Images from the IPL match between Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, in Ahmedabad, on Monday.
Smith was handed a one-year ban along with his then deputy David Warner exactly a year ago for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Mumbai Indians crushed Sunrisers Hyderabad by nine wickets in a must-win final league game to sail into play-offs of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Karun Nair kept Delhi Daredevils' slender hopes of qualifying for the play-offs alive with a 59-ball unbeaten 83 that guided them to a six-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Friday's Indian Premier League match, at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh stadium in Raipur, that went down to the wire.
On a roll after three consecutive wins, a resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad will start as overwhelming favourites against struggling Rising Pune Supergiants in an Indian Premier League match, in Hyderabad, on Tuesday.
'If you had have told me then (he would captain Australia), I certainly wouldn't have believed you, but this game moves fast and sometimes things happen that are quite unexpected and that's exactly what's happened in this scenario.'
Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore have won only three games out of 10 in IPL-12 so far.
Left chasing shadows in the first two games, a listless Indian team would most certainly tweak its bowling combination in order to avoid a second successive clean-sweep when it takes on Australia in the third and final ODI, in Canberra, on Wednesday.
We will find a way to send back foreign players, says IPL chairman Brijesh Patel.
Sunrsiers' middle-order has hardly been tested and when the opportunity came against Mumbai Indians, the likes of Vijay Shankar, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda and Yusuf Pathan fell flat.
The home team's bowlers will be wary of Chris Gayle's power-hitting.
While Kings XI's biggest star Chris Gayle scored a 47-ball 79 in the Jaipur match, his Jamaican compatriot Andre Russell also looked in blistering touch for KKR in the match against Sunriserrs Hyderabad. Their rivalry will be one of the sub plots of Wednesday's clash in Kolkata.
With a debate raging over the run out, it remains to be seen how Ashwin and Co. start afresh in what will be their first away match of the season.
The defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad did not hurt them since they have already qualified for the Indian Premier League Play-offs but for Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma the defeat is 'an eye-opener'.
Sri Lanka set Australia a stiff 268-run victory target before claiming three wickets in a truncated afternoon session to take the upper hand on the penultimate day of the first Test in Pallekele on Friday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's mentor VVS Laxman has said that opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan's form is not a matter of concern for the team and added that domestic players need to score runs.
India and Australia play their opening T20 match In Ranchi on Saturday. And, although the visitors have added fresh faces to their squad for the three-match series, India are clearly the dominant side in this match-up.
Desperate to break their title jinx, Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore will be hoping for a positive start to their campaign in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League, when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Bengaluru, on Tuesday.
Australia buried India under an avalanche of runs for a 51-run drubbing in the second ODI and an unassailable 2-0 series lead after the majestic Steve Smith produced another master-class in the form of a 64-ball 104, in Sydney, on Sunday.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann wants one-day international matches to continue as long as conditions are safe.
Yuvraj Singh issued a reminder of his enduring quality with a match-winning fifty in the Indian Premier League opener on Wednesday, saying he was batting with more freedom after his international recall.
Chennai Super Kings will aim to maintain their pole position with a victory over a struggling Kings XI Punjab
The two teams are languishing at the bottom half of the table and need a win to keep alive their remote Play-off chances.
Playing only his second international match, 27-year-old Jason Behrendorff scythed through India's top order. He took four wickets for 21 runs in an inspired spell of fast bowling to set up an eight-wicket victory and enable the tourists square the three-match series at 1-1.
All-rounder Marcus Stoinis was called up for Australia's two remaining Tests in India on the strength of his bowling and previous performances in the region, interim chief selector Trevor Hohns said on Thursday.
Seeking home comforts after multiple reverses at the Ferozshah Kotla, Delhi Capitals will be desperate to buck the trend when they take on a rejuvenated Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League, in Delhi, on Saturday.
Focus will now be on how Rabada would fare against the likes of Chris Gayle, Lokesh Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and David Miller.
Australian opener David Warner and veteran fast bowler Ryan Harris have moved up to career-high positions in the ICC Test player rankings following their impressive contributions in Australia's series-winning third Test defeat of South Africa in Cape Town.
Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner feels the key to winning matches in Twenty20 cricket, especially in the Indian Premier League, is one good partnership at the top.
Back to their winning ways after sucessive victories, a rejuvenated Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to continue their good run when they take on laggards Kings XI Punjab in an IPL T20 clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium on Saturday.
Eyeing their first win of the season, Sunrisers Hyderabad would be looking to put up an improved show in their home ground where they lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders, who would also be keen to get back to winning ways in the Indian Premier League.
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.
Sri Lanka beat Australia by 163 runs in the final test in Colombo on Wednesday to complete a 3-0 sweep in the three-match series. Chasing 324 for victory, Australia were all out for 160 half-an-hour before the tea break, succumbing to their third successive defeat against the hosts.
Dhananjaya de Silva hit a maiden century and combined with Dinesh Chandimal to resurrect Sri Lanka's innings after a poor start against Australia on the opening day of the third and final Test on Saturday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to consolidate their gains when they take on beleaguered Kings XI Punjab .
Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to get yet another win under their belt.
RCB have been inconsistent in their first six games in IPL-12, with both their bowling and batting faltering on many occasions.
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'.
India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar feels the dismissal of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in Jason Behrendorff's first over of the innings tilted the scales Australia's way in the second Twenty20 International in Guwahati on Tuesday.
Skipper Virat Kohli played a handy cameo after yet another impressive show by the bowling unit as India comfortably beat Australia by nine wickets in a rain-curtailed opening T20 International, in Ranchi, on Saturday.
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