Rahul Dravid slammed a fluent 119 to put India in command before the West Indies snapped up two quick wickets at the fag end of the day to recover marginally in the second Test at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Monday. Opting to bat, Dravid and VVS Laxman (73 batting) continued their love affair with their favourite Eden Gardens track as their 140-run partnership put India in a strong position of 346 for five at close on the opening day.
Sachin Tendulkar led the cricketing fraternity in lauding the fighting spirit of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.
Sachin Tendulkar's quest for a record 100th international ton continued, but India rode on his fluent 76 to script an admirable come-from-behind five-wicket victory over the West Indies with more than four sessions to spare at the Ferozshah Kotla on Wednesday.
India scored a comprehensive five-wicket win in the first Test against the West Indies at the Ferozshah Kotla on Wednesday. The win gave the hosts a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Anil Kumble has not accompanied the Indian team to the West Indies for a limited-overs series starting June 23, citing his commitment to an ICC meeting in London.
Sourav Ganguly celebrates his 47th birthday, on Monday, many Indian cricketers flooded the social-media with wishes for the veteran.
Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman lived to fight another day for India in the second innings of the opening Test against England at Lord's on Sunday.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Sunday rubbished media reports that the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) wants to be suitably remunerated for picking the Indian team's head coach, terming them 'baseless and malicious'.
# VVS Laxman (72 not out) has recorded his 51st half-century in Tests -- his ninth against the West Indies.
Veteran Indian batsman VVS Laxman rose seven places to a career-best sixth in the ICC Rankings for Test batsmen after playing two crucial half centuries in the drawn match against the West Indies in Bridgetown.
India were 229 for three on the fourth day of the second Test against the West Indies at Bridgetown on Friday, thereby extending their overall lead to 240.
Former Australia fast bowler Craig McDermott has applied for the post of India head coach, which will become vacant after the ongoing Champions Trophy campaign.
"I feel honoured as I have been bestowed with one of the most prestigious awards. It is indeed satisfying that my achievements while playing for the country have been rewarded. The biggest honour, however, is the opportunity to represent my country for so many years," said Laxman after the announcement was made.
In recent times, Kedar Jadhav has been the most under-utilised cricketer, which has led to varied opinions as to whether he is an ideal fit in India's ODI team combination despite averaging 42 plus in 69 games. Jadhav, who had sustained a hamstring injury in the past, bowled only 24 overs in his last 13 ODI games which is even less than two overs per game. Worse is that he hasn't got a single wicket and in four of these games, he wasn't even asked to bowl.
Former Indian cricketers lavished praise on senior batsman VVS Laxman for showing "exemplary" grit and determination while leading India to a thrilling one-wicket win over Australia in the first Test despite battling back spasms.
It was jelly beans four years ago and it is Vaseline this time as a controversy erupted in the second India-England Test here when VVS Laxman was accused of using it on his bat to manipulate the Hot-Spot technology in the Decision Review System.
The Ganguly-Shastri relationship became a topic of discussion after the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman preferred Anil Kumble over him in 2016, with both having a public fallout.
BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said that the cricket board will have to deliberate over Rahul Dravid's candidature before taking any decision on India's next coach but assured that the right person will be selected at the appropriate time. With Ravi Shastri's contract as Team Director coming to an end after the completion of ICC World T20, Dravid's name has been doing the rounds for the job. Thakur said: "I think media publishes many reports which are not even discussed at any level. Rahul Dravid has done extremely well as a player and he has been outstanding with India A and U-19 players.
Images from Day 4 in the first Test between India and England, at Lord's.
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.
It has just been a few weeks since Duncan Fletcher took over as India's coach but senior batsman VVS Laxman says the team is already bowled over by his knowledge of the game and feels "lucky" to have him on board.
He has been a long-time middle-order mainstay of India's batting line-up but veteran VVS Laxman says he started feeling assured in the team only in the last four years during which he was given the "freedom" to play his natural game.
VVS Laxman was a disappointed man despite playing a crucial role in India's recovery in the second Test against West Indies as a hundred had eluded him once again after all the hard work. Laxman, who played a precious 85-run knock in India's total of 201 on Tuesday.
Statistical highlights from the opening day's play in the second cricket Test between India and the West Indies played in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Around 62 Indian cricketers will be up for auction for the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in the top-bracket of cricketers valued at Rs 1.84 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, on Sunday, congratulated star India shuttler P V Sindhu for winning the Korea Open Super Series title in Seoul.
Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid hit contrasting centuries to give India the upperhand against New Zealand on Day 1 of the first Test, at the Sardar Patel stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad, on Thursday. At stumps on the opening day, India were 329 for three in 90 overs, with Sachin Tendulkar on 13 from 47 balls and VVS Laxman on seven.
Former Indian batsman VVS Laxman says Rishabh Pant is fast running out of time to justify the time invested in him by the team management and might lose his place to Sanju Samson if he doesn't regain his form soon.
India's abject surrender in the first two Tests against England has drawn sharp criticism from some of the country's celebrated former cricketers
India's Test skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday welcomed new head coach Anil Kumble into the team saying he is looking forward towards work with the legendary leg-spinner.
VVS Laxman, who had a bad back during the Mohali Test, required three painkilling injections plus tablets at each break in the game to score his priceless 73 to snatch victory from jaws of defeat and make the Australians suffer once again.
Defending Olympic, World and Commonwealth Games pole vault champion Steve Hooker is a sporting legend Down Under, but even he can't help but admire the greatness of Sachin Tendulkar.
'Speechless with the tragic news of the passing of my great mate and beloved cricketing man'
Seeking to clear air over the altercation Zaheer Khan had with Ricky Ponting, India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said the issue was a misunderstanding on part of Australia's captain. Harbhajan said Zaheer's remarks were not directed at Ponting; the pacer was just talking with teammate VVS Laxman.
Kochi Tuskers Kerala rode on a rollicking opening stand between Brendon McCullum and VVS Laxman as they scored a challenging 161 for five against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their debut Indian Premier League match in Kochi on Saturday.
The low-scoring second cricket Test was tantalisingly poised after the third day's play with South Africa needing 192 more runs to win and India also fancying their chances of a remarkable series-levelling victory in Durban.
Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan destroyed South Africa's batting to give India the upperhand at the end of day two in the second Test.
Batting mainstay VVS Laxman believes a 250 plus score in the first innings at Kingsmead will prove competitive and give India enough cushion to bowl out South Africa in the second Test.
Asserting that the Indian cricket team does not require "more coaches" than what it already has right now, Director Ravi Shastri has said he might just be there "longer" than expected.
The legendary batsman is likely to tour with India A team while he prepares to shape India's cricketing future
