The domestic season-ending five-day Irani Cup game between newly crowned Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai and the Rest of India, commencing in Mumbai from Sunday, will provide fringe players a good opportunity to stake claims for the national team. The first class match is the last occasion for hopefuls from both ranks to impress the five-member national selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil before attention shifts totally to the T20 format, commencing with the ICC World T20 Championships. With the country expected to play over 15 Test matches post Indian Premier League till the end of next season, this match is the ideal platform for these players to strengthen their claims for the long Test haul. Mumbai, who clinched the Ranji crown for the 41st time last week by defeating Saurashtra by an innings, have a settled combination led by wicket keeper batsman Aditya Tare. They appear to be better prepared than the motley bunch of Rest of India, being led by Madhya Pradesh stumper Naman Ojha. However, they would take the Rest of India lightly at their own peril as the latter have a good bowling attack at their command even without originally named Barinder Sran and Nathu Singh who have been injured and replaced by Ankit Rajpoot and Anureet Singh, according to their coach Ashish Kapoor.
A resurgent Delhi Daredevils will look to build a winning momentum.
Humiliated in their previous face-off this season, table toppers Rajasthan Royals will be desperate to seek revenge against a resurgent Royal Challengers Bangalore in Wednesday's Indian Premier League match in Bengaluru.
Skipper Virat Kohli blasted his second successive fifty and pacer Mitchell Starc picked up three wickets as Royal Challengers Bangalore notched up a comprehensive nine-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in their IPL encounter in Ahmedabad.
Buoyed by their thrilling last-ball win against Delhi Daredevils, a confident Rajasthan Royals will take on a beleaguered Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League cricket encounter in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Hoping to end their 10-match losing streak in the IPL cricket tournament, Delhi Daredevils will look to turn their fortunes around on home turf when they take on an upbeat Rajasthan Royals at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
At the conclusion of the Asia Cup, Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji make an assessment after 36 matches India has played so far in the 2013-14 season.
Even after sealing a quarter-final berth captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is averse to changes in the team for their next World Cup match against Zimbabwe in Auckland on Saturday.
The Indian team used a unique method to tackle Pakistan's Mohammad Irfan, who at seven feet one inch, is the tallest cricketer in the world.
A brilliant partnership between James Taylor and Jos Buttler helped England beat India by three wickets at the WACA on Friday and enter the tri-series final, where they will meet Australia.
He scripted a memorable comeback snapping five wickets to set up England's nine-wicket win over India in the tri-series and pacer Steven Finn said he was happy to see that his hard work finally paid off.
Images from the India v SA, second Test, day 1, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru.
With so much focus on turning wickets and spinners, India captain Virat Kohli on Friday stressed that fast bowlers also have an important role to play and the return of strike bowler Ishant Sharma is a big boost for the team.
Defending champions West Zone rode on gritty half centuries from Suryakumar Yadav and Axar Patel to scramble past South Zone by two wickets and enter the Deodhar Trophy final, in Mumbai, on Monday. Chasing an imposing 315 for victory in the second semi-final at the Wankhede stadium, West were struggling at 174 for 6 before Yadav (80 off 56 balls, 4 sixes, 7 fours) and No. 8 batsman Patel (64 not out off 38 balls) put together a match-winning stand of 70 runs off 76 balls that saw the hosts home with 17 balls to spare.
For fast rising South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada, bowling to Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the final over of the first One-Dayer at Green Park in Kanpur was the "biggest pressure moment" of his fledgling career.
India needs to get the team composition right in the third and final Twenty20 International to prevent South Africa from recording a clean sweep, in Kolkata, on Thursday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore grabbed an impressive second spot in the IPL Play-offs with a six-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils as Virat Kohli continued with his superlative batting show by hitting a responsible 54-run knock, in Raipur on Sunday. The second position will provide RCB with two chances to qualify for the final.
Enjoying one of the best phases in his career so far, Royal Challengers Bangalore's inspirational leader Virat Kohli is ready to play through pain against Kings XI Punjab with multiple stitches in his split webbing in another must-win IPL encounter in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Kohli sustained split webbing in his left hand while fielding against Kolkata Knight Riders as he went for a diving catch. He left the field briefly to get medical assistance, got his webbing taped and was back in field. He then played another classy knock to keep RCB's play-off qualification hopes alive. "I might need 7-8 stitches," Kohli had said after the match but if KXIP thought that the opposition skipper will make himself unavailable, they would be in for disappointment as RCB's manager Avinash Vaidya said that India's No 1 batsman will be playing in this crucial encounter.
It will be a battle of survival for the two national captains as Virat Kohli's struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore square off against a fledgling Pune Supergiants led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in an IPL encounter for the bottom-rung teams in Bengaluru on Saturday. With five defeats in seven games, RCB are currently placed at a lowly seventh spot in the table with four points while Pune are just a notch above in sixth spot courtesy their third win against Delhi Daredevils, on Thursday. It has been a tough journey for the two superstars of Indian cricket as their franchises have dished one disappointing performance after another. RCB with perhaps the most intimidating batting line-ups has had to taste defeat because of a pedestrian bowling attack that has failed to defend 180 plus scores in most of the matches.
A measured half century from opener Chamu Chibhabha propelled Zimbabwe to their first ever Twenty20 victory over former World champions India by 10 runs, in Harare, on Sunday.
Stuart Binny on how he stays motivated despite not getting enough playing time with Team Indian, and his father's role in shaping his career. Harish Kotian/Rediff.com reports.
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India opener Murali Vijay hit an unbeaten century and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni slammed a half-century to frustrate England on the opening day of the first Test at Trent Bridge, on Wednesday.
In an incredible power-hitting show, Steven Smith and James Faulkner rattled up a match-winning 85-run stand from nowhere as Rajasthan Royals pulled off a stunning five-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in an IPL match in Bangalore on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royals beat SunRisers Hyderabad by six wickets in their Indian Premier League match in Visakhapatnam. It was Rajasthan's fourth win in as many matches as keeps them top of the table.
A patient half-century by Ajinkya Rahane and some disciplined bowling display helped Rajasthan Royal notch up a comfortable four-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL match in Abu Dhabi.
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.
Indian spin troika of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra kept their stranglehold on the inexperienced West Indies Board President's XI to bowl them out for a paltry 180 on the first day of the final warm-up game in Basseterre (St Kitts).
Out-of-form opener Shikhar Dhawan's place in the team will be one of the main discussion points when the Indian team management zeroes in on the playing eleven for the ICC World Cup match against arch rivals Pakistan in Adelaide on Sunday.
Seeing Dubliner Eoin Morgan become England's World Cup skipper was a 'wee bit irritating' for Ireland.
- India are strong contenders to get into semi-final along with Australia, New Zealand and South Africa - Rohit is a class player and if he gets going at the top of the order, then he also has the ability to single-handedly win matches for India
Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers put up an incredible performance to ruin Virat Kohli's fairytale season beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by 8 runs in a high-octane summit clash walking away with their maiden Indian Premier League trophy, in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
Trailing 1-2 in the series, India have some concerns with most batsmen not showing enough flexibility at different batting positions.
A fit-again Irfan Pathan feels that he is close to bowling at his best and it's just a matter of time before he is again back in contention for the seam bowling all-rounder's slot in the Indian cricket team that has been up for grabs for some time.
Powered by in-form, inspirational leader in Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bangalore would look to inch closer to a maiden Indian Premier League title triumph when they take on table-toppers Gujarat Lions in the Qualifier I, in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
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.
Hosts Karnataka amassed three points on the basis of their crucial first-innings lead as their Elite Ranji Trophy Group A game against Mumbai ended in a tame draw in Belagavi.
Kerala blew away home favourites Bengal by nine wickets and with a day to spare for their second successive win in the Ranji Trophy, consolidating the position atop the Elite Group B standings.
Virat Kohli led from the front with a gritty unbeaten century as a dominant India completed a resounding 5-0 whitewash over Sri Lanka by winning the fifth and final One-day International by three wickets in Ranchi on Sunday.
Hailing India's series levelling win against Sri Lanka in the second Test as a start of a bright future, former captain Sunil Gavaskar said that the Virat Kohli-led side not only looks "determined" but has also found the right balance in all departments.
Karnataka's in-form young opener K L Rahul has staked a strong claim for his inclusion in India's Test squad to Australia.
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