Virender Sehwag has said India's upcoming tour to Sri Lanka will be a closely-fought affair.
Bangladesh drew the high-scoring first Test against Sri Lanka at the Galle international stadium on Tuesday to snap their 12-Test losing streak against the islanders. Chasing an improbable 268-run victory target with just one session and 37 overs left, Bangladesh were 70 for one wicket in 22 overs when the teams agreed to a draw after five days of batting dominance on a placid track.
India's injury woes were compounded on Sunday after opener Gautam Gambhir was rendered a doubtful starter for the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka due to a knee problem.
Retiring Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan on Wednesday said among the current crop of slow bowlers, only Harbhajan Singh can match his record of scalping nearly 800 Test wickets.
Keshav Maharaj claimed a career-best eight for 116 to prevent Sri Lanka from making the most of a strong start and limiting them to 277 for nine on the opening day of the second and final Test on Friday.
Indian opener Murali Vijay was unable to bat on Day 1 of the only tour game due to a hamstring strain but is expected to get fit for the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle starting August 12, the team management said.
Pakistan's Afridi to be fit for World Cup opener, says Raja
Sri Lanka won their first Test-match series in nine attempts since August 2009 when they batted out for a draw against Pakistan in the third and final Test at the Pallekele Stadium on Thursday.
Bangladesh secured their maiden Test win against Sri Lanka, and their second against a major Test-playing nation in the last five months, with an eventful four-wicket victory on the final day of the second Test at the P Sara Oval on Sunday.
Sri Lanka face a selection dilemma over their wicketkeeper as they gear-up for a tough three-Test series against Pakistan starting in Galle on Saturday. With regular wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene out with a fractured finger, Sangakarra now faces the choice of captaining the side, batting at number three and also keeping wicket, an exhausting prospect in Sri Lanka's hot and humid climate.
India captain Anil Kumble won the toss and opted to bat in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday. Lanka called up uncapped pace bowler Dammika Prasad in place of Nuwan Kulasekera. India replaced wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik with Parthiv Patel.
Indian captain Virat Kohli has had an ordinary Test series against Australia with scores of 0, 13, 12 and 15 in the two matches so far and has slipped one place to fourth, logging 847 points.
Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal will miss next week's first Test against India after being diagnosed with pneumonia, dealing a big blow to the hosts ahead of the three-match home series against their neighbours.
Australia has conceded its number-one ranking to India after Sri Lanka made a clean sweep of the three-Test series in Colombo on Wednesday. Australia had arrived in Colombo in number-one position on 118 points. But following loses by 106 runs in Pallekele, 229 runs in Galle and 163 runs in Colombo, Australia has joined England on 108 points but is ranked above Alastair Cook's side, while Sri Lanka has jumped to 95 points. Australia's drop means India has become the number-one ranked side on the MR ICC Test Team Rankings, while Pakistan has moved into second position - just one point behind.
Mendis contributed 35 in Sri Lanka's 378 all out at the Galle International Stadium.
Veteran Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan does not consider his swansong Test against India a "big match" and says he would not feel sad if he retires without touching the unprecedented 800-wicket mark.
Having taken a handy 139-run first-innings lead, England declared their second innings on 322 for six to set Sri Lanka an improbable 462-run victory target.
Pakistan's Yasir Shah claimed seven second innings wickets in a spectacular display of leg-spin bowling to destroy Sri Lanka.
Second-fastest Englishman to 8,000 Test runs.
It has taken India 10 years to finish a Test in 3 days.
Jonathan Trott's gutsy 112 was in vain as Sri Lanka beat England by 75 runs on the fourth day of the first Test on Thursday to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
The merit of the toss has been debated as a need to reduce home advantage that often results in host nations rolling out pitches doctored to favour their players in what tends to end up as one-sided encounters.
Shikhar Dhawan continues his golden run in Sri Lanka.
Jonny Bairstow and debutant Dan Lawrence knocked off the 36 runs required on Monday, the last day of the first Test.
Gibbs sprained his ankle during a training session in Pretoria before the team's departure for Sri Lanka.
India made amends for the Colombo debacle by trouncing Sri Lanka by 170 runs within four days to level the three-match Test series 1-1 in Galle on Sunday. After setting Sri Lanka a target of 307, Harbhajan Singh (4 for 51) and Ishant Sharma (3 for 20) bundled out the home team for a paltry 136 on a dramatic fourth day's play which saw as many as 16 wickets fall.
This is the fifth Test involving India and Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka to be affected by rain; the previous four were at Colombo (SSC) in 1985-86; Kandy in 1993; Colombo (SSC) in 1998-99 and Galle in 2001-02.
Here is a factbox on the third and final Test between India and Sri Lanka beginning at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday:
Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers from the Kandy Test, Day 2.
Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has been appointed an assistant coach of Australia after working with the squad during the white-ball component of the Pakistan tour.
JP Duminy scored his fourth Test century and his first in the subcontinent to steer South Africa to a first innings total of 455 for nine wickets declared on the second day of the first Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Indian Test captain Virat Kohli made it clear that the issue regarding the use of the controversial Decision Review System (DRS) needs to be deliberated after the end of the ongoing three-Test series against Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka have named uncapped teenage off-spinner Tharindu Kaushal in their squad for the two-Test series against New Zealand starting at Galle on November 17.
The knee injury ruled him out of the second Test against Sri Lanka and subsequent ODI series in Netherlands as well as the ongoing Asia Cup in the UAE.
The 34-year-old Steyn, currently on a short-term contract with Hampshire having been plagued by injury over the last two-and-a-half years, is three wickets short of a milestone that has frustratingly eluded him in recent times.
A 22 year old took the honours on Day 3.
England fast bowler Matthew Hoggard was included in a 12-man squad for the third and final Test against Sri Lanka, starting in Galle on Tuesday. Fast bowler Stuart Broad, who made his debut in the drawn second Test, was left out to accommodate the possible return of oggard, who missed the second Test with a back injury.
Rahul down with fever ahead of first Test
Daniel Vettori became second New Zealander (after Richard Hadlee) and 24th bowler overall to take 300 wickets in Test cricket, when he dismissed Kumar Sangakkara's on the first day of second and final Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on Wednesday. More remarkably, Vettori is the first left-arm spinner to accomplish the feat.
The second day's play of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka was washed out because of persistent rain in Galle on Monday.
