Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be eager to break the sequence of reverses and get Rising Pune Supergiants' campaign back on track when they lock horns with in-form Kolkata Knight Riders.
West Indies have dropped batsman Lendl Simmons from their Twenty20 World Cup squad owing to a back injury, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said on Saturday. "The 31-year-old right-handed top-order batsman will remain in Trinidad to continue his rehabilitation," the WICB said. "A replacement player will be named in the coming days," it said in a statement. Simmons, who has played 34 T20Is with a top score of 77, joins all-rounder Kieron Pollard on the sidelines after a knee injury forced him to decline signing a player contract for the tournament in India. Spinner Sunil Narine, who is still working to fix his illegal bowling action, and Darren Bravo, who has opted to focus on the longer formats of cricket, withdrew from the West Indies squad last month.
Bravo, Pollard, Narine not named in 25 for India visa applications
Sloppy fielding and lacklustre bowling let Chennai Super Kings down against Kolkata Knight Riders
New captain Shreyas Iyer led from the front with a scintillating innings as Delhi Daredevils crushed Kolkata Knight Riders by 55 runs, in the Indian Premier League, in Delhi, on Friday.
On a roll after back-to-back wins, the vintage Chennai Super Kings would look to extend their winning run when they clash with struggling Kolkata Knight Riders in their next IPL match in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Off-spinner Sunil Narine was already indicating he would be a factor later in the game as he put New Zealand's batsmen under immense pressure on the second day of the third Test on Friday before the hosts finished on 156 for three at the close of play.
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan said his team produced its most 'complete performance' of the season so far when it upstaged the fancied Delhi Capitals by 59 runs to bolster their hopes of making it to the IPL play-offs.
Karthik regained his batting form with an unbeaten 97 off 50 balls, helping KKR recover from 49 for 3 to a challenging 176
Veteran Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has declined Pakistan Cricket Board's offer of a 'fitting send-off', saying he still has a lot to contribute to the game and his country. A tweet from PCB executive committee chairman Najam Sethi over the weekend raised speculation that Ajmal and fellow veteran Shahid Afridi were set to announce their retirement from the international game.
Captain Virat Kohli described fast bowler Navdeep Saini as a raw talent who has a bright future after he made an impressive India debut in the four-wicket victory over the West Indies in the first T20 International, in Lauderhill, USA, on Saturday.
Images from Thursday's IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, in Kolkata.
Smith top-scored with 73 not out for Rajasthan Royals in their relatively meagre total of 139 for three in Jaipur.
KKR will head to the game with the belief that the side can win from any situation, which they have demonstrated time and again.
Images from Wednesday's IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, in Abu Dhabi.
Knuckle ball a powerful weapon for bowlers, says Aaron Finch.
Robin Uthappa, on Saturday, said he's relishing his new-found role at number three as he guided Kolkata Knight Riders to a 17-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League match in Kolkata.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2021's 50 Most Valuable Players up to Game 39.
Guyana Amazon Warriors crushed St. Lucia Zouks by seven wickets to jump to the second place in the points table.
Here are some Images from match 27 of the Indian Premier League...
Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan hit half-centuries as Kolkata Knight Riders edged past Delhi Daredevils by four wickets, in the Indian Premier League, in Delhi, on Monday.
Buoyant Kolkata Knight Riders will look to continue their winning momentum when they face defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
While Trinbago Knight Riders ended Guyana Amazon Warriors' 11-match winning streak beating them by four wickets in a match reduced to 17 overs, Barbados Tridents edged out St. Kitts & Nevis Patriot by six runs at the Brian Lara Academy here on Tuesday.
Suresh Raina's return could not have been better-timed as Gujarat Lions, jolted by the tournament's biggest ever defeat, seek to revive their campaign when they face off with Kolkata Knight Riders.
ujarat Lions face the challenging task of gathering themselves and bounce back when they square off against the consistent Kolkata Knight Riders.
Rodrigues, Kaur, Mandhana and Sharma were also a part of the now-defunct Kia Super League (KSL) in 2019, the ECB's domestic T20 tournament that made way for the Women's Hundred.
'Narine's absence is a big loss for us'
Mumbai Indians have an eight-match winning streak against Kolkata Knight Riders with an overall 18-5 head-to-head record.
India concluded the two-match US leg of the series by taking an unassailable 2-0 lead after notching up a 22-run win in the second game on Sunday.
Kolkata Knight Riders may have the home advantage going into the openng game against Mumbai Indians, but it's the rival skipper Rohit Sharma, who oozed confidence, terming that his team feels equally at home, having won their maiden Indian Premier League title at this venue two years ago.
The art of Chinaman bowling is becoming a rarity in the world of cricket, but ask Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Kuldeep Yadav and he would tell you that after seeing him perform, many would take u to this extremely tough art of bowling.
Chahar started the rot for KKR early in their innings when he trapped opener Chris Lynn in front of the wickets as the Aussie missed a pull off a delivery that kept low. Lynn was sent back inside the first over for a duck. He came into the equation in the next over when he took a brilliant catch, running backwards, to dismiss Sunil Narine for just 6 off the bowling of Harbhajan Singh.
Images from Monday's IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders, in Sharjah.
'We have a number of match-winners, so it's very difficult to go up the order'
India retained the No 1 spot in the latest Reliance ODI team rankings while Virat Kohli maintained the number two position with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni static at the seventh place in the batting chart released in Dubai.
Two Indian batsmen are now in the top five of the ICC ODI rankings, with Virat Kohli remaining at number three and opener Shikhar Dhawan climbing up the ladder to fifth after earning four places in the latest list issued on Wednesday.
'The main motivation when I get a game is to perform for the team and help the team win'
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir has attributed his side's splendid run in the Champions League Twenty20 to collective effort, saying that his team has done well in all departments of the game en route to the final.
Mumbai get the money-spinning tournament rolling in Chennai on Friday, just four months after claiming their second successive title, with a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, led by India captain Virat Kohli.
Kolkata Knight Riders will have to break the agonising sequence of debacles when they clash with defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL eliminator, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
