As the legend turns 40, we take a look at his journey in cricket and life.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, on Monday, described Virat Kohli as a captain with a fierce winning mentality and said that his positive body language always rubbed on the other players.
India's batsmen came good on a flat track to put up 369 for 5 on Day 3 of the first Test against Australia in Adelaide on Thursday. Wriddhimaan Saha (1) and Rohit Sharma (33) were at the crease at the draw of stumps. Images from the day's play.
Rajneesh Gupta gives us all the stats and facts around the sensational Virat Kohli.
A summary of Wednesday's play in Ranji Trophy matches across the country.
Rohit Sharma carried his bat, scoring 83 not out, while putting on two good partnerships. He first stitched a 61-run partnership with Dhawan at the top of the order and then joined hands with Dhoni to see India through.
Despite just one bid and the sponsorship rights going for its base price, the Board of Control for Cricket in India expressed satisfaction with its deal with Star India Pvt Ltd and ESPN for all 13 home international fixtures till March 2014.
'The confidence and the kind of cricket India has played in the recent past will be a big factor.'
Manish Pandey's scintillating century and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal's sterling bowling effort helped Ranji champions Karnataka retain the Irani Trophy after beating Rest of India by a massive 246 runs on the fourth and penultimate day in Bangalore.
Pacer Mukesh Kumar took six wickets to help Bengal beat Karnataka by 174 runs and enter the final of the Ranji Trophy for the first time in 13 years, in Kolkata, on Tuesday. Chasing 352 for victory, Karnataka were bowled out for 177 in their second innings with Mukesh taking 6-61 in 21 overs, while Ishan Porel and Akash Deep took two wickets each.
Skipper Manoj Tiwary continued his blazing form in domestic competitions with a magnificent 151 that powered East Zone to a comfortable 52-run win over North in the Deodhar Trophy semi-final in Mumbai.
ICC CEO David Richardson lauded Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for correcting his bowling action after being called twice in his career and making it absolutely legal, insisting that there's no conspiracy in the timing on the crackdown of illegal actions.
Just like it happens with most of the seasoned domestic warhorses, 30-year-old Faiz Fazal had also stopped expecting to break through into the national squad but now that he has earned his maiden India call-up, "the world seemed like a much beautiful place" for the Vidarbha left-hander.
'The future of finger-spinners lies in the perception of people'
Domestic cricket will only happen when travelling is safe: Ganguly
From working as a labourer on a daily wage of Rs 60 to fetching an Indian Premier League contract worth Rs 20 lakh, Jammu and Kashmir batsman Manzoor Dar has covered a distance more awe-inspiring than the 100-metre sixes he is known for.
A round-up of final day of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Thursday.
Gautam Gambhir was on Saturday handed a suspended four-match ban from first-class cricket for his ugly confrontation with Delhi Ranji coach KP Bhaskar earlier this year, a punishment he said will abide by.
A few proven, but currently out-of-form, cricketers are likely to get the nod when the national selectors draw up a list of 30 Indian probables for the upcoming World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in Mumbai on Thursday.
Images from Day 4 of the fourth Test between India and South Africa in New Delhi, on Sunday.
Tamil Nadu produced an all-round display to beat Mumbai by 26 runs and register their second consecutive win in the Vijay Hazare One-Day cricket tournament, on Friday.
Virat Kohli became only the third Indian to score a hundred on his captaincy debut as the visitors responded resolutely to Australia's mammoth first innings total by reaching 369 for five on the third day to leave the first cricket Test evenly poised at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
One of the key aspects that the former India captain Rahul Dravid is focused on as the coach of the national colts squad, which is set to take part in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, is the ability to rotate the strike. "One of the things I had stressed on was the ability to rotate the strike. It takes a lot of pressure off you. I talked about it a lot to the players," said Dravid on Tuesday, the eve of the team's departure. "All these boys can play big shots. They are in a generation where they are practising playing the big shots and some of the sixes they hit boggle the mind. "We had played on very good wickets over the last couple of months. But you may not get wickets where you can score 300 plus. There will be 240-250 plus wickets. "They have learnt to rotate the strike but they can always get better and improve," the legendary batsman noted. The 16-team Under 19 World Cup starts on January 27 and India is in Group D along side New Zealand, Ireland and Nepal.
Rajneesh Gupta gives us a list of noteworthy statistics from first-class and Ranji Trophy
It was batters who mostly lead their teams to victories and some into the knock-outs. While Mumbai trailblazer Sarfaraz Khan continues to find the big runs, Baba Indrajith's consistency wasn't enough for Tamil Nadu to make even the top two in Group H.
Ashish Nehra has been the proverbial Phoenix rising from the ashes every time the Doubting Thomases write his cricketing epitaph.
The ground, which served as the battleground for the 51-year-old bureaucrat-turned-politician during the Anna Hazare-led India Against Corruption movement, is getting decked up and workers are busy making arrangements.
'I don't think he (Karthik) will be under pressure. First and foremost thing will be to give guidance to this group. He has got a lot of experienced players around him, particularly in overseas group, and there's the likes of Piyush Chawala, Vinay Kumar and Robin Uthappa.'
Anna said he would travel across the nation to "awaken" people on the issue and it will culminate into a protest at the Ramlila Maidan on October 2.
After his retirement, Sachin Tendulkar, Rediff.com's Harish Kotian discovers, has become more outspoken about cricketing issues.
'I will get an opportunity to talk about my game with big stars like Ben Stokes, Steve Smith, Jos Buttler.' 'I hope to learn a few things from them and I am confident of doing well,' says the top-scorer in the Under-19 World Cup who will play for the Rajasthan Royals this IPL.
Thampi, Rana, Tripathi are big gains from IPL-10.
A summary of the final day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches across the country.
'I just want to keep learning and keep getting better.'
Former stumper Syed Kirmani was bestowed with the prestigious Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Indian cricket, while Test captain Virat Kohli bagged the Polly Umrigar Trophy for Cricketer of the Year in the BCCI awards night in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Statistical highlights from the day's play
Openers Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen weathered a difficult 45 minutes to take South Africa to tea at 38 without loss chasing an unlikely victory target of 458 on the fourth day of the first Test against India at the Wanderers on Saturday.
Rohit Sharma feels that outgoing captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to make him open the batting in the 50-overs format was a 'career-changing move'.
Much like Dhoni, Pant is an aggressive ball-belter who keeps wickets. But he will require enormous work on his keeping if he is to reach anywhere close to Dhoni's absurdly high standards, notes Dhruv Munjal.
Former India batsman V V S Laxman, who always reserved his best for the mighty Australia, feels that Suresh Raina 'needs a lot of clarity' as to how he would find a solution against short-pitched bowling.
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