A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Sunday
India may be way behind Australia in the Test rankings, but the World Cup holders are just 0.2 points behind the top-of-the-table Kangaroos in the ODI rankings. According to the latest ICC rankings, Australia and India are on 117 rating points and the scores will only be settled in the upcoming tri-series involving the two teams and England, starting January 18 next year.
Mohit Sharma is one of the nine fast bowlers among the 30-World Cup probables chosen and the Haryana pacer believes the plentiful options available in the pace department can only be good for Indian cricket.
Having notched three straight victories after a string of losses, Mumbai Indians are looking to defeat Rajasthan Royals and inch closer to a play-offs berth when the two sides face each other in an Indian Premier League encounter in Mumbai on Sunday.
Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara continued his good form with the bat as he and Robin Uthappa helped Saurashtra crush Punjab by eight wickets.
Mumbai crushed Saurashtra by an innings and 21 runs in the final to win their 41st Ranji Trophy title, in Pune, on Friday.
Time to ditch Easter eggs and bunnies for some new, delicious treats!
Rajneesh Gupta presents statistical summary of Rajasthan Royals and much more.
Seamer Barinder Sran made his first outing in a Twenty20 International memorable, returning the best figures by an Indian debutant in the format as the visitors beat Zimbabwe by 10 wickets, in Harare, on Monday.
It will be a different sort of challenge for Mahendra Singh Dhoni when he captains a new-look Indian cricket team against Zimbabwe in the first ODI of a short series starting in Harare on Saturday.
The series is an opportunity for players like Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Sanju Samson, Karun Nair and Karn Sharma to impress the selectors and stake their claim in the national side.
Mumbai registered their first victory of the season, thrashing Odisha by 120 runs in a Ranji Trophy Group 'C' match at KIIT Stadium, in Bhubaneshwar, on Saturday.
The Knight Riders have outplayed Rajasthan both in the home and away games this season.
India skipper Ajinkya Rahane said it was difficult to hold nerves when Zimbabwe looked like pulling away when home skipper Elton Chigumbura was batting solid from one end in the first ODI of the three-match series in Harare.
Shikhar Dhawan struck an unbeaten 47 after a clinical display by his bowling team-mates as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Gujarat Lions by five wickets in their IPL match.
Ajinkya Rahane was chosen as captain of the depleted Indian team for the limited overs tour to Zimbabwe next month as the selectors decided to rest several seniors including Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
Images from the IPL match played between Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals in New Delhi on Wednesday
West Zone produced a clinical all-round performance to score a comprehensive 133-run victory over North Zone in the final and win their third successive Deodhar Trophy in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. Riding on Kedar Devdhar's 94 and skipper Cheteshwar Pujara's patient half-century, West Zone posted a challenging 281 for 3 in 50 overs. Spinners Arpit Vasavada (3-20) and Akshar Patel (2-23) then emerged the pick of the bowlers as North Zone were bundled out for 148 in 37.1 overs at the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.
In an interesting move, the Mumbai selection committee decided to include 14-year-old Armaan Jaffer in the Ranji Trophy probables list along with his uncle and state team stalwart Wasim Jaffer.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's leadership as well as finishing skills will be put through a stern test when an inconsistent India take on a rejuvenated New Zealand in the series-deciding fifth and final cricket ODI in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. With the series locked at 2-2, Dhoni and his men will be eager to clinch the issue while history beckons Kane Williamson's men as they have a glorious opportunity to taste their maiden success in a bilateral ODI rubber. The only thing that can play spoilsport is the cyclone threat which can lead to complete washout.
Take a look at the statistical highlights of the fourth ODI in Kolkata on Thursday.
A summary of the second day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches played at various venues across the country.
India opener Lokesh Rahul hit back at all those who branded him a player for the longer version, saying he has proved them wrong.
Kolkata Knight Riders left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav was the surprise inclusion in India's One-Day International squad for the first three matches of the forthcoming series against West Indies.
MS Dhoni is ready for limited overs series against South Africa.
The apex court questioning the police about the arrests said that 'dissent is the safety valve of democracy and if you don't allow these safety valves, it will burst.'
The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.
After making impressive debuts in their respective openers, Rising Pune Supergiants and GujaratLions will test each others' strengths when the two new entrants clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Rajkot on Thursday. The two teams feature a lot of faces from the suspended Chennai Super Kings and at least six players, who played in the same side till last year, will now be in opposite camps. Close friends and CSK teammates Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina will now be devising strategies as rival captains. Both have admitted that playing in a jersey other than 'yellow' has been very "emotional" but have promised to give their all for their new teams. The Dhoni-led Pune Supergiants were very convincing and dominant when they handed defending champions Mumbai Indians a nine-wicket drubbing. They did not even require their middle order, packed with Dhoni himself and players such as Steven Smith, to come out with the top-order delivering it for them comfortably.
The England wicketkeeper-batsman stroked an unbeaten 94 for the Royals to add to his last four scores of 67, 51, 82 and 95 not out, matching retired Indian great Virender Sehwag's record of five successive IPL half-centuries set in 2012
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present the Most Valuable Player Index of the just-concluded three-match series between India and Zimbabwe.
In the other matches, Manipur trounced Nagaland by 10 wickets in the battle of newcomers while Jammu and Kashmir defeated Andhra Pradesh by five wickets.
Thanks to Taylor's 102 and Latham's 108 (both retired out) on a flat Brabourne Stadium track, New Zealand notched up a mammoth 343 for nine in the allotted 50 overs.
Pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar was promoted to Grade A, but Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir, who have lost favour with the selectors, were dropped from the list of BCCI's contracted players for 2014-15.
A rejuvenated India will start as the favourites when they lock horns with Zimbabwe, who have been left bruised and battered after a 10-wicket thrashing, in the series-deciding third and final Twenty20 International in Harare, on Wednesday.
A struggling Kings XI Punjab will have to pull out all stops against in-form and unbeaten, Rajasthan Royals, when the two teams clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Rajasthan Royals will look to extend their four-match winning streak.
Looking to keep their winning run intact, table-toppers Rajasthan Royals face a stern SunRisers Hyderabad test in their fourth match of the Indian Premier League in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
Rising Pune Supergiants now face an uphill task of taming the rampaging Gujarat Lions in an Indian Premier League clash, in Pune, on Friday.
Australia 'A' batsmen again showed their prowess in tackling spin on a difficult track as they comfortably beat India by three wickets to enter the final of the tri-series tournament, in Chennai, on Monday.
Ajinkya Rahane scored his maiden One-Day International century as India trounced England by nine wickets in the fourth one-dayer to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.