing IPL are held by KKR players reflects the red-hot form of the team.
'Unmatchable' duo of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli could help India lift their third World Cup
Openers Robin Uthappa and KB Pawan scored half-centuries as Karnataka gave a strong reply to Baroda by reaching 148 for two in reply to hosts' 406 all out on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match in Vadodara.
India gave away a goal in the eighth minute before bouncing back strongly after half time to lead 2-1. But Belgium struck four minutes from the hooter to snatch a 2-2 draw in an evenly-contested match.
Rajneesh Gupta presents Rajasthan Royals's IPL record over the years.
Sonchiriya is that rare Bollywood film, one that soars wildly above others in its genre, notes Ritwik Sharma.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be eager to break the sequence of reverses and get Rising Pune Supergiants' campaign back on track when they lock horns with in-form Kolkata Knight Riders.
Hosts Mumbai City FC suffered their third defeat in a row after going down 0-2 to North East United FC in a lop-sided Indian Super League game, in Mumbai, on Wednesday.
Karnataka's hard-hitting batsman Robin Uthappa was included in the Indian team for the one-off Twenty20 international against South Africa, to be played in Johannesburg, on March 30. The match is being staged to commemorate 150 years of Indians' settlement in South Africa.
It was an inauspicious start to the inaugural Day/Night Duleep Trophy match with a major floodlight malfunction grabbing more attention than Pink ball making its first class debut in India. A power failure saw two stoppages in play with the second one leading to lights going off completely in a couple of floodlight towers. There was a total 78 minutes of interruption due to power tripping in two towers in two separate phases.
