India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Saturday hurt his right knee during the fielding session ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy final against Pakistan.
It is 22 years since India last got the better of Australia in a bilateral series at home, and the hosts are keen to set the record straight.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side will go top of the ODI rankings if it wins the upcoming series 4-3 or better. But it can drop below South Africa if it loses 6-1 or 7-0; Australia needs to win series to retain top position.
Former skipper Graeme Smith on Friday dropped in at South Africa's training session, continuing an interesting trend of ex-captains visiting their teams with bagful of wisdom ahead of matches against India.
Australia may have lost the aura of invincibility after the likes of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne made their exit but captain Ricky Ponting is happy that the youngsters have made a mark in the ICC Champions Trophy.
Shane Watson came to the party for the second straight match. He stamped his authority with a magnificent innings of 105 not out as Australia beat New Zealand by six wickets to successfully defend their ICC Champions Trophy crown, at SuperSport Park in Centurion, on Monday.
Pakistan are confident the West Indies will provide some much-needed international opposition by agreeing to play two Test matches in November, a senior official said on Saturday. Pakistan have struggled to find opponents after the eight-nation ICC Champions Trophy, due to be held this month in Pakistan, was postponed after some countries refused to attend because of security concerns.
West Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwary will replace South Africa's AB de Villiers in Delhi Daredevils squad for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament, from October 8 to 23. De Villiers had reported back pain in the lead-up to the ICC Champions Trophy and was advised to rest for four to six weeks by the Cricket South Africa Medical Committee, according to a statement.
Out-of-favour Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar wants arch-rival India to reach the semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy so that the event does not lose its charm and interest.
Elated with the thumping victory against India, Pakistan skipper Younis Khan has declared that the ICC Champions Trophy belongs to his country and he will leave no stone unturned to get it back.
Australia's batsmen fired on all cylinders against India before rain forced the Group A match in the ICC Champions Trophy, at SuperSport Park in Centurion, on Monday, to be abandoned. The players were forced to rush off the field with the scoreboard reading 234 for four after 42.3 overs as heavy rain lashed the stadium.
Advertisers seek safeguards as low viewership of Indo-Pak tie shows the game's showpiece is losing sheen.
Eoin Morgan's unbeaten half-century helped England get off to a winning start in the ICC Champions Trophy after an emphatic six-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in the Group B match at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, on Friday. 23-year-old Morgan carried England home with his unbeaten knock of 62 from 83 deliveries, inclusive of seven boundaries, as England recovered after a couple of early wickets to coast to 213 for four in 45 overs.
A jittery England will have a daunting task to stop a confident Sri Lanka when they open their ICC Champions Trophy campaign at the Wanderers on Friday.
Captain Shahid Afridi has said that Pakistan will play out of their skin against India in their second match on Saturday.
South African coach Mickey Arthur is disappointed that the ICC did not consider any of the Proteas good enough to be nominated for its annual awards and said the snub will spur the boys in their quest for the ICC Champions Trophy.
Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik is ready to take on the role of an opener in the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy but wants an extended run from the team management.
The BCCI threw its weight behind Pakistan and backed the traditional rivals to host the ICC Champions Trophy next month even as many cricket boards are apprehensive of sending their players for the tournament in the violence-hit country. Pakistan is anxiously waiting to learn if it will host the prestigious event as the ICC Board convenes a teleconference on Sunday to decide the issue.
With the International Cricket Council finding it tough to convince apprehensive cricketers on touring Pakistan for next month's Champions Trophy, Sri Lanka on Friday said it is ready to hold the tournament even at a short notice. The event, which is scheduled from September 11 to 28, is facing an uncertain future after Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand, raised concerns over touring Pakistan due to the security situation.
English cricket legend Ian Botham said all-rounder Ben Stokes' stint in the recently-concluded tenth edition of the Indian Premier League has turned him into a mature player.
Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh made a comeback into the Indian ODI squads for the five-match series against Sri Lanka and the forthcoming 2008 ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Under-19 World Cup winning captain Virat Kohli was the surprise inclusion in both the squads.
Pakistan cricket batting advisor and former captain Javed Miandad has asked pitch curators to prepare a green and pacy surface at the Gaddafi Stadium to prepare batsmen for the bouncy South African wickets.
India will recover quickly from their early exit at the Twenty20 World Cup and are certain to mount a serious challenge at the Champions Trophy in South Africa next month, coach Gary Kirsten said. India have recalled Rahul Dravid to the one-day team for the first time in almost two years to bolster their batting on pacy South African pitches at the September 22-October 5 ICC Champions Trophy.
India, along with hosts South Africa and Australia, are the strongest contenders for next month's ICC Champions Trophy with Yuvraj Singh posing a massive threat to the bowlers, fears New Zealand medium pacer Ian Butler. Apart from Yuvraj, the right-arm pacer tipped South African pacer Dale Steyn and Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal as players to watch out for.
The selection of the Indian team for the tri-series in Sri Lanka and ICC Champions Trophy has opened a Pandora's box. But one big question that needs to be asked here is: does Dravid form a part of the selectors' vision for the 2011 World Cup? Is he just filling in as a temporary replacement for a year or so till the youngsters get settled?
Ex-South Africa captain Shaun Pollock believes One-Day International cricket is still the best limited-overs form of the game.
Veteran batsman Rahul Dravid was on Sunday called up to the Indian ODI squad for the upcoming tri-series in Sri Lanka and ICC Champions Trophy. The former India captain, who last played an ODI two years back, in October 2007, was included in the 15-member squad along with Sachin Tendulkar, who was rested for the West Indies one-dayers.
National selectors ignored Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly while naming 30 Indian probables for the ICC Champions Trophy in September.
Promising leg-spinner Piyush Chawla says he is polishing his batting skills to make an India comeback after being ignored for the ICC Champions Trophy, underlining the importance of having a good bat lower down the order in modern cricket. The 21-year-old spinner, who is presently playing county cricket for Sussex, started with a bang by taking 19 wickets and scoring a century in the English County Championships.
Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday said pacer Hasan Ali is responding well to the virtual rehabilitation session being conducted for recuperation of his back injury and might return to competitive cricket sooner than expected. PCB also announced it will provide financial assistance to Hasan, who is currently not a centrally contracted player, till he returns to competitive cricket.
India will open its campaign against defending champion and top seed Australia in the 2008 ICC Champions Trophy to be played in Pakistan in September. The International Cricket Council on Saturday announced the schedule and venues for the tournament to be played from September 11 to 28 in three venues -- Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.
The travel-weary Indian cricketers will have an extended period of rest at the conclusion of the short ODI series in the West Indies, till the commencement of the ICC Champions Trophy in September, following the Board of Control for Cricket in India's decision to drop plans for the team's visit to Zimbabwe in between.
Pakistan has signed a three-year, $9 million agreement to play its ODIs and Twenty20 matches in Dubai.
South Africa dealt a body blow to next month's ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan on Friday by withdrawing from the tournament for safety and security reasons. Despite assurances from an International Cricket Council (ICC) task force that acceptable security measures would be in place, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said it is not prepared to send a team to Pakistan.
Safety and security arrangements for the Champions Trophy in Pakistan are satisfactory, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said on Tuesday. Asked if next month's event could be moved to Sri Lanka, which is the ICC's alternate venue, Lorgat said: "I think the time has passed".
Australian Geoff Lawson has sparked speculation over his future as Pakistan coach by leaving the country suddenly a month before it hosts the ICC Champions Trophy.
Sri Lanka have recalled fast bowlers Dilhara Fernando and Farveez Maharoof for the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan next month. Fernando returns after recovering from a leg injury and Maharoof has recovered from a side strain, although the selectors have decided he should not be rushed back for the India series. All rounder Kaushal Weeraratne will replace Maharoof for the five-match one-day series against India which starts in Dambulla on August 18.
They were named in the 30-man provisional squad for the ICC Champions Trophy.
England will host India in three one-dayers next year in the lead-up to the ICC Champions Trophy.
While former England skipper Nasser Hussain loves that Virat Kohli is his "own man", very different from 'Ice Man' Mahendra Singh Dhoni, there are areas where he would like the Indian captain to improve.
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