Injured opener Murali Vijay was Monday ruled out from India’s upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka, the cricket board said Monday, with Shikhar Dhawan named as his replacement. Vijay, who underwent surgery on his wrist in England after the four-Test series against Australia, has already missed the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League Twenty20 … Read more
Five things we learned after India defeated Australia 2-1 to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Dharamsala this week: Relations between the old foes have always been testy, from the infamous “Monkeygate” scandal in 2008 to Virat Kohli showing Australian fans the middle finger four years later, but a bad-tempered series has exacerbated the animosity. From … Read more
India clinched a hard-fought series against Australia 2-1 after winning the fourth and final Test in Dharamsala. Here are the main flashpoints of a tour which will be remembered as much for its controversies as its cricket: Emotions were running high after Australia won the opening Test in Pune, but visiting skipper Steve Smith set … Read more
Australian media labelled Indian skipper Virat Kohli “classless” and childish on Wednesday after his provocative comments at the end of a hard-fought but incendiary Test series. Newspapers laid into the winning captain for saying he no longer counted the Australian players as friends, and they also took umbrage at India’s apparent snub when invited to … Read more
Indian skipper Virat Kohli said he no longer considered Australian cricketers as friends after winning a tense Test series marked by bad blood in Dharamsala on Tuesday. Kohli, who remarked before the series that he was “really good friends” with some Australian players, said things had changed during the bitter contest between the world’s top … Read more
India underlined their status as the world’s number one side as they demolished Australia by eight wickets to clinch a bitterly fought series 2-1 on day four of the fourth Test on Tuesday. Chasing 106, opener Lokesh Rahul (51 not out) hit the winning runs in Dharamsala to take back the Border-Gavaskar trophy from Australia, … Read more
India trudged to 64-1 at lunch in the face of some intense bowling by the Australian quicks on the second day of the decisive fourth and final Test on Sunday. Opener Lokesh Rahul was batting on 31 with Cheteshwar Pujara on 22 after the hosts lost Murali Vijay early in the first session at Dharamsala, … Read more
The Indian cricket board Wednesday doubled the salaries of its contracted players while retaining former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the top pay bracket. Players holding a Grade A contract will now get an annual retainer fee of $3.05 million instead of the previous $1.71m they were getting since November 2015. Dhoni, who gave up … Read more
Overnight batsman Murali Vijay hit a gutsy half-century to lead India’s strong first innings reply on day three of the third Test against Australia in Ranchi on Saturday. Vijay scored 82 off 183 balls before undoing his hard work at the stroke of lunch as he jumped out of his crease to be stumped off … Read more
A probing Australian bowling attack struck twice to jolt India as opener Lokesh Rahul braved a tough morning session on the opening day of the second Test in Bangalore Saturday. The hosts, who elected to bat first, were 72 for two at lunch as off-spinner Nathan Lyon got the wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara (17) just … Read more
Batsman Murali Vijay on Wednesday rejected the idea that the Pune pitch was to blame for India’s drubbing in the first Test against Australia despite it being classified as “poor” by the match referee. Virat Kohli’s team crumbled twice for totals of 105 and 107 in the two innings at Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, … Read more
Left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe claimed five wickets including the prized scalp of Virat Kohli as Australia closed in on victory in the first Test in Pune on Saturday. Chasing a daunting target of 441, India were tottering at 99 for six at tea on day three. Cheteshwar Pujara was batting on 31 after Wriddhiman Saha … Read more