Royal Challengers Bangalore will be without captain Virat Kohli for at least the initial phase of the Twenty20 tournament as the India skipper recovers from a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the series-sealing final test win over Australia in Dharamsala.
Andre Russell's all-round brilliance kept Kolkata Knight Riders in contention for a play-off berth as they recorded a comprehensive 54- run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a must-win IPL game.
Having mentored many pacers in India, Wasim Akram feels fast bowling is becoming an integral part of Indian cricket with youngsters finding their heroes in the likes of Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav.
Speedster Umesh Yadav feels that England could have scored more than 268 for eight as the wicket did not change much and it was "easy to play spinners" with not much turn on offer.
Captain Kohli and Coach Shastri's selection choices for the first two Tests against England, which India lost, were bizarre. Why, for instance, did they drop Umesh Yadav and include Kuldeep Yadav for a seaming track at Lord's? Instinct, gentlemen, can't overrule logic. Time we helped Messrs Kohli and Shastri pick the side for the Trent Bridge Test. What changes must India make for the must-win third Test?
Roston Chase closed in on his fourth Test hundred as he forged a century partnership with skipper Jason Holder to help West Indies to 295 for seven on the opening day of the second and final Test against India.
Despite the win against KXIP, RCB remain at the bottom of the points table and remain to win all their remaining league games to have any hopes of progressing in the tournament.
Has the long due transition phase kicked in for India's Test team?
Images from Day 5 of the fourth Test between India and South Africa, at Delhi, on Monday.
But the focus will be on 19-year-old Gill, who has broken into the Indian Test squad for the three-match series against the Proteas, starting on October 2 in Visakhapatnam.
David Warner is very happy for his Sunrisers Hyderabad teammate Thangarasu Natarajan's Test call-up but he is 'not sure' if the Tamil Nadu left-arm seamer can consistently hit one length, over after over, in the five-day format.
The 1983 World Cup winning captain said that the batting slots should be decided according to the match situation.
Team combination a worry for India
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI in the ICC WTC final against New Zealand?
Ahmedabad will also host the final Test, though with the traditional red ball, and the pitch is unlikely to be vastly different from the one that saw 30 wickets fall in five sessions in the shortest completed Test match since 1935.
Both Avesh and Washington sustained their injuries while turning up for County XI in the first-class warm-up game against their own side. This was done after multiple players in the home team were ruled out either due to injury or because of COVID-19 isolation.
Siraj was rewarded for his tough decision as he took two wickets on an emotional debut to help India bowl Australia out for 195
Assured of a play-off berth, Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to quickly recover from their loss in the previous game and finish the league phase on a high when they take on table-toppers Delhi Capitals in their final IPL round-robin game in Dubai on Friday.
It is understood that Kohli, Rahane, Shami, Jadeja will be sweating it out at the nets alongside Ashwin, who has already bowled a whopping 58 overs and taken seven wickets in a County game for Surrey last week.
Delhi Capitals' co-owner Parth Jindal hinted that the entire league stage of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League could be held in Mumbai this year.
Before the opening day of the second Test, the BCCI officially announced that Rahane, Ishant and, more importantly, Ravindra Jadeja are out of the match due to various injuries.
The Elite list is set to comprise only three players ---skipper Virat Kohli, his limited overs deputy Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.
'Since we cannot trust the net bowlers about their exposure to COVID, it would be ideal to go with a large contingent as we can be assured of all the players' safety as they will be in a bio-secure environment.'
Umran was a net bowler during India's last World T20 campaign in the UAE.
An in-form Delhi Capitals will fancy their chances of securing a play-off berth when they face Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League in Sharjah on Tuesday.
Australia beat India by three wickets with the final delivery in a low-scoring first Twenty20 international.
West Indies are reeling at 90 for the loss of three wickets at lunch on day 3, as India extended their advantage in the first Test at Antigua on Saturday. Pacer Mohammed Shami bagged his second wicket of the innings after dismissing Darren Bravo (11) at the stroke of lunch.
Rajasthan Royals will take a lot of confidence after snatching a two-run victory from the jaws of defeat against Punjab Kings.
'India's is fantastic; Bumrah and Shami have been amazing'
Young Shreyas Gopal spun a web around a star-studded Royal Challengers Bangalore batting line-up to claim four wickets for 16 runs and help Rajasthan Royals score a 30-run victory and stay in the reckoning for a play-offs berth in the Indian Premier League, in Jaipur, on Saturday.
'In some matches I bowl badly and don't realise what went wrong and how to correct. A fast bowling coach can help us correct our mistakes and improve as bowler'
Rajneesh Gupta previews Game 42 in IPL 12: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab.
Images from day one of the first Test between Australia and India, in Melbourne, on Monday.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India selectors on Sunday included left-arm spinner Axar Patel in the Indian squad for the last two one-dayers of the ongoing series against Australia and dropped Ravindra Jadeja.
With this victory, Kohli became the first Indian captain to win seven consecutive Test matches.
Also giving the training a miss were first Test double centurion Mayank Agarwal and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.
The Indian squad led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni departed for New Zealand from Mumbai on Sunday for a five-match ODI series followed by a best-of-two Test rubber against the hosts.
Umesh Yadav took a blinder of a catch to dismiss Corey Anderson in the first One-Day International against New Zealand in Dharamsala and fielding coach R Sridhar feels that the Vidarbha fast bowler has "created new benchmark" for the speedsters.
IMAGES from the IPL 2022 game between Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders in Pune on Saturday.
The No. 4 slot is considered the most vital position for any successful ODI side, yet India are struggling to find a solution to their revolving door conundrum for some time now.
