Gujarat Giants will be wary of Royal Challengers Bengaluru's newfound firepower in the middle-order when the teams clash in the Indian Premier League in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Indian fast bowler Umesh Yadav was on Wednesday rendered doubtful for the second cricket Test against England, starting Friday, due to a lower back problem.
'As a captain and a player, he never played for a draw, he always wanted to win.'
West Indies are reeling at 90 for the loss of three wickets at lunch on day 3, as India extended their advantage in the first Test at Antigua on Saturday. Pacer Mohammed Shami bagged his second wicket of the innings after dismissing Darren Bravo (11) at the stroke of lunch.
Anirudha Srikkanth heaped praise on talisman batter Virat Kohli's captaincy and said that he was the reason why India could win Tests outside home soil.
From a maths perspective, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans can still reach the IPL playoffs, but they need to ward off inner gremlins on Saturday to notch a mandatory win to keep that dream flickering.
'It's really unfortunate that Umesh didn't get to play a lot in South Africa and in England. The reason being, bowlers who played, performed exceptionally well'
With Australia completely dominating the proceedings on Day 1 of the WTC Final, many questioned why R Ashwin was picked in the playing XI.
'Off to England for the World Test Championship Final with the one and only Rohit Sharma.'
Fresh from his good showing for India 'A' during their recent tour of Australia, paceman Umesh Yadav revealed that his Kolkata Knight Riders bowling coach Wasim Akram helped him get his yorkers right and he is now keen to use the toe-crushers against England batsmen in the limited overs series.
Young Virat Kohli and Umesh Yadav emerged the notable bright spots in an otherwise disastrous Australian tour during which India's reputation as a cricketing giant took a beating.
'You want someone like an X-factor, like Maxwell, and at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, where it's flat and small, so he can have that impact.'
Mhambrey said while the bowlers will get some rest in days leading up to the WTC final, the group is determined to extract the maximum benefits from the training sessions.
With 556 runs and 71 wickets from 13 games, Jadeja himself has started believing that he is now a competent longest format man as much sought as he has been in shorter formats.
Pakistan has the upper hand in the Champions Trophy, winning three of the five matches against India.
'Unveiling #TeamIndia's new training kit Also, kickstarting our preparations for the #WTCFinal,' the BCCI tweeted photos of players Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur and Head Coach Rahul Dravid, Bowling Coach Paras Mhambrey and Batting Coach Vikram Rathour donning the kits.
Following the crushing 10-wicket loss to England in the second Test, India suffered another major blow when pacer Umesh Yadav was ruled out of the next match due to injury. The pacer had to miss the second Test in Mumbai because of a back injury. He underwent scans in Mumbai and was advised rest for 10-12 days, forcing him out of the third Test in Kolkata, starting December 5.
Robin Bist's unbeaten century failed to prevent Rest of India from grabbing the initiative as Umesh Yadav's five-for saw Rajasthan getting bundled out for 253 on Day 1 of the Irani Trophy match in Bangalore.
Zubayr Hamza, Temba Bavuma wee beaten by sheer pace and the length
Often criticised for not bowling consistent yorkers like his younger fast-bowling counterpart Jasprit Bumrah, Indian pacer Umesh Yadav says his action is more suited for full length outswing deliveries. "I know a lot of bowlers are judged by their ability to bowl yorkers at the death. I can also bowl yorkers effectively but it is a delivery that can go wrong as it is difficult to bowl consistently," Yadav told PTI during an exclusive interaction. "There would be days when the length would be wrong. The advantage for Jasprit (Bumrah) is that his action is natural when it comes to bowling yorkers while my action means that my stock ball will be outswinger," he said.
Former Australia captain Ian Chappell, on Monday heaped praise on Umesh Yadav and said his fiery pace bowling did the trick for India in the fourth and final Test in Dharamsala.
Statistical highlights of the second One-dayer between India and the West Indies, in Vizag, on Friday.
Mohit Sharma finished off CSK's hopes with an inspirational spell in the middle overs.
'With more matches, I began realising what to do and what not. I slowly realised my strength and weaknesses. Now I have a better idea' 'At times it's very difficult to bowl against him (Steve Smith). You bowl with a particular plan but sometimes he changes his stance, shuffles from leg-stump to off, opening up, sort of affects your plan'
'Maybe you can fool me, but God is watching you, mind that.'
While the others seemed relaxed, Pujara stood at attention.
Blessed with a glut of superb all-rounders in B Sai Sudarshan, Abhinav Manohar and Vijay Shankar, as well as bowlers like Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan who can smoke the opposition bowling when the situation demands, Gujarat look set to put on another big show for their fans this season.
India's most successful bowling coach Arun spoke about each of the three pacers.
Umesh Yadav took three wickets on his comeback to Test cricket before Australia reached 221 for four at the close of play on the second day of the second Test against India on Thursday after battling their way back into the contest on the back of debutant paceman Josh Hazlewood's five for 68.
India are 0-1 down after an inexplicably poor batting performance led to a three-wicket loss in the lung-opener in Visakhapatnam
Only three catches in the match, and all three were taken by the Gujarat Titans.
Fast bowler Umesh Yadav claimed four wickets on his comeback, while captain Gautam Gambhir stroked an unbeaten half-century as Kolkata Knight Riders outclassed Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets.
'There are always areas to improve. I think 200 was good enough. When you drop catches, you will be in trouble.'
A battle-hardened Vidarbha won't make it easy for 41-times Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy final, starting on Sunday.
Some of the remarkable grabs from the Gujarat Titans-Sunrisers Hyderabad match.
Mumbai Indians haven't won their IPL opening matches since 2012.
India face Australia in the WTC final on June 7 at The Oval in London.
Images from the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans in Jaipur on Wednesday.
'Though a foreigner on campus, she carried herself with confidence.'
