Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji analyse Week 3 of IPL-11 in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings.
Pakistan's pace spearhead Wahab Riaz will miss the remainder of the three-test series against Sri Lanka with a hand injury, the country's cricket board said on Friday.
Australia have opted for experience over youth in an attempt to win a maiden World Twenty20 title by selecting veterans Brad Hogg, Brad Hodge and Brad Haddin in their 15-man squad for the tournament in Bangladesh next month.
The needle clash, expected to be watched by a capacity crowd at the Wankhede Stadium, looks set to raise the curtains on the decade-old T20 League in grand style after a formal opening ceremony.
Rajasthan Royals were dealt a massive blow ahead of their Champions League Twenty20 summit clash as destructive batsman Brad Hodge, who injured his knee in the semi-final, was declared unfit for Sunday's match.
The first Test between India and Australia is all set to be rescheduled as three of the senior cricketers in Shane Watson, David Warner and Brad Haddin are amongst those who have already said that they are not in perfect state of mind to return to competitive cricket.
The Australian all-rounder will be given more time to prove his fitness to play in the first Test against England.
Australia have named Michael Clarke in a 12-man squad for the first Test against India starting in Brisbane next week, but the hamstrung captain must prove his fitness in a tour match starting on Friday.
Play in the ICC champions Trophy final between Australia and the West Indies, which was suspended because of rain in Mumbai, will resume at 2100 IST.
Tasmanian batsman Alex Doolan could be in line for a test debut pending the fitness of all-rounder Shane Watson after being named in Australia's 14-man squad for the fifth and final Ashes Test in Sydney.
Australia captain Steve Smith won his second Allan Border Medal on Monday, becoming the fifth player to claim the country's highest individual cricket honour more than once.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul's fine knock was in vain, as the West Indies were beaten by 78 runs in the opening match of the DLF Cup tri-series.
The Australian all-rounder is to have surgery on the dislocated shoulder he suffered in the first Test against West Indies.
Paceman Mitchell Johnson is still a class act despite a poor first Test with the ball but Australia know he will not get the fast pitches he thrives on in the rest of the Ashes series, coach Darren Lehmann said.
Joe Root again put Australia's bowlers to the sword and together with Ian Bell gave England the platform on Friday to push for victory in the first Ashes Test after setting the tourists 412 to win with two days remaining.
The Australia all-rounder feels that the Indian team with its strong batting line-up will find the conditions challenging Down Under.
India's limited-overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, along with his teammates Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin, among others, will be up for grabs for the two new IPL teams in the draft to be held in Mumbai.
Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke has stood by his criticism for former coach John Buchanan, but has admitted that his 'dog' reference for the coach was a step 'too far'.
Arguably the most successful cricketing nation as far as Tests and One-Day Internationals are concerned, Australia have struggled in Twenty20 and all-rounder Shane Watson feels it is because the shortest format only has 'entertainment value'.
The 8th Champions Trophy begins in England this week. Rajneesh Gupta captures the tournament in all its statistical glory like only he can.
Afridi reckoned a good start could take the 1992 champions all the way to the July 14 final at the Lord's.
After snapping their losing streak with a win over Delhi Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals will now look to keep themselves on course for a play-off berth with another dominating show against an inconsistent Sunrisers Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League game.
Pakistan's Test stalwart Younis Khan, who led the national team to its only World T20 title in 2009, remained unsold while captain Misbah-ul Haq was snapped up by the Islamabad franchise on the first day of the Players' Draft for the Pakistan Super League, on Monday.
Australian selectors included Victorian middle-order batsman Brad Hodge on Wednesday in a 13-man squad for the three-Test series against New Zealand starting next week.
Pacer Rahul Shukla rocked the rival top-order with three wickets in an over before veteran Brad Hodge hit a blistering fifty as Rajasthan Royals snapped Otago Volts's 15-match winning streak with a four-wicket win in the Champion League Twenty20 Group A match, in Jaipur.
Pushed to the bottom of the heap after three successive losses, it will take an extraordinary effort from Royal Challengers Bangalore to overpower table-toppers Rajasthan Royals when the two sides clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Rahul Chahar's brilliant spell of 2/14 helped Mumbai Indians crush Chennai Super Kings by 6 wickets to enter the IPL final.
Pace bowler Nathan Bracken has been named ahead of legspinner Stuart MacGill for Australia in the first Test.
Tempers flared during the second One-dayer of the ongoing cricket tri-series when Indian opener Rohit Sharma and Australian batsman David Warner got involved in a verbal exchange at the MCG, on Sunday.
Brad Hodge was named 12th man while Michael Clarke moved up the batting order to four for the ICC Super Test.
Australia's captain said the two rescued the side when it was under pressure.
The Australia all-rounder grabbed three wickets for 43 runs as the highly vaunted World XI batting line-up crumbled to 162 all out
Australian coach Darren Lehmann is reportedly considering playing reserve wicket-keeper Matthew Wade as a specialist batsman in the third Ashes Test at Old Trafford if he manages to make a good score in the tour game against county side Sussex, beginning on Friday.
Andrew Symonds hit an unbeaten century and Michael Kasprowicz took five wickets to give Australia a 10-run win over Pakistan.
Dhoni wants his top-order to be more discreet with shot selection.
Bangalore have been on a roll with skipper Virat Kohli enjoying one of the best phases of his career as he has four centuries under his belt.
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