Tendulkar's sterling performances, his fascinating duels for supremacy with contemporaries -- Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Inzamam-ul Haq, Jacques Kallis among batsmen; Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Wasim Akram among bowlers -- embellished modern cricket and globalised the game, asserts Ayaz Memon who has observed the cricketing colossus from the day he made his Test debut in November 1989.
Ravindra Jadeja spiced up an otherwise uneventful final day with another lethal spell of left-arm spin as India Blue notched a crushing 355-run victory over India Red to win the inaugural day-night Duleep Trophy tournament, in Greater Noida, on Wednesday evening.
Former India captain and team director Ravi Shastri said Cheteshwar Pujara, who was not picked up by any of the teams for this year's Indian Premier League, deserves to be compensated handsomely as a reward for his consistent contributions to the Test team's success this home season.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India is in talks with British manufacturer 'Dukes' for supply of pink balls which can be tested before zeroing in on a particular brand for the proposed day-night Test matches later this year.
Domestic cricket will only happen when travelling is safe: Ganguly
As Sachin turns 50, Rediff brings you 50 fascinating facts about the God of Cricket.
His back-foot play off the pacers was a treat to the eyes and when the spinners were deployed, he was not afraid to use the long handle.
Please fill in your choices and help the Indian selectors make up their mind!
When Dhoni arrived in Indian cricket, he wasn't a gym person but had an incredibly strong lower body as he played badminton and football regularly.
'He batted like someone who has played 50 Test matches.' 'He is an unbelievable talent and hopefully if he is nurtured well, he will serve Indian cricket for a long, long time'
Still on a learning curve as India's Test skipper, Virat Kohli has divulged crucial captaincy lessons learnt in his tenure so far.
Uncertanity over the availability of Wriddhiman Saha, who had a split webbing in his right hand, for the first One-Day International against Sri Lanka seems to be over as the wicketkeeper batsman looked fit ahead of the opening game, in Cuttack on Sunday.
Robin Uthappa has come out as a completely changed batsman this season and the Karnataka opener attributes his consistent scores on "staying true to his skills" just like India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
Youngsters including Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, teen sensation Prithvi Shaw will be keen to make a mark and impress the national selectors during Tuesday's One-Day warm-up against New Zealand in Mumbai.
BCCI President Anurag Thakur on Sunday made it clear that unlike his predecessor Shashank Manohar, he is not "interested" in any ICC post and his sole focus at present is to protect the rights of Indian cricket. Hinting at Manohar, Thakur said, "One who had to go to ICC have already gone long back. I have no interest and I am happy here with BCCI and nothing is more important for me than India. We have to protect the rights of India. If you don't think about India then it will be difficult to think about any other country. "Today there is India, so world cricket is growing," Thakur said.
Arjun Tendulkar, son of cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and a left-arm pacer, has been named in the 15-member Mumbai squad for the upcoming 'Bapuna Cup' to be held in Nagpur.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra believes that the "meaningless" tournaments like Duleep and Deodhar trophies should be done away with to improve the domestic cricket structure of the country.
Injuries to KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan have brought Gautam Gambhir back into the picture, and batting coach Sanjay Bangar says the Delhi batsman will be a vital cog in the Indian Test team in the long home season.
Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly revealed on Friday that India skipper Virat Kohli is open to the idea of playing day-night Tests. His comments come following a meeting with Kohli, in Mumbai on Thursday, during which the idea was floated.
How will young batsmen brought up on T20 learn to build an innings? What about the technique to patiently negotiate hostile seam bowling conditions or the skill to play on difficult dusty turners? What about leaving the swinging ball outside off stump?
But it was all Mumbai after that as Yadav joined Pawar at the crease. Yadav would have gone back without scoring had Sodhi not made mess of a regulation catch off his own bowling. That dropped catch proved costly for New Zealand as Yadav took their attack to the cleaners. Whether it was the express pace of Trent Boult and Neil Wagner or the three spinners, it did not matter much to Yadav. Such was his dominance that he brought up his 50 as well as his 100 with a six.
Harbhajan Singh has threatened to take legal action against controversial umpire Darrell Hair if the Australian continued to damage his reputation by making provocative comment that youngsters with suspect action have made him a role model.
Virat Kohli's aura in Indian cricket has grown exponentially over the past few years but contrary to popular perception, he has never wielded 'disproportionate influence' when it comes to policy decisions, says Committee of Administrators (COA) chief Vinod Rai.
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.
'I don't think he (Karthik) will be under pressure. First and foremost thing will be to give guidance to this group. He has got a lot of experienced players around him, particularly in overseas group, and there's the likes of Piyush Chawala, Vinay Kumar and Robin Uthappa.'
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.
Back in the mix after one and half years, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha justified the selector's faith by rocking Australia A top-order with three quick wickets as the visitors reached 185 for four against India A at stumps on the second day of the first unofficial cricket Test in Chennai.
It could well be the last of his innumerable comebacks but Dinesh Karthik is not losing sleep over it as he intends to build on the recent gains in international cricket by following the timely advice of India coach Ravi Shastri.
Batting great Sunil Gavaskar says the presence of the ODI players, named for the upcoming series of New Zealand, in the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals would have enhanced the standard of India's premier domestic competition.
Batsman Ajinkya Rahane is expecting the Kanpur wicket to assist the Indian spinners and says the team's performance in the first Test will set the tone for a long home season, comprising 13 five-day games.
The commercial prospects of day-night Tests, however, have not been lost on the world's richest cricket board and it announced last month it would host a floodlit Test against New Zealand when the Black Caps tour later this year.
Despite taking a career-best six for four in an ODI against Bangladesh in Dhaka in June, Stuart Binny is, however, yet to win the confidence of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the team management. He was benched throughout the ODI series in England before being dropped for the recent controversy-ridden ODI series against the West Indies.
Former India captain Gautam Gambhir has said Delhi chief coach KP Bhaskar made talented youngsters "so insecure" that he was left with no option but to ask him a few tough questions.
Ganguly is one of the 11 members of the world cricket committee, chaired by Mike Brearley of MCC, which announced the new Laws of Cricket, to be incorporated in the ICC Playing Conditions.
Skipper Ishant Sharma shone with the ball with three wickets while debutant Kulwant Khejroliya impressed with his pace as Delhi restricted Assam to 224 for seven at stumps on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match.
'"Who you know" does not help in scoring runs or taking wickets in front of hundreds of millions of fans, which alone determines your selection to play for your team.'
A formidable Indian cricket team is likely to revel in home conditions, as they prepare to host and dominate New Zealand in the first Test in Kanpur, from Thursday, heralding the beginning of a long 13-match home season.
Confident of a good showing in the Champions League Twenty20 and the domestic season ahead, all-rounder Yusuf Pathan has said there is enough time before the 2015 World Cup for him to prove his mettle and make a comeback into the Indian team.
Effusive in his praise for Ravinchandran Ashwin, Indian captain Virat Kohli on Monday said the off-spinner is a "priceless" cricketer to have in the team having contributed with both bat and ball in the massive win over New Zealand in the opening Test in Kanpur.
Quick bucks made through popular Twenty20 leagues are spoiling fast bowlers across the world as they stop working hard after initial success, laments Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath. "Biggest issue which I find, probably not just in India, probably around the world is how hard they are prepared to work. "And if they do get little bit of success playing in IPL or big bash in Australia is that they get to that level and they think they have made it and they stop working hard and they stop training as much," McGrath said after attending a coaching clinic for Under-23 pacers at the PCA stadium in Mohali.
