Suresh Raina smashed an unbeaten half-century as Chennai Super Kings booked a berth in the second qualifier with a comfortable seven-wicket win over holders Mumbai Indians in the IPL eliminator in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Eoin Morgan played a captain's knock, as England outplayed a listless India in all departments and record a crushing seven-wicket victory in the first T20 International to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
He along with Sunrisers' bowling coach and spin legend Muthiah Muralitharan were seen engaging in an intense planning from the dug-out when Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers were batting in full-flow at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday. Sunrisers batting coach VVS Laxman may be disappointed with his team's defeat in the first game of IPL 9, but the legendary Indian batsman had special praise for U-19 star and RCB finisher Sarfaraz Khan. Laxman also feels that it was Sarfaraz, who took the game away from them, when the 'enormously talented' Mustafizur Rahman had pulled it back by dismissing AB and Watson in quick succession. Here is what Laxman had to say after the match.
The legend of Virat Kohli reached gigantic proportions as the reigning superstar of Indian cricket virtually made the World Twenty20 a one-man show.
Bangladesh all-rounder Mahmdullah finished as the MVP in the recently-concluded Asia Cup T20 tournament ahead of compatriot Sabbir Rahman, who was named as the man of the series. Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle present the latest edition of the MVP rankings.
India's champions from the last edition who will be missed when the action commences in Australia-New Zealand next year.
'Mahendra Singh Dhoni has at his disposal a range of multi-skilled players who possess the ability to turn the game around at the flick of a switch.'
'We will have to try and give batting to players, who have not batted so far but people who are batting close to 6, 7 or 8, they will have to play big shots because that is going to be certainly be very important for us' 'It's something that will always trouble us till we are certain that these are the set of bowlers who will bowl in death for us'
Sri Lanka defeated India by five wickets in the first Twenty20 international cricket match to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, in Pune on Tuesday. Chasing a modest target of 102 runs set by India, Lankan skipper Dinesh Chandimal led from the front scoring 35 runs off as many balls, while Milinda Sriwardana's unbeaten 21 runs off 14 balls ensured a comparatively young visiting squad secured a morale-boosting victory.
In opting for an extra spinner, says Harish Kotian/Rediff.com, India have picked a batsman less.
'Dhoni may be hoping that luck stays with him for a couple of months more.' 'He may want to step down on a triumphant note, holding aloft the World T20 trophy on April 3.'
India's batting ace Yuvraj Singh commanded the highest price, Royal Challengers Bangalore paying a massive 14 crore for him, while Dinesh Karthik was a surprise pick at 12.5 crore by Delhi Daredevils.
The former opening batsman picked India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand as the four semi-finalists in the upcoming tournament Down Under.
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.
Round-up of the Ranji Trophy games being played in different parts of the country
India edged out Bangladesh by one run in a thrilling World Twenty20 match on Wednesday to keep alive their hopes of reaching the semi-finals.
Jolted by the shock loss to New Zealand in the opening game, India will be fighting a survival battle quite early in the tournament when they take on arch foes Pakistan in what is being seen as the marquee clash of the ICC World Twenty20 in Kolkata on Saturday. The hosts, who started clear title-favourites, were in for a blow in the first match itself when New Zealand's spinners bamboozled their famed batting line-up on a turning Nagpur track. As a result, the world No.1 side is staring at an early elimination should it lose to Pakistan in the high-voltage game at the Eden Gardens. As is the case with most India-Pakistan contests, this game too has been preceded by its share of drama. The match was originally scheduled to be held in Dharamsala but was shifted here after the Himachal Pradesh government expressed inability to provide security to the Pakistan team owing to protests by ex-servicemen and their families.
With momentum on their side, Dhoni and Co need to justify the favorites' tag and go the distance.
Rohit Sharma slammed a quickfire 83 to power India to a comprehensive 45-run victory against Bangladesh in the first match of the Asia Cup T20 tournament in Dhaka, on Wednesday.
'Dhoni has got his own ways of captaining the Indian team. He might not give out details or might not explain, but in his mind he knows very well how to captain the side, which players to pick and the right combination for a particular condition.'
Virat Kohli slammed an unbeaten 90 before a collective effort by the Indian bowlers gave the visitors a resounding start in the Twenty20 series against Australia with a 37-run victory in the first match in Adelaide, on Tuesday.
It will be a different sort of challenge for Mahendra Singh Dhoni when he captains a new-look Indian cricket team against Zimbabwe in the first ODI of a short series starting in Harare on Saturday.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com picks five performances that took spectators' breaths away in week 9: Five wonderful knocks and one magical spell of bowling.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com comes up with a pretty strong playing eleven from the long list of big names warming the benches this IPL season.
Shikhar Dhawan struck an unbeaten 47 after a clinical display by his bowling team-mates as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Gujarat Lions by five wickets in their IPL match.
India sealed a semi-final berth in the World Twenty20 after defeating Australia by six wickets in a do-or-die Group 2 match in Mohali.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was all praise for young Hardik Pandya, who held his nerve during the last few moments and executed the instructions brilliantly by not bowling a yorker to Shuvagato Hom, which could have turned into a full-toss.
Images from the Asia Cup T20 cricket match between India and Pakistan on Saturday.
India turned in a fine all-round show to beat Australia by 27 runs in the second Twenty20 International and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Friday.
Debutant Hardik Pandya stellar performance in Tuesday's T20 International against Australia caught the attention of India supporters, and India's ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the youngster can lend the side some much-needed stability if he performs consistently.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player ratings for the ongoing IPL 8.
Suresh Raina blasted a blistering century pulverising Kolkata Knight Riders into submission as Chennai Super Kings exacted a sweet revenge clinching the Oppo Champions League T20 in style with a eight-wicket victory in a thoroughly one-sided final, in Bangalore.
Winning is all what matters to Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir as he intends to be "mean winner than a polite loser" when the reigning IPL champions take part in the upcoming Oppo Champions League Twenty20.
Virat Kohli's inspirational leadership for Royal Challengers Bangalore will be up against the brute force with which David Warner has steered Sunrisers Hyderabad when the two teams, eyeing their maiden IPL title, square off in a high-intensity summit clash in Bengaluru on Sunday. RCB, however, will have a slight advantage over Sunrisers as they have the experience of playing in an IPL final twice in the past -- 2009 and 2011, but on both occasions, they had finished runners-up. Sunrisers' best finish was a play-off berth which they managed in their debut season in 2013.
A round-up of results from the matches played at the Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 cricket tournament across the country.
India defeated Pakistan by six wickets in a Super 10 Group 2 match to record their first win in the ICC World Twenty20 in Kolkata on Saturday. Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 55 to guide India home in their chase of 119.
If India can boast of Virat Kohli then the West Indies have a far more dangerous player in Chris Gayle, who has achieved a legendary status in T20 cricket with his ability to win matches on his own on a consistent basis.
As we write this we still await the crucial India-Australia knock-out in Mohali. But India's individual performances in the T20 World Cup so far haven't been truly impressive. A look at the most valuable player index (MVPI) table reveals that there's no Indian player in the top 20. MVPI merges a player's batting + bowling + fielding performance into a single 'run equivalent'. The formula to compute the MVP is devised to reward batsmen who score runs at a high strike rate, bowlers who take wickets at low economy rate and fielders who field the best (take a lot of catches and participate in run-outs). Since this is a relatively low scoring tournament we have assumed a team's par score to be 150, and each wicket to be worth 15 'runs'. It isn't a surprise that players from New Zealand dominate the rankings so far, although Joe Root tops the table after his 83 in 44 balls against South Africa.
India's off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said he is not intimidated by the Australian batsmen's strategy of attacking him as he has the ability to handle the onslaught and pick wickets as well.
Even as the dust settles down on IPL 9, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com presents his Dream XI.
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