Confidence comes naturally when one is competent, seems to be the catchline for India bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad who is ready for upcoming four-day test series against Aussies beginning October 9.

The coach, busy in the practice sessions at Chinnaswamy Stadium said that his bowlers are prepared to face the Australians and have a player-specific strategy to face the opponents. He affirmed,"We have got some plans for each and every Australian batsmen and are working on that."

In the first of two four-day matches at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, on Wednesday, Ashok Dinda put in his best efforts to secure a 129-run win for India ‘A’ over New Zealand ‘A’. Dinda gave an exceptional performance by first having Trent Boult edging to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and then over showed Brent Arnel’s half-advanced front pad with movement to complete five wickets in the innings.  

The coveted chess player Viswanathan Anand had managed to stay in the top three in World Ranking for over a decade. But a recent setback has sent his rank crashing to 5th place. 

This has come to light in the latest world rankings declared by the world governing body FIDE. Anand had lost the Chess Masters Final Tournament in Bilbao, Spain to arch rival Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria who is now world Number one. 

The ace cricketer who was behind the scene due to an elbow injury is back with a bang.

Talking to the media at the M Chinnaswany Stadium, where he was practicing for the on-coming matches, Tendulkar said, “It’s about performing and that is what the whole team must concentrate on doing”. 

He made no comment on the exit of Sourav Ganguly, but emphasized on the fact that the Australian team should not be underestimated. Even though they are a few new players in the team, they have played a lot of cricket in their homeland. 

Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth as the new chairman of the National Senior Cricket Selection Committee.

Srikkanth was appointed as the chief selector at the BCCI's 79th Annual General Meeting. He had replaced Dilip Vengsarkar at the helm of affairs. The other four selectors appointed in the meeting were Raja Venkat (East Zone), Surendra Bhave (West Zone), Narendra Hirwani (Central Zone) and Yashpal Sharma (North Zone).

Colombo: The Sri-Lankan Sports Ministry on Friday approved the name of Nishantha Ranatunga (brother of former captain Arjuna Ranatunga) as the new manager of the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). The squad for the up-coming Canada Cup four nation 20-20 tournament has also been announced by the Ministry.

All-rounders Dilhara Lokuhettige and Jeevantha Kulatunga have been included for the 20-20 tournament. The selectors have also elevated Sri Lankan A captain, Thilina Kandamby to the senior squad. However, due to poor performance in the recent matches, middle-order batsman Chamara Silva have been dropped from the side.