Priyank Panchal (103 retired), Shreyas Iyer (100 retired) and Vijay Shankar (103 not out) hit hundreds in the two-day warm-up match in Hyderabad which finished in a draw.
Among his wards, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari have taken to Test cricket like duck to water, all-rounder Vijay Shankar is staking World Cup claims, while Shubhman Gill broke into the ODI team in New Zealand.
With SRH's reputation of leaking runs in the death overs, CSK would have fancied their chances of posting a challenging total. But the SRH bowlers came back strongly.
Injured all-rounder Vijay Shankar is 'hopeful' of playing India's next World Cup encounter against Afghanistan
Short of match practice, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ashish Nehra and Ajinkya Rahane will captain the India A team for two warm-up matches against England at CCI, Mumbai next week. Dhoni, who has not played a competitive game in over two months, will lead the India A side in the opening warm-up here on January 10. Rahane, who is coming back from an injury, will captain the team in the second warm-up on January 12.
Afghanistan's controversial campaign, marred by poor on and off-field decisions, has gone from bad to worse. They now face the onerous task of squaring off against a galaxy of world class players, whose performance graph is on the upswing.
The lack of fight in the run chase was a big disappointment, as mentioned by captain Rohit Sharma in Wellington. Despite having eight batsmen in the eleven, India lost by 80 runs.
Mayank Agarwal has been in top form in Test cricket and he could carry that form into the limited overs series if picked in the playing XI. The Karnataka cricketer is currently playing in the Ranji Trophy and will join the national squad before the opening ODI.
Rashid Khan and Khaeel Ahmed ensured KXIP could never find any kind of momentum in a steep chase.
RR have a lot of issues to sort out, particularly in the absence of key foreign players like Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes.
Prithvi Shaw smashed 48 off 35 balls to lay the foundation for India's chase.
Much was expected from a revamped Kolkata Knight Riders set-up but it seemed Dinesh Karthik did not learn from his past mistakes
Dinesh Karthik scored a solid 113 as Tamil Nadu took command of their Ranji Trophy semi-final against Maharashtra at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata, on on Thursday. On a deceptive green top that had little in it for the bowlers, he made hay even as half-centuries from Vijay Shankar (91), Ramaswamy Prasanna (64 not out) and Baba Indrajith (68 not out) down the order ensured Tamil Nadu amassed 426 for 5 in 177 overs at the close of play on Day 2.
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli blamed his side's five-wicket defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Sharjah on Saturday, on poor batting.
Aditya Tare played a captain's knock while Abhishek Nayar and Shardul Thakur complemented their fine bowling effort with half-centuries to help Mumbai take the all-important first innings lead over Tamil Nadu in the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament in Rajkot. Tare made a fine 83 off 181 deliveries with the help of nine boundaries to hold together Mumbai's first innings. He was ably supported by Nayar (58) and Thakur (52) as Mumbai made 406 in their first innings in reply to Tamil Nadu's 305 before being bowled out at stumps on the third day of the five-day marque encounter.
We've tried Dinesh Karthik, we've tried Jadeja, we've tried Vijay Shankar, three guys have been tried and they've not proved useful so maybe we can find a good youngster for No 5, says former India batsman Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
The Indian Playing XI will also have Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Sunday as he replaces Mohammed Shami, who was hit on the leg in his follow through during the third match.
Virat's captaincy may have come of age in this competition.
Pakistani players made a prolonged appeal but umpire Marais Erasmus was not convinced.
The move comes after the 33-year-old was snubbed by the Indian team management, who preferred Mayank Agarwal as replacement for an injured Vijay Shankar in the World Cup squad.
The Virat Kohli-led team ticked all the boxes in their opening win of the series Australia on Saturday.
It was the Manish Pandey show all the way as he smashed his way to an entertaining 83 not out from 47 balls to help Sunrisers register a convincing eight wicket win against the Rajasthan Royals.
One shudders to think what could happen if India lose both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli early with such a brittle middle order to follow?
Rohit Sharma produced an elegant hundred before Kuldeep Yadav flummoxed the Pakistani batsmen as India inflicted a humiliating 89-run defeat via the Duckworth-Lewis method on their arch-rivals.
Rohit lauded the efforts of the bowlers for producing crucial breakthroughs.
CSK and Sunrisers Hyderabad (since inception) have traditionally been two of the most balanced sides in most IPL editions but both have ensured scratchy starts this year
India are yet to finalise their middle-order ahead of the World Cup but are unlikely to tinker much with the playing eleven for Friday's second ODI in Mount Maunganui.
Rayudu had pulled out of the coming Ranji Trophy tournament attacking the Hyderabad Cricket Association
Flamboyant India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was on Saturday ruled out of the upcoming Test series against New Zealand after failing to regain full match fitness. He is unlikely to come back before this year's Indian Premier League, which is scheduled to start on March 29.
Sunrisers Hyderabad looked racing towards a huge total before the Rajasthan Royals bowlers staged a superb comeback in the final few overs.
Images from Monday's IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and SunRisers Hyderabad, in Dubai.
Kohli has always led from the front but he knows his search for a maiden title will remain incomplete if the team doesn't perform in all departments.
Getting the combination right would be topmost on Sunrisers Hyderabad's to-do list when they take on a qualitatively superior Mumbai Indians in an IPL encounter in Chennai on Saturday, trying to arrest an early slide after back-to-back defeats.
Shaw knocks at selectors' doors ahead of NZ Tests with a splendid 150 off 100 balls.
One of the most consistent teams in the Indian Premier League over the last five years, Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to improve upon their middle-order batting in the upcoming 14th edition of the T20 league.
Former India batsman Yuvraj Singh slammed the MSK Prasad-led national selection panel, saying there is a definite need for having better selectors.
A week after chiding the Karnataka government over the "inordinate delay" in appointing the Lokayukta, the Karnataka high court on Monday directed it to begin the process of appointment in the next two days.
The comprehensive 125-run defeat at Old Trafford was West Indies' fifth loss in seven matches as the winners of the first two World Cups joined Afghanistan and South Africa on the sidelines.
Abhinav Mukund (84) and Baba Aparajith (87) shone as Tamil Nadu thrashed Tripura by 187 runs
There remains a big question mark over who will be India's No.4 in the World Cup.
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