Indian spin troika of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra kept their stranglehold on the inexperienced West Indies Board President's XI to bowl them out for a paltry 180 on the first day of the final warm-up game in Basseterre (St Kitts).
R Ashwin thinks like a batsman while bowling, says Cheteshwar Pujara.
India might be left with a mountain of runs to climb in the first Test in Adelaide but fielding coach R Sridhar was confident that the batsmen will make up for the bowlers' poor show.
India spinners roared back to form and leave England reeling at 103 for five in their first innings as the hosts strengthened their position on Day 2 of the second Test in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
The faith that Martin Guptill will eventually transfer his limited-overs mastery into the Test arena has granted the embattled opener yet another reprieve but the patience of New Zealand's truest believers may finally be wearing thin.
After being bowled out for a paltry 183 in the first innings losing as many as eight wickets in a single session, No 3 Mendis (110 off 135 balls) and opener Karunaratne (92 batting, 200 balls) added 191 as the visitors could get only two wickets in the next two sessions.
All that's transpired on and off the cricket pitch on Monday.
Much like Dhoni, Pant is an aggressive ball-belter who keeps wickets. But he will require enormous work on his keeping if he is to reach anywhere close to Dhoni's absurdly high standards, notes Dhruv Munjal.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Thursday...
Riding on Baba Aparajith's splendid century, South Zone crushed a hapless Central Zone by 116 runs with 13.3 overs to storm into the Deodhar Trophy semi-finals at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
Nearly three years have passed since George Bailey was shut out of Test cricket after one middling series but the door has creaked ajar as Australia searches for answers to its subcontinental malaise before a daunting tour to India.
Some of his team-mates may have considered Anil Kumble 'strict' but India's Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha never felt that about the former coach, who quit after a bitter fallout with captain Virat Kohli.
Ravichandran Ashwin's 25th five-wicket haul was the cornerstone of India's remarkable turnaround as the hosts defeated Australia by 75 runs in the second cricket Test to level the four-match series.
Images from Day 4 of the second Test between South Africa and India in Pretoria on Tuesday.
The umpire's call criteria in the Decision Review System for some close LBW decisions has been a topic of discussion for some time but India captain Virat Kohli is happy with the technology in its current form.
England's defensive batting approach against India was a conscious decision to save the second Test on a wearing track, the touring side's captain Alastair Cook said after the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the series in Visakhapatnam on Monday.
Mohammed Shami led India's fight-back with a career-best five-wicket haul as India snapped nine wickets for 53 runs to dismiss South Africa for 177 and avoid a humiliating whitewash in the three-match series.
'The past few weeks in England will be remembered as much for Kohli's skilled conquest of his English demons as they will be for his dreadful reading of pitches, curious selection choices, sporadic tactical lapses, and overall inability to help his side cross the finish line,' notes Dhruv Munjal.
Brendon McCullum's singular contribution to New Zealand cricket extends far beyond the pyrotechnics with the bat which attracted a new generation to the game and helped make the 2015 World Cup such a spectacular success.
'Virat and I have good understanding in the middle.' 'The West Indies is a good team and we all respect them.' 'Grabbing the momentum will be key and that is why the start of the series is very important.'
Livid with the criticism that pitches for the ongoing series against South Africa are not sporting enough, Indian Team Director Ravi Shastri said there is nothing wrong with Test matches folding up in three days and the critics should "stop cribbing".
The SCG may be perfect for the under-performing trio -- Pujara, Dhawan and Ashwin -- to regain their touch.
It was another Ranji Trophy match at Bansi Lal Stadium that turned out to be farcical contest as Baroda beat Bengal by 21 runs with 40 wickets falling well inside two days.
Te MVP of IPL 11, after Week 4, is young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant.
Half-centuries from Kraigg Brathwaite and Marlon Samuels steered a battling West Indies to 147 for two at the close on day three of the second Test against South Africa on Sunday.
Skipper Manoj Tiwary showed the way as Bengal produced a much improved batting performance in the second innings against Mumbai in a group A encounter in Nagpur. After Ashok Dinda's 22nd five wicket haul in first class cricket enabled Bengal to restrict Mumbai to 229, Bengal scored 198 for 3 in 61 overs.
Pacers Mohammed Shami and Ashok Dinda shared seven wickets between them to trigger a collapse that saw Bengal beat Tamil Nadu by 77 runs and storm into the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare One-Day tournament.
On being asked about his consistent performance, R Ashwin, who became the fastest Indian bowler to claim 150 wickets in 29 Tests, said, "I think two things. I have got a good stock of my bowling at the crease."
The India captain's formula of getting runs consistently is just to go out there and live in the situation rather than thinking of runs as his ultimate goal.
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.
'Binny's slot could go to a spinning all-rounder in Nagpur. It could be either Rohit or Mann.'
Going by the state of the pitch and the match situation after Day 1 in the ongoing third Test against South Africa in Nagpur, few are betting against another three-day finish, says Harish Kotian/Rediff.com.
He is the second Indian batsman after Rahul Dravid in Adelaide 2003, in first-class history to remain not out on 199 at the end of a day's play.
India take on a war-ravaged-but-resilient Afghanistan in their first ever Test match, in Bengaluru, on Thursday.
Ever since he saw him bat for the first time, as a tiny 11-year-old at his academy, Mangalore-based Karnataka State Cricket Association coach Samuel Jayaraj knew KL Rahul was destined for bigger things.
A summary of Tuesday's play in the Ranji Trophy matches at various venues across the country.
Steve Smith continued his sizzling form with an unbeaten century as Australia laid a strong foundation on the first day of the second Test .
While the triple century against India and an away series win over West Indies were the highlights of his career, Brendon McCullum said it was the camaraderie of the dressing room that would linger longest in his memory.
Opener David Warner put New Zealand's bowlers to the sword with a masterful 163 and Usman Khawaja scored his maiden Test century as Australia dominated the opening day of the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane, on Thursday.
Check out the images from Day 2 of the fourth Test between Australia and India played at Sydney Cricket Ground
