The blazing hundred by Paul Valthaty was only the 13th century in 187 IPL games, which clearly how difficult it is even for seasoned pros to register a three-figure score in T-20 cricket.

The relativ

He began his career with a bang and is now ending it with a whimper as it were.

Former Indian opener Sadagopan Ramesh has decided to call it quits, nearly three seasons after he played his final fir

If the opening match between Knight Riders and Super Kings is any indication then IPL-4 at the MAC might not be a turbo charged T20 event spectators have grown used to.

The pitch that used to ensure

Serious doubts have arisen over seamer Praveen Kumar’s World Cup participation due to a continuing problem with his elbow. The Board of Control for Cricket in India, on its part, is keeping everyone concerned in the dark on a possible replacement.

Is this the best team that India could have picked for the World Cuo? Barring the surprise selection of Piyush Chawla, the selectors have done the predictable in picking the combination with the most weight on current form. Chawla is the exception since he last played for the country in July 2008, against Pakistan.

This has been a tournament of lop-sided results so far. With the last league game — between India and New Zealand here on Wednesday — emerging as a knockout, the demand for better application stands magnified for both sides.

Bowler-friendly conditions that trouble Indian batsman is not a new scenario, but the lack of application and the will to fight is becoming a cause of serious concern here.
Rohit Sharma’s body language suggests a calamity in the dressing room.

It is the supreme irony at this rain-hit tournament that India, who started their campaign with a mammoth 200-run defeat, are probably the best-placed among the three teams to reach the final.

Cricket is their first love but our men in blue have other passions too. In a bid to take their minds off the stress of playing the game in Sri-Lanka, members of team India are glued to their laptops or hooked to their iPods. But it’s not all about song and dance, some senior players like Rahul Dravid are voracious readers. Dravid favours biographies and Lance Armstrong’s It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life is one of his favourites.

The Sri Lankan Cricket Board has handed a one-match suspension to off-spinner Suraj Randiv for deliberately bowling a no-ball to Virender Sehwag that denied the opener a century in the triseries league game here on Monday. Randiv, who will not be able to play against New Zealand on Thursday, has also been fined his entire match fee. Tillakaratne Dilshan’s interference in this issue has resulted in his match fee also being docked.