England will struggle to beat India says Ganguly

Former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly has said that England will find it extremely difficult to beat an extraordinary Indian team on home soil.

Speaking with media in Siliguri, West Bengal, Ganguly said: "The Indian team is a good team. It is an extraordinary team on its home soil.

Abroad they have not played that well in the last few years but on the home ground, they are an extraordinary team. It is difficult for any team to defeat them."

India overcome spirited Afghanistan

India were given a scare by rank outsiders Afghanistan in the second match of the ICC T20 World Cup before emerging as relieved winners by 23 runs at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Wednesday night.

The current World Cup holders struggled for long periods of their 20 overs before finishing with a barely respectable 159-5 and were in serious trouble with the Afghans on 75-2 in the 12th over until two wickets in as many balls from Yuvraj Singh slowed the scoring rate and allowed India to take control just when they needed to most.

Ashwin is expected to play a key role at the ICC World T20 for India

Twenty20 cricket was supposed to spell doom for spinners. But in the IPL, for example, you were one of the people who started the trend of opening the bowling with spinners, and now everyone seems to be doing it. What’s the deal? 
I don’t know. As far as I am concerned, any chance that came my way had to be taken if I had to reach anywhere in life. I took it with both hands. I took it head-on. I was like someone that was very hungry and prepared to hunt on an island. I had a lot of courage and faith in myself.

Indian team will find it very difficult to win ICC T-20 World Cup says Kapil Dev

Former India captain Kapil Dev feels that Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Indian team will find it "very difficult" to win the upcoming World T20 in Sri Lanka considering the manner in which they played in during their last T20 International against New Zealand. 
"My heart says something and mind says something else. My heart says that India will win the World Cup and my cricketing brain thinks that they will find it very difficult. The way they played in the last T20 against New Zealand is not a good sign ahead of such an important tournament," Kapil said during a promotional event at a city outlet on Friday. 

Ganguly dismissed suggestions of Sachin slowing down

The case of the ball zipping through Sachin Tendulkar's bat and pad thrice in the recently-concluded two-Test series against New Zealand has sparked a big debate: Is age catching up with the master batsman?
There was also a suggestion from a former star batsman that he was "naturally slowing down" due to age. A long time opening partner to Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, however, dismissed all such notions. "He will combat this and respond in a fitting way," the southpaw said.

Ganguly Interested in Coaching Indian Team

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is open to coaching the senior national team if the Indian cricket board feels that he is a suitable candidate for the hot seat.
"Obviously, I have interest in coaching but only time will tell what can happen in future. If the BCCI feels that I can be a good coach, I will be ready. I feel I can create a difference in terms of the ability of the players, their form and their development. That will be one way of my repaying the game," Ganguly said.
One of the most successful among Indian captains, the stylish left-hander of yesteryears maintained that captain is always the main man and coach can only be a back-up support.

Laxman denies Controversy with Dhoni

Just retired VVS Laxman on Monday declined to comment on his relationship with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni but clarified that there was no controversy as has been reported by the media. 
"There was no controversy at all... I don't want to speak anything about it," Laxman said on Monday . 
It started with Laxman telling the media that he couldn't get in touch with Dhoni to intimate him about his decision to quit international cricket. This was followed by Dhoni's admission that he wasn't invited to Laxman's house for dinner like some of the other seniors in the team. 

Indian Selectors call some new faces for the A side

The absence of several players on international duty has opened up places for Unmukt Chand and Mandeep Singh in the India A squad for the upcoming tour of New Zealand.

With Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary and Ashok Dinda busy during the tour of New Zealand, the selectors have drafted in some of new faces.

India Strike the first blow in ODI series

Virat Kohli smashed another century - his fourth in the last five innings - as India shrugged off their rust after a long layoff to begin the new season with a 21-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first one-day international here on Saturday.Kohli, who came to the wicket after India lost Gautam Gambhir's wicket at the score of seven, was in his element from the outset, cutting Nuwan Kulasekara for a boundary to get off the mark. He went on to hit nine boundaries in his 113-ball 106. Virender Sehwag, who struggled earlier in his innings, was in his attacking best once got set.

Rahul Sharma and Wayne Parnell test positive for drugs

Pune Warriors' players Rahul Sharma and Wayne Parnell have tested positive for taking drugs at a rave party at the Oakwood Premier hotel near Juhu beach on May 20. Parnell and Indian leg-spinner Sharma were among the 92 people who were rounded after police busted a rave party.

BCCI to pay Five Indian players who missed IPL due to injury

Five Indian players who will be compensated by the BCCI for missing IPL and Champions League T20 matches in 2011 due to injuries sustained while representing India, Mail. Players to benefit from the board's decision are Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel and Ashish Nehra.

ZengaTV bags rights for mobile streaming of India-Sri Lanka series

Mobile video streaming company Zenga TV has bagged the exclusive rights for mobile video streaming of the upcoming Indi Sri Lanka series. Zenga TV has got rights from Indian sports rights management agency Sporty Solutionz, which procured it from TEN sports. The series is slated to begin on July 21 in Sri Lanka.

India goes with the edge - India Vs Sri Lanka Series Preview

From the recent past India has become the most dangerous team to set foot in Sri Lanka. Since they toured Sri Lanka in 2008 they have been the far dominant team over-powering the hosts by a long way.
India beat Sri Lanka 3-2 in the bilateral ODIs in both 2008 & 2009 tours in Sri Lanka and also took the Asia Cup from Sri Lanka’s grasps in 2010.

India-Pakistan cricket series to be held in England?

The reciprocal India-Pakistan cricket series, to be hosted by the neighbour, may be played in England as the island nation is emerging as the most suitable venue given the Indian board's reluctance to send a team to Pakistan.

Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar mourn Rajesh Khanna's death

Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh has expressed grief on hearing the news of actor Rajesh Khanna’s death on Wednesday.
“Sad to hear about mr rajesh khanna I hope his soul rests in peace !!” he posted on twitter.
Sachin Tendulkar remembered watching many of his movies saying his whole family admired him as an actor.

India-Pakistan series more popular than the Ashes - Shahid Afridi

Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi is spot on in describing India-Pakistan encounters as bigger and more popular than the Ashes series between England and Australia. The Ashes may boast of tradition and purity, but it can hardly match the excitement and passion that an India-Pakistan series generates. There are two main reasons for this. First, over the last two decades the centre of power in the cricketing world has shifted to the subcontinent. This is underpinned by the massive viewership that cricket attracts in the region. That the BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world exemplifies this point. 

India and Sri Lanka eyes world T-20 preperations

The Indians arrived in Colombo on Wednesday afternoon and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, alongside Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene addressed the media at the Taj Samudra Hotel with both captains insisting that the series will help them in certain ways in the lead up to the World T-20.

India fly and Sri Lanka drive to Hambantota

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) doesn’t seem to bother to take good care of their players, even though it may be just days before leading up to an important series against world champions, India. It emerged Wednesday, that while SLC had arranged for the Indian players to be flown to Hambantota, the Sri Lankans were supposed to go on the team bus, spending a good five to six hours, warming their posteriors.

PCB ask for a revenue share from India Pakistan series

The much-anticipated Indo-Pak limited-overs series in December could face problems getting off the ground as the Pakistan Cricket Board is determined to get a share of the revenues generated from the matches. BCCI when discussions are held to work out modalities for the series planned in India. 

India named 30 Probables for the world t20

Yuvaraj Singh has been included in India's preliminary squad of 30 players for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka this September. Mandeep Singh, the Punjab batsman who plays for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL, and Ambati Rayudu, the Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians batsman, are the only uncapped players in the list.