IMAGES from the 3rd T20I played between India and South Africa in Newlands, Cape Town on Saturday
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday made it clear that he has no plans to bat at the number three slot throughout the Twenty20 World Cup and claimed it was a part of the team's experiment with the batting order.
India squandered a rollicking start and lost the plot towards the end as they went down to New Zealand by nine runs in a warm-up match ahead of the World Twenty20 at Lord's on Monday. Chasing 171 for victory, India rode on sterling knocks from Rohit Sharma (36), Suresh Raina (45) and Ravindra Jadeja (41 not out) to cruise to what seemed an imminent win before eventually ending up with 161 for six in their 20 overs.
Mumbai Indians' spin spearhead Harbhajan Singh said 100th IPL match is a great achievement.
Former India player and Delhi Daredevils' Director of Operations, T A Sekar said the just-concluded Indian Premier League II in South Africa will act as a confidence booster for defending champions India in the ICC World Twenty20 in England starting June 5.
Baroda left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar bagged five wickets to restrict holders Uttar Pradesh to 269 in their first innings on the opening day of the Super League Ranji Trophy match.
VVS Laxman was named vice-captain of the 16-member squad for the three-match series against South Africa, beginning December 15.
Rajneesh Gupta checks out the ODI careers of the 14 Indians with 200 ODI appearances.
Manoj Tiwary and Sudip Chatterjee scored centuries to lead Bengal's spirited comeback against Mumbai, while Gujarat put themselves in line for full seven points after enforcing the follow-on against Punjab. A round up of Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy matches.
Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina were named in the 16-member squad for the Twenty20 match against Australia, followed by the tri-series.
'Going forward, they might need 4-6 weeks to get going themselves. It's a tough job and if you are bowling 140-150 kmph, running about 25 yards to bowl one ball at a time and then keep bowling for a few overs.'
India were blown away in the opening match of their New Zealand tour on Wednesday. The World champions failed to live up to reputation and lost the first of two Twenty20 internationals on the tour by seven wickets, in Christchurch.
India defeated Sri Lanka by three wickets in the one-off Twenty20 international match in Colombo on Tuesday.
Sharma and Yadav have launched their campaign for Australia.
India beat Sir Lanka by six wickets in the first ODI of the five-match series which saw Sanath Jayasuriya score 107, his 28th ODI century.
As Dhoni turned 41 on Thursday, the cricket fraternity showered their heartfelt wishes
Images from the third and final T20 International between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Paceman VRV Singh and opener Wasim Jaffer have been included in the squad for the four-Test series.
England included Kevin Pietersen, Mathew Hoggard and Gareth Batty in place of Owais Shah, Lian Plunkett and Sajid Mohammed for the fourth ODI.
Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has been ruled out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League after injuring his left hamstring during the Gujarat Lions's loss to Delhi Daredevils on Thursday.
Uttar Pradesh, once considered minnows, are in a different league now with three players in the Indian team and the next crop even more promising.
Pakistan sprang a surprise by resting fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar in the first one-day international against India in Peshawar.
Uttar Pradesh recovered through a sixth wicket unbeaten partnership of 89 to reach 217 for five against Andhra Pradesh
The shocking loss to Kings XI Punjab in their last match, notwithstanding, table-toppers Gujarat Lions will have to get their act together quickly if they wish to end their home campaign on a winning note against a formidable Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League match, in Rajkot on Tuesday.
Rajneesh Gupta presents a detailed statistical analysis of the tournament.
India's total of 310 for four is the highest total by a team batting second and winning in the Asia Cup.
India exhibited their batting prowess to perfection with their top order firing in unison to score an easy 6-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their must-win Asia Cup Super Four match and set up a summit clash against the same opponents on Sunday.for eight against India in their Asia Cup super league match.
Virender Sehwag's superb innings of 119 powered India to a six-wicket win over Pakistan in the Asia Cup. Sehwag scored his ninth one-day hundred in a 198-run second wicket partnership with Suresh Raina (84) to guide India to 301 for four after 42.1 overs in reply to Pakistan's total of 299 for four.
They endured a disastrous run the last time around to finish at the bottom of the heap and Kings XI Punjab would be aiming to make amends this season when they begin their campaign against newbies Gujarat Lions in their IPL opener in Mohali on Monday. Kings XI Punjab did not make any big buys this year and have a new captain in South African David Miller in place of Australian George Bailey who was released after leading the side to the last place in the previous season. Virender Sehwag has also retired and he will serve as team mentor this season. The Preity Zinta-owned side continues to lack the team balance as it has not added any significant player, only snapping the likes of all-rounders Farhaan Behardien and Marcus Stoinis, seamer Mohit Sharma and left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh. Last season, their batsmen lacked consistency and whenever they did well, the bowlers let the side down. On the other hand, debutants Gujarat Lions have a balanced side with top-class performers in both batting and bowling. They have explosive batsmen in Brendon McCullum, captain Suresh Raina, Aaron Finch and a plenty of top-notch all-rounders in Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja and James Faulkner.
Following the debacle in the New Zealand ODI series, the selectors finally lost patience with the under-performing Suresh Raina and Ishant Sharma and axed them from India's squad for the Asia Cup later this month. Cheteshwar Pujara, who played two ODIs in Zimbabwe in August, made a comeback to the ODI squad.
Shubman Gill said his unbeaten 63-ball 126 was 'tactically and technically' a near-perfect knock as it set up India's massive series-clinching 168-run win in the third T20I against New Zealand.
Rest of India takes on Ranji champions Railways in the season-opening Irani Trophy match, in Delhi, from October 1 to 5.
Shubman Gill steps into the limelight as the fifth-youngest Indian captain in the IPL's 16-year history.
Six Indian cricketers, who lost their passports on Wednesday, will be re-issued a new ones by Saturday evening.
Manoj Tiwary played 12 ODIs and three T20Is for India between 2008 to 2015, but had a nearly two-decade long career for Bengal during which he featured in 141 first class games,.
Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina and Ramesh Powar were dropped for the first two Sri Lanka ODIs.
Robin Uthappa's innings of 70 runs off 41 balls (SR-170.73) is the third best by any batsman scoring at least a fifty against West Indies
Suresh Raina made way for Joginder Sharma in the 12-member team for the second ODI.
A league of this nature will be nothing more than a money-spinning machine, unless it has the added plus of throwing up domestic talent.
