Manish Pandey blasted a quickfire 76-ball 77 before Mitchell Swepson returned with a four-wicket haul to dismiss India 'A' for 230 in their first innings against Australia 'A' in the opening match of the unofficial four-day Test Series in Brisbane, on Thursday.
His cricketing brain, always sharp, was blessed with exceptional speed of information absorption and processing. He could quickly zero in on what needed to be done and use the element of surprise to overpower the opposition, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
In the lead-up to the World T20, India have hit good form, beating hosts Sri Lanka before blanking Australia A at home. What should give them additional confidence going into the opener is the wins against reigning champions West Indies and England in the warm-up matches.
A tumultuous nets session at Old Trafford left one Australian batsman ruled out of the Cricket World Cup and another screaming in pain but coach Justin Langer said the hard training would pay dividends on the field.
Steve Smith is back in the Test squad along with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, the other two players hit with long bans for their involvement in the Cape Town scandal in March, 2018.
The 25-year-old, a leg-spinner like his father, moved to Australia to play for in 2016 and is hoping to become a citizen in 2020 and represent his adopted nation in the Twenty20 World Cup later that same year.
Sri Lanka have not played a match at the World Cup since June 4, forced to split points with Bangladesh and Pakistan following two washed out games.
Looking back at his India career, Pathan fondly recalled the moments when he delivered for the team.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Cricket Australia has responded positively to India coach Ravi Shastri's request for more warm-up matches ahead of their Test series Down Under later this year.
All-rounder Marcus Stoinis was called up for Australia's two remaining Tests in India on the strength of his bowling and previous performances in the region, interim chief selector Trevor Hohns said on Thursday.
Former Australia captain Steve Smith will continue his return to competitive cricket in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) next month after signing up to replace Shakib Al Hasan in the Twenty20 league.
Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha turned out to be the biggest gainer while comeback man Amit Mishra got five wickets and more importantly vital overs under his belt as the first unofficial 'Test' match between India A and Australia A ended in a tame draw.
Usman Khawaja struck his second century in three matches as Australia thumped India by 35 runs in their final one-dayer to seal a come-from-behind 3-2 series victory at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, on Wednesday.
Babar Azam fell one run short of his maiden century as Pakistan set Australia a mammoth victory target of 538 on day three of the second and final Test.
Australian players will not travel to Bangladesh for a two-test tour starting this month until the pay dispute between them and the sport's national governing body is resolved, captain Steve Smith said on Tuesday.
Hazlewood, Marsh named Australia's joint Test vice-captains
Most exit polls on Sunday forecast another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with some of them projecting that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance will get more than 300 seats to comfortably cross the majority mark of 272 in the Lok Sabha.
Finch and Khawaja put on 209, a record opening stand for Australia while chasing in ODIs, bettering Mark Waugh and Adam Gilchrist's 206 against West Indies in 2001.
The 26-year-old would be expected to offer a fourth pace option to back up the strike trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, who secured Australia a 120-run victory to give them a 2-0 lead in the series on Wednesday.
Varun Aaron and Jayant Yadav claimed three wickets apiece to help India 'A' stage a superb fightback courtesy of their bowlers and take a narrow two-run lead against Australia 'A' on day two of the first unofficial four-day Test at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane, on Friday.
India's Virat Kohli led from the front with a sparkling 61 not out to help secure a series-levelling six-wicket victory over Australia in the third and final Twenty20 International in Sydney.
Usain Bolt managed to upstage the first weekend of Australia's A-League season without kicking a ball after his agent said he had been offered a professional contract by the Central Coast Mariners.
Having dismissed Australia for a paltry 145 in their first innings, Pakistan stretched their lead to a daunting 281 by stumps on day two with Zaman's 66 and an unbeaten 54 by Ali taking them to 144-2.
Despite the pair making certain of selection, doubts remain in other areas of captain Tim Paine's team, with opener Matt Renshaw picking up a head injury after being struck by the ball during the tour game that ended on Tuesday.
Australia captain believes the result could have been different had Steve Smith and David Warner been available for the home side in Melbourne.
Opener Joe Burns, wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, spinner Aston Agar, all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and the pace duo of James Pattinson and Nathan Coulter-Nile were selected to the senior team for the ODI series against England and Ireland later this month by virtue of their fine performances in the ongoing Australia 'A' team's tour of India.
Norway beat Australia 4-1 on penalties to reach the women's World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2007 following a highly-entertaining 1-1 draw after extra time on Saturday. Norway's Isabell Herlovsen opened the scoring shortly after the half hour but Elise Kellond-Knight's direct corner seven minutes from time sent the game into extra time -- during which Australia's Alanna Kennedy was sent off.
Unless the impasse ends next week, the upcoming Australia 'A' tour of South Africa, a two-Test series in Bangladesh and a limited-overs tour of India are under threat from the dispute, with the Ashes also looming at the end of the year.
Rain played spoilsport as the One-Day match between India 'A' and South Africa 'A' was abandoned after 35 overs in the first innings, taking the Manish Pandey-led side to the top of points table in the quadrangular contest. The Indians were struggling for most part of the 35.2 overs bowled today after being put in to bat at the Harrup Park. Openers Mandeep Singh (29 of 51 balls) and Karun Nair (15 of 25 balls) put on 31 in eight overs before the latter was dismissed by Dwaine Pretorius.
The sticking point remains the argument over a revenue share scheme which has underpinned contracts for 20 years.
'He's come off a second stress fracture in his back and while he's just starting to get up and running in the nets now -- I think he's played six white ball games in the last 18 months -- that's T20 and one-day cricket'
India captain Virat Kohli says the world's top batsmen will have reason to fear Jasprit Bumrah after the talented young paceman put Australia to the sword in the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In a 74-page 'manifesto' the attacker posted online, he described himself as a white supremacist who was out to 'avenge attacks in Europe perpetrated by Muslims'.
Jasprit Bumrah's amazing skill-set gives India a realistic chance of winning the World Cup but a 'freak' called David Warner might just retain it for Australia, believes 2015 World Cup-winning captain Michael Clarke.
Experienced drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh returned to India's men's hockey team, which also features debutant Jaskaran Singh, for the tour of Australia, starting May 10.
With 14 required off the last over, Umesh Yadav was hit for a boundary each by Jhye Richardson and Pat Cummins as Australia reached the target of 127 off the last delivery of the match.
Back in the mix after one and half years, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha justified the selector's faith by rocking Australia A top-order with three quick wickets as the visitors reached 185 for four against India A at stumps on the second day of the first unofficial cricket Test in Chennai.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
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