Australia rode on a dominating all-round display to thrash a lacklustre India by 72 runs in the first cricket One-dayer in Pune.
Barring Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, all players have declared their allegiances to IPL franchises over their respective countries' domestic sides ahead of the upcoming Champions League Twenty20.
Injured Australia captain Michael Clarke will arrive in the United Arab Emirates five days ahead of the rest of the Test squad as he races to be fit for the two-match series against Pakistan.
How will young batsmen brought up on T20 learn to build an innings? What about the technique to patiently negotiate hostile seam bowling conditions or the skill to play on difficult dusty turners? What about leaving the swinging ball outside off stump?
With it's scandalous past, still fresh in the minds of fans and critics alike, the Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers will look to ensure that the focus remains firmly on cricket when the cash-rich event gets underway with a glamorous opening ceremony on Tuesday.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians finally snapped their losing streak on the back of a collective batting effort as they defeated Kings XI Punjab by five wickets in the Indian Premier League.
Mumbai Indians rode on Dwayne Smith's quick-fire half-century and his 90-run opening-wicket partnership with Sachin Tendulkar to book a berth in the final of the Champions League Twenty20 after a six-wicket win over Trinidad and Tobago in Delhi on Saturday night. They will play Rajasthan Royals in the title clash on Sunday.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes became the most expensive overseas purchase -- bought by Rising Pune Supergiants for a whopping Rs 14.50 crore even as some unheralded Indian domestic players trumped seasoned names to land lucrative deals at the Indian Premier League players' auction.
- 'The aggressive approach was the right one. The approach will remain the same' - 'I feel what he (Kohli) did throughout the Adelaide Test was really great'
Who were the most valuable players in the just-concluded India-Australia ODI series? Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji 's formula provides overwhelming evidence that the bat complete overwhelmed the bat.
- 'Always strong at the psychological game, the Aussies put the pressure on the opponents, knew how to handle the pressure themselves and exploited virtually every situation to their advantage' - 'They are firmly and categorically told never to allow success to go to their heads. You don't find Australian cricketers getting even a little complacent'
'With India's bowling so poor, there will be extra pressure on the batsmen to score more runs. The Indian team, which nonchalantly scores 300/350 runs in ODIs at home, has had problems making even 200/250 runs in Australia.'
In Murali Vijay the team has now rediscovered a technically sound, highly reliable opener, who can be both aggressive and defensive, believes Haresh Pandya
The 8th Champions Trophy begins in England this week. Rajneesh Gupta captures the tournament in all its statistical glory like only he can.
Rajneesh Gupta surveys the cricketing milestones from the Mohali Test.
Mumbai Indians gave a fitting farewell to Sachin Tendulkar's T20 career by notching up a comprehensive 33-run victory over Rajasthan Royals to clinch the Champions League Twenty20 title.
Indian cricket's fortunes ebbed and flowed in 2015 with Virat Kohli successfully leading the national side in Tests and Mahendra Singh Dhoni appearing to be losing his midas touch, while in off the field drama Shashank Manohar returned as the president of Board of Control for Cricket in India.
'Virat and I have good understanding in the middle.' 'The West Indies is a good team and we all respect them.' 'Grabbing the momentum will be key and that is why the start of the series is very important.'
'This was Kohli's veneration for his master: The man who had inspired him to pick up a cricket bat in the first place, the man he had grown up watching. Just that now, he was exactly like him, or, dare it be suggested, maybe a shade better while chasing down daunting totals,' says Dhruv Munjal.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player ratings for the ongoing IPL 8
With a MVPI of 619, David Warner is currently IPL 8's most successful player. A B de Villiers (603), after his recent magic at Wankhede stadium, is just behind, and could still be this IPL's top player if Royal Challengers Bangalore can make it to the semi-finals.
A look at the squads for the seventh season of the Indian Premier League at the conclusion of the two-day auction in Bangalore.
IPL 8 is past the half-way mark, and Andre Russell of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is emerging.
Sri Lanka's victory in the first Test at Galle will rank among the greatest comebacks of all time.
Mitchell Starc was the Player of the Tournament, but he ranks only 5th on Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player ratings list, revealing how this World Cup was so much in the batsmen's favour.
So 52 games have already been played in the Indian Premier League this season. Here are the Most Valuable players and some random observations by Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle.
Dwayne Bravo edges past A B de Villers in IPL8.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player ratings for the ongoing IPL 8.
A B de Villiers still heads Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup.
A B de Villiers may have made some big mistakes in the semi-final: Choosing to bat first in spite of the rain threat, batting too low at No 5, not hogging the strike after David Miller departed, fielding badly, asking Dale Steyn to bowl the last over ... but he is still best placed to be adjudged the most valuable player of the 2015 World Cup.
It looks highly unlikely if anyone will catch the South African captain in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup.
After four centuries on the trot with a strike rate of nearly 120, Sri Lanka's run machine Kumar Sangakkara (MVPI: 686) has raced to the top of the most valuable player standing at the ICC World Cup.
Strangely, despite four wins on the trot, none of India's players have even figured in the top 20 of the MVPI table.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji are back with Rediff.com's World Cup Most Valuable Players ratings.
Ahead of the start of the ninth season of the IPL, Rajneesh Gupta presents a detailed statistical analysis of the players involved.
Although A B de Villiers is still the front-runner for the MVP crown of the 2015 World Cup, a new and serious challenger has suddenly appeared out of the blue -- New Zealand opener Martin Guptill.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji figure out who are the most valuable players after the league phase of the World Cup intheir latest update.
As India gets set to play its 500th Test, Rajneesh Gupta presents India's memorable Test victories at home.
Prem Panicker, on the Rediff chat, delves on what went wrong for Team India and what to expect from Sunday's trans-Tasman World Cup final.
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