The 2015 ICC World Cup has thrown up a lot of exciting moments since it began last week on February 14. Rediff.com gives you a quick flashback of all the action-packed, intense moments that had us watch in awe.
Pleased by Indian bowler's performance during the game against Pakistan Team India director Ravi Shastri said that it will serve them well if bowlers were to replicate their performance in the rest of the tournament.
Be it the jam-packed stadiums at the UEFA Champions League, the intense trans-Tasman rivalry in cricket, there are certain events that enthralls fans. Brendon McCullum blasting into history with the fastest Test hundred in his farewell Test; but that wasn't enough as Australia completed a 2-0 clean sweep of the Kiwis. Rohit Sharma, yet again showing why is considered to be a special talent in limited-overs cricket as India thrashed host Bangladesh in the Asia Cup opener. In Champions League football, Lionel Messi's Barcelona proving too hot for old-rivals Arsenal. Be ready to be amazed as Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this super photo feature.
Afridi has said that previous defeats in the cricket World Cup against India will not matter.
"The bench strength will warm the bench," is what the captain MS Dhoni had declared after India had beaten West Indies in Perth.
The threat of West Indies being forced to field a second string side at the World Twenty20 was averted on Sunday when 12 of 13 players in the original squad signed the contracts which had caused a standoff with the board.
Pakistan's flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi has ruled out any chance of making a comeback to ODIs.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels that the trio of Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma should not be forced to play domestic games.
From Eden Gardens to Centurion, Shoaib Akhtar has had many memorable on-field battles with India's batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and he feels that Mohammed Aamir and Virat Kohli's face-offs will also go down the cricket history as one of the epic duels.
India will look to plug the chinks in its armoury and provide finishing touches to its preparation for the four-Test series when it takes on the West Indies Cricket Board Presidents' XI in the final warm-up match, starting in Basseterre, St Kitts, on Thursday.
Outraged by the quality of umpiring in Bangladesh's World Cup quarter-final loss to India in Melbourne, the country's Cricket Board is all set to lodge a protest in the ICC and has got the backing of the governing body's President AHM Mustafa Kamal, who said the on-field officiating was "very poor".
Senior Board of Control for Cricket in India functionary Rajeev Shukla says the decision to give Team Director Ravi Shastri an extension till the 2016 World Cup was based on his good performance and rapport with the players.
The vagaries of the World Cup draw may have helped Pakistan rediscover their swagger at just the right time to push them to the brink of a quarter-final, according to captain Misbah ul-Haq.
Another twist in the tale was that there were some undercover Pakistan intelligence officials who were sent to keep an eye on the players as the side has suffered badly because of spot-fixing and match-fixing in the past few years.
Senior Pakistan batsman Younis Khan, toast of the nation three months ago after reeling off four Test hundreds, has become the target of criticism after the team's humiliating World Cup losses with senior players calling on him to retire.
Opening the bowling for Pakistan in a World Cup match with India is enough to get any paceman excited. For Sohail Khan, playing his first international since September 2011, that excitement briefly got the better of him on Sunday.
The key player from Pakistan, says former India captain Rahul Dravid, is Mohammad Irfan. 'Having watched him bowl just recently, I believe he is going to pose a challenge to the Indian batsmen.'
With tempers expecting to reach the ugliest limits during the India-Pakistan World Cup match, the Adelaide administration has issued a 85-point "code of conduct" for spectators - one that specifically bars religious messages and anti-national chants.
Ashwin said after consistently playing the Test series against many teams, adjusting to the short format is a bit of a challenge.
The national selection committee, under Sandeep Patil, is likely to leave it to limited-overs' captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to decide on his availability for the short tour of Zimbabwe, from June 11-20.
India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said that "under favourable conditions", the hosts will be a "hard side to beat" in the ongoing World T20. India lost to New Zealand on a turner in the opening game but beat Pakistan easily in their next game on a similar surface. "I think, we are a very good team. On our day and unde conditions favourable for us, we are going to be a pretty hard side to beat," Ashwin told bcci.tv after the team's six wicket win over Pakistan. But as exception proves the rule, it can happen with 'Men In Blue' too. "There will be exceptions. We lost a recent game in Pune against Sri Lanka and another one in Nagpur against New Zealand. On both occasions, the opposition read the game better than us," said Ashwin. Ashwin, who is known to to be a thinking cricketer, said that even though there was much turn on offer at the Eden Gardens, it wasn't as easy as it seemed.
The enormity of the Indo-Pak rivalry is not lost on R Ashwin, who considers it bigger than the Ashes but the Indian off-spinner also feels that players will have to keep their emotions in check during Saturday's high-voltage World Twenty20 clash in Kolkata.
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.
Cricketing legends Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram and Sourav Ganguly have heaped praise on Virat Kohli with one comparing India's batting mainstay to tennis great John McEnroe and another saying that his value in the team is more than his teammates.
Virat Kohli termed Mahendra Singh Dhoni the "best finisher in the world" after the India skipper made short work of Bangladesh with a flurry of sixes and boundaries in the final of the Asia Cup in Mirpur.
Concerned by fresh protests, Pakistan government has decided to send a security team to assess the situation in India before taking a final call on the team's participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Counter-attacking is the game I play, that's why I bat at No 3, says Virat Kohli.
The in-form Rohit Sharma says being entrusted with the task of opening the innings in limited overs cricket has put added responsibility on his shoulders. Continuing his rich vein of form, Rohit struck a blazing 83 to lay the foundation for India's crushing win over Bangladesh in the Asia Cup T20 opener in Mirpur on Wednesday. "Batting at the top of the order has put up added responsibility on my shoulders. Being a top order batsman, it is a responsibility to get the team to a good score and make winning matches a habit," Rohit said. He added, "Experiences play a huge part in this game. The more cricket you play, the more experience you get as to how you need to build your innings, what is required by the team and identifying your game etc. These things have helped me a lot in the past."
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni made no excuses for India's 95-run loss to Australia in the World Cup semi-finals but said the fast bowlers could have done "slightly better" and Shikhar Dhawan should not have attempted a big shot when they were going smoothly.
Like a racehorse trained to peak for the big race after months of preparation, India's cricketers are confident they have timed their run to perfection at the World Cup.
Another run fest is on the cards when India take on Ireland in a Pool B match of the ICC cricket World Cup at the Seddon Park in Hamilton on Tuesday.
Shikhar Dhawan's father Mahendra Pal Dhawan on Sunday lauded his son's career-best knock of 137 against South Africa in the ongoing World Cup and expressed hope that the Men in Blue continue their winning streak.
India batsman Rohit Sharma expects the upcoming limited-overs series Down Under to be highly-charged up.
All focus at the India's training session was on Pakistan pacer Mohammad Irfan.
Statistical highlights of the cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan.
No Indian cricketer figures in the ICC's World Cup XI, which is dominated by runners-up New Zealand rather than champions Australia.
'Even when I made 264, I was told I should have made 300. People's expectations are high. Even if you make 300, they expect 350,' said the India opener ahead of Thursday's World Cup semi-final against Australia in Sydney.
With two confident teams going head-to-head in a blockbuster World Cup semi-final on Thursday, it could be the tiniest mis-judgement, the smallest detail that decides whether Australia or India emerge triumphant.
Former India bowling coach Joe Dawes is of the view that Indian pacers will struggle to match Wahab Riaz-like domination against Australia in the World Cup semi-final.
Impressed with Rohit Sharma's match-winning ton against Bangladesh, former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe said that the top-order batsman is a beautiful player who did the basics right at the MCG.
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