Having turned the tables in the one-dayers after a shoddy show in the Test series, New Zealand speedster Tim Southee is confident that the Black Caps can script history by winning their first ever bilateral ODI series in India.
Come Thursday, Dhoni could possibly be his swansong on home turf and a big score to add to his legacy could be the fans' expectations.
New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham feels his team was simply outdone by the brilliance of Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the third One-day International in Mohali. Neesham (57 off 47) helped New Zealand post 285 with a maiden half century down the order before Kohli made short work of the target to give India a seven-wicket victory on Sunday. Kohli, who hit his 26th ODI hundred, remained unbeaten on 154 after sharing a 151-run stand with Dhoni (80).
Plans to host a first day-night Test in India later this year remain intact, the Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary said on Tuesday, dismissing a local media report that prospective opponents New Zealand had rejected the idea.
Brimming with confidence after a clean-sweep in the Test series, India will look to carry on their dominance over New Zealand when the two teams lock horns in the first cricket One-day International of the five-match series, in Dharamsala on Sunday.
Facing the prospect of a series defeat at home for the first time in 15 months, skipper Virat Kohli will have a relook at his team combination as hosts India take on a resurgent England in a do-or-die second T20 International, in Nagpur on Sunday.
Stylish batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who has been named the vice-captain for India's upcoming tour of the West Indies, said he enjoys taking responsibilities and the new role will help him to improve his performance. "I had toured the West Indies as part of India A around 3-4 years back, at that time the wickets were little slow. In international cricket, there will be different wickets. I have heard there is good bounce and pace in Barbados, Jamaica," Rahane told PTI in Mumbai. "At the same time, I feel the wickets may be spin-friendly. We will get the idea of the wickets once we go there. But it is an exciting tour in the West Indies. We are going with a young Test team. We have done well recently and so we are looking forward to the tour," he added. Talking about his new role as a vice-captain, Rahane said: "As a vice-captain there will be responsibilities and I like to take responsibilities. When I toured Zimbabwe as a captain, I learned a lot from my team-mates, it was a good experience and we had won in Zimbabwe.
Veteran left-hander Yuvraj Singh feels that most of the batsmen in the ongoing Duleep Trophy have struggled to pick wrist spinners bowling with the pink ball.
In order to raise the ever dwindling number of spectators in the stadium, the BCCI is all set to host its first-ever Day/Night cricket Test with pink ball when New Zealand tour India later this year. "We have decided that we will play one Day/Night Test match with pink ball against New Zealand later this year. Before that Duleep Trophy will act as a dress rehearsal for the Day/Night Test match," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur told a select gathering of mediapersons at the BCCI's headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday. Thakur said that the main objective of the Duleep Trophy will be to check how the pink kookaburra behaves under the light in sub-continental conditions. "While we have not zeroed in on the venue, there are lots of factors that need to be taken into account. Things like dew factor, how the spinners bowl with the pink kookaburra on Indian pitches. These things we will get an idea during the Duleep Trophy," said Thakur.
Yuvraj Singh feels it moved a bit more than SG Test ball while Robin Uthappa's observations varied from colour change to lack of reverse swing as the first set of inputs on the much talked about 'Pink ball' Day-Night experiment in the Duleep Trophy came to the fore.
A distraught Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed the two no-balls bowled to Lendl Simmons by Ravichandran Ashwin and Hardik Pandya for India's shock defeat against the West Indies in the World T20 semi-final at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai, on Thursday night.
The loss left Indian cricket fans dejected as the host team's talisman thus far, Virat Kohli, was smashed for runs in the final over of the Windies innings.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said that he did expect turn but no so much of turn from the wicket at the Eden Gardens during their World T20 win against arch rivals Pakistan.
If we click, we can do anything, says Angelo Mathews .
The Olivier Awards are the British stage equivalent of the Oscars.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he was happy that the likes of Yuvraj Singh came good in the match. "I think consistent performance is very important. In the last 9-10 T20s we have played, we have done well. It was good to see a few of the others contributing as well," he said. "Yuvraj Singh's innings was crucial, not just for this match but for the team as well, good to see him get into some good form," Dhoni added. Asked about the pitch, he said, "Today's wicket was harder than some of the other wickets, but it was still a little soft, which allows the ball to grip and move around.
Indian limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has praised Yuvraj Singh's gritty innings against Pakistan and feels more than amount of runs scored, the number of balls faced was important.
If you happen to like this film, I have to assume there's something seriously wrong with your idea of a journey, Sreehari Nair says.
Virat Kohli was all praise for Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman, the pacer who tormented the Indians during their last visit where they lost the ODI series 1-2.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hailed his bowlers for the resounding series-clinching win over New Zealand in the fifth and final ODI in Visakhapatnam, describing it as "one of the best performances by the bowlers".
Sri Lanka's medium pace bowler Thisara Perera said he did not realise that he had taken a hat-trick till his teammates informed him about it, as his entire concentration was on bowling in the death overs during the second T20 International against India in Ranchi on Friday. Although Sri Lanka lost the second game against India by 69 runs here last night to concede the advantage, Perera stole the show by becoming the first Sri Lankan bowler to take a hat-trick in T20 Internationals. "Actually, I didn't know that it was a hat-trick. Because that time my concentration was about my death bowling," Perera said at the post-match press conference here. "My teammates told me I got a hat-trick. Then I thought it was very good for me," he said when asked when did he come to know about the feat. Perera first dismissed Hardik Pandya in the fourth ball of the final over and then sent back Suresh Raina in the next delivery. In the last ball of the over, he had Yuvraj Singh caught at long-on. By the time Perera's hat-trick came it was a bit too late and thus, it did not help Sri Lanka's cause. Perera said it was good to get his second hat-trick in international cricket. "This is my second one -- the first hat-trick was in an ODI (against Pakistan)," he said. Defending his team's decision to bowl first upon winning the toss, Perera said, "We thought dew factor could play a role at the latter stage of the match. So we wanted to bowl first."
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said 'losing wickets against the run of play' while chasing a tricky target led to the home team's defeat against New Zealand in the second ODI, in New Delhi, on Thursday.
With the Eden Gardens set to host the country's first day-night match with a pink ball in club cricket, an expert panel, comprising Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Dean Jones, strongly feel the innovation is here to stay.
India made two changes for this must-win game, with Gurkeerat Mann and Rishi Dhawan handed debuts on account of their all-round capabilities. Ravichandran Ashwin and Manish Pandey made way for them in the playing eleven.
India's young guns will get an opportunity to fire on the big stage and carry forward the team's exceptional dominance over England when they clash with the visitors in the three-match Twenty20 series, starting in Kanpur on Thursday.
Ravindra Jadeja has been consistently performing with the ball for Chennai Super Kings, and the all-rounder says his mantra to success is to bowl in good areas and mix up the deliveries.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said rather than talk about India's deficiencies, he would like to pay tribute to the West Indies, who capitalised on the chances they got in the World T20 semi-final in Mumbai.
Throughout the World Twenty20 championship, he was in good flow with the bat and Kohli the bowler also resurfaced when it mattered.
India's skipper Virat Kohli said the toss proved "crucial" and his batsmen could have played "smarter cricket", as they went down to Sri Lanka by two wickets in their Asia Cup encounter.
After guiding India to a convincing six-wicket win over Bangladesh in their Asia Cup opener captain Virat Kolhi credited his success to his dad.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy said he is not concerned as the ones who are in the side have enough calibre to be simply destructive.
"Jinx (Ajinkya Rahane) batted well at No 3 but Virat couldn't score, this is something we will have to look at," Dhoni said.
Stung by doubts raised over the safety of its fastest-growing brand in India, PepsiCo on Friday asserted that Mountain Dew was a totally safe product complying with all food standards nationally and globally, and was the same that was being marketed
Centre for Science and Environment on Wednesday said PepsiCo's 'Mountain Dew' contained caffeine despite being a non-cola drink
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni rued the lack of consistency by his bowlers after India were beaten by South Africa by seven wickets in the first Twenty International on Friday, saying his team could have executed their game plans better.
The defeat to a depleted Sri Lanka in the first T20 International is a good wake-up call for the Indians, according to former captain Sunil Gavaskar.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is highly impressed with young Gujarat pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who has given the Australian batsmen hard time during the limited overs series in Australia that concluded in Sydney on Sunday.
The commercial prospects of day-night Tests, however, have not been lost on the world's richest cricket board and it announced last month it would host a floodlit Test against New Zealand when the Black Caps tour later this year.
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