Afghanistan's performances at the 50-overs and Twenty20 World Cups mean there is no chance of Australia taking them lightly in Friday's Champions Trophy match.
The ICC flagship event will return to the country after more than a decade.
The 30-year-old De Kock, who has already retired from Test cricket, confirmed he will not play One-Day Internationals beyond the World Cup.
'This team was incredibly difficult to select over such a highly competitive tournament. Selections were based predominantly on the Super 12 onward to the final.'
The already depleted Sri Lanka team on Monday suffered another blow with left arm fast bowler Binura Fernando being ruled out of the T20 series against India after sustaining a hamstring injury.
For all those who are likely to get a game, there will be just one target -- to make most of their chances as some of them might not get too many with just about 16 months left for the 50-overs World Cup.
Images from the first One-Day International between India and Sri Lanka, in Colombo, on Sunday.
Amidst strong speculation of him wanting to snap the ties with Rajasthan Royals, wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson said his long association with the IPL franchise has transformed his life and career.
This will be the maiden Test in Guwahati, which often hosts white-ball matches, and has also been hosting IPL matches for the last two seasons.
Bowlers with 'X-factor' will hold key in T20 World Cup, says Darren Sammy
'The reasons which they are giving they could have said it openly: 'We are dropping Hardik Pandya as captain, we want to move forward. We are looking at Suryakumar as a long term'. Make it clear.'
The BCCI has not yet confirmed India's participation in the Champions Trophy, which is slated to be held in Pakistan in February-March.
India along with New Zealand and Pakistan are in contention for the last remaining semi-final spot from Group A.
'This game has given me so much, so I keep reminding myself that I need to show the world what the game has given to me, and I have to give it back to the game.'
Following the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from T20Is, the selectors will have a problem of plenty when it comes to picking the openers for the Sri Lanka series.
Major cricket event will return to Pakistan after more than two decades with the country set to host the 2025 Champions Trophy, an ICC flagship tournament.
Swashbuckling batter Suryakumar Yadav on Friday expressed his delight at being appointed captain of the Indian T20 side for the tour of Sri Lanka
Images from the T20 World Cup Super 12s match between Sri Lanka and Australia, in Dubai, on Wednesday.
The other two are Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga and England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler.
Vaughan unleashed a scathing criticism of the pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, calling it "sub-standard"
Factbox on the World Twenty20 in India from March 8-April 3.
Australia will need their top order to fire against New Zealand's disciplined attack and persist with four specialist bowlers.
Hinting that their ace pacer Lasith Malinga may miss their ICC World Twenty20 Super 10 opener against Afghanistan, Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews on Wednesday said they are yet to get a 'yes or no' about his availability. "We are yet to get yes or no from physio. He will have net session tomorrow. We will test his bowling on Thursday and will wait. "He bowled a couple of overs with short run-up. He will bowl with full runup tomorrow and we will take a call," he said. Concerned about his slow recovery from knee injury, the 2014 World T20 winning skipper handed the captaincy baton to the ODI and Test skipper Mathews just ahead of the tournament.
Scary for opponents to know that we did not have a perfect match, but still winning: Rodrigues
SKY overtook Pakistan opener Mohammad Rizwan to become just the second Indian player to hold the top T20I batter ranking.
This brings us to the question of combination and perhaps Arshdeep could miss out on more games going into the T20 World Cup -- a tournament that will be held in the sub-continent -- India and Sri Lanka.
T20 World Cup winner will take home a prize money of $ 1.6 million
High on confidence after their emphatic victory over England, the West Indies will once again look for an explosive knock from Chris Gayle to inch closer to a semi-final berth when they take on defending champions Sri Lanka in a World Twenty20 Super 10 Group 1 match in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Sri Lanka's interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya expects his team to take advantage of the recent retirements by stars like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Sachin Tendulkar lauded the Namibia cricket team
Rohit Sharma is all smiles as he returns to the nets ahead of India's opening ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday.
The last time Team India won an ICC World Cup was in 2011 in India. It was a 50-over ODI format that was won under the astute leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The T20 World Cup clash between champions Australia and England was abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain on Friday.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction saw some foreign names earning big bucks, headlined by Aussie all-rounder Cameron Green
Legendary Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist believes Nepal and the Netherlands could surprise teams like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances