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.
The Pakistan-born bowler made an instant impact on his return to the South Africa line-up and his team mates made sure his hard work did not go to waste as they finished the day on 128 for three wickets, a 29-run first innings lead.
Joe Root made a half-century as England rallied to 130 for three at the close of the fourth day of the second Test, in Dubai, on Sunday, 360 runs behind Pakistan after the hosts' Younis Khan had made a swaggering 31st Test century.
Misbah helped steady his side after two brilliant morning catches by the indomitable Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson's 418th Test wicket from the first ball of the afternoon had reduced Pakistan to 85-3.
South Africa's pursuit of a series-levelling victory against Pakistan was marred on the third day of the second Test in Dubai when they were penalised five runs for ball tampering on Friday.
With three sarpanchs killed in December, many panchayat members are running scared and quitting their posts. Pervez Majeed reports.
'Of all the PMs of India, I had the closest relationships with Morarji and Rajiv.' Mark Tully, the most famous foreign correspondent in India, remembers some encounters with prime ministers, dictators and militants.
Tom Latham struck his maiden Test century but New Zealand crumbled to 262 all out, conceding a 304-run first-innings lead as well as control of the first Test to Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Younus Khan led Pakistan's fightback with a dogged century after the hosts made a terrible start to the first Test against Australia in Dubai on Wednesday. After opting to bat first, Pakistan put up 219 for four wickets at stumps on the first day, with captain Misbah-ul-haq (34) and Asad Shafiq (9) at the crease.
Advancing into the Super 10 stage for the first time in three attempts, minnows Afghanistan will face a formidable challenge when they clash with South Africa in the ICC World Twenty 20 Championship at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews and debutant Dilruwan Perera narrowly missed centuries but guided Sri Lanka to a solid first innings total on the second day of the third and final Test against Pakistan in Sharjah on Friday.
Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal picked up two wickets in the last session to restrict Sri Lanka to 220 for 5 at stumps on the first day of the third and final Test in Sharjah on Thursday.
Pakistan batsmen Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad scored fluent half centuries as the first Test against Sri Lanka ended in a tame draw on the fifth day in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
The West Indies Cricket Board has asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India to work for a "mutually agreeable solution" over its demand for 26.2 million pounds as compensation for the former's decision to abandon its tour to India.
Nepal made history when it qualified for its maiden major ICC event on Wednesday, progressing to the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 by virtue of a five wickets victory over Hong Kong in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2013 at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Cheteshwar Pujara was the highest-ranked Indian batsman despite dropping a rung to eighth while R Ashwin held on to his eighth position in the bowlers' chart of the ICC Test rankings.
Pakistan have axed senior batsman Younis Khan for next month's One-day series against Australia in the United Arab Emirates as they announced their ODI and Twenty20 squads on Wednesday.
Their campaign back on track after a stunning victory over South Africa, a resurgent England will be looking to plug their bowling loopholes when they take on an ever-improving Afghanistan in a Super 10 Group 1 match of the ICC World Twenty20, in New Delhi, on Wednesday.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has urged his top order "to go big" in the third Test against England at Edgbaston starting on Wednesday. England levelled the four-match series at 1-1 with a crushing 330-run win in the second Test at Old Trafford - a margin of victory that was testimony to the tourists' batting woes. It was all a far cry from Pakistan's 75-run win in the first Test at Lord's, which featured an inspiring century from Misbah. Poor starts have been a problem for Pakistan in this series.
Part-time off-spinner Glenn Maxwell took two wickets without conceding a run in the last over as Australia edged Pakistan in a low-scoring thriller to win the third and final one-day international by one run in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Zimbabwe completed only their 11th Test victory with a dramatic 24-run win over Pakistan at Harare Sports club on Saturday to draw the series 1-1.
Afghanistan's cricket team will shifted its home base from Sharjah to the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association stadium in Noida where they will play their matches and practice after an MoU was signed on Thursday in this regard.
Indrani Roy/Rediff.com visits Ranaghat in West Bengal's Nadia district, the scene of the horrific rape of a 72-year-old nun, and encounters a clueless police and a frightened Christian community.
Sri Lanka lost early wickets in their second innings but extended their lead to 220 runs over Pakistan in the third and final Test in Sharjah to boost their chances of a series victory.
Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan made half-centuries as Pakistan ambled to 222 for three at the close on day three of the second Test on Saturday, 358 runs ahead of England after Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah had scuttled the tourists lower order before lunch.
Mohd Zakariya, a close aide of top Lashkar-e-Tayiba bomb expert Abdul Karim Tunda, was on Monday remanded to 10- day police custody by a Delhi court after the investigators said he had helped in illegal infiltration of Pakistani nationals into India through Bangladesh.
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi produced a brilliant performance with both bat and ball to lead his team to a thumping 126-run victory over West Indies in their first One-day International on Sunday.
India Test regulars like Cheteswar Pujara and Ishant Sharma have also thrown their hat into the ring with base prices of Rs 50 and Rs 75 lakh respectively.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin surged to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after a superb outing in the first Test against the West Indies in Antigua which the visiting side won by an innings and 92 runs.
29 years ago this August, Pakistan's dictator, the general who made jihad part of Pakistani State policy, died in a mysterious air crash. Did the KGB, the then USSR's dreaded espionage agency, assassinate Zia-ul Haq? Was India's RA&W responsible for blowing Zia's military aircraft out of the skies? Was it Zia's many enemies in Pakistan's military? Was it a box of mangoes as Mohammad Hanif speculated in his fascinating novel about Zia's death? Or was the assassin someone else?
29 years ago this August, Pakistan's dictator, the general who made jihad part of Pakistani State policy, died in a mysterious air crash. Did the KGB, the then USSR's dreaded espionage agency, assassinate Zia-ul Haq? Was India's RA&W responsible for blowing Zia's military aircraft out of the skies? Was it Zia's many enemies in Pakistan's military? Was it a box of mangoes as Mohammad Hanif speculated in his fascinating novel about Zia's death? Or was the assassin someone else?
29 years ago this August, Pakistan's dictator, the general who made jihad part of Pakistani State policy, died in a mysterious air crash. Did the KGB, the then USSR's dreaded espionage agency, assassinate Zia-ul Haq? Was India's RA&W responsible for blowing Zia's military aircraft out of the skies? Was it Zia's many enemies in Pakistan's military? Was it a box of mangoes as Mohammad Hanif speculated in his fascinating novel about Zia's death? Or was the assassin someone else?
If bowling was the only main worry for Team India heading into the World Cup, then think again! Skipper MS Dhoni, on Saturday, revealed that India team, besides bowling is also struggling in batting.
Top Lashkar-e-Tayiba bomb expert Abdul Karim Tunda was on Wednesday remanded in seven days' police custody by a Delhi court after the investigators said those who had allegedly helped him in illegal infiltration of Pakistani nationals are yet to be identified.
After last week's acquittal of 16 policemen, pointedly accused of the cold-blooded murder of 42 Muslims in Meerut in 1987, this mohalla in Meerut is still scarred by the past but willing to move on
The International Cricket Council released the provisional squads of the 12 teams for next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand on Friday. However, co-hosts Australia and minnows Ireland decided against releasing the provisional list although they submitted 30 names to the parent body within the stipulated deadline.
In the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Australia's Ryan Harris has moved up two places to second following his six wickets against India in the fourth Test at MCG.
The win at Edgbaston was not the first time an Indian team had vanquished Pakistan in an ICC competition. Rajneesh Gupta surveys the landscape of India-Pakistan encounters in ICC contests.
Those who claim the Maheshtala rape case was only a road accident, are unable to answer why four people were arrested and a gangrape case was registered. Indrani Roy and Dipak Chakraborty report
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