Deepak Hooda's all-round performance helped the Indian Under-19 cricket team register a comprehensive 148-run win over Zimbabwe in the opening match of the Quadrangular Under-19 One-Day Series, in Visakhapatnam on Monday.
Indian batsmen wilted under pressure and lost the plot in the final over after nearly pulling it off as England narrowly beat the hosts by five runs in a thrilling third and final ODI to prevent a clean sweep, in Kolkata, on Sunday.
Australia expecting a very different India in World Cup semi-final.
The best they can do, in the event they defeat Australia and line up for the semi-final in Sydney, is summon spinner Saeed Ajmal.
No one is going to ask us if we played exceptional cricket when we win the World Cup.'
A brilliant partnership between James Taylor and Jos Buttler helped England beat India by three wickets at the WACA on Friday and enter the tri-series final, where they will meet Australia.
When not playing cricket, Dhoni wears many hats apart from being a batsman, wicketkeeper and sometimes a bowler.
Keacy Carty hit an unbeaten fifty to steer the West Indies to a thrilling five-wicket victory in the ICC Under-19 World Cup final, in Mirpur, on Sunday. Chasing India's paltry total of 145, the West Indies won with three balls to spare and claimed their maiden Under-19 World title.
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.
If familiarity between the two sides has not quite bred contempt, the frequent heated exchanges in their clashes indicates at the very least a fierce competitiveness.
Captain AB de Villiers was in tears at the post-match news conference after overseeing another South African defeat on the big stage.
To be sure, this is not some stunning new revelation that our equity markets are beholden to foreign flows.
Images from Day 3 of the first Test between India and South Africa in Mohali, on Saturday.
Defending champions India cantered into the semi-finals of the cricket World Cup after a thumping -- victory over Bangladesh at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Bangladesh gearing up for their biggest battle against defending champions India in the cricket World Cup quarter-finals.
Bangladesh defeated New Zealand by 77 runs to win its fourth Plate Championship title at the ICC Under-19 World Cup at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. India overcame Tagenarine Chanderpaul's century to beat the West Indies by 46 runs and take fifth place at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored an unbeaten 45 as India staved off a fightback from the West Indies to win the Group B World Cup match by four wickets at the WACA in Perth on Friday. The victory saw the defending champions maintain their unbeaten run in the tournament and extend their stay at the top of the group.
South Africa set New Zealand a daunting target of 298 runs in 43 overs.
The consistency of India's bowlers throughout the tournament disguised the team's batting problems till they were exposed in the semi-final against Australia.
Check out the images from the second semi-final between Australia and India at the ICC World Cup at the Sydney Cricket, on Thursday.
'Probably because he was aware that this was his 100th ODI. Or probably because, in the first of its knock-out games, his team had produced the sort of all-round display that induces smiles.'
'That was the key to a game where, on paper, there is nothing to separate the two sides: Intensity. From the first ball of the innings to the run out of Southee, the Australian bowlers and fielders buzzed around like predatory yellow-jacketed wasps.' 'Adding teeth to the bowling and relentless fielding is the captaincy of Michael Clarke, leading in his last one day international. His body may require an entire college of medical specialists to maintain, but his mind is scalpel-sharp, cutting through the complexities of the game to hit on simple solutions.'
A B de Villiers may have made some big mistakes in the semi-final: Choosing to bat first in spite of the rain threat, batting too low at No 5, not hogging the strike after David Miller departed, fielding badly, asking Dale Steyn to bowl the last over ... but he is still best placed to be adjudged the most valuable player of the 2015 World Cup.
It looks highly unlikely if anyone will catch the South African captain in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup.
Although A B de Villiers is still the front-runner for the MVP crown of the 2015 World Cup, a new and serious challenger has suddenly appeared out of the blue -- New Zealand opener Martin Guptill.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji figure out who are the most valuable players after the league phase of the World Cup intheir latest update.
'For all practical purposes, the game ended at the break. The Irish bowlers had neither the pace nor the skill to compete against the Indian line-up; the lack of swing further blunted any edge they could have brought to the contest.'
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The two batted as if 'pressure' was a concept unknown to them. Raina was the muscular enforcer, Dhoni the consigliere planning and controlling the momentum of the assault.'
'This was not the cleanest game of cricket you've ever seen -- there were too many flubs and fumbles for that. But it was certainly the semi-final this mostly blah tournament has needed -- two tough, well-rounded teams, toe to toe, slugging it out, bleeding and drawing blood until there was only one left standing.'
'The man who never knows when he is beaten deserved, on the day he played what will be his last World Cup game, mates who were not beaten in the mind before they were beaten on the field.' Prem Panicker salutes 'India's best one day captain by a long margin who led superbly throughout the tournament.'
Prem Panicker, a keen follower of the game and one of cricket's finest writers, interacted with readers on the Rediff World Cup Chat.
Prem Panicker, on the Rediff chat, delves on what went wrong for Team India and what to expect from Sunday's trans-Tasman World Cup final.
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