They could have ended up as team-mates but Swapnil Patil took a different route to international cricket than his Indian friends and they are set to meet on opposite sides

UAE are one happy side having the time of their lives, a bunch of amateurs playing a World Cup. A lot is spoken about team bonding and enjoying training but UAE were infectiously bubbly on Friday morning at the WACA.

India will start as overwhelming favourites when they take on United Arab Emirates in Perth on Saturday as they look to maintain their position at the top of Group B

In the two games of the World Cup, with a little help from the batsmen, India's bowlers have shown discipline and focus to break a trend of profligacy

There has been a marked improvement in India's fielding this World Cup, and on Wednesday, the players were put to their most intense training session yet

It has helped that India have a captain who has lasted as long as he has due to his approach of treating cricket for what it is: a game

Years after the juggling act of hiding multiple poor fielders and making do with the kind of attacks India have had, this current unit has given MS Dhoni some breathing space

He isn't a particularly big hitter, but as evidenced against South Africa, his impeccable timing makes him an extremely handy weapon to possess in ODIs

He likes to pull and hook, but also gets out to those shots. Today having spent time in the middle before attempting them, he made his highest ODI score

This was Eden Gardens and another half of an Eden Gardens on top of it. This was Wankhede Stadium with another Wankhede Stadium on top of it

Former India captain Anil Kumble has said that he is reminded of himself when he sees R Ashwin play, and has called for the offspinner to be given more chances to play away from home

A ground as large as the MCG calls for a batting line-up to not just rely on their power hitting, according to Virat Kohli

Both teams and players have seen a lot of each other in recent times, including in the IPL. As AB de Villiers said, they respect each other, but also know the relative strengths and weaknesses only too well

Picket fencing. Old wooden benches. Grass banks. It could easily be the Basin Reserve in Wellington... but it's not

Two days before their second group game against South Africa, India worked to a short length plan, with the quick bowlers trying mostly back of a length or full length and the batsmen trying to attack as often as they could

Against South Africa in a mutli-nation tournament in 2013, is how Shikhar Dhawan revived his ODI career. He will now face the same opposition while trying to revive some form this time

Brendon McCullum's epic innings in Wellington had far greater significance than just being New Zealand's first Test triple

Afghanistan were the bogey team and Bangladesh as the Full Member were expected to defeat them. Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza did just that

Plays of the day from the World Cup Group A match between Bangladesh and Afghanistan in Canberra

Bangladesh are expected to win over a side that, as Afghanistan coach Andy Moles pointed out, was not even in the ICC when Bangladesh played in their first World Cup in 1999