Shubman Gill, who has not trained due to a neck spasm sustained during the first Test against South Africa, will undergo a fitness test on Friday.
Daryl Mitchell becomes only the second player from New Zealand to hold the top the ICC ranking for ODI batters.
As India chase history at home in Navi Mumbai, while Laura Wolvaardt's South Africa will look to script their own fairytale, by finally breaking their run of heartbreaks at ICC events.
Bavuma remains unbeaten in his 11 Tests as skipper, winning 10 of them to go with a draw, and in that period has averaged 57.00 with the bat.
No communication from Rohit on playing Vijay Hazare for Mumbai: MCA official
India have long curated home tracks that accentuate turn, but the assumption their own batters would master such conditions no longer appears safe following their defeat in the opening Test against South Africa.
Ganguly lauded Gill's leadership during India's tour of England, noting the challenge of captaining at a young age in such conditions
India won their maiden Women's World Cup title with a 52-run victory over South Africa at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.
Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has pulled out of next month's IPL 2026 auction and will instead play in the Pakistan Super League.
The pitch, left unwatered for nearly a week, appeared dry and brown with faint traces of grass, conditions that could bring reverse swing and variable bounce into play later in the match.
Bazball is in the firing line, with former players and pundits decrying the high-risk game on Australia's spicy pitches.
The last time two specialist keepers played together in a Test was in 1986, when Kiran More and Chandrakant Pandit featured in the same XI, with Pandit playing as a batter.
Speaking on The Great Indian Cricket Show on Doordarshan, Mukund, who represented India in seven Tests from 2011-17, said: "I think Shubman has it in him to become an all-format captain, but I do not think India should have an all-format captain anymore."
Dhruv Jurel made a strong case for his continued presence in the senior Test eleven with his second hundred in as many innings against South Africa A while fortifying India A's position on the third day of the four-day match in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma guided India to a historic 52-run victory over South Africa which saw the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 hosts lift the trophy for the first time.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India will be playing an ODI World Cup final for the third time, having finished runners-up in 2005 and 2017 to Australia and England, respectively. This will be South Africa's maiden appearance in the final.
Shami, Akash Deep in Bengal's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy squad
India captain Shubman Gill has been discharged from the hospital in which he was receiving treatment for a neck injury sustained during the opening Test against South Africa in Kolkata.
India A skipper Rishabh Pant allayed injury concerns, smashing a quickfire half-century after being forced to retire hurt on Day 3 of the four-day match against South Africa A.
Jansen has turned it around with bat, and now he''s a premium all-rounder: Jacques Kallis
India have been served well by Shreyas Iyer in ODIs at No. 4 but with the Mumbai batter unavailable due to injury, the team management entrusted Gaikwad with the job to build the innings and he did it with aplomb, hitting his maiden century in the second ODI against South Africa on Wednesday.
'Here the wicket is hard and the outfield really fast. If you are desperate, if you try to bowl those magic balls, you'd end up bleeding runs.'
In its report released on Monday, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women said that femicide continues to take the lives of tens of thousands of women and girls worldwide, with no sign of real progress.
Conversations might have been different if Pant got his execution right: Jansen
Eight-team Women's Emerging Nations Trophy launched by ICC
South African captain Temba Bavuma on Sunday said his game is built around an unshakeable defence, which stood him in good stead on a disintegrating Eden Gardens track, where 38 wickets fell inside eight sessions.
India to open their U-19 World Cup campaign against USA
Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Krishna on Monday lauded Deputy Superintendent of Police and international cricketer Deepti Sharma for her "exemplary and historic performance" in India's win at the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 final.
In a first for the tournament, the WPL final will not be played over the weekend, but on Thursday, February, probably to avoid a clash with the men's T20 World Cup, which begins the same week in India and Sri Lanka.
Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma's superb all-round showing powered India to a historic first-ever Women's ODI World Cup title after they outclassed South Africa by 52 runs in the final.
Rishabh Pant back in full flow as India step up nets ahead of SA opening Test
'Kuldeep's wedding is planned for the last week of November. The team management will assess when they will need his services before granting the exact number of leaves.'
All-round performances from Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma were the crowning jewels for the team in the title clash.
Armed with a potent spin attack, taking on South Africa seems like competing against a "subcontinent team", Ten Doeschate said, admitting that they need to get better at negotiating the challenge posed by tweakers.
India vice-captain Rishabh Pant is understandably delighted to have made a difficult comeback from the latest injury setback.
Bavuma believes this group, unbeaten in full-strength Test series since coach Shukri Conrad took charge in 2023, has the maturity and belief to mount a serious challenge and win their only second series in India after 25 years.
India won their maiden Women's World Cup title with a 52-run victory over South Africa at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.
Mandhana led the Indian charge at the top, and her partnerships with opening batter Pratika Rawal created quite a buzz in the showpiece event.
A Test match in India usually starts at 9:30 am and the day's play ends at 4:30 pm, while the game in Guwahati will begin at 9 am and end at 4 pm.
Defending champions India will open their campaign against USA in Mumbai on February 7 before facing Namibia in Delhi on February 12.
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