He has been roped in to arrest the downslide in Sri Lankan cricket and Asanka Gurusinha's assessment of the fall is quite simple -- not grooming anyone to fill in Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara's shoes.
Kohli promoting Pandya ahead of Dhoni is an indication that the skipper is looking to use his former captain more as an accumulator -- in Javed Miandad mould who would rotate strike, frustrate bowlers and launch a furious counter-attack after getting his eye in.
Indian players are conspicuous by their absence from the International Cricket Council's men's team of the Twenty20 World Cup, announced on Monday. The ICC special women's team, though, has Indian pacer Rumeli Dhar in it.
Dinesh Chandimal will captain Sri Lanka in the T20 series against New Zealand in place of regular captain Lasith Malinga who has been forced out due to an injury, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka Cricket's selection committee chairman Aravinda de Silva stood by his panel and took full responsibility for making last-minute changes to the team for the ICC World Twenty20. "All decisions were taken in the best interest of the team and we take responsibility," de Silva, the hero of Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup win, said. He replaced the committee headed by Kapila Wijegoonawardana. Wijegoonawardana's committee was sacked by the Sports Ministry just a few days before the team departed. De Silva's committee, which also included Kumar Sangakkara, made changes to the squad picked by the previous committee. Sri Lanka fared poorly and failed to make it to the semifinals in a woeful defence of their title won in 2014.
India bulldozed Sri Lanka by 168 runs in the fourth one-day international on Thursday after skipper Virat Kohli and opener Rohit Sharma smashed blistering hundreds to put the tourists 4-0 up in the five-match series.
'I'm disappointed that we get defeated by a team Rajasthan Royals with weak batting order. If we can't restrict a team for under 170 with our bowling attack then we will need miracles against a strong team like Mumbai'
Four among IPL's five best players are coming in relatively 'fresh' and only AB de Villiers among them has had a full cricket season. Lasith Malinga is returning from injury, and Irfan Pathan isn't a regular in India's playing eleven in ODIs and Tests.
Opener Rohit Sharma smashed an unbeaten 124 to help India overcome a top-order wobble and register a series-clinching six-wicket victory in the third one-day international against Sri Lanka in Pallekele on Sunday.
Mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis made it to Sri Lanka's 14-member squad for the first cricket Test against India with the pace attack looking severely depleted by injuries to frontline pacers.
Maverick pacer Lasith Malinga and all-rounder Farveez Maharoof are among Sri Lanka's 30 probables for the September-slated Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Both Malinga and Maharoof had missed the recently-concluded Asia Cup in Pakistan due to injuries. While the former is recovering from a knee injury that forced him to stay out of the inaugural Indian Premier League, the latter is recuperating from a side strain.
Sri Lanka have called up pace bowler Dilhara Fernando into an expanded 16-man squad for their five-match one-day series against Pakistan, which starts on Thursday. Fernando, 30, will provide strike bowling cover for Lasith Malinga, who is returning to one-day cricket after a year's absence and may not play in all the matches due to a congested schedule.
'Dhoni was a very shrewd captain in terms of his out of the box thinking and getting the work done.'
Teenager Trent Alexander-Arnold curled in a magnificent free kick on his European debut to set Liverpool on the way to a 2-1 win at Hoffenheim which put them on the brink of UEFA Champions League group stage place.
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.
With momentum on their side, Dhoni and Co need to justify the favorites' tag and go the distance.
Reader Dr.Yadunandan T V sent us these pictures from Colombo.
Pakistan found Lasith Malinga's pace and swing too hot to handle as they went down to Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the Super Eights match of the World Twenty20 at Lord's on Friday. Electing to bat, Sri Lanka were restricted to 150 for seven in their 20 overs, but Pakistan disappointed, finishing with 131 for nine.
Jasprit Bumrah in full flow is always a joy to watch, six or seven stuttering steps, a skip and a shuffle, followed by undiluted fire and fury.
To celebrate ten years of its association with the hugely successful Indian Premier League, two-time champions Mumbai Indians are organising a special function in Mumbai on April 10.
It was the third win for Mumbai Indians in five games while Hyderabad suffered their second loss in five matches.
The 50-year-old Lara also gave his opinion as to what the team is required to do to become successful in the longest format of the game.
The already depleted Sri Lanka team on Monday suffered another blow with left arm fast bowler Binura Fernando being ruled out of the T20 series against India after sustaining a hamstring injury.
India has been confirmed as host for the 2016 Twenty20 World Cup
Umar Akmal played a stunning cameo of 18-ball unbeaten 38 as Lahore Lions beat defending champions Mumbai Indians by six wickets in their opening qualifying round match of the Champions League Twenty20 in Raipur on Saturday.
Kings XI Punjab's bid to remain in contention for the play-off berth in the Indian Premier League received a major blow when their premier batsman Shaun Marsh was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury. The Australian batsman had picked up a niggle in his back during the six-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders on April 19, which reportedly worsened in subsequent matches. Marsh is the third Australian in as many days to be heading home early from the competition, following younger brother Mitchell (side) and captain Steve Smith (wrist).
Habibul Bashar won the toss and elected to field against Sri Lanka in the first qualifying match of the ICC Champions Trophy.
The West Indies ended their dismal tour of Sri Lanka with a consolation victory after Dwayne Bravo's all-round brilliance secured a series-levelling 23-run win in the second and final Twenty20 International on Wednesday.
The combination of India's flat pitches and cricket's most trigger-happy batsmen is certain to produce some torrid moments for fast bowlers during the World Twenty20.
Any other result than India's resounding win looks highly unlikely, consdering the visitors' rampaging run in the preceding Test and ODI series, where they whitewashed the hosts 3-0 and 5-0 respectively.
Considered one of the greatest finishers in 50-overs cricket, Dhoni will join India's elite 'Club 300', which has Sachin Tendulkar (463), Rahul Dravid (344), Mohammed Azharuddin (334), Sourav Ganguly (311) and Yuvraj Singh (304).
The 35-year-old has been bamboozling batsmen for 15 years now on the international scene and yet still somehow retains the element of surprise.
Sachin Tendulkar has said that international batsmen should constantly work on their game in order to counter world class bowlers, as he did during his playing days.
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar feels that international batsmen should constantly work on their game.
Less than three months ago, Aaron Finch, alarmingly down on form and confidence, actually feared he might not be chosen for the Australian squad that he was due to lead. Now, he's atop the scoring charts at the World Cup.
Images from the World Cup match played between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Oval in London on Saturday.
Suresh Raina figures among the 10 players, who will "define" cricket in the next decade.
Vaughan predicts orange and purple cap winners at IPL 2019
Sri Lanka announced an unchanged 15-man squad for the second Test against South Africa which starts in Colombo on August 11.
Inzamam-ul-Haq says the tenure has been the most challenging of his professional career as he was subjected to 'hurtful criticism'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances