T20 world cup 2016 schedule

Following is the complete schedule of the ICC World Twenty20 to be held in India next year.

Men’s:

First round (group winners to progress to second round).

Group A — Bangladesh, Netherlands, Ireland and Oman

Group B — Zimbabwe, Scotland, Hong Kong and Afghanistan

Second round groups:

Super 10 Group 1: Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, England and winner of Group B (Q1B).

Super 10 Group 2: India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and winner of Group A (Q1A).

Women's:

Group A Australia (A1), South Africa (A2), New Zealand (A3), Sri Lanka (A4) and Ireland (A5).

Group B England (B1), West Indies (B2), India (B3), Pakistan (B4) and Bangladesh (B5).

Schedule:

Tuesday, Mar 8: Zimbabwe vs Hong Kong (PM), Nagpur; Scotland vs Afghanistan (Eve.), Nagpur.

Wednesday, Mar 9: Bangladesh vs Netherlands (PM), Dharamsala; Ireland vs Oman (Eve.), Dharamsala.

Thursday, Mar 10: Scotland vs Zimbabwe (PM), Nagpur; Hong Kong vs Afghanistan (Eve.), Nagpur.

Friday, Mar 11: Netherlands vs Oman (PM), Dharamsala; Bangladesh vs Ireland (Eve.), Dharamsala.

Saturday, Mar 12: Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan (PM), Nagpur; Scotland vs Hong Kong (Eve.), Nagpur.

Sunday, Mar 13: Netherlands vs Ireland (PM), Dharamsala; Bangladesh vs Oman (Eve.), Dharamsala.

Tuesday, Mar 15: India vs Bangladesh (W) (PM), Bengaluru; New Zealand vs Sri Lanka (W) (Eve.), New Delhi; New Zealand vs India (M) (Eve), Nagpur.

Wednesday, Mar 16: West Indies vs England (M) (PM), Mumbai; Pakistan vs Q1A (M) (Eve.), Kolkata; West Indies vs Pakistan (W) (Eve.), Chennai.

Thursday: Mar 17: England vs Bangladesh (W) (PM), Bengaluru; Sri Lanka vs Q1B (M) (Eve.), Kolkata.

Friday, Mar 18: New Zealand vs Ireland (W) (PM), Mohali; Australia vs New Zealand (M) (PM), Dharamsala; South Africa vs England (M) (Eve.), Mumbai; Australia vs South Africa (W) (Eve.), Nagpur.

Saturday, Mar 19: India vs Pakistan (W) (PM), New Delhi; India vs Pakistan (M) (Eve.), Dharamsala.

Sunday, Mar 20: South Africa vs Q1B (M) (PM), Mumbai; West Indies vs Bangladesh (W) (PM), Chennai; Sri Lanka vs Ireland (W) (Eve.), Mohali; Sri Lanka vs West Indies (M) (Eve.), Bengaluru.

Monday, Mar 21: Australia vs New Zealand (W) (PM), Nagpur; Australia vs Q1A (M) (Eve.), Bengaluru.

Tuesday, Mar 22: England vs India (W) (PM), Dharamsala; New Zealand vs Pakistan (M) (Eve.), Mohali.

Wednesday, Mar 23: England vs Q1B (M) (PM), New Delhi; India vs Q1A (M), (Eve.), Bengaluru; South Africa v Ireland (W) (Eve.), Chennai.

Thursday, Mar 24: England vs West Indies (W) (Eve.), Dharamsala; Australia vs Sri Lanka (W) (PM), New Delhi; Pakistan vs Bangladesh (W) (Eve.), New Delhi.

Friday, Mar 25: Pakistan vs Australia (M) (PM), Mohali; South Africa vs West Indies (M), (Eve.), Nagpur.

Saturday, Mar 26: Australia vs Ireland (W) (PM), New Delhi; Q1A vs New Zealand (M) (PM), Kolkata; England vs Sri Lanka (M) (Eve.), New Delhi; South Africa vs New Zealand (W) (Eve.), Bengaluru.

Sunday, Mar 27: West Indies vs India (W) (PM), Mohali; India vs Australia (M) (Eve.), Mohali; England vs Pakistan (W) (Eve.), Chennai; Q1B vs West Indies (M) (PM), Nagpur.

Monday, Mar 28: South Africa vs Sri Lanka (W) (PM), Bengaluru; South Africa vs Sri Lanka (M) (Eve.), New Delhi.

Tuesday, Mar 29: Rest/Travel day.

Wed, Mar 30: Women's semi-final (2nd group A vs 1st group B) (PM), New Delhi; Men's semi-final (Super 10 Group 1 2nd vs Super 10 Group 2 1st) (Eve.), New Delhi.

Thursday, Mar 31: Women's semi-final (1st group A vs 2nd group B) (PM), Mumbai; Men's semi-final (Super 10 Group 1 2nd v Super 10 Group 2 1st) (Eve.), Mumbai.

Fri, Apr 1: Rest/Travel day

Sat, Apr 2: Rest/Travel day

Sun, Apr 3: Women's final (PM), Kolkata; Men's final (Eve.), Kolkata.

Note: ('M' denotes men's match; 'W' denotes women's match; PM means afternoon match and Eve. Means night match. Match timings to be confirmed in due course).

Virat Kohli has highest followers in twitter

Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli tops the list with 8.76 million followers, ahead of batting legend Sachin Tendulkar. Surprisingly, Suresh Raina and Virender Sehwag had beaten limited overs skipper MS Dhoni in the third and fourth place.

Cash rich T20 league, Indian Premier League is at 6th, ahead of Yuvraj Singh and sport's world governing body, ICC.

Incredibly, cricket pundit Hrasha Bhogle finds himself in the top-ten. Pakistan's World Cup winning captain and politician Imran Khan completes the top-ten, beating super stars like AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle when comes to cricket personalities or organisations with highest numbers of followers.

Here is the top-10 list, as of December 12, 2015:

1. Virat Kohli (8,762,852), 2. Sachin Tendulkar (8,758,004), 3. Suresh Raina (5,150,946), 4. Virender Sehwag (4,852,389), 5. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (4,750,104), 6. Indian Premier League (3,930,853), 7. Yuvraj Singh (3,566,266), 8. International Cricket Council (3,372,243), 9. Harsha Bhogle (3,203,395), 10. Imran Khan (3,145,004)

Ab de Villiers (3,054,876) at 11th is ahead of Rohit Sharma (2,897,513) at 13th, Chris Gayle (2,710,729) at 15th.

Sourav Ganguly praised the India's limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly praised the India's limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, stating that he still has a lot of cricket left in him.


"Dhoni is a great cricketer and set standards at international arena. He still has cricket left in him to represent India for some more years," Ganguly, who was in the steel city, to take part in a function of a leading jewellery brand, told media.



Asked who will be the captain of ODI in the next World Cup, Ganguly said: "We have still time to decide the ODI captain, which is to be held in 2019."



"One will have to work hard and perform to reach the level of Dhoni, who has set standard in the cricket arena in the world," the former southpaw said.



To a query as to who possessed the same aggression on the field in Indian team like him, Ganguly said Virat Kohli has it in him to lead the country for a long time.



"He has been performing well and is efficient enough to lead the country forward," he said.

NZ in command over Sri Lanka

Rain hit Dunedin hard just after the start of Sri Lanka's chase for 405 in the first test against New Zealand today.

Players ran off the field 14 minutes before the lunch break, as ground staff struggled to get covers on in blustery winds and heavy rain.

Sri Lanka for four for none of 1.1 overs when they left the field.

Earlier, New Zealand had declared their second innings at 267 for three, with opener Tom Latham having completed his third test ton, on 109, and captain Brendon McCullum on 17 off six balls.

McCullum struck his first ball from spinner Rangana Herath for six down the ground and when he clobbered a second over mid wicket it was his record-equalling 100th in tests. He shares the mark with former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist. Having done that, he promptly declared.

New Zealand had started the day at 171 for one and lost Kane Williamson, bowled off his pad by seamer Dushmantha Chameera for 71, having shared a 141-run stand with Latham.

Ross Taylor went down the pitch and was bowled by Herath for 15.

Astralia inching towards win against West Indies in Hobart

 hopeless and helpless, West Indies capitulated to 5 for 35 at lunch on the third day in Hobart after Steven Smith enforced the follow-on. James Pattinson marked his return to Test cricket with 4 for 19 as he demolished the top order in the second innings after Josh Hazlewood had earlier completed a four-wicket haul as West Indies were skittled for 223 in their first innings, Darren Bravo's century their only highlight.

At lunch they still trailed by 325 runs and Australia needed only four more wickets to complete victory, with Shannon Gabriel's foot injury set to prevent him from batting. At lunch Kraigg Brathwaite was still at the crease on 21 and Jason Holder was on 1 but they had plenty of work ahead of them to avoid handing Australia their biggest win ever against West Indies; the current record is a win by an innings and 217 runs in Brisbane in 1931.

The second-innings procession began with Rajendra Chandrika edging to slip off Pattinson without scoring, the third duck of Chandrika's four-innings Test career. Then came the big blow as Bravo played on to Pattinson for 4, and Marlon Samuels followed soon afterwards for 3 when he saw a catch fly off the shoulder of his bat to David Warner in the cordon.

Pattinson's fourth came next ball when Jermaine Blackwood was bowled by a delivery that stayed a touch low, completing a pair for him after he fell for a duck to Nathan Lyon in the first innings. Pattinson missed out on the hat-trick but there was further damage to come for West Indies as Mitchell Marsh struck with his first delivery when Denesh Ramdin edged a drive to gully for 4.

The Australians bowled well and found some movement but West Indies showed little application, seemingly having accepted that their chances in this contest were already over. It seemed an age ago that Bravo and Kemar Roach had put together a fighting 99-run partnership; in fact that stand had ended less than two hours earlier.

At least Bravo had managed to complete a well-deserved century before the first innings came to an end, his innings far and away that stand-out in an otherwise listless West Indies batting display. Bravo began the morning on 94 and brought up his hundred - the seventh of his Test career - in the first over of play, with a pair of boundaries driven through the off side off Peter Siddle.

But the celebration was short-lived. He lost his partner Roach for 31 in the next over when he edged behind off Hazlewood, and next ball Jerome Taylor chopped on for a golden duck to have Hazlewood on a hat-trick. It was the last ball of the over so Hazlewood had to wait for his hat-trick delivery and when it arrived, Jomel Warrican survived a ball that lobbed off his leg out of reach of bat-pad.

The next over brought the end of the innings when Bravo tried to force some late runs and was caught at point off a top edge, giving Siddle his second wicket. Bravo finished with 108 from 177 deliveries and West Indies still trailed Australia by 360 runs. It took Michael Clarke until the last Test of his career to enforce the follow on; Smith had no hesitation in doing it in his fourth as Australia's full-time captain.

Virat Kohli co-owns Bengaluru team in Pro Wrestling League

A day after Rohit Sharma was announced as the co-owner of PWL team Uttar Pradesh Warriors, Kohli was unveiled as a stakeholder of another franchise Bengaluru Yodhas. The two cricket superstars are the new big names in a league, which also has actor Dharmendra as the co-owner of Punjab Royals. 

Bengaluru Yodhas will start their campaign against the UP Warriors in their opening fixture on Friday.

The six-city based PWL will commence at New Delhi's K.D. Jadhav Stadium on Thursday. The semi-finals will be held on December 25 and 26, with the final on December 27.

“I was thrilled on hearing about the Pro Wrestling League and Bengaluru Yodhas. I am no stranger to the city of Bangalore and it is wonderful that I can extend my association by way of the Yodhas,” Kohli said in a statement.

“I am confident that the Yodhas will be a vital cog in the scheme of things. I am excited and cannot wait to follow all the action on the mat.”

Bengaluru are a strong team comprising the likes of Narsingh Pancham Yadav (74kg), Bajrang Punia (65kg), Sandeep Tomar (57kg), Ukraine’s Pavlo Oliiynik (97kg), 2012 London Olympics silver medallist Davit Modzmanashvili (125kg) of Georgia in men’s section.

In the women’s category, five-time World Championship medallist Yuliya Ratkevich of Azerbaijan, USA’s Alyssa Lampe, India’s Lalita Sehrawat and Navjot Kaur are in the ranks.

The BCCI has strongly defended the Nagpur pitch in a letter written to the ICC.

 The BCCI has strongly defended the Nagpur pitch in a letter written to the ICC.

The BCCI has to reply the ICC within 14 days, and according to a report in The Indian Express, the board has found "inconsistencies" in Crowe's report.So BCCI has sent a strong reply. "The assessment of Nagpur pitch as "poor" was totally incorrect. The Board has strongly contested Jeff Crowe's report," said a board official.

BCCI has asked to revisit all the 40 wickets that fell in the game for further evidence.
"Excessive turn is a matter of perception. The batsmen found it difficult not due to the wicket but due to poor technique and temperament. Not a single ball displayed excessive unevenness of bounce. Then, how can it be termed a poor pitch," the official observed.

BCCI's reply will now go to Geoff Allardice, ICC's general manager of cricket, and Ranjan Madugalle, chief match referee from Sri Lanka. They will consider all evidence, including video footage of the match, before deciding if the pitch was indeed "poor" or not?

In case the two gentlemen still agree with the match referee, then the penalties range from a warning and/or a fine of $15,000 with a directive to institute corrective measures.

Virat gives credit to the team

"Test cricket has been one format where we all have wanted to do well. I'd like to give credit to the team to show character and bounce back in last two series like the way we have. I feel that it all began in Australia for us, the way we played there. Showed character even in defeats. Not one-sided defeats. We were always on opposition's heels that we could cash in on any stage. That gave us a lot of belief as a Test team that we can play well around the world. We carried that from Australia, took it to Sri Lanka, had a few plans and rules - things that we needed to do in order to do well. We gave everyone the responsibility that you have to give your 110 percent effort every single day. You are being honest to work ethics team requires going out there to play the best cricket that one can play. Not focusing on opposition too much, not on what people were saying. We focused on our skills. Strong bond that team requires."said Kohli in post match conference.

Virat Kohli will play under Gambhir!

It is a common knowledge that India’s Test captain Virat Kohli don’t share warm relations with Gautam Gambhir since the infamous heated argument during an IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore but if everything goes right, Kohli might be seen playing under the captaincy of Gambhir.

Kohli, along with Test opener Shikhar Dhawan and speedster Ishant Sharma have been named in the Delhi one-day side which will be led by Gautam Gambhir for the North Zone leg of the Vijay Hazare Trophy between December 10 and 18.

Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli smiles after the series win against South Africa

Test series, 3-0. Meanwhile, Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli could not stop smiling after the win, said, “All the wins were special, but this one because we had to work harder, the South African batsmen put their head down and played for the draw, always hard work. I just asked the bowlers to put their hands up and that’s what happened after tea.”

“I would like to dedicate this victory to the victims affected by the Chennai floods. I think that’s been a very unfortunate few weeks and my thoughts go out to all the people who have lost their family members,”said the skipper while concluding his post-match media interaction.