MELBOURNE: No one is more committed to Indian cricket than Mahendra Singh Dhoni and batting at number five is the ideal spot for him, said Virat Kohli in stout defence of the former captain. Dhoni faced criticism for slow batting in the ODI series-opener in Sydney before redeeming his pride and reputation with match-winning contributions in the Adelaide and Melbourne ODIs. READ ALSO: I'm ready to bat at any position, says MS Dhoni Acknowledging...

NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli and his men made history as India registered their maiden Test series victory on Australian soil after the fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground was drawn due to rain on Day 5 on Monday. SCORECARD Cheteshwar Pujara was declared the Man of the Match and the Man of the Series. Rain prevented any play on Day 5 with Australia needing to bat out the last day to salvage a draw. India won the series 2-1 with victories in...

SYDNEY: Australia were forced to follow-on on home soil for the first time in 30 years after being dismissed for 300 as India went for the jugular in search of a maiden series triumph Down Under on the fourth day of the final Test on Sunday. SCORECARD | BLOG Openers Usman Khawaja (4) and Marcus Harris (2) safely negotiated four overs until bad light and light drizzle forced an early end to an already heavily rain-disrupted day just before the re-scheduled...

LIVE SCORECARD | BLOG 5:15 am If no further rain, play on day four will begin at 0530 IST Update: The covers are off. The umpires have done their inspection. If there is no further rain, play will commence… https://t.co/wQvZJluQ9g— BCCI (@BCCI) 1546731596000 The covers are coming off! #AUSvIND https://t.co/kcJB3XAL4y— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) 1546731490000 5:05 am Rain has stopped,...

SYDNEY: Australia's batting woes returned on the third day of the fourth Test on Saturday and they had slumped to 236 for six when bad light and rain brought an early end to their response to India's mammoth first-innings tally of 622-7 declared. SCORECARD | BLOG The tourists only need a draw to claim a first series win in Australia and the home side's hopes of preventing even that faded as they blew a solid start to lose five wickets after lunch....

NEW DELHI: Mahendra Singh Dhoni was Monday brought back to India's T20 squad to ensure he gets "enough game-time" before the ODI World Cup but the young Rishabh Pant was axed from the 50-over side for the upcoming series against Australia and New Zealand. While Dhoni's inclusion in the shortest format came as a surprise after he was dropped for the Australia leg just last month, Pant's omission is an indication that he is currently not in the team management's...

LIVE SCORECARD | LIVE BLOG 9 a.m. Kohli taking some throw-downs to warm up ahead of the start of day's play. He is 28 runs away from another Test century. In the zone - captain @imVkohli #TeamIndia #INDvWI Day ✌🏻 begins in half hour 🤙🏻 https://t.co/1AEEGKV8rX— BCCI (@BCCI) 1538710209000 8:25 am: Watch how Shaw reacted to Sachin Tendulkar's tweet congratulating him for a fantastic debut Twitter applauds,...

RAJKOT: Teenage sensation Prithvi Shaw announced his arrival in top-flight cricket by becoming the youngest Indian to score a Test century on debut, headlining the home team's march to 364 for four against West Indies on day one of the series-opener here. Scorecard | As it happened Shaw (134 off 154 balls) and Cheteshwar Pujara (86 off 130) laid the foundation for a big score with a 206-run partnership after the early loss of KL Rahul (0). ...

DUBAI: With their powerful batting and fast improving bowling, India are Asia's best hope at the World Cup which takes place in England next year. Even without batting star and regular captain Virat Kohli, India powered their way to the Asia Cup title in Dubai, outlasting Bangladesh by three wickets off the last ball in the final. "India proved to be well ahead of everyone," former Pakistan skipper Wasim told AFP. "Their exposure is greater, they...

DUBAI: Opener Rohit Sharma, who led his team to Asia Cup title in the absence of top-ranked Virat Kohli, on Sunday climbed two places up to a career-best second position to make it a 1-2 for India in the ICC ODI batting rankings. READ ALSO: Rohit Sharma's captaincy helps India take assured steps towards 2019 World Cup This is for the second time that Sharma is in second position, having first reached number two in July this year. He aggregated...

NEW DELHI: Shikhar Dhawan was on Saturday dropped for the two-match Test series against West Indies after his horror run in England while Mayank Agarwal and Mohammed Siraj's domestic exploits were rewarded with maiden India call-up. The selectors decided to rest the duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, taking into account their "workload" in recent months, effectively thrusting upon Mohammed Shami the responsibility to lead the pace attack....

SCORECARD | LIVE BLOG: India vs Bangladesh INDIA INNINGS (Target: 223) End of Over 30: India need 88 runs more to win in 20 overs with seven wickets standing. Sounds pretty one-sided, but two quick wickets and it can all change. 135/3 End of Over 28: Dhoni (27*) and Karthik (33*) have added 46 runs now to bring India's chase back on track. Should they manage to stay together for the next 10 overs, it should become easy for India. 129/3...

DUBAI: The mood around the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here on Thursday did not give the sense that it is going to play host to 25,000 fans who will brave the sun and heat to cheer either India or Bangladesh in a big Asia Cup final on Friday. The tournament has been sort of an anti-climax. The day the fixtures were drawn, it seemed the market forces and the caretakers of cricket had designed it to make up for the lack of India-Pakistan bilateral...

DUBAI: India opener Shikhar Dhawan on Thursday said there was "no shame" in his disastrous run of form in the Tests against England as his plans did not work out despite giving his all. ALSO READ: Asia Cup Final, IND v BAN - Top players to watch Dhawan, whose place in the Test team is under threat for the home series against the West Indies, seemed unfazed about a possible axe. The batsman, who has made a Test comeback in the past on the basis...

DUBAI: "I don't want to be fined," said Mahendra Singh Dhoni as umpiring howlers became as much a talking point as Afghanistan's dogged resilience in the exciting tie between the two sides in what was an inconsequential Asia Cup match. READ ALSO: India-Afghanistan match ends in thrilling tie Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik were given leg before by the on-field umpires -- Gregory Brathwaite of West Indies and Anisur Rahaman of Bangladesh -- even though...

Scorecard | Blog: India vs Afghanistan What a thriller! Needing seven runs off the final over, India scored six off first four balls to level the score. But on the fifth ball, Rashid Khan got the better of Ravindra Jadeja and bowled out India for 252. The result: Match tied. Overs 49.5: India 252 all out. Match ends in a tie Overs 49.2: FOUR! Ravindra Jadeja (24*) takes India to 250/9, need two more to win Overs 49: India 246/9, need 7 more...

DUBAI: The Indian cricket team will hope that its untested middle-order gets some game time ahead of the grand finale when it takes on an ever-improving Afghanistan in the final 'Super Four' encounter of the Asia Cup on Tuesday. India have been on a roll after an unimpressive start against Hong Kong, with couple of one-sided victories over arch-rivals Pakistan and an equally facile one against Bangladesh. With a spot in Friday's final sealed, skipper...