Trying to focus everyone's attention on playing a game of cricket when one of their best mates has passed away will be almost impossible.
Statistician Rajneesh Gupta has interesting numbers from the second One-dayer, in Brisbane, on Friday. Check them out.
'Someone's got to do it and I might put my hand up. It's part of the game and what happened the other day with Shane (Watson) and Wahab (Riaz) was exceptional'
Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur has insisted that veteran cricketers Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan have earned the right to decide when they want to draw curtains on their international careers. Both the batsmen, who underwent a stern examination by Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird, were dismissed in the space of five overs on a rain-shortened opening day of the Boxing Day Test against Australia, leaving visitors on 142-4 when play was finally called off before Tea.
Australia took the final seven wickets to dismiss New Zealand for 295 and win the first Test by 208 runs before lunch on the final day on Monday, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Australia will start as favourites to reclaim the Ashes over the next seven weeks if only because of their home advantage but picking the winners in cricket's oldest Test rivalry has become a fool's game in recent years
Usman Khawaja's magnificent 174 helped Australia to a dominant 556 for four declared and an imposing lead of 399 at the end of the second day of the first Test against New Zealand on Friday.
Australia opening batsman David Warner is unsure how he will cope with an emotional first return this week to the venue in Sydney where Phillip Hughes was fatally struck by a bouncer.
He has got a habit of saving his best for the last but Australia opener Chris Rogers this time wants to score a century first up - on the opening day of the upcoming Boxing Day cricket Test against India in Melbourne starting December 26.
"This will probably be the biggest World Cup, so there will be great expectations and I know we will do very well for the people of the West Indies," he added.
Australia have decided to put captain Michael Clarke under wraps with fast bowlers Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle ahead of next week's Ashes opener, withdrawing the trio from domestic fixtures to prepare for the test in Brisbane.
'A man who is sometimes loved and loathed in equal measure, a man we're seemingly tired of seeing yet can't imagine life without.' Dhruv Munjal salutes the incomparable M S Dhoni.
Australia may have made batting look easy while chasing 300-plus totals against India successfully twice, but opener Aaron Finch credited the team's inexperienced bowlers for it, pointing out that the current attack combined has played less ODIs than the now retired Mitchell Johnson.
Frustrated by the performance of his bowlers in the second One-Day International against Australia in Brisbane on Friday, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni declared that given the attack at his disposal right now even 300-plus scores are not enough against the home side.
'A lot of our recent success has been based on the value of our number six batsman bowling some overs and we're comfortable continuing in that vein'
Rediff.com brings you a selection of images of fans taking to the field of play to make a point or gain attention.
Once again slamming the Indian bowlers for their poor showing in Australian conditions ahead of the World Cup, former captain Sunil Gavaskar said that the bowlers have learnt nothing from their past experiences on foreign tours.
It will come as little comfort to India after going 2-0 down in the four-match Test series against Australia but the young touring party have already put on a much better showing than the much vaunted 2011-2012 vintage.
Injuries worries to in-form opener David Warner and allrounder Mitch Marsh may affect Australia's plans.
Umesh Yadav took three wickets on his comeback to Test cricket before Australia reached 221 for four at the close of play on the second day of the second Test against India on Thursday after battling their way back into the contest on the back of debutant paceman Josh Hazlewood's five for 68.
- 'I honestly think Michael will be back after this hamstring surgery' - 'Thanks for all the well wishes. Surgery went really well'
Cricket Australia and the Indian board (BCCI) remain in discussions over the future of the first Test between the two countries that was supposed to have started on Thursday in Brisbane.
The first Test between India and Australia is all set to be rescheduled as three of the senior cricketers in Shane Watson, David Warner and Brad Haddin are amongst those who have already said that they are not in perfect state of mind to return to competitive cricket.
England opener Michael Carberry looks set to make his Ashes debut next week after being included in the team to face an Invitational XI in a warm-up match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
The Africans have won just one of their four games and are sixth in Pool B, but victory against William Porterfield's side will put them back in the hunt for a quarter-final place.
Australia's most successful wicketkeeper-batsman of all-time, Adam Gilchrist, is the latest name to be added to the growing list of stars taking part in the MCC versus Rest of the World match at Lord's on July 5. Gilchrist will be reunited with former teammate Shane Warne in the Rest of the World line-up, which the spin legend will captain.
Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar defended Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his "unrest" comment that got the media talking about a rift within the Indian cricket team in Australia, saying that the Indian captain might have chosen a wrong word to describe the situation.
Phillip Hughes' death after being hit by a bouncer has left Ian Chappell shocked like most of the cricket world and the former Australian captain feels his country's pacers would find it tough to use the short-pitched delivery in the upcoming Test series against India.
Michael Clarke's fitness for the Test series against India fading fast.
Up-and-coming Karnataka batsman Lokesh Rahul and Uttar Pradesh leg-spinner Karn Sharma were named in India's 19-man Test squad for the tour of Australia, which was announced after the selection committee of the Board for Control of Cricket in India met in Mumbai on Monday morning. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will miss the opening Test, from December 4, at the Gabba in Brisbane, because of an injury and Virat Kohli will stand in for him.
Even if Ireland fail to make the quarter-finals of the cricket World Cup they and the other associate members have shown enough promise to warrant inclusion in future tournaments, skipper William Porterfield said on Saturday.
Rohit Sharma struck his second successive hundred of the series but once again the Indians were comfortably outclassed by Australia by seven wickets, in the second One-Day International in Brisbane, on Friday.
As the countdown to 2018 starts, it's time to rewind those moments in sport that stood out this year.
The International Cricket Council's recently-promised crackdown on sledging might make it seem that players are behaving badly more often right now but former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff feels the on-field altercations were 10 times worse a couple of decades ago.
India looking to avoid a seventh straight Test loss on Australian soil.
Pakistan-born Fawad Ahmed is likely to make his full Australia debut over the next month after being named as the specialist spinner in the squad for six one-day and two Twenty20 internationals against England on Thursday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni says the Indian cricket team's approach to batting in overseas tours has 'improved'.
Kane Williamson staged a fight-back along with opener Tom Latham (36), and Ross Taylor (26) as New Zealand reached 140 for 2 (42 overs) at close of play on Day 2 of the 2nd Test at the WACA in Perth on Saturday.
Picking up where he left off in the first Test in Brisbane, the opener scored 244 not out for his third century in three innings as the hosts dominated New Zealand's bowlers as ruthlessly as they had in the 208-run victory at the Gabba.
Mitchell Johnson will be rested for the opening One-Day International against England to freshen up for the rest of the series, Australia coach Darren Lehmann said on Thursday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances