Their number one ranking under threat, India cannot settle for anything less than a win as they go into the second and final Test against South Africa at the Eden gardens today. Can India bounce back and square the series? India Abroad's Harish Kotian is at the ground posting updates as they happen. Follow what's the latest from the Test on Harish's MyPage!
Kerala pacer S Sreesanth, ruled out of the first Test against South Africa following a hamstring tear against Bangladesh in Chittagong last month, declared he is fully fit and ready to take on the Proteas.
More than the expectations of fans and scrutiny by the experts of the game, Indian cricket's 'Fab Four' are burdened by their own high expectations which puts them under pressure every time they step on the field, feels India one-day skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Asserting that senior batsmen -- Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid -- still have a lot to offer, Dhoni said the quartet deserves a graceful exit as and when they decide to quit.
Former Australia captain Allan Border does not consider picking five players on the wrong side of 30 in the Indian squad to play against Australia a wise decision but said the selectors might be giving the seniors one last opportunity to perform and exit with a bang. Border said personally he would have preferred more youngsters in the team but would not outrightly criticise the selectors for picking the seniors.
India captain Anil Kumble gave his full backing to the senior batsmen ahead of the Australia Test series, terming their failure in Sri Lanka as a "one-off."
Indian opener Gautam Gambhir capped a memorable 2009 by ending the year as the No 1 Test batsman in the ICC rankings issued on Thursday.
Having conceded a 0-3 lead to Australia in the four-Test series so far, the Indian cricket team is all set to lose its second place in the ICC Test ranking to South Africa.
Sachin Tendulkar may not have been a huge success as India captain but many a young career bloomed under his leadership, said former India skipper Sourav Ganguly.
Except for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's shock pull out, there were no major surprises in the 16-man Indian squad for the forthcoming three-Test series against Sri Lanka.
VVS Laxman was named vice-captain of the 16-member squad for the three-match series against South Africa, beginning December 15.
Royal Challengers Bangalore scored their second win of the Indian Premier League when they edged Deccan Chargers by three runs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
Several top cricketers are expected to attend the meeting in the presence of at least one Committee of Administrators (CoA) member. They are expected to deliberate on the issue at length.
Companies that stand out in terms of their December 2007 results.
India captain Anil Kumble was ecstatic after winning the third Test against Australia, saying the team in focussed on winning the fourth match in Adelaide and drawing the series.
Electing to bat, India were 297 for 6 in their first innings at stumps on the opening day of the third Test.
Paceman VRV Singh and opener Wasim Jaffer have been included in the squad for the four-Test series.
Former captain Sourav Ganguly on Monday said despite playing on flat wickets India would not find it hard to adjust to pitches in Australia during their forthcoming tour.
He is one of the most successful Indian captain's. Now part of the BCCI cricket advisory committee alongside Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, Ganguly, 43, prefers to play with a straight bat to the team's response of Virat Kohli as Test captain and Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the ODI leader.
India may be in dire straits but middle order batsman VVS Laxman believes all is not lost yet and the team can conjure up 'something special' on Day 4 to save the second Test against New Zealand. 'It's a great opportunity not only for me but the entire team to do something special. We are all looking forward to the next two days and I'm quite confident that we'll do something special,' Laxman said after the third day's play.
India, following-on after being dismissed for 305, were 47 for 1 in their second innings, still 267 runs behind the Kiwis, on Day 3 of the second Test.
The former India batsman and coach said he is th ebest wicketkeeper in the country.
His father Mohammad Azharuddin began his career at Eden Gardens and now an 18-year-old Mohammad Ashaduddin, called for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) selection trials, hopes the venue will do the magic for him as well in his quest to make it big in cricket. A product of St John's Academy -- a club where VVS Laxman learned his basics -- Ashaduddin is yet to make it big anywhere, but he is hoping that the KKR call-up will help him establish in the big league.
Statistical highlights on the fourth day of the second and final cricket Test between India and England in Mohali on Monday.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday revealed the team think-tank is toying with the idea of dropping off-colour Rahul Dravid in the batting order but said it is in two minds fearing the ploy may boomerang in the second and final Test against England in Mohali. Dhoni, however, once again threw his weight behind the senior batsman and said once he manages to survive the early overs, things would be alright for Dravid.
Sachin Tendulkar gained one place to be joint 16th and Yuvraj Singh climbed eight places up to 56th in the latest ICC Test rankings after they guided India to win in the first cricket Test against England in Chennai.
Rest of India meet Ranji champions Mumbai in the Irani Trophy match from September 18 to 22.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh were on Saturday promoted to grade 'A'.
100-Test up VVS Laxman talks about his journey in the game thus far, the pain of not playing in an ODI World Cup and why Australia brings the best out of him.
India's most successful captain Sourav Ganguly is set to bid farewell to the international game at the end of the ongoing fourth Test against the Aussies at Nagpur. The left-hander walked in to bat at the fall of VVS Laxman's wicket in India's first innings on Thursday afternoon.
India's most successful captain Sourav Ganguly is set to bid farewell to the international game at the end of the ongoing Test against the Aussies at Nagpur.
Tamil Nadu opener Murali Vijay was handed his Test debut in the fourth and final Test against Australia. Harbhajan Singh, who missed the last match due to injury, made it back to the team.
The young India opener, who scored 206 and 36 in the drawn third Test against Australia, rocketed 11 places to 18th in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen. He started the series in 37th position but climbed 18 places after three Tests in which he has scored 463 runs.
India is slated to play three ODIs and two Tests in Bangladesh.
He is on the verge of becoming the highest run-accumulator in Test cricket, but Sachin Tendulkar continues to fall in the ICC rankings for batsmen, dropping a spot to 24th in the latest list released on Tuesday.
India's star batters have lost a lot of confidence over the years by playing on rank turners, with their home averages taking a beating and affecting their careers adversely, feels former off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
The Indian captain was picked ahead of VVS Laxman and Chris Rogers as the second overseas player by the English county.
Notwithstanding Rising Pune Supergiants' poor run in IPL-9, Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor VVS Laxman considers the debutante side as a formidable unit and said his team will have to put its best foot forward when they clash with them in their IPL match on Tuesday. "It goes without saying that (RPS Captain M S Dhoni) Dhoni will be looking forward to use Ashwin against Warner and Shikhar. I believe that Pune has got a very formidable batting line up," Laxman said in a pre-match press conference at Hyderabad. "Lot of people talk about Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, Faf Duplessis being similar. They are all extrordinary T20 players. We cannot at all be complecent or we cannot at all underestimate the batting strength of Pune. We are very mindful," he added. The former Test batsman, however, exuded confidence that SRH can take on any opposition if it sticks to its plans and executes them well. "But, I believe that if we concentrate on our plans and try to execute our plans, then we can do well against any opposition. It's more about concentrating and playing to our strength, while strategizing for each and every opposition batsman or bowler," he said. Noting that the MS Dhoni-led Pune team would look to bounce back strongly, Laxman said no team can be ruled out as it is still the early part of the long IPL tournament.
VVS Laxman won a bagful of brownie points when he opted out of icon status, and the consequent million-plus paycheck, in order that his franchise could employ that money to buy big players. The codicil was, he wanted to lead the side.
