Lost in transition, defending champions Sri Lanka will look to come out of the rut and start well against a spirited Afghanistan in their World Twenty20 Super 10 opener at Eden Gardens on Thursday. The defending champions, who were also runners-up in 2009 and 2012, have managed to win only four of their 14 matches since they beat India to win the 2014 edition in Mirpur. They are in the middle of a transition phase after Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene's exit. The build-up to the tournament was also forgettable with series defeats in New Zealand and India followed by an early ouster in Asia Cup. To add to the misery, their 2014 WT20 winning skipper Lasith Malinga has stepped down as leader of the team, following concern over his slow recovery from a knee injury. Now Test and ODI skipper Angelo Mathews' task is cutout. Having joined the squad on Tuesday, Malinga is a doubtful starter for the match. His presence in the team would impact the team a lot.
Mithali Raj will come out with her autobiography next year which will provide a candid and revealing look into her personal and sporting life.
Dhoni has led the CSK to eight finals but he was far from a contended skipper.
Batsmen Mahela Jayawardene and Lahiru Thirimanne were named in Sri Lanka's 15-member squads for the Asia Cup and WorldT20 in Bangladesh next month following injury lay-offs, while strike spin bowler Rangana Herath was included subject to him proving his fitness.
The meeting is expected to start at 11 am at the hotel on the city outskirts where Congress legislators in support of the Ashok Gehlot government are camping.
He is the only Indian to make the list that includes three South Africans including record-breaking captain AB de Villiers. Check out the team...
Sri Lanka continued to struggle in their tour match against Queensland on Saturday after going into stumps at 62-4 in their second innings, 23 runs behind the home side's first innings total.
The Pandya brothers -- Hardik and Krunal -- bowled well to keep the runs down and take wickets inside the Powerplay.
Pakistan government pledged the same level of security to Sri Lankan cricketers as is provided to visiting heads of state.
England's star all-rounder Ben Stokes says his struggling IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals will, from now on, have to "treat every game like a final" if they are to make the play-offs.
Tillakaratne Dilshan scored his 17th One-day international century and shared a second wicket stand of 184 with Kumar Sangakkara to guide Sri Lanka to a series clinching eight wicket win over South Africa in the fourth match at Pallekele on Sunday.
The tourists, out for 89 in the first Test, were bowled out for a meagre 62 in 25.2 overs in the first over after the lunch interval in the second Test.
England's "one-dimensional" batsmen are flat-track bullies who do not have an alternative plan if they are required to graft an innings in bowler-friendly surfaces, former batsman Geoffrey Boycott said.
Rajneesh Gupta comes up with interesting trivia from the year gone by. Read on.
He is open to the idea of discussing Sri Lanka's transitional issues with their coach Nic Pothas, but India skipper Virat Kohli will only do it once he is done with the ongoing limited overs series.
David Miller helped South Africa blast 14 runs from their super over, before the wily Tahir restricted Sri Lanka to only five in reply, two of which were wides.
The World T20 Championships has seen a plethora of records created since its inception in 2007. Rediff.com gives you a glance of all the interesting statistics from the tournament!
Magnificent death bowling saw Mumbai Indians snatch an incredible one-run victory from the jaws of defeat against Rising Pune Supergiant in a thrilling final of the Indian Premier League, in Hyderabad, on Sunday.
The victory over Kings XI Punjab has brought them back in the play-offs mix, but Mumbai Indians have no time to relax, as they take on struggling Delhi Daredevils in another must-win IPL clash, in Mumbai, on Friday.
A superb all-round show by J P Duminy earned South Africa a 12-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first Twenty20 international in Colombo on Friday. The tourists, after putting up a modest 115-6 after electing to bat, restricted Sri Lanka at 103-9 at the Premadasa stadium.
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Rahul Chahar's brilliant spell of 2/14 helped Mumbai Indians crush Chennai Super Kings by 6 wickets to enter the IPL final.
The division bench completed the hearing of arguments and said it will pronounce its order on Friday, requesting the Speaker too to extend his deadline for accepting the MLAs replies to the notices. The notices had followed a Congress complaint that the 19 MLAs should be disqualified from the assembly for defying a party whip.
Hardik Pandya staged a late assault to help Mumbai Indians pull off a thrilling four-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders for their first win in the Indian Premier League in Mumbai, on Sunday.
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.
The Jamaican hit an unbeaten 80, took 2 crucial wickets and the catch that sealed a KKR win.
Kings XI Punjab skipper George Bailey has praised Mumbai Indians pace spearhead Lasith Malinga and said the two overs from the Sri Lankan towards the end played a crucial part in stopping their winning wheel.
Kings XI Punjab skipper George Bailey praised Mumbai Indians pace spearhead Lasith Malinga, saying the two overs from the Sri Lankan towards the end played a crucial part in stopping their winning streak.
'We have seen the SLC statement, but are not privy to any information or intelligence report relating to safety of the SL team. The PCB reiterates its commitment to provide complete safety and security to the SL side and in this relation will continue to work with the SLC'
A poor showing by Misbah-ul- Haq, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Shane Watson and Lasith Malinga also cost their teams dear in previous editions of the Twenty20 marquee event.
Table-toppers Mumbai Indians will be itching to avenge their double defeat against Rising Pune Supergiant in the league stage when the two teams face-off in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League in Mumbai, on Tuesday.
Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara held their nerve in the death overs with miserly fast bowling as Sri Lanka beat South Africa by five runs in their World Twenty20 opener at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.
Having lost to Sri Lanka in their first warm-up match on Monday, India will look to enter the main draw on a positive note when they take on England in the second warm-up match of the ICC World Twenty20 Championships in Dhaka on Wednesday.
The reigning champions should consider giving spinner Nathan Lyon a runout at some point in the round-robin stage, former captain Allan Border said.
Heaping praise on Lahiru Thirimanne for his match-winning hundred against Pakistan in the final Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said the youngster is find of the tournament for them.
Images from the IPL match played between Mumbai Indians and RCB in Mumbai on Monday
Martin Guptill produced a superb diving catch to dismiss the dangerous Thisara Perera with a wicket that sparked a stunning collapse as New Zealand swept the three-match one-day series against Sri Lanka with a 115-run victory at Nelson on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 12 runs in the opening match of the Asia Cup on Tuesday. Here are the statistical highlights from the match.
Not too intimidated by the prospect of a Chris Gayle onslaught, Sri Lankan coach Graham Ford said his bowlers have the plans in place to neutralise the threat posed by the marauding West Indian batsman in Sunday's World Twenty20 clash.
Kumar Sangakkara continued his awesome batting form in Bangladesh as Sri Lanka won the second One-Day International by 61 runs in Dhaka on Thursday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
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