Former chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil on Wednesday said that during his tenure there has been discussion on removing Mahendra Singh Dhoni from captaincy but his retirement from Tests was a "shocker" for them. Patil also clarified that there was no truth to the perception that Dhoni was instrumental in getting rid of some of the seniors in the Indian team like Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh.
It's a record he is proud of but Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels the unbeaten run against Pakistan in ICC world events also adds to the pressure on his team, which is mindful of the fact that the streak is bound to end some day.
Former Pakistan captain Muhammad Yousuf has picked India as the strong contender to win the ICC World Twenty20 as he feels the home team has the batting firepower.
Pakistan survived a top-order collapse before completing a seven-wicket win over United Arab Emirates in their second round robin league match of the Asia Cup T20 tournament on Monday.
On paper as well as on current form, West Indies are no match for defending champions India, who have registered convincing victories against Pakistan, South Africa and UAE in their first three matches of the ICC World Cup.
Having already secured their place in the final with three back-to-back wins, India are set to field their benched players against minnows United Arab Emirates (UAE) in their final league encounter of the Asia Cup T20 tournament, in Mirpur, on Thursday.
Pakistan Cricket Board is confident that tainted left-arm pacer Mohammad Aamir will soon be issued a visa to play in the series against England in the United Kingdom this summer.
The disappointment of a semi-final exit notwithstanding, BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya congratulated the Indian cricket team.
Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has expressed serious doubts about whether Bangladesh can beat the Men in Blue.
No one was disturbing Mahendra Singh Dhoni, neither did he care about anything else. He just kept on staring at the MCG wicket.
Asked whether he could relate to any of the current generation cricketers, with whom, Anil Kumble instantly took Ashwin's name.
Coach Duncan Fletcher devices innovative methods to help batsmen counter short-pitched deliveries
Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Anurag Thakur, on Wednesday, criticised embattled Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi for saying that 'a lot of people from Kashmir' had come to support his team during the World Twenty20 match against New Zealand in Mohali.
Indian team director Ravi Shastri also made it clear that Shami will figure in the playing XI during the two warm-up games against West Indies (in Kolkata, on Thursday) and South Africa in Mumbai on March 12 in order to assess his fitness.
The International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption Unit on Monday said tainted Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir's video in which he admitted his guilt and also described the after-effect of his wrongdoing is being used to educate cricketers about the consequences of indulging in corrupt practices like spot-fixing and match-fixing.
Statistician Rajneesh Gupta has interesting numbers from India's Asia Cup match against the UAE. Check them out.
Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar hailed former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe, who passed away on Thursday, as one of the best batsmen in the history of the sport and a good thinker of the game.
Former Pakistan fast bowler and current United Arab Emirates coach Aaqib Javed feels that Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah will "find it difficult" to sustain for long without injury in international cricket with his unusual action.
He finished the decade with 20,960 international runs -- 5,775 more than anybody else -- and 69 hundreds -- 22 more than anybody else. This is a player performing at an extraordinarily high all-format level unseen in the history of cricket.
Team India's cricket director Ravi Shastri has played a massive role in getting Shikhar Dhawan back on track after a prolonged lean patch during the tour of Australia that preceded the ongoing World Cup.
India, came into the tournament after a disastrous bilateral series, is onfident of winning.
Holders India marched into the quarter-finals of the World Cup with their fourth consecutive win but all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja's form with the bat has left captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni a worried man.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has taken a serious view of Virat Kohli's foul-mouthed tirade against an Indian journalist at the ongoing World Cup and asked him to refrain from "any such behaviour in the future".
Former paceman Shoaib Akhtar labelled captain Misbah-ul-Haq "a coward" and "a selfish player" after Pakistan were crushed by 150 runs by West Indies in the World Cup on Saturday.
Ousmane Dembele's late strike rescued a 1-1 draw for champions Barcelona at Atletico Madrid but Sevilla moved top with a 1-0 win over Real Valladolid. European champions Real Madrid were humiliated in a 3-0 defeat at Eibar.
History may be against them but Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has said the time is perfect to rewrite it given that the Indian team is under pressure after losing its opening match of the ICC World T20.
"For me, I did not find anything controversial in it. This is something he felt. It's his emotions."
It has traditionally been a battle between India's batting and Pakistan's bowling whenever the arch-rivals have met on a cricket field and Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi reckons the trend will continue in their World Twenty20 contest on Saturday. The Pakistan captain is looking to bank on his team's winning record against India the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Pakistan have defeated India in all four matches that have played at the Eden Gardens. "We have good memories of the ground," Afridi said. "We have played well at this ground, we know the conditions and the pitch suits us as well." Pakistan were the last team to land in India, putting aside safety concerns that led to the switching of their match against India from Dharamsala to Kolkata's Eden Gardens.
'We are taking a lot of positives from the tournament as we have a played the final which is a huge achievement' 'It was a huge scope for us (Asia Cup) but then a lot of people did not expect us to reach the finals but we did reach the finals'
West Indies captain Jason Holder blamed his team's poor batting for the defeat against India at the WACA in Perth on Friday.
'Rather than focussing on the strategy of other teams, we should rather focus on ourselves'
Test captain Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are likely to be rested for India's tour of Zimbabwe, but there is no confirmation on Mahendra Singh Dhoni's availability for the short series, starting June 11. India will play three ODIs and two T20 Internationals during the series which marks the end of the season.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
'I was merely trying to give a positive message to the rest of the world that we enjoy a lot when we play in India.'
'A lot of people had problems in adjusting with the change of time and it affected their sleeping pattern'
Floored by the warm reception in India after their arrival for the World Twenty20 Championship, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi and senior all-rounder Shoaib Malik on Sunday said they have never felt any security threat in the country. The Pakistani team touched down here last night after getting government clearance to travel, a decision that was delayed by several days over security concerns. In fact, Pakistan's marquee World T20 clash against India on March 19 had be moved from Dharamsala to Kolkata after Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh expressed his inability to provide adequate security cover in the wake of protests by the state's ex-servicemen. However, both Afridi and Malik played down the intense media focus on Pakistan's security. "I've not enjoyed playing anywhere as much as I have in India. I am in the last stage of my career and I can say that the love I have got in India is something that I will always remember. We have not got this much love even from Pakistan," Afridi said.
Most of the cricketing world might swear by the finishing skills of Indian limited-overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni but former opener Gautam Gambhir feels it is Virat Kohli who deserves the tag of being the side's finisher.
Amid the furore generated by Virat Kohli's abusive behaviour with an Indian journalist, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin tried to defuse the tension.
PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan has slammed the team's performance at the Asia Cup but admitted it was too late to make sweeping changes ahead of the World Twenty20 this month.
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