The 34-year-old was India's number one Test wicket-keeper until a career-threatening shoulder injury ruled him out of action for almost a year.
Images from the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians, in Delhi, on Thursday.
India 'A' suffered a massive collapse to be bowled out for 345 before the visiting South African team reached 213 for three at stumps on the second day of the second four-day 'Test' in Bengaluru.
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.
'It's not that I consider myself as a batsman, I am a batsman' 'Just a bit more focus, spending some more time batting at the nets, talking to batting coach, mentally prepared for certain situations where you need to take more responsibility'
However, Mumbai will take heart from the fact that they defeated defending champions Chennai Super Kings, their first loss in four games, in the last match.
Mithun became the first bowler in the domestic circuit to claim hat-trick in all the formats.
A livid Ravichandran Ashwin asked the media to stop criticising the slow and spin-suited Indian pitches, saying he is fed up answering the oft-repeated queries.
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.
Hardik Pandya stood tall amid the ruins with an unbeaten 79 as India collapsed to 169-9 on a rain-hit opening day of the second four-day Quadrangular A Series match against Australia, in Brisbane, on Thursday.
The Elite list is set to comprise only three players ---skipper Virat Kohli, his limited overs deputy Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.
The Indian captain insists his side will have to keep winning consistently for the next seven to eight years to leave a mark on the world stage.
Kohli's 147 -- his 15th Test hundred -- and an equally confident 136 by Murali Vijay enabled India to extend their first-innings lead to 51 runs in reply to England's 400.
Factbox on the four-Test series between India and Australia, which starts at Pune on Thursday:
Handed a rude shock in the opening game, the Indian youngsters will have to raise their game in the second Twenty20 International to stay afloat in the three-match series against minnows Zimbabwe, in Harare on Monday.
KB Arun Karthick struck a vital unbeaten 115 to help Assam garner three crucial points against defending champions Karnataka after their Group 'A' Ranji Trophy match ended in a tame draw, Guwahati, on Sunday.
Star batsman Suresh Raina will look to get some batting practice ahead of the upcoming South Africa series along with some of the other fringe players as India 'A' take on Bangladesh 'A' in a three-match One-Day series, starting in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
Their play-off chances hanging by a thread, Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Mumbai Indians with a prayer on their lips in a must-win Indian Premier League game for them on Sunday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad face a formidable task without batting mainstay David Warner when they square off against Mumbai Indians in a crucial IPL match in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai suffered a batting collapse to be shot out for a paltry 182 in their second innings but still set the Rest of India an imposing target of 480 to win the Irani Cup title in Mumbai on Thursday. At stumps on the fourth and penultimate day, the Rest, who conceded a huge first innings lead of 297, were 100 for the loss of opener K S Bharat's (42) wicket to whittle down the lead to 380. Vidarbha's Faiz Fazal (41) and Sudip Chatterjee (17) of Bengal were the unbeaten Rest batsmen who will carry on the run chase on Friday at the Brabourne Stadium. Earlier Mumbai, who did not enforce the follow on last evening and resumed today at their overnight second innings score of 2 for 1, were shot out for 182 in 51.2 overs -- mainly by the efforts of spin-pace combine of Jayant Yadav (4 for 93) and Jaydev Unadkat (3 for 16).
The domestic season-ending five-day Irani Cup game between newly crowned Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai and the Rest of India, commencing in Mumbai from Sunday, will provide fringe players a good opportunity to stake claims for the national team. The first class match is the last occasion for hopefuls from both ranks to impress the five-member national selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil before attention shifts totally to the T20 format, commencing with the ICC World T20 Championships. With the country expected to play over 15 Test matches post Indian Premier League till the end of next season, this match is the ideal platform for these players to strengthen their claims for the long Test haul. Mumbai, who clinched the Ranji crown for the 41st time last week by defeating Saurashtra by an innings, have a settled combination led by wicket keeper batsman Aditya Tare. They appear to be better prepared than the motley bunch of Rest of India, being led by Madhya Pradesh stumper Naman Ojha. However, they would take the Rest of India lightly at their own peril as the latter have a good bowling attack at their command even without originally named Barinder Sran and Nathu Singh who have been injured and replaced by Ankit Rajpoot and Anureet Singh, according to their coach Ashish Kapoor.
Axar Patel is summoned as the 15th member of the Indian team due to Ravindra Jadeja's suspension.
Virat Kohli will face the toughest battle of his fledgling captaincy career when India take on a resurgent Australia in the second cricket Test.
All-rounder Krunal Pandya and medium pacer Deepak Chahar earned their maiden call up in the Indian squad to replace the injured Washington Sundar and Jasprit Bumrah for the three-match Twenty20 International series against England, starting in Manchester on Tuesday.
Shikhar Dhawan's poor technique in testing conditions along with the fitness status of Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin will come up for discussion when the selectors pick the Indian team for the two-Test series against the West Indies.
Images from the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, in Delhi, on Saturday.
The likes of Robin UthaManoj Tiwaryppa, Manoj Tiwary and Kedar Jadhav will get another chance to impress the selectors and push their case for a comeback to international cricket when Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka clash against Rest of India lock in a five-day Irani Trophy match, in Bangalore, starting on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators announced a new category 'A+' with an annual retainership of Rs. 7 crore. The top category includes the likes of captain Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.
Whether it is by choice or compulsion of injuries, Kohli's fetish for tinkering with playing XI is well documented -- something that wasn't questioned till the South African debacle happened.
A near-perfect series for Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Mumbai trounced Himachal Pradesh by 200 runs in their final Elite Group D game to remain unbeaten in the league stage
'He is always going to be an attacking player but reading of the situation when one is playing red ball cricket is required. We are glad that he has been picked in the national team and I hope he takes this maturity and builds from thereon'
The Board of Control for Cricket in India's Committee of Administrators (COA) on Tuesday doubled the annual retainership amount to Rs 2 crore for seven Grade A cricketers, including captain Virat Kohli and former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Fast running out of time, a struggling Rajasthan Royals will hope to complete the double against Mumbai Indians in a return-leg IPL fixture and revive their campaign in Jaipur Saturday.
The celebrated duo of head coach Ricky Ponting and mentor Sourav Ganguly has managed to instill belief in the team members and that is visible on the field. The team now seems to believe that it can win the title after a long spell as the perennial underachiever of the competition.
Mumbai Indians lock horns with an out-of-sorts Rajasthan Royals in an IPL match in which home skipper Rohit Sharma's return from injury will also be awaited, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
KXIP are riding a roller-coaster ride, having to endure a controversy involving their captain Ravichandran Ashwin who 'Mankaded' Rajasthan Royals batsman Jos Buttler in their first match, an act which was legal but criticised by some as against the 'Spirit of Cricket'.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will have rise to the occasion when they take on the already-eliminated Delhi Daredevil
Congratulatory messages poured in for the Virat Kohli-led Team India following their clinical win over England in the 4th Test in Mumbai on Monday.
Gujarat Lions and Delhi Daredevils will look to salvage pride when they clash in the Indian Premier League in Kanpur on Wednesday.