Indian Cricket Team Updates

The past few months would have been tough for Sunil Narine. He had to give the World Cup a miss in an effort to remodel his action; this, after being reported for a suspect bowling action. To Narine’s credit, he has gone back to working out the basics, changed his action to a legitimate one and has now been cleared by the BCCI’s review committee to take part in KKR’s Pepsi IPL 2015 campaign. It is almost a no-brainer that Narine has been the nucleus of KKR’s bowling plans and captain Gautam Gambhir was visibly happy to have his ace spinner back in the side.  Related News: Mumbai Indians (MI) Squad IPL 8 - 2015 Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Squad IPL 8 - 2015 Gambhir credited Narine for the effort he has put in over the past few months. “We were always very confident of him coming back and remodeling his action, especially after the test that he got done in Loughborough which was also an ICC testing center,” Gambhir said.  “I am really happy for him. I have always fe...

Skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front with a gutsy unbeaten century while the others floundered as Delhi struggled to 260 for six at stumps on the first day of their opening Ranji Trophy fixture against Saurashtra, here on Sunday. Here’s what happened during the day in the other games throughout the country:   Assam vs Tripura:   Having bundled Tripura out for 135, Assam were precariously placed at 68/4 at the end of Day 1. Electing to field first, Assam bowled out the opposition in 57.3 overs. Krishna Das and Sibsankar Roy picked three wickets apiece while Arup Das took two to help wrap-up the opposition. With the exception of M Murasingh's valiant 47, the rest of the Tripura line-up had caved in to Assam on the first day.   ASSAM 68/4 (Abu Nechim Ahmed 24*, AK Sarkar 2/13) VS TRIPURA 135 (MB Mura Singh 47. RK Solanki 30, Sibsankar Roy 3/6, Krishna Das 3/41) Karnataka vs Tamil Nadu:   Striking at regular intervals, Tamil Nadu bowled the home team out for 290...

54 Hobart Hurricanes score at the end of 10th over – their lowest 10-over score in the tournament. 16 Number of overs bowled by spinners in Hobart Hurricanes innings – most by the spinners in any match in the tournament.  (Also Read:  MATCH REPORT: SF1 - KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS V HOBART HURRICANES ) 14 Number of consecutive wins for Kolkata Knight Riders – the second longest winning streak in T20s. Only Sialkot Stallions (25) have a longer winning streak. 7 Wicket margin by which Kolkata Knight Riders beat Hobart Hurricanes – equalled the largest win margin in a CLT20 semi-final. Trinidad & Tobago had beaten Cape Cobras by an identical margin in 2009 edition. 5.34 Run-rate of Hobart Hurricanes’ opening stand – slowest opening partnership in the tournament. 5 Number of Indian sides to have reached CLT20 final. Kolkata Knight Riders joined Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals. Mumbai Indians have done so twice. source: ...

12 Number of times Robin Uthappa has scored 40 or more in last 14 innings. 13 Number of consecutive matches won by Kolkata Knight Riders – longest winning streak for an Indian side. Bengal had won 12 matches on the trot between 2009 and 2011. Only two sides- Sialkot Stallions (25) and Otago Volts (14) - have a longer winnings streak in all T20s (Surrey also won 13 consecutive matches between 2003 and 2004).  (Also Read:  MATCH REPORT: M18 - KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS V DOLPHINS ) 65 Number of wickets taken by Sunil Narine in T20 cricket this year – most by any bowler in a calendar year. He surpassed Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga’s tally of 63 wickets in 2012. 100 Number of T20 matches in which Gautam Gambhir has captained his sides. He became only the second player to do so after MS Dhoni. 153 Runs added by Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey for the third wicket – highest partnership for any wicket in CLT20 history. This was also the highest partnership for Kolkata Knight Riders f...

2 Uthappa and Gambhir provided only the second instance of a century opening partnership by an Indian pair in a CLT20 match (Qualifier or main Group match). Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan had added 121 runs for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Kandurata Maroons at Mohali in 2013.    ( Also Read:  MATCH REPORT : M7 - KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS V LAHORE LIONS ) 5 Number of times Sunil Narine has conceded 10 or fewer runs in a 4-over spell in CLT20. No one else has done so more than twice! 8 Side batting second have won last eight consecutive matches at Hyderabad. 11 Number of consecutive win batting first after which Lahore Lions failed to defend a total. They had last lost a match batting first in March 2012. 11 Number of consecutive matches won by Kolkata Knight Riders. They are now just one short of the longest winning streak by an Indian side, which is incidentally held by Bengal with 12 wins (between 2009 and 2011) 35 Number of 50-plus scores made by Gautam Gambhir – mos...

The Kolkata Knight Riders extended their winning streak to eleven matches after they defeated the Lahore Lions by four wickets in match number seven of the Oppo CLT20 2014. After restricting their opponents to 151 for 7, the IPL champions, who were cruising to the finish line at one point, suffered a mid-innings collapse and eventually sneaked home in the final over.    ( Also Read:  QUICK STATS: M7 - KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS V LAHORE LIONS ) On a flat batting track at the Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, the KKR opening pair of Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir did not have to break a sweat in their pursuit of 152. The pair operated smartly, always ensuring they had the upper hand over the Lions bowlers. Dot balls were a scarce commodity, there were plenty of singles forcing the bowlers to adjust their lines and both batsmen picked their areas precisely to score boundaries. If the left-handed Gambhir was the aggressor early on, scoring 31 of the first 36 ru...

The Kolkata Knight Riders were a revelation in the 2014 Indian Premier League. After a series of losses in the initial part of the tournament, they gathered themselves together and start winning games with panache. They made it to the business end of the tournament only to emerge as Champions at the end of it. Not surprisingly, their captain Gautam Gambhir is a happy man who takes immense pride in leading a side full of exuberance. (Aldso Read:  Kolkata Knight Riders Squad - CLT20 2014 ) When Gambhir speaks, he oozes confidence and self belief. It is that quality that has helped him succeed as a captain and as a batsman for the Kolkata Knight Riders. With the Knight Riders all set to kickstart their Champions League T20 tournament in a week’s time, we at  CLT20.com  quizzed the KKR captain about the team’s mindset ahead of the marquee tournament. Not surprisingly, the Knight Riders are keen to get their hands on the CLT20 trophy and place it in their trophy cabinet....