Having retained the majority of their squad, MI will be the team to beat given their formidable batting, but Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals will be out to spoil their party.
Defending champions India look to do something they have never done in World Cups and retain the trophy.
UP Warriorz will start with a clear edge when they take on a struggling Gujarat Giants in Vadodara on Thursday, as the race for the remaining two playoff spots in the Women's Premier League heats up.
Suryakumar Yadav, who returned to form with a blazing 82* against New Zealand at Raipur, spoke on how he dealt with his lean patch
Royal Challengers Bengaluru became the first team to book a place in the WPL 2026 playoffs, cruising to a 61-run win over Gujarat Giants at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara on Monday.
Rohit Sharma scored only 61 runs in three innings at an average of 20.33, failing to register a single fifty in the series against New Zealand.
Shaw's brief stay ended at 1 off 5 balls, caught by Deepraj Gaonkar off Arjun's bowling.
'It could be a slightly unpopular choice because he hasn't scored even 1,000 runs in List A cricket.'
Vidarbha's batting mainstay Dhruv Shorey equalled N Jagadeesan's record for the most consecutive List A centuries, registering his fifth in a row with an unbeaten 109 off 77 balls against Hyderabad.
Indian pacer Ishant Sharma recalled scoring his maiden Test half-century against the West Indies back in 2019 at Kingston, Jamaica, and how he faced some teasing from his skipper and childhood friend Virat Kohli, who jokingly asked him to just "play the ball".
Shami's four-wicket burst sets up Bengal's eight-wicket win over Uttarakhand
'That's the stuff that a lot of people don't see...the work that you put in, away from the shiny lights and the TV, but it's always nice I guess when you get the rewards from that.'
Quinton de Kock seems to have found another gear since his return to cricket and the South African attributed the new-found freedom in his batting to a mind without any 'baggage'.
Group C promises one of the most competitive battles at the T20 World Cup, with former champions England and West Indies joined by ambitious sides Scotland, Nepal and debutants Italy.
Ton-up Desai helps Saurashtra make semis
He was greeted with chants of 'Kohli, Kohli' with fans jostling for selfies and handshakes, as Kohli struggled to make his way through the crowd to his car.
Gujarat's left-arm spinner Vishal Jayswal received a signed match ball from batting great Virat Kohli after taking his wicket during a thrilling Vijay Hazare Trophy match in Bengaluru on Friday.
US-born Aman Rao underlined his prowess as a big hitter with a scintillating unbeaten double century to propel Hyderabad to a commanding 352 for 5 against Bengal.
Sanju Samson boasts of a superb record in T20 Internationals, with 995 runs in 51 matches at a strike rate of 147.40, including three centuries and as many fifties.
The first three matches were low-scoring affairs, but the fourth T20I was a run-fest, with both India and Sri Lanka registering their highest-ever totals in the format.
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan has rejected claims that batters have worked him out, saying consistent execution, not new variations, will define his impact at the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Mumbai sealed a bonus-point victory with a nine-wicket thrashing of Hyderabad in their Group D Ranji Trophy match, in Hyderabad, on Sunday.
'His free-spirited character perfectly matches T20 cricket's essence, it's about freedom and expression.'
Former India all-rounder and head coach Ravi Shastri reflected on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's below-par showing in the first ODI against Australia in Perth.
Virat Kohli has now amassed 1,091 runs in 300-plus successful chases in ODIs, averaging 121.22 with a strike rate of 125.25, including seven hundreds and two fifties.
Travis Head said he was loving life as a Test opener after recording his third century of the Ashes series to help put Australia in a strong position after day three of the fifth Test on Tuesday.
Even as the focus remains on the T20 World Cup which is less than a month away, Kohli and Rohit will hog the limelight in the three ODIs over the next seven days.
Delhi Capitals, the losing finalists of the first three seasons, have not made an ideal start under the new leadership of Jemimah Rodrigues. It is still early days but Rodrigues and Co. would be desperate to get their campaign back on track.
Devdutt Padikkal slammed his second consecutive ton, while Karun Nair also scored a run-a-ball century to guide defending champions Karnataka to a comfortable eight-wicket win over Kerala.
'India never began well, and that's one of the main reasons they weren't able to chase these big scores,'
The Indian selectors will be announcing the team for the three-match ODI series against the Black Caps, starting January 11 in Vadodara and there have been speculations about whether Pant can hold on to his place in the squad.
Devdutt Padikkal continued his dream run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-2026 on Tuesday in Ahmedabad, even if his 91 off 82 balls against Rajasthan felt strangely modest by his towering standards.
K L Rahul's unbeaten ton was eclipsed by Daryl Mitchell's splendid 131 not out as New Zealand levelled the three-match series 1-1 with a seven-wicket win in the second ODI.
He added that to win Test matches in Australia, a team needs to do well in all three departments, which his side didn't do throughout the Ashes series.
Former Chennai Super Kings batter Suresh Raina believes the five-time IPL champions should look at buying the in-form Sarfaraz Khan at the auction on Tuesday.
Yuvraj Singh was seen giving Sanju Samson some batting tips during a nets training, in a video posted on X.
Senior DMK leader I Periyasamy reiterated that Chief Minister M K Stalin is firm against sharing power with allies, dismissing any possibility of a coalition government in Tamil Nadu.
New Zealander Glenn Phillips is fast emerging as one of the few batters who appear to have cracked the Varun Chakravarthy puzzle in the first T20I in Nagpur.
After this snub, it looks difficult for Shubman Gill at this point to make a comeback to the T20 team with plenty of talented young players waiting in the wings.
Making a comeback to international cricket after a seven-month gap, Virat Kohli has perished for ducks in the first two ODIs against Australia.
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