Uttar Pradesh all-rounder Bhuvaneshwar Kumar's gutsy century helped him script an unbelievable comeback for his side Central Zone as they are 10 runs shy of taking an all-important lead against North Zone in the Duleep Trophy semi-final in Hyderabad.
Orissa all-rounder Biplab Samantray's fine spell kept defending champions East Zone in the hunt for a berth in the Duleep Trophy final. He claimed three wickets for 22 runs in 14.1 overs to have South precariously placed at 134 for 5 at stumps on the second day. Earlier, East were dismissed for 267 in their first innings.
A lot of experts including former India captain Sourav Ganguly had questioned his early return to national team but Yuvraj Singh maintains that his double century in the Duleep Trophy match against Central Zone was not an answer to his critics.
Jharkhand batsman Saurabh Tiwary and Orissa all-rounder Basant Mohanty scripted an impressive recovery with an undefeated century-plus stand as East Zone reached 187 for six at stumps on Day I, of their Duleep Trophy semi-final against South Zone.
A remarkably candid Deepak Chahar on Tuesday said he understood early in his career that switching his focus to white ball cricket and IPL was the fastest and easiest route to the Indian team. The medium pacer came into India reckoning after two seasons with IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings.
India's selection committee has decided to discharge Rishabh Pant so that he can get match time in domestic cricket ahead of next month's limited-overs series against the West Indies.
The iconic Eden Gardens emerged as the frontrunner to host the first ever Day-Night Test match in India against the visiting New Zealand side even as Cricket Association of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly said it will depend on their upcoming 'pink ball experiment' from June 18.
The BCCI has named Akshay Wadkar as the replacement for wicket-keeper batsman Abhishek Gupta in the India Red squad for Duleep Trophy after realising their blunder of picking a player banned for a doping violation till September 14.
Shaw comes from Virar, a small town in Palghar district near Mumbai, and the youngster walked down memory lane, retracing his journey from his home town to New Zealand.
The BCCI Apex Council met, on Friday, to decide on a number of issues including apparel sponsorship, which is a significant if not huge income for BCCI.
East Zone completed the formalities on an inconsequential final day of their Duleep Trophy semi-final against North Zone, advancing to the summit clash by virtue of the first-innings lead.
East Zone turned in a disciplined all-round performance to beat West by five wickets and make it to the semi-finals of the Duleep Trophy, in Valsad, on Monday. East will meet North in the semi-final, scheduled to be played in Delhi from February 4.
Bengal middle-order batsman Anushtup Majumdar's unbeaten century ensured a slender but important 29-run first innings lead for East Zone against West in a Duleep Trophy quarter-final in Valsad on Sunday.
The IPL has been postponed indefinitely and there is a possibility that it might be held in September when the domestic season is also underway. So far, no other cricketing activity has happened in India at the time of IPL.
Medium-pacer Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka starting November 2, due to an injury. Maharashtra medium-pacer Dhawal Kulkarni will replaced him in the 15-member Indian squad, to be led by Virat Kohli, for the first three ODIs.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has indicated that this year's Indian Premier League could be conducted in empty stadiums, insisting that all possible options are being explored to ensure that the suspended event does take place despite the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to all the affiliated units sent late on Wednesday after the ICC Board meeting, Ganguly seemed confident of an IPL this year despite its current status of being indefinitely suspended because of the raging pandemic, which has claimed more than 8,000 lives in India.
Skipper Subramanium Badrinath notched up a crucial 136 as South Zone took control of the Duleep Trophy final against North Zone, posting 477 in their first innings in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
Reader Sanjoy Chandra met Yusuf Pathan at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, shortly after he slammed an unbeaten 210 to help West Zone win the Duleep Trophy.
BCCI is set to seek an update from the National Anti-Doping Agency about its choice of laboratory for testing samples after the WADA suspended the National Dope Testing Laboratory's (NDTL) accreditation for six months.
Pathan was part of the inaugural T20 World Cup-winning side in 2007 and also the one that triumphed in the 2011 ODI World Cup at home.
South Zone produced solid batting to take control of the final against North, reaching 298 for three on the second day of the Duleep trophy match in Viaskhapatnam on Thursday. Three South Zone batsmen -- Robin Uthappa (66), S Badrinath (97 not out) and Manish Pandey (74) -- smashed individual half-centuries as they posted a solid reply to North's first innings total of 337 in 70 overs.
Mandeep Singh's brilliant century helped North Zone consolidate its position against West Zone on the opening day of the Duleep trophy semi-final match at Motibag palace ground in Vadodara on Wednesday.
Mohammad Kaif and Naman Ojha struck fighting fifties as Central Zone overcame a wobbly start to score 169 for 3 in the first innings after dismissing East Zone for 427 in their Duleep Trophy quarter-final at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack on Thursday. The visitors were struggling at 55 for 3 at one stage but India discard Kaif (78) and Ojha (50) put together an unbeaten 114-run stand to end the second day's play with a decent total.
He will have to fight it out with the in-form KL Rahul and a solid Murali Vijay for one of the opening slots in the playing XI of the Test team but Shikhar Dhawan terms the competition "good for Indian cricket" and finds "nothing wrong with it". "I am aware that there could be three players for two (opening) spots. But there is nothing wrong in it. In fact it is good for Indian cricket. To have healthy competitions among players for places in the team is good for Indian cricket and the game in general.
Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma on Monday managed to retain their places despite their below-par performances in the Test series in West Indies, which India won 2-0.
South Zone have an overall lead of 191 on Day 2 of the Duleep Trophy final after finishing with 400 in their first innings and dismissing West Zone for 251. They were 42 without loss in their second innings.
Skipper Dinesh Karthik led from the front a with an unbeaten 161 to lift South Zone to an impressive 356 for six against West Zone on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy final in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Mohammad Kaif led from the front with a patient 112 while Piyush Chawla struck a brisk, unbeaten 70 as Central Zone reached 300 for seven on day one of the Duleep Trophy semifinal match against South Zone at Indore on Tuesday.
All rounder Abhishek Nayar's unbeaten century (102) and half centuries from Parthiv Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja helped West Zone amass 425 runs for the loss of five wickets in 90 overs against North Zone on the opening day of four day Duleep Trophy match at Rajkot.
The NKP Salve Trophy Challenger Series tournament, featuring India Red, Blue and Green teams, would be held at Cuttack from October 23-26.
Yusuf Pathan talks about his magical innings in the Duleep Trophy final, and the 'Twenty20 specialist' tag that he is looking to shed.
Stylish batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who has been named the vice-captain for India's upcoming tour of the West Indies, said he enjoys taking responsibilities and the new role will help him to improve his performance. "I had toured the West Indies as part of India A around 3-4 years back, at that time the wickets were little slow. In international cricket, there will be different wickets. I have heard there is good bounce and pace in Barbados, Jamaica," Rahane told PTI in Mumbai. "At the same time, I feel the wickets may be spin-friendly. We will get the idea of the wickets once we go there. But it is an exciting tour in the West Indies. We are going with a young Test team. We have done well recently and so we are looking forward to the tour," he added. Talking about his new role as a vice-captain, Rahane said: "As a vice-captain there will be responsibilities and I like to take responsibilities. When I toured Zimbabwe as a captain, I learned a lot from my team-mates, it was a good experience and we had won in Zimbabwe.
Gritty batting by Chirag Pathak (130) and Yousuf Pathan (84 not out) on Friday brought West Zone back into the game as their Duleep Trophy final against South Zone is heading for an exciting finish.
Rampaging Dinesh Karthik lit up third day's proceedings with his second century of the match to put South Zone in firm control of the Duleep Trophy final against West Zone in Hyderabad on Thursday.
The Indian Cricket Board has invited a Zimbabwe President's XI side to participate in this year's Deodhar Trophy and next season's Duleep Trophy.
S Badrinath celebrated his India call-up with a fluent 82, while Manish Pandey and R Ashwin also struck half-centuries as South Zone thumped Central Zone by five wickets to sail into the final of the Duleep Trophy in Indore on Friday.
West Zone breezed into the final of the Duleep Trophy on the basis of a huge 475-run first innings lead after their semi-final against North Zone ended in a tame draw in Rajkot on Friday. Resuming at the overnight score of 56 for 1, West Zone declared their second innings at 345 for 7, a few overs before the start of the mandatory overs.
Veteran opener Gautam Gambhir and senior middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh on Tuesday appeared for a fitness test at the NCA as a part of Indian Cricket Board's plan to keep a bunch of cricketers ready keeping in mind the long home season ahead. It had been reliably learnt that both Gambhir and Yuvraj have passed the fitness test.
Ajinkya Rahane talks about his recent successes, the recent trip to the Rainbow Nation, interactions with Jonty Rhodes and Shaun Pollock and, of course, his idol Sachin Tendulkar.
Indian team to stay in Indore for nets under lights