India captain Virat Kohli held on to his second position while stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane broke into the top 10 after gaining five places in the latest ICC men's Test batting ranking released on Thursday.
Punjab, starting the penultimate day on 73/3 and needing 144 more runs, crumbled under pressure from Sindhu's relentless spin and Jayant Yadav's precise off-spin (3/35 in 10.4 overs), collapsing well before lunch and handing Haryana their second outright win in four matches.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the second Test against Bangladesh?
Images from Day 4 of the first Test between India and the West Indies in Antigua.
Ajinkya Rahane rated his knock of 132 against Sri Lanka as one his best on spin-friendly tracks as he predicted tough times for batsmen in the remainder of the second Test.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday.
CSK can ill-afford to take Punjab Kings lightly, who are coming in to this match after chasing down a world record total of 262 against KKR.
Captain Virat Kohli played a pivotal role with a workmanlike 82, lifting India from a double blow at the beginning of innings to 172 for three in the second Test against Australia in Perth on Saturday.
The Rahane-led side outclassed the depending champions Mumbai Indians by seven wickets on Sunday, courtesy a whirlwind unbeaten 94 by opener Jos Buttler who stuck his fifth consecutive fifty in the tournament.
Stylish batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who has been named the vice-captain for India's upcoming tour of the West Indies, said he enjoys taking responsibilities and the new role will help him to improve his performance. "I had toured the West Indies as part of India A around 3-4 years back, at that time the wickets were little slow. In international cricket, there will be different wickets. I have heard there is good bounce and pace in Barbados, Jamaica," Rahane told PTI in Mumbai. "At the same time, I feel the wickets may be spin-friendly. We will get the idea of the wickets once we go there. But it is an exciting tour in the West Indies. We are going with a young Test team. We have done well recently and so we are looking forward to the tour," he added. Talking about his new role as a vice-captain, Rahane said: "As a vice-captain there will be responsibilities and I like to take responsibilities. When I toured Zimbabwe as a captain, I learned a lot from my team-mates, it was a good experience and we had won in Zimbabwe.
In need of a victory to firm-up their position in the IPL play-offs race, Chennai Super Kings have the heavy task of nullifying a deeply hurt and frustrated Rajasthan Royals in Chennai on Sunday.
Sitting comfortably with a 304-run lead, India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said the plans of batting just once during the match seems to have worked for the team.
It is highly unlikely that he will be India's number four at the World Cup but India's Test vice-captain is keen to add on to his 90 ODIs.
Rahul Dravid's tenure as India Head Coach, which ended gloriously with the T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados on Saturday, will remain a case study on how to be stately and understated at the same time in modern-day cricket coaching.
Batsman Ajinkya Rahane is expecting the Kanpur wicket to assist the Indian spinners and says the team's performance in the first Test will set the tone for a long home season, comprising 13 five-day games.
The talent is in plenty in this squad and if this machine runs smoothly, a sixth IPL trophy will be at touching distance for Thala and Co.
After the one-off Afghanistan Test match, Rahane has nothing to look forward to as he has been dropped from the limited-overs side which is going to UK first. The Test series against England is scheduled to start on August 1 after a limited-overs series featuring three T20 Internationals and an equal number of ODIs beginning July 3.
Vihari, Gill and Iyer have all played Tests for India in the absence of regular players and Rohit said a decision on the composition of the side against Sri Lanka was yet to be made.
Nathan Lyon has already started his homework on rising batting sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal
Can't give excuses: Rahane on batting failure in IPL Eliminator
Wankhede Stadium witnessed a gathering of cricketing royalty in the past two days
There remains a big question mark over who will be India's No.4 in the World Cup.
Domestic heavyweights Mumbai ended their eight-year barren run to lift a record-extending 42nd Ranji Trophy title on Thursday
'All of us have played domestic cricket in almost empty stadiums, so that's an experience all cricketers are used to'.
Steve Smith may have been disgraced for his role in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa but newly-appointed Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane said that he still respects him as a world-class batsman.
Shivam Dube or Rachin Ravindra? Which left hander batted best?
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane shared an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 93 to keep alive India's hopes of a series-levelling win over Australia, giving the hosts a lead of 126 on a see-saw third day of the second Test in Bengaluru on Monday.
India's injury woes continued as batting mainstay Ajinkya Rahane was ruled out of the remaining two Tests against England due to injury. He will be replaced by Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey. Apparently, Rahane sustained a finger injury on his right index finger during India's training session at the Wankhede stadium on Wednesday.
'It's completely mental (adjustment). The good thing in this team is anyone can bat at anywhere. We have that flexibility. I have batted at top, numbers 3,4 and 5. It's important to handle that situation and utilise that situation. If you adjust in mind, you can adapt anywhere' 'He did not say anything about my technique but spoke only on the mental aspect'
The lure to play an extra bowler in Hardik Pandya along with an in-form Rohit Sharma in the opening Test against South Africa has cast doubts over Ajinkya Rahane's place in the playing XI despite having the best away record among the current crop of batsmen.
'It'll be very much a battle again between the very good pace bowling attacks of both sides and how well the top order players of both sides can deal with the ball that will bounce, seam and probably swing a little bit more in the day-night game in Adelaide.'
Virat Kohli has joined the growing list of celebrities, political leaders and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, to tweet on unity and farmers
'I would say Rahane is aggressive in his own quiet way'
Krunal Pandya emerged as the wrecker-in-chief on Friday night.
Left sleepless the last time he played a bad shot against Mumbai Indians, in-form Rajasthan Royals batsman Ajinkya Rahane said he was desperate to set the record straight and that inspired him to strike a sublime match-winning knock of 91 in an Indian Premier League match against the Delhi Daredevils on Sunday.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane hit unbeaten centuries to power India to 344 for three against Sri Lanka on Day 1 of the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, on Thursday.
While it is generally his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has made this habit of hitting the winning runs - in some style too, Ajinkya Rahane had that honour in Rising Pune Supergiants' match against the Delhi Daredevils.
Delhi Capitals outclass champions Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs for their first victory in IPL 2024.
India finished the second day on 308 for four in 81 overs. They trail West Indies by just three runs, after the visitors were bowled out for 311 earlier in the day.
He might not be scoring big runs in the ongoing 10th edition of the Indian Premier League, but Rising Pune Supergiant opener Ajinkya Rahane is a contented man as long as his contributions are bringing out positive results for his side.
