Ricky Ponting, who stepped down from the captaincy in March and turned 37 on Monday, needs a first Test ton in nearly two years merely to save his career.
India were 229 for three on the fourth day of the second Test against the West Indies at Bridgetown on Friday, thereby extending their overall lead to 240.
Sachin Tendulkar spared the hosts a century as India's middle-order batsmen warmed up with some useful knocks before the two-day practice match against Cricket Australia Chairman's XI ended in a draw in Canberra on Friday.
As the big three of Indian Test batting -- Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman -- enter the twilight of their careers, the spotlight is firmly on the men who seek to replace them in the years to come.
Australia spin great Shane Warne picked former India captain Sourav Ganguly as the skipper of his greatest Indian XI. However, the most notable omission in his team was that of former India batting great VVS Laxman, who enjoyed an impeccable record against Australia.
Around 62 Indian cricketers will be up for auction for the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in the top-bracket of cricketers valued at Rs 1.84 crore.
India, who went into the World Cup as one of the favourites, were handed a heartbreaking defeat by New Zealand in the semifinals.
The impressive performances in the first two Tests of the ongoing series against the West Indies saw Rahul Dravid break into the top 10 while VVS Laxman climbed to 13th spot in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen issued.
After declaring on 631-7 in the post-tea session, India reduced the West Indies to 34-2 before bad light forced an early end to the second day's play in the second Test. The West Indies trail by 597 runs.
Images from the opening day's play of the second Test between India and West Indies at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Rahul Dravid slammed a fluent 119 to put India in command before the West Indies snapped up two quick wickets at the fag end of the day to recover marginally in the second Test at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Monday. Opting to bat, Dravid and VVS Laxman (73 batting) continued their love affair with their favourite Eden Gardens track as their 140-run partnership put India in a strong position of 346 for five at close on the opening day.
Sachin Tendulkar's quest for a record 100th international ton continued, but India rode on his fluent 76 to script an admirable come-from-behind five-wicket victory over the West Indies with more than four sessions to spare at the Ferozshah Kotla on Wednesday.
India scored a comprehensive five-wicket win in the first Test against the West Indies at the Ferozshah Kotla on Wednesday. The win gave the hosts a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid hit contrasting centuries to give India the upperhand against New Zealand on Day 1 of the first Test, at the Sardar Patel stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad, on Thursday. At stumps on the opening day, India were 329 for three in 90 overs, with Sachin Tendulkar on 13 from 47 balls and VVS Laxman on seven.
VVS Laxman, who had a bad back during the Mohali Test, required three painkilling injections plus tablets at each break in the game to score his priceless 73 to snatch victory from jaws of defeat and make the Australians suffer once again.
Defending Olympic, World and Commonwealth Games pole vault champion Steve Hooker is a sporting legend Down Under, but even he can't help but admire the greatness of Sachin Tendulkar.
Seeking to clear air over the altercation Zaheer Khan had with Ricky Ponting, India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said the issue was a misunderstanding on part of Australia's captain. Harbhajan said Zaheer's remarks were not directed at Ponting; the pacer was just talking with teammate VVS Laxman.
Sachin Tendulkar (6018) is the first Indian and the third overall to aggregate 6,000 runs or more in Tests at home, joining Australia's Ricky Ponting (6790) and West Indian Brian Lara (6217).
India need to carefully groom replacements for their batting 'fab four' after suffering a crushing innings defeat by South Africa on Tuesday, former captain and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said.
The Australians found it difficult to breach VVS Laxman's defence during his playing days but on the same soil, it was Narendra Modi's speech that 'bowled' him over and he is confident that young India will achieve success under the Prime Minister's able leadership.
Laxman said Dhawan has to be amongst runs in the Sri Lanka series considering the stiff competition for the opening spot in T20 WC squad.
Former India great VVS Laxman feels Mayank Agarwal's "fearless" approach while batting resembles the maverick Virender Sehwag, the Karnataka opener's idol.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, shooter Gagan Narang and India cricketer VVS Laxman were among several sportspersons who were the part of the Queen's Baton Relay that arrived in Hyderabad on Saturday.
The ICC flagship event will return to the country after more than a decade.
VVS Laxman's unbeaten century under pressure showed why he is regarded as "very very special", captain Mahendra Singh said on Saturday, attributing India's series-levelling victory against Sri Lanka to a "collective effort".
The volley of words against Greg Chappell continues. Now, former India batsman VVS Laxman says that the Australian took "Indian cricket backwards" during his two-year tenure as the national cricket team's coach.
Siddarth Yadav is the only player who has a confirmed positive RT-PCR report while Dhull, Rasheed, and Aaradhya Yadav tested positive in Rapid Antigen Tests.
It was jelly beans four years ago and it is Vaseline this time as a controversy erupted in the second India-England Test here when VVS Laxman was accused of using it on his bat to manipulate the Hot-Spot technology in the Decision Review System.
The Indian women's team advanced to the the summit clash and Virat Kohli was quick to congratulate the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side for reaching its maiden final of the T20 World Cup in Australia
Images from Day 4 in the first Test between India and England, at Lord's.
It has just been a few weeks since Duncan Fletcher took over as India's coach but senior batsman VVS Laxman says the team is already bowled over by his knowledge of the game and feels "lucky" to have him on board.
He has been a long-time middle-order mainstay of India's batting line-up but veteran VVS Laxman says he started feeling assured in the team only in the last four years during which he was given the "freedom" to play his natural game.
The low-scoring second cricket Test was tantalisingly poised after the third day's play with South Africa needing 192 more runs to win and India also fancying their chances of a remarkable series-levelling victory in Durban.
Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan destroyed South Africa's batting to give India the upperhand at the end of day two in the second Test.
Batting mainstay VVS Laxman believes a 250 plus score in the first innings at Kingsmead will prove competitive and give India enough cushion to bowl out South Africa in the second Test.
VVS Laxman was a disappointed man despite playing a crucial role in India's recovery in the second Test against West Indies as a hundred had eluded him once again after all the hard work. Laxman, who played a precious 85-run knock in India's total of 201 on Tuesday.
Statistical highlights from the opening day's play in the second cricket Test between India and the West Indies played in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Former South Africa captain Clive Rice rates the India bowling attack higher than South Africa's and said the home bowlers would struggle to take 20 wickets against a batting line-up, which boasts of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, in the Test series starting next week.
The under-19 World Cup begins in the West Indies on Friday and India opens its campaign with a match against South Africa on Saturday.
