Kings XI Punjab owner Ness Wadia said the spot-fixing scandal that rocked the Indian Premier League last year has made a dent on brand IPL.
Australia's cricketers returned to their aggressive brand of cricket in the aftermath of Phillip Hughes's death as they held their first training session in Adelaide since the tragedy.
An fine all-round display by Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler's late assault with the bat ended England's long losing streak against Australia as the visitors won the fourth One-Day International by 57 runs in Perth.
Australia bowled out the West Indies for 148 on the opening day of the first Test in Dominica on Wednesday, but the home team struck back by taking three wickets in the final session.
Steve Smith continued his sizzling form with an unbeaten century as Australia laid a strong foundation on the first day of the second Test .
Factbox on the fifth Ashes Test match between Australia and England, which starts on Thursday:
We saw how the pitch is playing and told ourselves we are going to dig deep, but unfortunately, myself, Travis and Shaun couldn't bat long as long as we should have'
Australia edged out Sri Lanka by two wickets to spoil Tillakaratne Dilshan's one-day farewell and go 2-1 up in the five-match series on Sunday. Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka were all out for 226 with four balls remaining, a total built around Dinesh Chandimal's gutsy 102 in an otherwise poor batting display by the hosts in the third match of the series. Dilshan's fluent 42 in his one-day swansong was the second highest score and the former Sri Lanka captain quit the format with 10,290 runs, including 22 centuries from 330 matches.
Dhananjaya de Silva hit a maiden century and combined with Dinesh Chandimal to resurrect Sri Lanka's innings after a poor start against Australia on the opening day of the third and final Test on Saturday.
No sooner had the match ended, social media was abuzz with congratulatory messages for the team.
Chennai Super Kings thrashed Kings XI Punjab by a huge margin of 97 runs, extracting a sweet revenge for a string of three losses to them in the last season of the Indian Premier League.
England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow said the tourists were "content, relaxed, excited" as they arrived in Brisbane on Sunday ahead of this week's opening Ashes Test.
Struggling to be consistent, Kings XI Punjab will have their task cut out when they take on the in-form Chennai Super Kings.
Australia will need to defy history to chase down the total and survive the wiles of Ravichandran Ashwin on a fifth day pitch.
Steven Smith maintained his purple patch to hit a brilliant unbeaten 102 to secure Australia's three-wicket victory against England in a high-scoring tri-series match at Hobart on Friday.
Steve Smith completed his fourth century in as many matches on Wednesday as Australia compiled a daunting first innings total in the final Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
'I got pulled out of that series to prepare for India and then not playing was a bit hard'
Be ready to be amazed as Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this super photo feature.
South Africa's explosive batsman David Miller, who will lead the Kings XI Punjab in this edition of the IPL, feels that captaincy has not brought any added pressure on him. "Responsibility changes a bit as captain, but I am really looking forward to it," Miller said. "No pressure, to be honest. I see it as an opportunity. We have changed the squad a little bit this year, couple of new additions, but most of the squad stays the same. "I really believe we can win the competition this year. The fact that we haven't won it, doesn't add any more pressure. It's a great opportunity for the guys to step up," he added. The 26-year-old said he is looking forward to the captaincy challenge.
Back-to-back losses denting their confidence, defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to put their campaign back on track when they take on Kings XI Punjab in their IPL match, in Hyderabad, on Sunday.
Australia captain Steve Smith slammed a half-century to break Don Bradman's record for the most runs in a Test series against India and put the hosts in control on Day 4 of the fourth and final Test in Sydney.
Umesh Yadav gave a brilliant exhibition of reverse swing bowling before Mitchell Starc's rearguard half-century helped Australia reach a competitive 256 for nine.
England failed to make the inroads into the Australian batting order they needed after gambling on bowling first in the inaugural day-night Ashes Test on Saturday and the hosts reached the second break on 138 for two.
Factbox on the second Test match between Australia and England, which starts on Saturday:
Under fire from all quarters after an abysmal start to their tour, West Indies have pledged to be more competitive at the traditional Boxing Day Test but will struggle to prevent hosts Australia from taking an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
Australia railed at suggestions their team resembled a 'Dad's Army' but the evidence supplied by the first four Ashes Tests against England suggests it was not an unfair moniker.
Ben Stokes took five wickets to put England on the verge of a famous victory that would win back the Ashes as Australia finished on 241 for seven after a compelling second day of the fourth Test at Trent Bridge on Friday.
South Africa were 140 for six wickets in their first innings when rain brought an early close to play on the second day of the first test at SuperSport Park on Thursday. Mitchell Johnson had figures of 4 for 51.
Australia are yet to hit their stride, but that's exactly why the rest should worry, says former Aussie great Allan Border.
In what will be a dress rehearsal of their opening game in the World Cup, an unbeaten Australia take on England in the cricket tri-series final, in Perth on Sunday.
Royals Challengers Bangalore will start as overwhelming favourites against bottom-placed Kings XI.
Jonny Bairstow kept his head with a fine century for England but Steve Smith showed a captain's poise to guide Australia to 203 for three at the close of day two of the third Ashes Test on Friday.
Justin Langer is sweating over the fitness of David Warner but insists he will take no chances over the health of his opener. Australia kick off their ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 campaign against Afghanistan in Bristol on Saturday, with Warner hoping to shake off an injury to his glute muscle.
Australia made a meal of it but successfully chased down 128 for a four-wicket victory and an unassailable 2-0 series lead after dismissing India for 224 on the fourth day of the second Test.
Josh Hazlewood and Brad Haddin set new milestones as Australia, replying to India's first innings score of 408, ended Day 2 in the second Test at the Gabba on 221 for four. Check out the day's days statistical highlights.
Cricket Australia said on Tuesday that Test skipper Tim Paine will also captain the one-day international team during next month's tour of England
The much-awaited return of David Warner and Steve Smith from their one-year bans has bolstered the team
Images from the first ODI between England and Australia, at Old Trafford in Manchester, on Friday
The likes of Virender Sehwag, David Miller and Glenn Maxwell have not managed to live up to expectations for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 8.
A struggling Kings XI Punjab will have to pull out all stops against in-form and unbeaten, Rajasthan Royals, when the two teams clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
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