India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to bowl first in the opening One-Day International of the five-match series against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on Wednesday. India are missing regular opener Virender Sehwag, who was ruled out due to an injury picked up while training.
The right-handed opener is regarded as one of the greats of Indian cricket and was one of their biggest match-winners, especially in Test cricket, where he scored 8,586 runs in 104 matches, with a strike rate of 82.23 and an average of 49.34, with 23 centuries, including two triple hundreds.
India's out-of-favour seniors Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag have been omitted from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's contracted players' list for 2013-14. The retiring Sachin Tendulkar, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin are the five players in Grade 'A', and will pocket Rs 1 crore for the 2013-14 season.
What does Tendulkar miss the most about not being an active player? "I miss the laughter, the seriousness, the celebrations."
After dismissing India for 146 in 46 overs, the hosts raced to the victory target with 15.1 overs to spare.
India lost in-form opener Virender Sehwag due to an ankle injury and his place was taken by the uncapped Virat Kohli, who was the under-19 captain.
Rediff.com brings out the sequence of events that unfolded Friday morning, leading to India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni slamming the Indian media.
Rohit Sharma's blazing form since the start of the Indian Premier League and his superb batting performances as an opener in the two warm-up games for the ICC World Twenty20 has suddenly put a question mark on Virender Sehwag's comeback.
Former captain Mohammad Azharuddin said that even though India's 15-man squad for the upcoming World Cup looks balanced, the bowling attack does seem to pose a worry for the Virat Kohli-led team.
Tactically, Kevin Pietersen didn't do anything wrong and it was India's superior skill which tilted the Chennai Test in their favour, according to England coach Peter Moores.
His prolonged slump in form notwithstanding, Rahul Dravid retained his place in Grade A as the BCCI on Monday offered new contracts to 37 players. The players have been clubbed in four grades in the new contract which would cover the October 2008 - September 2009 period, BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement.
India's nemesis Younis Khan (123 not out) again rose to the occasion with a scintillating century as Pakistan chased down an intimidating target en route to an eight-wicket win against their lacklustre arch-rivals to stay afloat in the Asia Cup cricket tournament in Karachi on Wednesday.
Following are the statistical highlights of the fifth India vs England ODI in Cuttack on Wednesday night.
Senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is recuperating well from his shoulder injury, which has kept him out of action from Punjab's last two Ranji Trophy encounters, and is expected to return to competitive cricket in another 10 days time.
Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir's match winning opening partnership of 155 runs had both the captains -- Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Shoaib Malik -- singing their praise after India's crushing victory over Pakistan in the second match of the tri-series in Dhaka on Tuesday. India beat Pakistan by a comprehensive 140-run margin after setting a huge target of 331, build on the brilliant first wicket partnership by Sehwag and Gambhir, who scored 89 and 62 respectively.
Dipa Karmakar's historic 4th place finish in Artistic Gymnastics drew praise from the entire nation. The Tripura girl performed with exceptional grit but missed out on a medal by a narrow margin. The 22-year old, who had earlier become the first Indian gymnast to qualify for finals, was lauded by Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan and former cricketer Virender Sehwag.
India won the toss and opted to bat against Pakistan in the second match of the triangular one-day series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday. India have included uncapped batsman Yusuf Pathan in the team for their first match of the tournament.
After demolishing the New Zealand bowling attack with consummate ease in the One-Day International series, explosive opener Virender Sehwag will once again be crucial for India to dominate New Zealand in the Test series starting in Hamilton on Wednesday, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said. Dhoni said he wants Sehwag to play his natural game and not change his tactics in the three-match Test series.
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.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir's 37th first-class century might have made his case stronger for an India comeback but his knock could not help North Zone overhaul Central Zone's imposing first innings score on Day 3 of the four-day Duleep Trophy semi-final in Mohali.
India won the third ODI by 147 runs to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
Be it the Dilscoop, which Dilshan uses to perfection or Dhoni's Helicopter Shot, cricket's shortest format has seen batsmen try new things.
Kings XI Punjab put up yet another dominating performance as they outclassed Northern Knights from New Zealand by a whopping 120 runs in Mohali to enter the semi-finals in their maiden appearance in the Oppo Champions League T20.
India might have beaten Sri Lanka 3-2 last August with a young bunch of cricketers but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said seniors Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag would be the key to the visitors' fortunes in the one-day series starting in Dambulla.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 21,000 each on Lal Bahadur, Ram Lal, Virender and Surinder Pal Singh after holding them guilty of rioting, murder and conspiracy.
Sachin Tendulkar moved up a rung to 11th while dashing opener Virender Sehwag also broke into the top-20 in the latest ICC ODI Rankings in which India held on to the third position in the team chart.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's shadow, the 20-year-old left-hander did a good job of venting any frustration with a blistering century in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Feroz Shah Kotla on Thursday.
Ajantha Mendis remained an unsolved mystery for the Indian cricket team during the Test series but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni says the Sri Lankan spin wizard would not be much of a threat if openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir go after his loose deliveries in the one-dayers starting on Monday.
Statistical highlights of the semi-final between India and Australia in the Twenty20 cricket World Cup.
With 10 points from 11 games, it is a must-win encounter for Dinesh Karthik and his men if they want to keep their play-off chances alive.
Virender Sehwag scored an unbeaten 201 and Harbhajan Singh claimed four wickets as India restricted Sri Lanka to 215-5 at close on Day 2 of the second Test.
Bollywood and cricket stars took to Twitter praising Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiant for a thrilling finale.
The Supreme Court set aside the life ban imposed on former India pacer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth by the BCCI for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal.
Opener Gautam Gambhir hit his third century in four Tests as India scored 179 for 1 on the first day of the second and final test against England on Friday.
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.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday described the enthralling six-wicket win over England in the first cricket Test here as the toughest of his four-match old tenure as captain.
Virender Sehwag lit up the fifth one dayer with a scintillating 91 as India thumped England by six wickets to stretch their lead to 5-0 at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Wednesday night.
Losing three top order batsmen did put India in a spot of bother in the fifth one-dayer against England but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he never feared the match slipping through his fingers.
England captain Kevin Pietersen won the toss and elected to field in the fourth one-dayer against India in Bangalore on Sunday. India made one change to the side that won the third one-dayer in Kanpur, bringing in Sachin Tendulkar in place of Rohit Sharma.
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