With days left for IPL 2021 to kick off, several key players will miss the biggest show in the cricketing universe.
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.
Rohit Sharma is likely to miss his third game in a row when Mumbai Indians take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday with both teams aiming to secure their spot in the IPL play-offs.
Young chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav kept the opposition batsmen on tenterhooks with a maiden five wicket haul as he took India Red on the cusp of an outright victory against the Green team in the inaugural Day/Night Duleep Trophy encounter in Greater Noida on Thursday. Chasing a mammoth victory target of 497, the Green team was tottering at 217/7 at the end of penultimate evening with another 280 runs to win the match. Suresh Raina was at the crease batting on 35.
The Virat Kohli-led RCB has won five of its eight games on the back of all-round performances but seemingly blundered in the eight-wicket defeat to laggards KXIP on Thursday.
Gurkeerat Singh turned in a superb all-round showing as India 'A' beat fancied Australia 'A' by four wickets in the final of the 'A' teams triangular series in Chennai on Friday.
The Indian team management released pace duo of Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar besides all-rounder Gurkeerat Singh Mann from the Test squad to enable them to play their next Ranji Trophy matches for their respective state sides on Saturday.
The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League will commence, on Saturday, April 7 and will end on 27th May
RCB suffered four consecutive defeats to finish the league stage at the fourth spot, SRH registered a hat-trick of wins to edge past Virat Kohli's men in the standings.
5 instances when teams didn't cross the 70 run mark in 13 seasons.
India will eye revenge for their defeat in one-day series as they meet fierce rivals Australia in three Twenty20 Internationals, starting on Tuesday, January 26 at Adelaide Oval. Games will also be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (January 29) and Sydney Cricket Ground (January 31). The matches will see some of the world's explosive batsmen in action, while the series is also tipped as a much-needed preparatory ground ahead of the crucial World T20 scheduled to be held in March in India.
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli says with the South African batsman around the opposition knows they have a slim chance, 'and there's a good reason for that'.
Sreesanth, who was part of the triumphant Indian squads in the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 World Cup, was earlier named in one of the squads for a local T20 tournament to be conducted by Kerala Cricket Association in Alappuzha from December 17.
Captain Kane Williamson, all-rounder Vijay Shankar and comeback man Wriddhiman Saha will look to score in the key match.
Gurkeerat Singh Mann was a surprise addition to the Indian squad for the second Test against South Africa in Bangalore, however, India captain Virat Kohli says the Punjab all-rounder could be in the reckoning for an unlikely Test debut.
Check out the Kings XI Punjab squad for IPL 2014.
Images from Saturday's IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and SunRisers Hyderabad, in Sharjah.
India's opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan looked visibly upset, venting out his anger on reserved opener KL Rahul on day 3 of the 4th Test at Feroz Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi. Birthday boy Dhawan played an important hand before lunch. The incident unfolded when Dhawan was hit on the forearm by a rising delivery from Imran Tahir.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to shrug off the disappointment of two back-to-back defeats and get back to winning ways when they taken on Sunrisers Hyderabad as they aim to seal their place in the play-offs, in the IPL match, in Sharjah, on Saturday.
The in-form Virat Kohli was on Monday rested for the forthcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka, while Delhi's left-arm spinner Pawan Negi was a surprise inclusion for the three-match series.
Set a near impossible victory target of 490 on a track that is offering help for the spinners, Jharkhand were 28 for one in their second innings with two full days' play left and 462 runs to get.
A round-up of Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Thursday.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India released Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Stuart Binny from the Indian Test squad to play for their respective states in the next round of Ranji Trophy.
Perennial underachievers Royal Challengers Bangalore endured another disappointing IPL campaign, but their performance in the second half of Season-12 has given them something to be proud of, said skipper Virat Kohli, after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets, in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
Virender Sehwag's wretched run in domestic cricket continued as the veteran opener failed to open his account but Delhi did manage to comfortably beat Punjab by four wickets to notch up their maiden win in the North Zone leg of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Rajasthan Royals, who have won their last two games, will look for another victory against RCB and keep their hopes alive of making it to the IPL play-offs.
Having outplayed Bangladesh 'A' in all the departments in the first unofficial ODI, an upbeat India 'A' will be looking to keep the winning momentum.
Warner would be looking to make the most of the early start and put runs on the board again.
A summary of Thursday's matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy limited-overs' tournament.
They endured a disastrous run the last time around to finish at the bottom of the heap and Kings XI Punjab would be aiming to make amends this season when they begin their campaign against newbies Gujarat Lions in their IPL opener in Mohali on Monday. Kings XI Punjab did not make any big buys this year and have a new captain in South African David Miller in place of Australian George Bailey who was released after leading the side to the last place in the previous season. Virender Sehwag has also retired and he will serve as team mentor this season. The Preity Zinta-owned side continues to lack the team balance as it has not added any significant player, only snapping the likes of all-rounders Farhaan Behardien and Marcus Stoinis, seamer Mohit Sharma and left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh. Last season, their batsmen lacked consistency and whenever they did well, the bowlers let the side down. On the other hand, debutants Gujarat Lions have a balanced side with top-class performers in both batting and bowling. They have explosive batsmen in Brendon McCullum, captain Suresh Raina, Aaron Finch and a plenty of top-notch all-rounders in Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja and James Faulkner.
Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore have won only three games out of 10 in IPL-12 so far.
Despite the win against KXIP, RCB remain at the bottom of the points table and remain to win all their remaining league games to have any hopes of progressing in the tournament.
In charge of a house in complete disorder, Virat Kohli will hope that Royal Challengers Bangalore play in the manner that defines his cricket when they meet Delhi Capitals in the IPL match in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Both teams have been more than disappointing thus far in the IPL and need a win to revive their respective campaigns.
With Jasprit Bumrah "ready and roaring" after an injury scare, Mumbai Indians will fancy their chances against an erratic Royal Challengers Bangalore when the two star-studded teams square off in the IPL, in Bengaluru, on Thursday. The big sub-plot of the contest will be the world's best ODI batsman -- Virat Kohli -- taking guard against the world's best ODI bowler -- Bumrah -- in a format notorious for its unpredictability.
Surya, who has been in great form, single-handedly guided the domestic giants to victory with an over to spare.
Manish Pandey continued his good form in the limited-overs' format, scoring an unbeaten 99 as defending champions Karnataka beat Mumbai by four wickets to enter the semi-finals of the National One-Day Championship, for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, in Vadodara, on Friday.
Kings XI retains Chris Gayle. Steve Smith returns to the IPL. Delhi Daredevils sacks 10 players!
With India being outplayed in the Twenty20s, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will face added pressure to perform and lead India from the front against a formidable South African unit in the five-match ODI cricket series starting in Kanpur on Sunday.
Senior pros Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir failed with the bat as Jammu and Kashmir powered by their skipper Parvez Rasool shocked Delhi by two wickets in the opening match of the North Zone leg of the National One-Day Championship for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.