'As a captain and a player, he never played for a draw, he always wanted to win.'
Though India and Pakistan have 108 points, the latter take fifth spot with a decimal points difference.
India beat England by nine runs in the second ODI to level the series 1-1.
Standing in the first slip and observing Mahendra Singh Dhoni's match-reading skills convinced Sachin Tendulkar that he was ready for India captaincy, something he told the BCCI when he was asked for his suggestion back in 2007.
Sachin, Sourav, Dravid and Kumble would not have asked for a better stage to make their final appearance on English soil than the historic Oval cricket ground.
Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke both hit masterful double centuries to drive Australia to 604 for seven declared before their bowlers reduced India to 61 for two at the end of second day of the fourth Test on Wednesday.
Man of the match Jacques Kallis claimed two wickets, two catches and scored an unbeaten 91 as South Africa beat India by four wickets in the first ODI.
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who were rested for last month's One-Day International Series in Bangladesh, were included in India's 15-man squad, to be led by Rahul Dravid, for the upcoming matches in Ireland and Scotland.
# Virender Sehwag is now the sixth Indian to reach 8,000 runs or more in ODIs, aggregating 8025 at an average of 35.66 in 240 matches, joining Sachin Tendulkar (18,111), Sourav Ganguly (11363), Rahul Dravid (10889), Mohammad Azharuddin (9378) and Yuvraj Singh (8051).
Sachin Tendulkar was unbeaten on 70 as India ended Day 2 in the first Test on 278 for 3, one run behind New Zealand's first innings total. There were also notable contributions from Gautam Gambhir (72) and Rahul Dravid (66).
Harbhajan Singh has been picked for the Chennai Test and becomes the ninth player to play 100th Test matches for India.
Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara became the 11th cricketer to surpass 10,000 Test runs during his innings of 58 on the opening day of the second test against Australia in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Ruled out of cricket for the next four months due to hamstring and ankle injuries, India's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan has something to cheer about as he has been nominated in as many as three categories for this year's LG ICC Awards to be held in London on September 12.
'With him in particular, I've had a lot of chats with him, a lot of conversations to try and make him a better cricketer.'
The star batsman's come back was delayed during the jinxed series in Sri Lanka.
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni preferred to sit out of the three-day match against Somerset, and in his absence Gautam Gambhir is leading the side. Another notable absentee is VVS Laxman, but pace spearhead Zaheeer Khan is playing and his clash with Andrew Strauss is eagerly anticipated.
The selectors will also name the squad and captain for the Twenty-20 championships as Dravid, alongwith Tendulkar and Ganguly, has pulled out of the tournament.
ICC World Cup-winning Indian Under-19 team captain Unmukt Chand has said he doesn't like to imitate any cricketer as he believes in the philosophy of following on his own footsteps.
Desperate to exorcise the ghosts of the spot-fixing scandal once and for all, Rajasthan Royals will look to start afresh as they face the daunting prospect of running into IPL-6 winners Mumbai Indians in the inaugural group stage match of the Champions League T20 in Jaipur on Saturday.
History was made on Saturday when Rahul Dravid, Dinesh Karthik and Sachin Tendulkar scored centuries in India's first innings of the second Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur.
Sehwag, who accumulated 8,586 runs from 104 Tests at an average of 49.34 and also took 40 wickets during his Test career which spanned from 2001-2013, revealed the role of Zaheer Khan in his promotion as an opener.
Indian captain Rahul Dravid rubbished the notion that his batsmen would be susceptible to hostile South African bowling.
All the batsmen scored breezy knocks in a friendly match at the cricket skills camp in Bangalore
It is speculated that Sachin Tendulkar could be offered the high-pressure job.
Shikhar Dhawan became the 10th Indian cricketer to complete the landmark of 6000 runs in One-Day Internationals, during the first match against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Sunday.
India celebrated their 700th One-Day International with a 19-run victory, their 20th against England in India in 33 games.
Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday will become only the seventh Indian to complete a century of Test matches and he will be the oldest among Indians to accomplish this feat.
Australia opener David Warner says the third Test is all but over for India, after they were bowled out for 161 and Australia replied with 149 for no loss by the end of the first day.
He does not have the grace of a Sachin Tendulkar nor the "silky soft hands" behind stumps like Syed Kirmani but Mahendra Singh Dhoni will retire as one of India's top three players of all time, feels former Australian cricketer Dean Jones.
Former Australia captain, Steve Waugh feels that teen pace sensation Pat Cummins, who will miss part of the home Test series against India due to a heel injury, would have tested the likes of veterans Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.
Fit-again Australian pacer James Pattinson believes India still boast of a "class batting line-up" despite the retirements of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman and the visitors will have to work really hard to beat the hosts in their own backyard during the four-Test series.
