Talking points from this weekend's Premier League action as top two Manchester City and Liverpool both won with City remaining a point clear with two games remaining.
'Many of the players in IPL are the sons of men and women who are in ordinary jobs and not well off.' 'These players are the first in their family ever to move into another social class.' 'I think it is a very fine thing that young men from ordinary backgrounds get exposed to fame and money, and playing with legends from abroad and India,' says Aakar Patel.
The South Africa-born 33-year-old has not played for the senior England team since the first Test in Brisbane 18 months ago, after which he returned home with stress-related problems.
England captain Eoin Morgan indicated that they will replace out-of-form opener Jason Roy with Jonny Bairstow.
Smith, playing for the Toronto Nationals, showed few signs of rust in his 41-ball innings of 61, which included eight fours and a six, before being stumped and leaving the field to a standing ovation.
England all-rounder Tim Bresnan has been ruled out of Sunday's Twenty20 international against India with a strained shoulder, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Friday.
Out-of-favour following a string of poor scores, top-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara is keen to stage a comeback into the Indian Test squad. He says it's just a matter of time before he regains his place in the playing eleven.
The 55-year-old had previously suggested that Twenty20 internationals should be stopped to alleviate players' schedules.
Who do you feel is India's best bat for the No. 3 slot in the second Test against Sri Lanka, starting on Thursday, August 20.
The squad also sees the return of proven Test and one-day bowler James Pattinson, who joined Australia A in India after recovering from a string of injuries
India last won a Test series in England in 2007 under Rahul Dravid, and it will be no easy task ahead of the Virat Kohli-led side to replicate that feat.
The 29-year-old, who got married this week, received a warm welcome from an unusually large crowd at the Glenn McGrath Oval and looked his usual twitchy self at the crease as he rattled off a half century in 62 balls.
England's new Test captain Joe Root said he will try to put his "own stamp" on the team, but will seek advice from former skipper Alastair Cook and the other senior players whenever he needs to.
Bairstow replaces jaded Buttler in England squad while Australia rope in Hastings, and call-up Handscomb after injury glut
The Lord's Ashes Test was a nightmare for England but they should resist pressure to make wholesale changes, former batsman Kevin Pietersen said on Monday.
'We are No 1 in the world, we played like the No 1 team in the world.' 'It is not just about being No 1 for the season. Whatever matches we play in the future we want to maintain that.'
India's carefully devised plan to triumph in England seems to be coming undone with injuries to their key bowlers.
'That has always been my ambition -- to take the reader behind the scenes, to the places he was not allowed to visit, but which I had the privilege of entering.' Haresh Pandya remembers Ted Corbett, sports journalist extraordinaire, who passed into the ages on August 9.
Misfiring batsman Gary Ballance is likely to be the sacrificial lamb when England's harried selectors decide on the line-up for next week's ICC World Cup crunch match against Bangladesh.
It was the greatest series in the history of the game but what has become of those Australian and English players a decade on?
Former England paceman Mathew Hoggard urges England cricket to have shift in mindset
FA Cup added another incredible chapter to its proud heritage on Saturday as Chelsea and Manchester City were humbled by supposed inferiors.
England batsman Joe Root believes if they stay true to their character, it will not be a problem to beat West Indies in the ICC World Twenty20 summit clash on Sunday. "I don't think there's been an attitude swing or the way we approach practice or anything like that. We went into the tournament and stayed true to what we believe in as a side and the way we play our cricket. I think that's probably been the most important thing," Root said ahead of the final. The promising youngster struck a match-winning 83 from 44 balls to script their famous win against South Africa chasing a huge 230 as they have not looked back since then. "It's about making sure that we did not go away how we wanted to play and the way we wanted to approach our cricket. Having that self-belief in each other and we could get and win against South Africa and build our confidence from that point onwards. Everyone contributed in some way, shape or form which is always nice getting into the final," Root said. He however credited the captain and coach duo of Eoin Morgan and Trevor Bayliss for this turnaround, especially after their ignominous exit in ODI World Cup in Australia last year where they had failed to get past any team apart from minnows Scotland and Afghanistan.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Ahead of the selectors' meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday, May 20, Harish Kotian picks the team he considers best to take on Bangladesh in the one-off Test in Fatullah from June 10 to 14.
Virat Kohli's proactive and aggressive style of leadership will be tested when India take on sprightly underdogs Bangladesh in the one-off Test match starting in Fatullah on Wednesday.
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