Indian Cricket Team Updates

India's three-wicket loss to England cost them the spot in the final of the ODI Tri-series. Although India were bowled out for 200, the target proved to be competitive given the dual nature of the pitch. After Mohit Sharma set the ball rolling with the wicket of Ian Bell with just 14 runs on the board, Stuart Binny claimed three to leave the opposition on 66/5. But, James Taylor (82) and Jos Buttler (67) forged a 125-run stand to salvage the game for England. Although both departed with victory in sight, Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad took the side across the line with 19 balls to spare.  Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan had earlier batted determinedly to a lay a stable platform for India with an 83-run opening stand. But with the end of the 83-run opening stand it went downhill for the men in blue as wickets fell at regular intervals to the disciplined bowling by the English bowlers.  James Anderson had set the tone with a tight first spell which read 6-1-10-0 and was com...

Jos Buttler (70) became the fourth player to score fifties in first two Test innings as a wicketkeeper after India’s Dilawar Hussain, West Indies’ Desmond Lewis and Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal. (Also Read:  Report: England vs India, 4th Investec Test - Day 3 ) Pankaj Singh finally took his first Test wicket off his 416th delivery when he dismissed Joe Root. He is, however, very far off the record of most balls bowled by a bowler before taking his first Test wicket. Another Indian AG Milkha Singh holds this record, as his maiden Test wicket came off his 652nd ball! Stuart Broad had to retire hurt when Varun Aaron’s bouncer hit him on the face. The last batsman to get retired hurt against India after being hit was Australia’s Steve Waugh (Melbourne in December 2003). Waugh got hit on the left elbow by Ajit Agarkar. Indian openers once again failed to put on a fifty stand. It has now been 31 consecutive innings outside India that the opening pair has not managed a fifty-stand sin...

Moeen Ali’s figures of six for 67 are the second best by an England spinner against India in England, after Ray Illingworth’s 6 for 29 at Lord’s in 1967.  (Also Read:  Report: England vs India, 3rd Investec Test - Day 5 ) Incidentally Moeen is the first English spinner to take five wickets in fourth innings of a Test against India in England. Moeen’s match figures of 8 for 129 are the third best by an England spinner against India at home after Graeme Swann’s 9 for 208 at The Oval in 2011 and Norman Gifford’s 8 for 127 at Lord’s in 1971.  Moeen’s 15 wickets in the series are the most by an England spinner in a home series since 1967 when Ray Illingworth took 20 wickets in three matches. James Anderson -by dismissing Rohit Sharma- completed his 50 wickets against India at home. He became fourth bowler to complete half-century of wickets against India at home after Imran Khan (67), Muttiah Muralitharan (65) and Fred Trueman (53). James Anderson dismissed MS Dhoni for th...

Ian Bell (167) made his third score in excess of 150 against India. He now shares the English record of most 150+ scores against India with Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook. (Also Read:  Report: England vs India, 3rd Investec Test - Day 2 ) Ian Bell, on 99, completed his 7,000 Test runs. He became 11th Englishman to do so. Gary Ballance (156) made his highest Test score, beating 110 also against India at Lord’s. Jos Buttler’s strike-rate of 102.40 (85 off 83 balls) is the second highest for a debutant in an innings of 80 or more. Only Shikhar Dhawan managed a higher strike-rate: 107.47 (187 off 174 balls) vs Australia at Mohali in 2012-13. Buttler’s innings is the highest by a wicketkeeper on Test debut against India, beating West Indies’ Desmond Lewis’ 81* at Georgetown in 1970-71. England’s 569 for seven declared provided the 45th instance of a side scoring 500 against India in first innings of a Test. Only once have India managed to win a Test out of 44 previous instances....

England were firmly in control of the third Test at the end of Day 2 at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Monday. Alastair Cook declared the England innings at 569 for 7 after Ian Bell scored 167 and debutant Jos Buttler slammed a quickfire 85, while Gary Ballance reached his highest Test score of 156. (Also Read:  Stats Highlights: England vs India, 3rd Investec Test - Day 2 ) Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the most successful bowler in trying conditions with three wickets as the others toiled in vain. In reply, India were 25 for 1 after Dhawan (6) fell early once again to his nemesis James Anderson. Murali Vijay (11) and Cheteshwar Pujara (4) were at the crease with India trailing England by 544 runs in the first innings. The second day too belonged to England as Ian Bell ensured that the hosts capitalised on the platform he had helped lay with the top-order batsmen. After the departure of Gary Ballance for 156, the stylish No 4 batsman took over reins to help England post a for...

This is the first Test to start on a Sunday in England. The break-up of starting days of Test matches: Friday-669, Thursday-660, Saturday-340, Wednesday-200, Monday-100, Tuesday-95 and Sunday-68.  Pankaj Singh became 282nd player to represent India in Test matches. He is the first Rajasthan player to play for India since Parthasarathy Sharma who played five Tests between 1974 and 1977. (Also Read:  I never gave up on my Test dream: Pankaj Singh ) Jos Butler became 665th player to represent England in Test matches. He is set to become 66th player to don wicketkeeping gloves for England. (Also Read:  Report: England vs India, 3rd Investec Test - Day 1 ) MS Dhoni was leading India for the seventh time in a Test in England- most by an India. He went ahead of Ajit Wadekar and Mohammad Azharuddin’s tally of six Tests. Alastair Cook was also leading England for the seventh time against India, equalling Nasser Hussain’s record. Only four players made their Test debu...

England have announced their 13-member squad for the third Test against India at Rose Bowl, Southampton. The one big change in the squad is that of Jos Buttler who is all set to make his Test debut replacing injured Matt Prior. (Complete Report: India Tour England 2014 ) Prior who has had a terrible run so far in the series had decided to stand down from Test cricket for the rest of the summer due to injury.  England look at Buttler as an exciting prospect who has made notable contributions in the shorter format of the game. National selector James Whitaker said, "Jos Buttler comes into the squad following some very exciting limited-overs performances for England and a good record with Lancashire this season.”  Simon Kerrigan, the Lancashire spinner, has been left out but the squad is otherwise unchanged from the second Test. Also, Alastair Cook has received unanimous backing from the team and the selectors to continue as captain for the third Test which starts on Sunday....