Notwithstanding Rising Pune Supergiants' poor run in IPL-9, Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor VVS Laxman considers the debutante side as a formidable unit and said his team will have to put its best foot forward when they clash with them in their IPL match on Tuesday. "It goes without saying that (RPS Captain M S Dhoni) Dhoni will be looking forward to use Ashwin against Warner and Shikhar. I believe that Pune has got a very formidable batting line up," Laxman said in a pre-match press conference at Hyderabad. "Lot of people talk about Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, Faf Duplessis being similar. They are all extrordinary T20 players. We cannot at all be complecent or we cannot at all underestimate the batting strength of Pune. We are very mindful," he added. The former Test batsman, however, exuded confidence that SRH can take on any opposition if it sticks to its plans and executes them well. "But, I believe that if we concentrate on our plans and try to execute our plans, then we can do well against any opposition. It's more about concentrating and playing to our strength, while strategizing for each and every opposition batsman or bowler," he said. Noting that the MS Dhoni-led Pune team would look to bounce back strongly, Laxman said no team can be ruled out as it is still the early part of the long IPL tournament.
Ravichandran Ashwin, was again the highest wicket-taker for India with figures of 4 for 70 on Day 1 of the 2nd Test in Bangalore on Saturday. India's top off-spinner reveals how a new-found confidence allows him to place the odds in his favour whenever he bowling to a new batsman.
Inspired by skipper David Warner's whirlwind fifty, Sunrisers Hyderabad outplayed Chennai Super Kings by 22 runs to notch up a much-needed win and hand the table-toppers their second consecutive defeat in the IPL match on Saturday.
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played on Friday
Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on the individual brilliance of David Warner and Trent Boult to open their account in the eighth Indian Premier League (IPL) with a convincing eight-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru.
All-rounder Thisara Perera smashed a quickfire half-century as Sunrisers Hyderabad staged a remarkable fightback to pip Trinidad and Tobago by four wickets in the Champions League Twenty20 in Mohali.
A phenomenal knock from Yusuf Pathan, who blasted his way to a 22-ball 72, catapulted Kolkata Knight Riders to the second-place in the point table as the hosts hammered Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets in their final IPL match in Kolkata on Saturday.
Putting up an all-round show, Kolkata Knight Riders consolidated their fourth position in the points table with a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL match in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Former Australian skipper Mark Taylor has come out and praised Virat Kohli for the way he marshalled the Indian team in the first Test here, saying the young batsman knows how to play cricket Down Under.
The Indian pace attack is getting much attention Down Under, with Varun Aaron being singled out for special praise by Australian cricketers. They feel the youngster's biggest assets - pace and bounce - have troubled the visitors on previous tours Down Under.
Virat Kohli's brilliant innings under pressure enabled Royal Challengers Bangalore to eke out a thrilling six wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL cricket tournament on Friday.
The players auctions for this year's IPL is scheduled for this weekend. Rajneesh Gupta looks at the players retained and released by the teams for IPL 2017.
Mumbai registered their first victory of the season, thrashing Odisha by 120 runs in a Ranji Trophy Group 'C' match at KIIT Stadium, in Bhubaneshwar, on Saturday.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji reveal Rediff's Most Valuable Players in IPL 10.
A summary of the first day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches at various venues across the country.
Delhi survived a mighty scare before their lower order, led by Nitish Rana and Sumit Narwal, saved the day with some gritty batting as they beat Rajasthan by two wickets in their Group B Ranji Trophy match in Wayanad on Thursday. Resuming the final day on 51 for 3, needing 102 runs more to win, Delhi suffered a batting collapse but finally crossed the target of 153 with Rana (31) and Narwal (27 not out) playing some sensible cricket to take their side home at the Krishnagiri Stadium. The day's start for Delhi was a horrible one with overnight batsman Vikas Tokas (10) being bowled by Pankaj Singh in the fifth over of the day with the addition of just five runs to his individual overnight score. The score was 62 for 4 at that stage.
Riding on Tushar Deshpande's five-wicket haul, defending champions Mumbai registered a comfortable 10-wicket win over Railways and grabbed six points in their Ranji Trophy Group A match in Mysore on Tuesday. On the fourth day, Deshpande snapped three wickets -- Faiz Ahmed (28), Ashish Yadav (26) and DN Bansal (3) -- to go with the two wickets he had taken yesterday, while Shardul Thakur, Vijay Gohil and Balwinder Sandhu picked up one wicket each to dismiss Railways for 208 after they resumed their second innings at an overnight total of 135-4 on Tuesday.
Opener David Warner extended his purple patch with the bat, scoring his second century of the match, as the first Test against India headed for an exciting finish, with Australia gaining an overall lead of 363 runs in Adelaide on Friday. At stumps on Day 4, at the Adelaide Oval, Australia were 290 for five, with Steven Smith and Brad Haddin batting on 52 and 14 respectively.
India's batsmen got a much-needed workout ahead of the Test series against Australia, putting up 375 runs in 90 overs, before their two-day tour game against Cricket Australia XI ended in a draw at the Glenelg Oval in Adelaide on Friday.
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played across India on Saturday.
India are using the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka as preparation for next year's World Cup and home team's captain Virat Kohli says recent performances of the pace bowlers, especially Umesh Yadav, has given him a lot of hope going into the mega-event.
Series already in their pocket, a rampaging India would look to keep the foot on the pedal and press for a clean sweep when they take on England in the fifth and final cricket one-dayer in Leeds on Friday.
The series is out of bounds but Indian cricket is all set to enter a new era under the feisty Virat Kohli, whose leadership would be put through a trial by fire when the visitors seek redemption in the fourth and final Test against Australia starting in Sydney on Tuesday.
With the cricket world still mourning the tragic death of Phillip Hughes, the first Test between India and Australia next week was on Saturday put off to an unspecified date and might even be cancelled to pay homage to the young batsman.
Virat Kohli's inspirational leadership for Royal Challengers Bangalore will be up against the brute force with which David Warner has steered Sunrisers Hyderabad when the two teams, eyeing their maiden IPL title, square off in a high-intensity summit clash in Bengaluru on Sunday. RCB, however, will have a slight advantage over Sunrisers as they have the experience of playing in an IPL final twice in the past -- 2009 and 2011, but on both occasions, they had finished runners-up. Sunrisers' best finish was a play-off berth which they managed in their debut season in 2013.
Former Sri Lanka spin sensation Muttiah Muralitharan discusses the BCCI's clampdown on suspect bowling actions and his role as bowling coach and mentor of Sunrisers Hyderabad with Harish Kotian/Rediff.com
A summary of the day's matches in the Vijay Hazare One-day tournament.
A spirited Bengal downed bitter foes Railways by 48 runs in their controversy-filled match at the Eden Gardens on Sunday to set up a Ranji Trophy semifinal clash against Maharashtra.
Railways captain Murali Kartik took the attack back to the opposition camp with a timely half-century as the visitors need another 154 runs with seven wickets in hand as their Ranji Trophy quarter-final against hosts Bengal hangs in balance at the end of the fourth day.
A summary of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma blazed his way to a record-breaking knock of 264 as India trounced Sri Lanka by 153 runs in the fourth One-day International to take a 4-0 lead in the five-match series, at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata, on Thursday. The Mumbai right-hander launched an all-out assault on the Lankan bowling as a result of which India amassed a mammoth 404 for five while batting first. In reply, the islanders were dismissed for 251 in 43.1 overs.
Playing for Jharkhand, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was playing his first domestic match in eight years, made just nine before he was dismissed by Jammu and Kashmir's left-arm spinner Waseem Raza.
Dhoni praised every aspect of Ashwin's performance.
India's long tour of England ended on a heartbreaking note as England held their nerve to pull off a thrilling three-run victory in the only Twenty20 International.
Railways seamer Anureet Singh's five-wicket haul kept them in the hunt for the quarter-finals as they got three crucial points against Jammu and Kashmir by virtue of a first innings lead in a rain-curtailed Group B league match of the Ranji Trophy, in a home tie in New Delhi on Saturday.
A summary of the second day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches being played at different venues over the country.
All-rounder Stuart Binny tormented the East Zone batsmen with his controlled swing bowling as they lost as many as 14 wickets with South Zone marching towards a comprehensive innings victory at the end of second day in the semi-final of the Duleep Trophy.
Suresh Raina smashed a quickfire half-century while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni produced a belligerent unbeaten knock of 63 as Chennai Super Kings outclassed Sunrisers Hyderabad by 12 runs in their Champions League T20 match, in Ranchi.
Seeking to continue their winning momentum and take an unassailable 2-0 lead, India were dealt a blow ahead of the third one-dayer against England at Trent Bridge on Saturday as opener Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the remainder of the tour because of injury.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Friday
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