Ajinkya Rahane will be aiming to get his mojo back as India, formidable even without regular skipper Virat Kohli, eye another 'Whitewash' against Sri Lanka in the three-match ODI series, starting on Sunday.
Languishing at the bottom of ICC ODI team ranking, Pakistan have set sight on direct qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup when they take on the in-form reigning world champions and number-one ranked Australia in a five-ODI series starting in Brisbane on Friday.
Australian batsman George Bailey has claimed that his side's World Cup squad has played consistently since the past 12 or 18 months, despite injuries, inexperience and the pressure of a home tournament bearing down on them.
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will be staged in Australia and New Zealand from February 14 to March 29, and India will begin its title defence against traditional rivals Pakistan in Adelaide on February 15, the International Cricket Council announced on Tuesday.
The Indian cricket team was dislodged as the top Twenty20 side and also dropped a rung to fourth in the ODI charts of the latest ICC rankings following the annual update.
Rajneesh Gupta breaks down all the facts and figures from the recent India vs Australia ODI series.
With an unassailable 3-0 lead in hand, India need just one more win to claim their maiden ODI series triumph on South African soil.
Australia regained the prestigious ICC Test mace and also won a cash award of $1million after beating New Zealand in the Christchurch Test by seven wickets and winning the series 2-0 on Wednesday. Australia finished two points ahead of India with 112 points in the final series before the April 1 cut-off date.
India have not lost a series at home since the defeat to South Africa in October 2015.
Having won the series, India would like to carry on momentum forward, especially with the three-match T20I series to follow soon after. Yet, the visitors would also like to find a balance between going all out in a dead rubber and resting a few players keeping in mind a long overseas schedule later this year.
England were thumped 4-1 in Australia in their One-day International series at the beginning of the year and also lost recent series at home against Sri Lanka and India.
Brimming with confidence after a clean-sweep in the Test series, India will look to carry on their dominance over New Zealand when the two teams lock horns in the first cricket One-day International of the five-match series, in Dharamsala on Sunday.
A buoyant India will look to cash in on South Africa's injury woes, compounded by the loss of captain Faf du Plessis, when the two sides meet in the second One-Day International in Centurion on Sunday.
The visitors won the first two matches of the series in Durban and Centurion by six and nine wickets, respectively, dismantling the home side with consummate ease.
Though he hasn't been able to replicate his rich limited-overs' form in Test cricket, Rohit Sharma feels there's no need to make drastic changes in his game for the five-day format.
Joining Kumble as the 78th inductee will be the late Betty Wilson of Australia, one of the greatest women cricketers of all-time.
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.
A match-winning three-wicket bowling stint by Mitchell Marsh lifted Australia to a convincing victory by 58 runs against West Indies in the final of the triangular One-day international (ODI) series in Barbados on Sunday.
Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has been suspended for an illegal bowling action, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Tuesday.
Images from the 5th ODI between India and Australia, played in Nagpur on Sunday
Captain Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane struck sublime half-centuries before Australia staged a strong fightback to bowl India out for 252 in the second One-Day International, in Kolkata, on Thursday.
A promising start to their World Cup campaign will raise hopes of a quarter-final berth.
Praising Brendon McCullum for his aggressive style of leadership, Kiwi pacer Tim Southee feels that the New Zealand captain has set a new benchmark in world cricket for others to follow.
Ravindra Jadeja very nearly pulled off a sensational victory with some lusty hits but could not take India home in the last over as the third one-dayer against New Zealand ended in a nail-biting tie to keep the visitors afloat in the five-match series in Auckland on Saturday.
They are determined to recapture the number one spot in the ICC ODI rankings but Australia skipper George Bailey said it would be "silly" to assume that the visitors would be able to thrash India by the requisite 6-1 margin in the seven-match series starting in Pune.
With a strike rate of 115, Shikhar Dhawan is the MVP from the India-West Indies series according to Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji.
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