Enduring a forgettable outing in the first half of this year's IPL, two-time former champions Kolkata Knight Riders would look for reversal of fortunes when they resume their campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the second phase of T20 league in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Pakistan will be eager to raise their game.
'It was a clinical performance from the start'
For Kohli, what matters is applying himself according to the demands of the situation.
India may be the outright favourites in the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final against Bangladesh but the defending champions will be under more pressure, former captains Mohammad Ashraful and Habibul Bashar said on Wednesday.
Riding on leg-spinner Rashid Khan's brilliant effort, Sunrisers Hyderabad produced an inspired bowling display to eke out a fighting 13-run win over in-form Kings XI Punjab in a low-scoring IPL match in Hyderabad, on Thursday.
Virat Kohli (fourth), Shikhar Dhawan (seventh) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (ninth) have also maintained their respective positions in the ICC ODI batting chart.
England need two more wickets on the final day to keep their all-winning record in Tests against Bangladesh intact with the hosts 33 runs away from a famous victory in the closely-contested opening match at Chittagong.
England players were in demand as batter Harry Brook earned a Rs 13.25 crore winning from Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Images from Day 4 of the first Test between Bangladesh and India, in Chottogram, on Saturday.
Images from the second One-Day International between Bangladesh and India, in Mirpur, on Wednesday.
He now inspires so much confidence in Virat Kohli that the India captain went with only five bowlers in Tuesday's victory against Bangladesh which secured their place in the semi-finals.
Virat Kohli strengthened his position at the top of ICC ODI rankings for batsmen by touching a career-high 911 points, while Kuldeep Yadav broke into the top-10 of the bowlers' chart at sixth, on Wednesday.
India restored some pride with a consolation 77-run win over Bangladesh in third and final ODI to prevent the spirited hosts from securing a 3-0 series whitewash.
Rashid came to bowl in the 11th over and put his team in a strong position straightaway by removing the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim (20) and Sabbir Rahman (0) off his first two deliveries. Bangladesh could not recover from the blow and ended at 122 all out in response to Afghanistan's 167 for eight.
Bangladesh thumped England in a bowler-dominated contest after home skipper Mashrafe Mortaza's all-round brilliance secured their series-levelling 34-run victory in the second One-day International on Sunday.
Kolkata Knight Riders will begin their title defence against a formidable Mumbai Indians side in the opening match of the eighth edition of Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
Ravichandran Ashwin is the lone Indian to feature in the top 10 of the latest Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings as he continues to lead the way in the all-rounders list.
Hosts Bangladesh dished out a solid all-round display to register a convincing eight-wicket win over Nepal in a Group A qualifying match of the ICC World T20 in Chittagong on Tuesday.
While their limited-overs side have already savoured victories over the world's top sides, Bangladesh cricket hopes their narrow defeat to England over five days in Chittagong will be a watershed moment for the Test team. Bangladesh sent England crashing out of the 50-over World Cup and entered the quarter-finals for the first time last year, and scored one-day international victories over India, Pakistan and South Africa during a run of six series wins at home.
India captain Virat Kohli will end the year at the top of the ICC Test ranking chart for batsmen but five-day specialist Cheteshwar Pujara slipped a place to fifth. With 928 points, Kohli is way ahead of second-placed Australian maestro Steve Smith (911) and New Zealand's inspirational skipper Kane Williamson (822), while Australia's Marnus Labuschagne, who has amassed 1,085 runs in 11 Tests this year, improved a place to grab the fourth spot.
Tamim Iqbal scored a double century and Imrul Kayes 150 in a record opening stand of 312 as Bangladesh overhauled a huge first innings deficit to force a draw with Pakistan in the opening Test at Khulna on Saturday.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has surpassed India's Virat Kohli in becoming the world No.1 T20I batter for the longest period of time after he maintained his top spot in the latest ICC T20 batting rankings.
In recent years, India's batters have struggled against spin.
Afghan spinner Rashid Khan returned to Lahore Qalandars, having exited the tournament in February to honour international commitments.
Kolkata Knight Riders stormed into the final of the Indian Premier League on the back of a convincing 28-run win over Kings XI Punjab, with pacer Umesh Patel hogging the limelight with a fine display of fast bowling.
The Indian duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on Wednesday became the first set of spinners to be jointly ranked number one in the ICC Test rankings for bowlers.
Rohit Sharma stamped his class with an authoritative hundred in the company of magnificent Virat Kohli as India annihilated Bangladesh by nine wickets to set up a bumper summit showdown with arch-rivals Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy, in Birmingham, on Thursday.
Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, have done an excellent job in restricting the oppositions but KKR's top-order batting has hurt them the most.
Eyeing their first win of the season, Sunrisers Hyderabad would be looking to put up an improved show in their home ground where they lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders, who would also be keen to get back to winning ways in the Indian Premier League.
Captain KL Rahul has been one of the few consistent performers in the formidable-looking Punjab batting unit and he once again led by example against MI
KKR have so far failed to come together as a unit and slipped to sixth in the table after starting the tournament on a high against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Morgan's astute captaincy in using his bowling resources was the highlight as KKR had bowled out MI for a modest 152.
On paper, Kolkata Knight Riders are overwhelming favourites against King's XI Punjab.
His biggest test will come on Thursday when Bangladesh face defending champions India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Youngster Hardik Pandya blasted an unbeaten half-century to help Mumbai Indians edge past Kolkata Knight Riders and boost their hopes of making it to the play-offs in the Indian Premier League in Mumbai, on Thursday.
India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin slipped a place to take the third position in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers in Dubai on Thursday.
India's Kedar Jadhav had six career wickets in one day internationals before Thursday's Champions Trophy semi-final against Bangladesh but it was his very occasional off-spin proved to be decisive in his team's win.
'It's a tournament of the top eight teams and more challenging than the World Cup'
New Zealand and Bangladesh enter their final group match of the ICC Champions Trophy, in Cardiff, on Friday, with the knowledge that even a win may not be enough to see either of them into the semi-finals.
