He has also expressed his thoughts and prayers to all those impacted in the London terror attack.
In David Warner, who is back as captain for this season, the franchise has an inspirational leader and a superb batsman, who would like to lead from the front.
With Australia taking a 2-0 lead in the four-match Test series against India, the scales are titled highly in favour of the hosts. History also shows that the Melbourne Cricket Ground has been a happy hunting ground for the hosts. With the Boxing Day Test around the corner, here is a quick look at how the teams stand.
Ahead of the two-match Twenty20 series against West Indies, Indian cricketers, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar today visited the home of American basketball team Miami Heats in Florida.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers on the India and New Zealand teams and players.
'Obviously, I think, it is a great, great opportunity especially when you have already won the first game in the series, so it's a great opportunity and I think boys are feeling energetic about it and hopefully we can put up a good show tomorrow'
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's Paisa Vasool Players.
Shaw made a stroke-filled 39-ball 63 to help Mumbai thrash Assam by 83 runs in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game.
Chanchal Bhattacharya suggests, problems in the dressing room environment and media pressure hampering the ODI skipper's performance
Rajneesh Gupta presents Sunrisers Hyderabad's IPL record over the years.
Middle-order batsman Kedar Jadhav and speedster Shardul Thakur were back in the 17-member India squad for the six-match ODI series in South Africa but KL Rahul failed to make the cut despite back-to-back half- centuries in the T20 series against Sri Lanka.
Wrist spinners have become the toast of the Indian Premier League (IPL) so much so that a successful off-spinner like Ravichandran Ashwin, too, has been keen to try bowling leg breaks, feels cricket legend Kapil Dev.
As India heads into the World Cup, battered and bruised, they will be hoping that all their four players on the injury list recover in time when they take on Pakistan in their campaign opener.
As India go in to the four-match Test series against Australia that commences in Adelaide on Tuesday, here is a factbox.
The legendary Indian cricketer was the Man of the ODI series, but the Most Valuable Player title went to an unlikely Aussie, point out Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji.
Impressed with leg-spinner Mayank Markhande's bowling for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, former India spinner Venkatapathy Raju praised him and termed control as the rookie's strongest point.
Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to get yet another win under their belt.
Notwithstanding Rajasthan Royals making a match out of the 202-run chase, Sunrisers Hyderabad chief coach Tom Moody said that his team had things under their control through the course of the Indian Premier League match at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai, on Thursday.
India's U-19 pace sensation Kamlesh Nagarkoti wants to emulate Mohammed Shami and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and said he tries to put himself in their shoes to wriggle out of tricky situations.
Opening batsman Quinton de Kock provided the early flourish with the bat with his seventh century while fast bowler Morne Morkel applied the finishing touch with four wickets as South Africa beat India by 18 runs on Sunday to take a 2-1 series lead in Rajkot, on Sunday.
Skipper Steve Smith led the way with another torrent of runs as Australia raced to 251 for six and a lead of 348 over India before rain stopped play at the end of the fourth day of the fourth Test on Friday.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni revealed on Saturday that Virat Kohli's agreement to drop down the order paid the team rich dividends and the strategy would be followed in the remainder of the One-Day series.
India dished out a dominating performance to crush New Zealand by 90 runs as spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal yet again tormented the home batsmen.
Images from Thursday's IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Mumbai.
The 62-year-old claims what makes Ravichandran Ashwin more valuable to India is his ability to contribute with the bat and score runs consistently down the order.
Sunrisers Hyderabad kept their play-off hopes alive by pulling off a well-deserved seven-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in a thrilling Indian Premier League match that went to the wire at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, on Thursday.
India rode on Virat Kohli's brutal unbeaten 115 and Shikhar Dhawan's 100 to pull off a sensational six-wicket victory over Australia in the do-or-die sixth One-Day International and level the seven-match series 2-2, in Nagpur, on Wednesday. Chasing a mammoth 351, the Indians blazed away on a belter of a track at the VCA stadium in Jamtha to overhaul the target with three balls to spare.
Who was the most valuable player of the India-West Indies ODI series?
'KKR's form over the past two weeks is not going to be relevant tomorrow. They have got a lot of experience in that team. There are lot of players who know how to win play-offs. So, we make sure that we focus on us and play with the same mindset we have been playing so far'
Paceman Mohammed Shami is improving but he is not certain for the next match.
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.
Skipper Parthiv Patel struck an exemplary fifty, while Axar Patel chipped in with an unbeaten 36, after picking two crucial wickets, as Gujarat edged out Vidarbha by two wickets and advanced to the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy One-day tournament, in Alur, Karnataka, on Thursday.
Yuvraj Singh made a sensational return to international cricket, blasting his way to an unbeaten 35-ball 77 as India beat Australia by six wickets in a high-scoring one-off T20, in Rajkot, on Thursday.
With India being outplayed in the Twenty20s, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will face added pressure to perform and lead India from the front against a formidable South African unit in the five-match ODI cricket series starting in Kanpur on Sunday.
The Indian opener tops the Champions Trophy MVP table. But Hasan Ali, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma aren't too far behind, note Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji.
Moises Henriques' gritty fifty and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar's crafty bowling helped Sunrisers Hyderabad stay in the hunt for the play-offs as they beat Delhi Daredevils by six runs in a hard-fought IPL match in Raipur on Saturday.
A few proven, but currently out-of-form, cricketers are likely to get the nod when the national selectors draw up a list of 30 Indian probables for the upcoming World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in Mumbai on Thursday.
Pushed to the bottom of the table following their fifth defeat in six outings, former champions Mumbai Indians will look to keep their chances alive when they face a resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad in a crucial Indian Premier League game at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
David Warner played a captain's knock, smashing an unbeaten 90 runs off 59 balls to power the Sunrisers Hyderabad to a 7-wicket convincing victory against defending champions Mumbai Indians on Monday. Chasing a modest 143-run target, the Sunrisers chased the target with 15 balls to spare in Hyderabad. The Sunrisers have recorded their first points in the points table of IPL 9, while MI have now lost three out of their last four games.
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