A summary of the second day's play in the Elite division Ranji Trophy matches.
Kolkata Knight Riders players and support staff had their first hangout at the team hotel in Abu Dhabi on Monday evening after spending more than a week in quarantine in their hotel rooms.
Following is the statistical highlights of the Indian Premier League match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab.
With three play-offs spots already sealed by Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings and Royals Challengers Bangalore, KKR consolidated their position for the fourth and final spot, finishing their league engagements with 14 points from 14 games and an impressive net run-rate of 0.587.
A clinical display by the bowlers gave Mumbai a crucial first innings lead before captain Aditya Tare's fine show with the bat helped them reach to a commanding position on the third day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Hyderabad. On a topsy-turvy day, defending champions Mumbai bowled out Hyderabad, who began the day on 167/3, for 280 with left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil picking up three of the five wickets to fall. Abhishek Nayar, who made 59 in the first innings, took 4 wickets for 60. Hyderabad needed 127 runs to wipe out the first innings deficit and they came within 15 runs of the lead. But a lower order collapse resulted Hyderabad slipping from 255 for 5 to 280 all out. Wicketkeeper Kolla Sumanth battled through to make 44 and he was the last man to be dismissed.
Varun Chakravarthy, a mystery spinner, capped off what was a memorable day for him in the Indian Premier League by getting photographed with MS Dhoni.
Sachin Tendulkar sustained a cut on his cheek and was lucky not to break his nose after collapsing in his hotel room on the eve of India's last Champions Trophy match against the West Indies.
Abhishek Nayar once again proved his value for the Mumbai Ranji team as his gutsy 91 enabled the defending champions set Gujarat a stiff target of 312 in the final of the Ranji Trophy in Indore on Friday.
Tamil Nadu off-spinner R Ashwin has been named in India's ODI squad for first two one-dayers against South Africa.
Roundup of the Ranji Trophy matches played at various places
An interesting battle for the first innings lead is on cards as hosts Mumbai trail visitors Assam by 201 runs with seven wickets in hand on the penultimate day of the Group-A Ranji Trophy Elite division match in Mumbai, on Friday.
Wary of playing in the twilight period in some matches during the upcoming IPL, two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders are making sure they get used to the conditions in the UAE.
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir believes his former IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders doesn't have enough back-up options and the team management could have gone for all-rounders in the players' auction to provide the squad more depth. Gambhir said KKR don't have the bench strength to deal with any injury crisis in the top order.
All rounder Abhishek Nayar's unbeaten century (102) and half centuries from Parthiv Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja helped West Zone amass 425 runs for the loss of five wickets in 90 overs against North Zone on the opening day of four day Duleep Trophy match at Rajkot.
In Thursday's IPL auction in Kolkata, his base prize was Rs 30 lakh but eventually was sold for Rs 4 crore to Kolkata Knight Riders.
Three Indian players selected for the four-match ODI series in the West Indies are yet to depart because of transit visa problems. Mumbai's Abhishek Nayar, and Tamil Nadu's Murali Vijay and Subramaniam Badrinath are still waiting for UK transit visas to proceed to the West Indies via London, it was learnt on Tuesday.
All-rounder Abhishek Nayar cracked an unbeaten 111 after coming into the Mumbai side following an injury lay-off to help the holders recover from a difficult pre-lunch period on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Delhi in Mumbai on Sunday.
'I've done commentary only once and that was post IPL when I had two months break. I've realised that I enjoy it. But it's not something that I'm in any way pursuing for the next three years in a serious manner.'
A 127-run opening partnership between Sachin Tendulkar (68) and Sanath Jayasuriya (52), followed by splendid bowling by Lasith Malinga (three for 11) and Abhishek Nayar (three for 13), helped Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 92 runs in the Indian Premier League match in Port Elizabeth on Monday. Chasing an improbable 188 to win, Knight Riders crashed to 95 for nine and suffered their worst defeat in the second edition of the league.
A summary of Wednesday's play in the Ranji Trophy Super League matches.
Rohit Sharma cracked an unbeaten ton as Mumbai recovered from a miserable start to reach a decent 297 for six at close on a keenly contested opening day of the Ranji Trophy final against Uttar Pradesh at Hyderabad on Monday.
South African pacers blew away the top half before Abhishek Nayar (100) and Shikhar Dhawan (70) resuscitated Board President's XI with a 181-run seventh wicket stand on the opening day of the two-day practice match in Nagpur on Tuesday.
The Indian team under Subramaniam Badrinath began their campaign with a bang, crushing local favourites Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) by six wickets in their first match of the Emerging Players Twenty20 Tournament in Brisbane on Monday. After restricting the locals to a modest 101 for seven wickets in their allotted 20 overs, the Mumbai duo of Ajinkya Rahane (43 not out) and Abhishek Nayar (30) guided India to 102 for four in 18.3 overs to complete a facile win.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to field. India made two changes, bringing in Ishant Sharma for Praveen Kumar, while Ravindra Jadeja made way for Abhishek Nayar. West Indies fielded the same team that won the second one-dayer at Sabina Park, Kingston.
Abhishek Nayar's 156 coupled with a sedate 69 by Iqbal Abdulla to give holders Mumbai firm control of their Ranji Trophy semi-final match against long-time rivals Delhi on the second day in Mumbai.
Munaf Patel bowled a brilliant last over while Shane Warne overcame a hamstring injury to win his personal duel with Sachin Tendulkar as Rajasthan Royals edged out Mumbai Indians by two runs in an IPL edge-of-the-seat thriller in Durban on Thursday.
Veteran pacer Ajit Agarkar's maiden century (102 not out) rescued Mumbai from a precarious position and enabled them set Himachal Pradesh a target of 252 runs on the third day of the Super League Group A Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai on Thursday.
Sachin Tendulkar led from the front with a sparkling unbeaten 59 and young Abhishek Nayar clobbered a quickfire 35 as Mumbai Indians scored a stunning 19-run victory over last year's runners-up Chennai Super Kings in the opening match of the Indian Premier League in Cape Town on Saturday.
The 10 teams in the league will be bidding heavily for the Indian players in a list of 590 cricketer
Opener Ajinkya Rahane's classy 92 went in vain as India slumped to a four-wicket defeat against South Africa in their fourth 50-over match of the Emerging Players Tournament in Brisbane, on Sunday. This was India's third 50-over defeat in the tournament. The Badrinath-led Indian side had also been beaten by the Australian Institute of Sports on July 23.
A devastating six-wicket haul by paceman Abhishek Nayar helped Mumbai restrict Himachal Pradesh to 250 in their first innings in their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match in Ahmedabad on Friday.
The IPL pricing so far has been extremely irrational, and one expects franchise owners to correct this in subsequent years.
Abhishek Nayar stole the limelight on the opening day of the Indian Premier League with a masterful 35 off 14 deliveries that was instrumental in Mumbai Indian beating Chennai Super Kings by 19 runs.
After a fine domestic season that earned him a place among the probables for the T20 World Cup, all-rounder Abhishek Nayar is raring to go in the second edition if the IPL.
Skipper Wasim Jaffer starred with a hundred as West Zone clinched their ninth Deodhar Trophy title, outplaying East Zone by 218 runs in the finals of the Zonal One-Dayers in Cuttack on Wednesday.
S Badrinath stood tall amid ruins before West Zone bundled out South for 199 and stretched their overall lead to 492 runs after day three of the Duleep Trophy final in Chennai on Saturday.
Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals confirmed that they are preparing a roster of net bowlers.
Stylish left-hander Vijay Zol carried his stupendous form at the Under-19 level to first-class cricket, scoring a fluent century on debut, as the three-day encounter between India 'A' and New Zealand 'A' ended in a draw, in Visakhapatnam, on Friday.
Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Rinku Singh believes no one can match the big-hitting prowess of the explosive Andre Russell, whom he termed as the 'world's best all-rounder'.
A fine century by southpaw Abhishek Nayar (105, 85 balls, 13 x 4, 2 x 6) and a gritty half century from opener Wasim Jaffer (50, 143 balls, 8 x 4) helped defending champions Mumbai gain a 111-run lead against Tamil Nadu in the Elite Group 'A' Ranji Trophy match in Chennai on Friday.