A summary of Thursday's matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy limited-overs' tournament.
Gambhir, one of the most successful batsmen for India, has been out of favour with the national team for a while now after a dip in form and last played a Test back in 2016 against England.
He was expected to script a new chapter of hope in the sporting history of Jammu and Kashmir but it ended up being a case of so near yet so far for Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Parvez Rasool, who was not included in the Indian team for any of the five One-Day Internationals against Zimbabwe.
A round-up of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Former captain and ex-chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said that Rahane has come of age.
On a roll after three consecutive wins, a resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad will start as overwhelming favourites against struggling Rising Pune Supergiants in an Indian Premier League match, in Hyderabad, on Tuesday.
Images from the fourth Twenty20 International between India and England, in Ahmedabad, on Thursday.
Known for his proficiency in Tests and a prolific scorer in first class cricket, Cheteshwar Pujara has set himself a task - of forcing people to take notice of his prowess in the T20 format too and play in the upcoming Indian Premier League season.
Bidding to lead Gujarat to their second successive domestic T20 title, wicket keeper batsman Parthiv Patel has not lost focus on a re-entry into the national team, but without putting pressure on himself.
India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar feels the dismissal of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in Jason Behrendorff's first over of the innings tilted the scales Australia's way in the second Twenty20 International in Guwahati on Tuesday.
'I don't think he (Karthik) will be under pressure. First and foremost thing will be to give guidance to this group. He has got a lot of experienced players around him, particularly in overseas group, and there's the likes of Piyush Chawala, Vinay Kumar and Robin Uthappa.'
Smashing Warner. Amazing Stokes. Super Smith. Pure Amla...
Sri Lanka defeated India by five wickets in the first Twenty20 international cricket match to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, in Pune on Tuesday. Chasing a modest target of 102 runs set by India, Lankan skipper Dinesh Chandimal led from the front scoring 35 runs off as many balls, while Milinda Sriwardana's unbeaten 21 runs off 14 balls ensured a comparatively young visiting squad secured a morale-boosting victory.
Bangladesh, who were shot out for 106 in their first essay, were reduced to 13 for four at one stage but the visitors ended the second day at 152 for six, courtesy a combative half-century from Mushfique Rahim (59 batting) and Mahmudullah, who retired hurt after scoring 39.
Indian players failed to make a mark as Australians and South Africans swept the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Annual Awards with Steve Smith clinching the coveted trophies of Cricketer of the Year and the Test Cricketer of the Year.
With Chris Gayle struggling to set aside an array of controversies surrounding him, Big Bash League club Melbourne Renegades have decided to not re-sign the West Indies controversial batsman for the T20 tournament's next season.
'I only played it to repay the sacrifices and hard work that both my parents had put in to make me play the sport.' 'I feel proud of them that they fought against orthodox notions of society to help me take up a sport.'
Faf du Plessis stroked an unbeaten half-century as Chennai Super Kings edged past Sunrisers Hyderabad by two wickets in Qualifier 1 to enter the IPL final, in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran's maiden double hundred went in vain as Bengal failed to qualify for the knockout stages after their final Ranji Trophy Group B encounter against Punjab ended in a draw in Kolkata.
'The challenge is that we start the next game well and are able to play 40 overs of good cricket. So far, we have been able to play 30 overs of good cricket and that's not enough.'
'We knew these youngsters could turn out to be match-winners and we waited patiently for the last three years because success doesn't come overnight, it takes time.'
Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com picks his best eleven on performances from the first half of the tournament.
'He has been RCB's leader since 2013 and RCB's best performance under him has been runners up in 2016.' 'In 2013 and 2014, RCB didn't reach the Playoffs stage.' 'In 2015 it reached that stage.' 'In 2017, RCB didn't go beyond the league stage.' 'Sometimes, a change at the top leads to a change in a team's fortunes,' says Sudhir Bisht.
Sanju Samson smashed 72 off 56 balls as Kerala completed a five wicket win over Punjab to cruise into the quarterfinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, in Kochi, on Saturday.
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir has hit out at the critics for accusing his team of preparing slow wickets to suit its spinners, saying a side has to be consistent in all departments of the game to win the IPL twice in three seasons.
Virat Kohli's inspirational leadership for Royal Challengers Bangalore will be up against the brute force with which David Warner has steered Sunrisers Hyderabad when the two teams, eyeing their maiden IPL title, square off in a high-intensity summit clash in Bengaluru on Sunday. RCB, however, will have a slight advantage over Sunrisers as they have the experience of playing in an IPL final twice in the past -- 2009 and 2011, but on both occasions, they had finished runners-up. Sunrisers' best finish was a play-off berth which they managed in their debut season in 2013.
Young opener Prithvi Shaw underlined his class with a century against a quality Tamil Nadu attack to lead Mumbai to 314 for seven on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group C match in Mumbai.
Sheridan and Waldron will stand in a match between Tea Tree Gully and Northern Districts in Adelaide featuring Australia's vice-captain Travis Head.
Left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar shone with a four-wicket haul as Mumbai demolished Punjab by 180 runs to register their second successive win in the Ranji Trophy in Chandigarh.
A summary of the first day's play at different venues in the Ranji Trophy.
Two seasoned, left-handed Bengaluru-born players -- Amit Verma and Sreenath Aravind -- representing rival teams, stole the honours on day one of a Group B Ranji Trophy match between Assam and Karnataka in Mumbai on Thursday.
Round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played in different parts of the country
A summary of the opening day's play from the Ranji Trophy matches at various venues across the country.
