The selectors and team management want to retain Harshit Rana across formats despite his ongoing recovery from a rectus femoris strain. Rana missed recent T20Is against Afghanistan and the Asian Games due to the thigh injury.

Times of India reported that selectors view Rana as the ideal seam-bowling all-rounder batting at number eight. Rishabh Pant and Prasidh Krishna are also recovering from injuries and have been given a three-week recovery timeline by the Centre of Excellence. Neither Rana nor Krishna was named in the T20I squad.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar earned a recall while Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav and Mayank Yadav remain in the T20I squad. The T20I series begins on 22 October.

Mumbai beat Chandigarh by an innings and 155 runs, Hyderabad beat Tripura by an innings and 40 runs, and Bengal won by nine wickets against Delhi. All three sides picked up seven points.

Tushar Deshpande finished with seven for 54 for Mumbai. Tanay Thyagarajan and Gangam Ankithreddy shared 14 wickets as Hyderabad wrapped up Tripura twice inside three days. Abhishek Porel and Sudip Gharami made centuries for Bengal, while Mohammed Shami took four wickets.

Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and defending champions Jammu and Kashmir had to settle for draws, but Vidarbha, Haryana, Gujarat, Baroda and Maharashtra all won outright.

Mumbai vice-captain Ayush Mhatre sustained a Grade 4 right hamstring tear during Mumbai's Ranji Trophy match against Chandigarh at the Wankhede Stadium. He scored 48 in the first innings before scans confirmed the injury on Monday and he did not take the field on day three. Substitute Suved Parkar fielded in his place.

Mhatre had returned from a previous left hamstring injury sustained while playing for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2026. He was Mumbai's leading run-scorer in that tournament with 201 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 177.87. The latest injury rules him out for four to six weeks.

High-performance coach Ramji Srinivasan said a Grade 4 tear involves complete or near-complete rupture and may require an avulsion. He stressed the need to review Mhatre's workload and recovery protocols after two hamstring injuries in six months.

BCCI has organised fresh trials for Arunachal Pradesh men’s and women’s sides at every age level after the state forfeited its first Ranji Trophy game against Nagaland in Ahmedabad. The same problem had already stopped the side from appearing in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and the Under-19 Women’s T20 Trophy because of a court case between two groups in the Arunachal Cricket Association.

M. Khairul Jamal Majumdar, a BCCI Apex Council member, will run the trials with three former Assam players—Satya Gopal Chakraborty (chairman), Jayanta Chowdhury and Deep Bora. The panel will choose squads for the Ranji Trophy, Col. C.K. Nayudu Trophy, Senior Women’s T20 Trophy and Vijay Merchant Trophy. “The BCCI will do everything, keeping the players’ interest in mind,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told Sportstar. He added that the Board decided to act after learning of the factional row and checking the papers. Majumdar has already visited Arunachal, and newspaper notices have been issued so that selection remains free from outside pressure. Support staff will be named by Wednesday.

Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun said India possesses quality fast bowlers but the key challenge lies in how quickly they adjust to different conditions. Arun was speaking ahead of India's multi-format tour of New Zealand that begins with the first T20I on October 22. He noted that workload management should ensure bowlers are at least 90 percent fit whenever they play.

Arun pointed out that totals of 200 and 250 are routinely chased in the IPL and that even 400-run targets have been approached in bilateral series. He said the presence of Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and others in earlier eras showed India has never lacked pace talent. The main requirement remains adapting to seaming and bouncy pitches abroad.

India's record in New Zealand stands at 28 wins from 90 matches, a win percentage of 31.1 percent. The team will play three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests during the tour.

Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the first two unofficial Tests between India A and New Zealand A. The series begins on October 24 in Lincoln. Pant sustained a left side strain while leading Rest of India in the Irani Cup.

The BCCI said Pant remains under medical care and is recovering. A decision on his availability for the third match will be taken later. Kumar Kushagra has been named as his replacement for the first two matches.

The first Test will be played at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln. The series then moves to Hagley Oval in Christchurch before returning to Lincoln for the third match. India A's updated squad includes Dhruv Jurel as captain and wicketkeeper.

Yuzvendra Chahal spent eight seasons at RCB before the franchise let him go ahead of the 2022 auction. He joined Rajasthan Royals, where his numbers improved, and now leads the IPL's all-time wicket list with 233 scalps from 188 games for Punjab Kings.

Speaking to Aakash Chopra, Chahal said he was angry at first. Then he accepted it was out of his hands. RCB had given him the platform that led to his India debut, and he still credits the franchise for that. At 36, he also retired from first-class cricket to focus on white-ball cricket after his last County stint.

Between 2017 and 2019 he came close to a Test cap, but Jadeja, Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav were already ahead of him. He finished with 148 wickets in 49 first-class matches.

Sri Lanka U17 defeated Pakistan U17 by 99 runs in the first match of their five-match one-day series at Multan Cricket Stadium on Thursday. Methuka Gunarathne's 77 off 92 balls helped the visitors reach 239 for 6 before Pakistan were bowled out for 140.

Gunarathne shared an 88-run opening stand with Yenula Hewavitharana's 36 and added 67 for the second wicket with Reshon Solomans' 42. Captain Shashith Bandara and Sandaru Malshan contributed 21 and 20 respectively.

Sandaru Malshan took 3 for 16 in seven overs to lead Sri Lanka's bowling attack. Mohammad Saim top-scored for Pakistan with 30 while Mohammad Ihsaan took 3 for 43. The second match is scheduled for Saturday at the same venue.

Punam Raut announced her retirement from all formats of international cricket on Thursday. The 37-year-old former opener played four Tests, 73 ODIs and 35 T20Is for India between 2009 and 2021, scoring 264 Test runs, 2,299 ODI runs and 719 T20I runs.

Raut featured in three ODI World Cups and four T20 World Cups. She scored 381 runs in the 2017 ODI World Cup, including 86 in the final against England at Lord's, and shared a record 320-run opening partnership with Deepti Sharma against Ireland. Her last international appearance came in a pink-ball Test against Australia in Carrara in September 2021.

Raut thanked the Mumbai Cricket Association for supporting her early development and said she would continue to give back to the game after stepping away from international cricket.

Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka has been ruled out of the ODI tri-series against Pakistan and England after failing to receive medical clearance for a left hamstring injury. The injury was sustained during Sri Lanka's limited-overs tour of England. Nissanka had initially been included in the squad announced on October 4.

Lahiru Udara replaces Nissanka in the 16-member squad. The wicketkeeper-batter has represented Sri Lanka in five Tests and seven T20Is but is yet to make his ODI debut. Udara scored 91 in the opening T20I against Pakistan earlier this month.

Nissanka remains in Sri Lanka's squad for the two-Test series against Pakistan starting November 9, though his availability depends on fitness. The tri-series begins on October 18 in Rawalpindi with the final scheduled for October 31.

Sanju Samson said there is no replacement for Jasprit Bumrah after India's 24-run defeat to West Indies in the fourth T20I on Wednesday. Bumrah was rested for the series after participating in the Asian Games. Samson acknowledged Bumrah's quality but pointed to the progress of Arshdeep Singh and Prince Yadav as reasons for optimism.

Samson said the young pacers need consistent selection and backing to develop into match-winning bowlers. Arshdeep suffered a blow to his left arm while batting in Hyderabad and is receiving treatment ahead of the decider. Samson also backed top-order batters Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma despite their struggles in the fourth match.

The series is tied at 2-2 ahead of the fifth T20I in Bengaluru on Saturday.

India vice-captain Shafali Verma said the team will play a fearless brand of cricket with smartness in the upcoming series against Zimbabwe. She made the comments ahead of the three-match T20I series that begins in Raipur on Friday as preparation for the Women's Champions Trophy at home in February.

Verma credited former captain Harmanpreet Kaur for the growth of women's cricket in India. She also spoke about the work she did during her time out of the team last year on consistency, fitness, mental growth and specific skills such as playing short balls and pull shots.

Smriti Mandhana will captain the side across formats after Harmanpreet Kaur stepped down. Deepti Sharma is the ODI vice-captain while Verma serves as T20I deputy.

R Smaran was 23 when he walked in at 130 for four on day three. Rest of India led Jammu and Kashmir by just 89 runs at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium. By close he had 126 not out from 131 balls, and the lead had grown to 265.

He and Mukesh Choudhary put on an unbroken 109 for the ninth wicket. Smaran hit 15 fours and five sixes while the left-hander kept the scoreboard moving through a long evening session.

Two wickets remain in the innings. National selectors Pragyan Ojha and Shiv Sundar Das watched from the stands.