Former skipper Steve Waugh has heaped praise on the current Australia captain Steven Smith, labeling him 'the gap hitter I've ever seen'. A guest speaker at the India Today Conclave 2016 in New Delhi, Waugh was asked to describe the prototype for his perfect batsmen, which involved him cherry-picking the greatest strengths from the best players he's seen. Waugh praised Smith's ability to pierce the field with his 'strong and subtle wrist'. "I think Steve Smith would be in there purely because he's the best gap hitter I've ever seen of any cricketer," he said. "If you watch him bat, he rarely hits the ball to the fieldsmen. That's why he scores so many runs. "Even though his technique is not great, he finds the gaps incredibly well." Smith had recently accepted that it's timing and form that he relies on when looking to go big. "For me, hitting sixes is about trying to keep my shape as much as possible," Smith said last week.
Captain Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers smashed brisk half centuries to guide Royal Challengers Bangalore to a well-deserved 13-run victory over Rising Pune Supergiants in the Indian Premier League match, in Pune, on Friday.
There weren't many words exchanged but India still played hard cricket, says Australia opener Matt Renshaw.
Cricket Australia (CA) said on Sunday they will conduct an investigation into a ball-tampering scandal during the third Test against South Africa that has prompted calls for captain Steve Smith to step down.
Delhi medium pacer Navdeep Saini, who picked up the wicket of Australian swashbuckler David Warner early in the warm-up game for India 'A', said it was a special feeling to get the feisty opener out with a bouncer.
Steve Smith and Aaron Finch struck half-centuries to help Australia to a three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first One-day international in Colombo on Sunday. Sri Lanka, who lost the toss and were sent out to bat on a dry, turning wicket, set the visitors a target of 228, but Australia successfully chased them down with 19 balls to spare to give them the lead in the five-match series.
Glen Maxwell and James Faulkner stitched up a 80-run partnership (off 63 balls) to help Australia beat India by three wickets in the 3rd ODI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday and clinch the series 3-0.
IMAGES from the 3rd ODI between India and Australia played in Bengaluru on Sunday
Top-order batsman Usman Khawaja has been drafted into the Australia squad for the ongoing ODI series against India in place of opener David Warner whose wife is expecting the couple's second child. Khawaja will join the squad in Brisbane and, at this stage, will remain for matches two and three of the five-game series, at the Gabba on January 15, and at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on January 17 respectively, Cricket Australia said. National selector Rod Marsh said Warner would be welcomed back into the squad when circumstances allow.
Images from Friday's second One-day International between India and Australia, at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, in Rajkot.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's 50 Most Valuable Players up to Match 25.
The ever-consistent Steve Smith continued his rich vein of form,scoring an unbeaten 79 in Rajasthan Royals' easy seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians, in the IPL match in Ahmedabad on Tuesday night, and immediately declared he "never gets tired of batting".
Australia thrashed Afghanistan by 275 runs in their Pool A match of the ICC World Cup at the WACA in Perth. Images from the match.
Michael Clarke blames poor shot selection for narrow New Zealand loss.
Australian James Faulkner's superb all-round show helped Rajasthan Royals outclass Kings XI Punjab by 26 runs in their opening Indian Premier League match in Pune.
Captain Steve Smith blasted a career best 164, the highest one-day international innings at the Sydney Cricket Ground, to power Australia to a crushing 68-run victory against New Zealand in the first ODI.
Jonny Bairstow saved England the blushes after his half-century helped the team amass 268 for 8 after an early flurry of wickets.
Michael Clarke may just meet the fitness deadline to lead the national team into the World Cup starting February 14, even as many Australia cricket officials are mulling appointing Steven Smith as full-time captain after the 50-over showpiece event.
Virat Kohli has broken into the top-20 of ICC Test rankings at 16th after his stupendous back-to-back hundreds in the opening Test against Australia in Adelaide.
Opener Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara batted superbly to make centuries on Day 2 of the 2nd Test in Nagpur on Saturday. Here are the statistical highlights from the day's play.
# Smith's unbeaten 178 is the third highest by an Australian captain in Tests in Asia -- the top two being 334 not out by Mark Taylor vs Pakistan at Peshawar in October 1998 and 235 by Greg Chappell vs Pakistan at Faisalabad in March 1980.
Steve Smith struck his sixth century against India and found an able ally in Glenn Maxwell as Australia reached 299 for 4 on the opening day of the 3rd Test in Ranchi. Here are the statistical highlights from the 1st day's play.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers from Day 4 of the first Test.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's 50 Most Valuable Players up to Game 46.
Australia skipper Steven Smith said that the pitches did not "break up quite as much as expected" during the four-match cricket Test series against India and it hampered the home side's chances of winning by a bigger margin.
Relishing the challenge of squaring off against new Indian captain Virat Kohli in the fourth and final cricket Test in Sydney, Australian skipper Steve Smith described his rival number as an "emotional character".
Indian captain Virat Kohli, on Friday, assured that his team will never repeat the kind of "bad performance" and "lack of intent" that led to the humiliating opening Test loss to Australia in Pune.
Just hours after his team surrendered the Ashes in abject fashion, Australia cricket coach Darren Lehmann has come under fire for turning to Twitter in search of tickets to an English Premier League soccer match.
India's opening batsman Murali Vijay on Wednesday differed with International Cricket Council match referee Chris Board, who gave a poor rating to the Pune wicket, saying the surface at best could be called a 'challenging one'.
Captain Steven Smith described Australia's thumping win against India as one of his best victories but warned his team mates of a possible backlash from the smarting hosts.
A relaxed Mahendra Singh Dhoni will take fresh guard when he leads his home team Jharkhand against Karnataka.
Umesh Yadav gave a brilliant exhibition of reverse swing bowling before Mitchell Starc's rearguard half-century helped Australia reach a competitive 256 for nine.
England were left to reflect on a tough day in the field after Australia piled up 337 for one at the start of the second Ashes Test at Lord's on Thursday.
Australia captain Steven Smith very well understands the significance of the upcoming tour of India as he said success in the four Test series against Virat Kohli and his men can make his side 'one of the all-time greats'.
Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com lists five matches you can't afford to miss out at the ICC's marquee event.
Not impressed by Australia's dominance in the summer of 2015 with Test wins against New Zealand and a lackluster West Indies, former pacer Geoff Lawson believes that India will make "tougher opponents" in the upcoming ODI series starting January 12.
Here are the statistical highlights from the third day's play of the fifth and final cricket Test between India and England in Chennai.
Photos from Day 3 of the first Test played at The Gabba on Saturday
Opening batsman Cameron Bancroft, the most junior member in the side at 25, was tasked with implementing the plan and was duly caught on camera using the tape.
The decision not to review a leg before wicket appeal on Australia's captain Steve Smith was the right one at the time as there was significant doubt from even people off the field, New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has said.
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