New Delhi, Jan 6: A fit-again India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat in the dead third rubber against Pakistan at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Sunday.
India made two changes with Virender Sehwag and Ashok Dinda making way for Ajinkya
Rahane and green horn Shami Ahmed.
Pakistan made one change: Umar Akmal replaced Azhar Ali.
Dhoni was doubtful for the match with a sore back but recovered in time.
Pakistan have already won the series 2-0.
Melbourne, May 2: After becoming the number one side in Test cricket, Australia's head coach Justin Langer has said that his team has won back the respect of the country.
Australia dethroned India from the top spot in Tests and now the Men in Blue are in the third place.
Langer came in as the coach of Australia after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and it took him some time to get the side back to winning ways.
Ever since the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, Australia went on to become a commendable side and the results reflect that.
"We have got lots of work to do to become the team we want to be. But over the last couple of years, not only have we performed well on the field, we have performed well off it. We have earned some respect back from other teams around the world but also from Australia," Langer said in an official statement.
"When we started on this journey, there had been a lot of talk about Australia wanting to be No. 1 in the world in all three forms of the game.
We took a different approach. Not once did we talk about being No. 1 ranked in the world. We wanted to be No.1 in our values and process. That is what I am most proud of," he added.
In the latest ICC rankings update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top-ranked side in the ICC men's Test team rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place.
India is now third with 114 points. With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003.
The closest for the top three teams were in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.
Australia has also moved to the top spot in the T20I rankings for the first time in the format.
Karachi, Apr 14: Disappointed with Kapil Dev's response, Pakistan's Shahid Afridi has backed his former teammate Shoaib Akhtar's proposal for an ODI series against India to help raise funds for the less privileged in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Afridi told reporters in Kohat that he was surprised by the comments of Indian great Kapil and former IPL chairman, Rajeev Shukla, who outrightly dismissed Akhtar's suggestion.
"The entire world is fighting against coronavirus and we need unity in our region to defeat this common enemy. Such negative comments don't help at all," Afridi said.
"I don't see anything wrong with Shoaib Akhtar's suggestion for Pakistan and India to play cricket.
"Kapil's reaction has surprised me. I expected better from him and feel one should not talk like this in these crisis times."
Afridi said that he was also surprised at some of the "negative comments" Indian stars Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh's support for his charity foundation attracted.
"Sport is supposed to bring people together and build bridges. It is pretty disappointing."
Afridi also urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to order the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to restore departmental cricket in the country to save the livelihood of hundreds of domestic players.
"I myself played for the departments and witnessed how departments really salvaged domestic cricket in Pakistan and helped it thrive decade after decade.
"Departments take good care of the players and spend lots of money on the development of domestic cricket, so how can departmental cricket hurt Pakistan cricket," questioned Afridi.
He also questioned the PCB and the Pakistan team management for making a fitness of players a big issue.
"They are always talking about hard training and fitness tests. I have never seen fitness tests taken with such frequency and the result is that many players are getting injured and many of them are also unhappy with the situation."
New Delhi, Apr 24: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday extended wishes to the "most prolific batsman of all time" Sachin Tendulkar on his 47th birthday.
ICC took to Twitter and wrote: "Happy birthday to Sachin Tendulkar, the most prolific batsman of all time! To celebrate, we will give you the opportunity to vote for his top ODI innings in a bracket challenge! Stay tuned to join the celebrations."
The Maharashtra-born player had an illustrious career in the game, creating several records.
Tendulkar made his debut in Test cricket on November 15, 1989. In the same year on December 18, he played his first ODI match.
The legendary cricketer has the most number of runs in the longest format of the game, amassing 15,921 runs. Along the way, Tendulkar scored 51 Test centuries, most by any player.
Things are no different in ODI cricket as Tendulkar atop the list of most runs in this format as well. He has accumulated 18,426 runs in ODI which includes 49 tons.
Tendulkar represented the country in six World Cups during his career that lasted for 24 years. He was the part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad.
This year, Master Blaster decided not to celebrate his birthday due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country.
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