The national selectors on Sunday retained the Indian team, which hammered Bangladesh by 280 runs in the opening Test here, for the second and final match in Kanpur.
'Virat and Rohit not playing (Duleep Trophy) was not good for Indian cricket, nor was it good for the two players. Had they played the Duleep Trophy and had some time in the red-ball cricket, things would have been different.'
India's batting is a major concern with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli struggling for runs ahead of the tour of Australia.
India would want their big guns Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to fire when the mighty hosts aim for a clean sweep against a beleaguered Bangladesh in the second and final Test starting in Kanpur on Friday.
Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been included in the Test squad for the upcoming two-match series against Bangladesh.
India's 40-4 (win-loss) home record in the last decade is awe-inducing but there is an ever-little crack, which is getting more pronounced in the past three years, particularly in the case of star batter Virat Kohli.
While Ajinkya Rahane has been named vice-captain, pacer Navdeep Saini was recalled into the Test squad.
The Indian squad for the continental championship will be selected on Monday, but it is still not clear if the official announcement will happen on the day.
Munaf had an altercation with Delhi opener Akash Chopra, forcing Sehwag to intervene. The pacer reportedly mouthed something foul to Sehwag, which infuriated the Delhi camp.
Senior Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik on Thursday earned a recall to the Indian team for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy after Manish Pandey was ruled out due to a side strain.
Virat Kohli's participation in the fourth and deciding Test match against Australia, in Dharamsala, hangs in balance even as young Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer has been included in the team.
There was no toss and India were allowed to bowl first. The players and officials, wearing black armbands, observed a minute's silence before the start of the play. India ended the day 99-2
Resuming at 135-3, overnight batsman Kohli slammed a fifty, while the rest of the middle-order -- Ajinkya Rahane (40), Rohit Sharma (38), Shikhar Dhawan (41) too looked in good touch as they spent some time at the crease before retiring.
The home team was comfortably placed at 139 for one, thanks to the second wicket stand from opener Danushka Gunathilaka (74) and Lahiru Thirimanne (59) before collapsing to 187 all out.
India's batsmen got a much-needed workout ahead of the Test series against Australia, putting up 375 runs in 90 overs, before their two-day tour game against Cricket Australia XI ended in a draw at the Glenelg Oval in Adelaide on Friday.
The Indian team's batting woes continued as they lost their opening warm-up tie of the ICC World T20 against Sri Lanka by five runs in Dhaka on Monday.
With a strike rate of 115, Shikhar Dhawan is the MVP from the India-West Indies series according to Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji.
Be it the Dilscoop, which Dilshan uses to perfection or Dhoni's Helicopter Shot, cricket's shortest format has seen batsmen try new things.
India started their limited-overs tour of Australia on a positive note, comprehensively beating a second-string Western Australia XI by 74 runs in a Twenty20 warm-up game on Friday with Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan striking fluent half-centuries.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji's Most Valuable Player Index after the South Africa ODIs presents a depressing view of the Indian players' showing in the first half of the ongoing tour
The reasons for India's poor show in England lie between a very demanding captain, a very smug coach and inadequate coaching staff, says Sudhir Bisht.
At the conclusion of the Asia Cup, Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji make an assessment after 36 matches India has played so far in the 2013-14 season.
India's Under-19 star Rishabh Pant struck a brilliant half-century to power Delhi Daredevils to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Gujarat Lions at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot, on Tuesday.
A summary of the second day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches played at various venues across the country.
Virender Sehwag celebrated his international retirement with a scintillating ton for Haryana as Jayant Yadav also joined the century-makers' list to help the side post 319 for eight on a dramatic Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy cricket league match against Karnataka on Thursday.
Sri Lanka won the just-concluded Asia Cup, but none of their players figure in Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji's most valuable player index. Check it out.
Virat Kohli was unquestionably the top player, but the most valuable player index (MVPI) suggests that Shakib Al Hasan had an equally good World T20 even though his team Bangladesh fared poorly.
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