Sangakkara asks overseas players to step up: As Deccan Chargers make a bid to close the gap between them and the other teams on the points table, captain Kumar Sangakkara has said the foreign signings in the team have to help ease the burden on the

By Aamod Desai, India

Pollard faces another week on sidelines: Mumbai Indians’ allrounder Robin Peterson has said his team-mate Kieron Pollard is likely to be out of action for another week at least, because of his injured shoulder

For the league to survive, IPL 5 must draw more fans and profit in its second half, says Desh Gaurav Chopra Sekhri in the Indian Express .

Two months into his job as Pakistan coach, Dav Whatmore speaks to the National 's Osman Samiuddin about why he decided to take up the post, his plans for the side and how difficult coaching in the subcontinent can be.

West Indies' bowling is their strong suit and their coach is familiar with the conditions, but will their batsmen step up to the challenge posed by the England quicks, asks Alec Stewart in BBC Sport .

Mark Geenty, writing for Fairfax NZ News , says John Wright stepped in at one of New Zealand Cricket's darkest hours and, in a cruel irony, walks away with the sport plunged back to the abyss of December 2010.

Ganguly fined: Pune Warriors captain Sourav Ganguly has been fined for his team’s slow over-rate in their match against Deccan Chargers on Tuesday

Raina first to 2000: Chennai Super Kings’ Suresh Raina was the first batsman to reach an aggregate of 2000 runs in the IPL

I was just a little bit rusty – McCullum: After scoring 36 runs in his previous four innings, Brendon McCullum was relived to more than double his aggregate for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2012 against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday

By Aakash Bang, India

West Indies will be without their one-day Bradman on the tour of England, says the Guardian 's Barney Ronay, and this takes away some of their sheen.

Kings XI Punjab and Delhi bowler Parvinder Awana tells the Hindustan Times ' Shalabh Manocha about how he went from the Araula village near Noida to a training camp in Australia and ended up with a career in cricket instead of the police force.

Sangakkara fined: Deccan Chargers’ captain Kumar Sangakkara has been fined $20,000 for his team’s slow over-rate in their game against Pune Warriors on Thursday

Theron happy to get a game: In what was Deccan Chargers seventh match of the season, South Africa fast bowler Rusty Theron finally got a game, and he said he was pleased to be back amid the action

The IPL was initially promoted as a city-based league with the emphasis on building a strong local connect, says Hindustan Times ' Sanjjeev Karan Samyal, but somewhere along the line that concept has been lost.

Neil Manthorp, in the Mail & Guardian , says it may seem counterintuitive to celebrate Cricket South Africa's slow but inevitable slide into a humiliating credibility void, but it is the prospect of what lies ahead that is so exciting

Albert Cotter, a slinging fast bowler who played Ashes cricket in Australia and England between 1903 and 1912, died as an Anzac in the Australian Lighthorse charge on Beersheba, Paige Taylor tells us in the Australian

Shakib focussing on batting: In his three matches in the IPL so far, Shakib Al Hasan had been effective with the ball for Kolkata Knight Riders, claiming six wickets and conceding less than a run a ball

Mark Ramprakash tells the Daily Telegraph 's Nick Hoult that the batting conditions in England now are the worst he has faced in 25 years as a professional, and that the game’s administrators are devaluing the County Championship.