Out-of-favour opener Gautam Gambhir cracked his first century in more than two years as India 'A' came up with a solid batting display to take firm control of the third unofficial Test against the West Indies 'A' in Hubli.
On a day of fluctuating fortunes, West Indies 'A' batted brilliantly in the first two sessions and the India 'A' bowlers fought back strongly in the last session, to share the honours at the end of Day 1 in the third unofficial 'Test' at KSCA stadium in Hubli on Wednesday.
Check out the Rajasthan Royals squad for IPL 2014.
Young Gujarat batsman Manprit Juneja showed perfect temperament for the longer format of the game, scoring a patient, unbeaten 178 in India A's first innings total of 408 for 7 against New Zealand 'A' at stumps, on the third day of the second unofficial 'Test', in Visakhapatnam, on Wednesday.
Veteran batsman Wasim Jaffer will lead Mumbai in their four-day Ranji Trophy Group A match against Orissa, at the Wankhede stadium, from December 14, as Abhishek Nayar is injured.
NCA came into the picture at just the right time to rebuild their bodies and careers.
'Sometimes we arrange a Zoom call just for him to say hello to the players, that's about it.' 'But otherwise, no, no direct talk, it's never happened, even in a normal year.' 'After the game, you win, you lose, SRK is there to encourage the team, give them hugs.'
Set a near impossible victory target of 490 on a track that is offering help for the spinners, Jharkhand were 28 for one in their second innings with two full days' play left and 462 runs to get.
'The players all appreciate -- we all appreciate -- the fact that despite the pandemic and the restrictions, because of all of this protocol that has been put in place, the IPL season is still happening.'
India A conceded a slender 47-run first-innings lead to the West Indies A despite a fighting half-century by Uday Kaul on the third day of the second unofficial Test in Shimoga.
Yuvraj Singh breezed his way to a 56-ball 84 and gave the national selectors another timely reminder of his worth, even as Abhishek Nayar slammed a 39-ball 75, to take India Blue to the final of the NKP Salve Challenger Series with a 11-run win over India Red in Indore on Friday.
'This time around, I want to work on this. I want to continue the kind of form I have started in till the end of the tournament'
Comeback man Dhawal Kulkarni wreaked havoc with the new ball to hand Mumbai the initial edge in their quest for 41st Ranji Trophy title by reducing Saurashtra to 192 for eight in the first innings on the opening day of the summit clash, in Pune on Wednesday. Back in the side after missing the semifinal due to a groin strain, Kulkarni utilised the green track on offer to perfection after Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare won the toss and invited Saurashtra to bat. -Scorecard Kulkarni was spot on with his line and length, and managed to cut through Saurashtra top-order with figures of four for 30, which included the important wickets of opener Avi Barot, Cheteshwar Pujara, Arpit Vasavada and skipper Jaydev Shah. Kulkarni was ably supported by his new ball partner Shardul Thakur (2/59), Abhishek Nayar (1/42) and Balwinder Sandhu (1/41). Kulkarni, in particular, produced an impressive opening spell as Mumbai reduced Saurashtra to 108 for seven at one stage. Had it not been for Arpit Vasavada and debutant Prerak Mankad, it could have been an embarrassing scorecard for Saurashtra at the end of day's play during which they played 84.4 overs.
Mumbai made it to their first Ranji Trophy final in three seasons even though they were denied an outright victory after fighting centuries from Madhya Pradesh wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha and Harpreet Singh on Day5 of the semi-final in Cuttack, on Wednesday.
Issue of workload management may not arise due to 3-week gap, says KKR CEO
Veteran pacer Zaheer Khan's sensational three-wicket burst helped India 'A' crush West Indies 'A' by an innings and 54 runs in the third and final unofficial Test to level the three-match series, in Hubli.
Iyer made 82 off 137 deliveries with the help of nine boundaries and two sixes as Mumbai reached 208 for three in their second innings to take a handy lead of 108 runs at stumps on day three of the five-day encounter.
Parthiv Patel led from the front and got good support from Manprit Juneja to help Gujarat take a handy 63-run lead over defending champions Mumbai at stumps on Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy final in Indore on Wednesday.
Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem claimed seven for 79 to put Jharkhand in control against Haryana on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final match, on Saturday.
One of the important issues expected to be discussed is the scheduling of domestic Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 championship, including its inter zonal phase which is in progress in Cuttack.
Yuvraj Singh made it back to the Indian team for the limited overs series against Australia but seniors Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were again ignored.
In an interesting move, the Mumbai selection committee decided to include 14-year-old Armaan Jaffer in the Ranji Trophy probables list along with his uncle and state team stalwart Wasim Jaffer.
A total of 62 players were sold at the auction for the 13th edition with the eight franchises spending a total of 1.403 billion rupees ($19.73 million). Australia's Pat Cummins became the most expensive overseas buy ever in the Indian Premier League when the Kolkata Knight Riders paid a staggering Rs 15.50 crore ($2.18 million) for the fast bowler in Thursday's auction in Kolkata on Thursday.
The 33-year-old was the subject of an intense debate with many even questioning his World Cup selection over the highly-talented Rishabh Pant.
Nayar recalled the sacrifices that Karthik had to make, right from virtually staying away from home 200 days a year to booking his own ground, practice sessions and paying net bowlers from his own pocket.
Prithvi Shaw hit a century on debut as Mumbai crushed Tamil Nadu by six wickets to storm into the final of the Ranji Trophy, in Rajkot, on Thursday.
Maharashtra needs 224 runs to make it to the semi-finals after Anupam Sanklecha leads a fightback, claiming four Mumbai wickets for 57 runs. Harish Kotian reports
Among the Indians, while Robin Uthappa was bought by Rajasthan Royals for 3 crore, Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari went unsold.
Vasudevan Jagadeesh (40) and Manprit Juneja (43) put on an unbeaten 78-run partnership to help India 'A' end Day 2 in the second and final unofficial 'Test' against New Zealand 'A' on 94 for 2 at the Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy stadium in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.
A struggling Kings XI Punjab will have to pull out all stops against in-form and unbeaten, Rajasthan Royals, when the two teams clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Shreyas Iyer struck a sublime 90 to take Mumbai to 327 for seven on day one of their semi-final against Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy, in Cuttack, on Saturday.
India discard Virender Sehwag scored a breezy 48 off just 20 balls as CAG (Comptroller &Auditor General of India) were involved in a tie with Mumbai Customs, in a concluding Group C league match of the Rs 12 lakh tenth All India Dr D.Y. Patil T20 Cup, organised by the D.Y Patil Sports Academy, under the auspices of the Mumbai Cricket Association, at the D Y Patil Stadium, in Nerul, Mumbai, on Wednesday.
Refusing to get swayed away by the hype after dismissing Sachin Tendulkar, Haryana's young all-rounder Mohit Sharma on Sunday said the plan was to "make him play" as much as possible in his side's much-awaited opening fixture of this season's Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai in Lahli.
Pushed to the bottom of the heap after three successive losses, it will take an extraordinary effort from Royal Challengers Bangalore to overpower table-toppers Rajasthan Royals when the two sides clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Gujarat batsmen have hogged the limelight for the entire season but their unheralded bowling line-up, sans India stars Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah, came to the party by dismissing defending champions Mumbai for a paltry 228 on the first day of the Ranji Trophy final, in Indore on Tuesday.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy semi-final matches played on Monday
Mumbai picked up four wickets after a third-wicket stand of 110 to keep Tamil Nadu to 261 for six on Day one of their Ranji Trophy semi-final, in Rajkot, on Sunday
A young but mighty Mumbai have history and form firmly on their side when they chase their 41st Ranji Trophy title by locking horns with Saurashtra, who are taking a rare shot at domestic cricket's biggest prize, in the summit showdown beginning in Pune from Wednesday. While Mumbai will be appearing in their 45th final of the top domestic tournament, it is only the second time that Saurashtra are in the title clash. Incidentally, it was Mumbai who put paid to Saurashtra's hopes of a maiden triumph by wrapping the final in three days in 2012-13. That was the only time Saurashtra came close to the title. Mumbai won that match by an innings and 125 runs for their 40th trophy. Three seasons later, the scene remains more or less the same and it will take a huge effort from Saurashtra to upset a side which has almost won more titles than the rest of India combined. For the record, since 1990-91, Mumbai haven't lost any of the 10 finals they have played. Mumbai have at least five of those who played in the earlier final in the squad -- Aditya Tare, Abhishek Nayar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shardul Thakur and Vishal Dabholkar.
Suryakumar Yadav and Aditya Tare hit unbeaten half-centuries to put Mumbai in a commanding position against Madhya Pradesh on day three of the Ranji Trophy semi-final in Cuttack, on Monday.