With two senior pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (thigh injury) and Ishant Sharma (side strain) all but ruled out, Navdeep Saini will certainly be the fourth pacer after Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav.
Cheteshwar Pujara set a few records during his unbeaten ton.
The team has five stand-bys in Priyank Panchal, KS Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Chahar.
Images from Day 1 of the third Test between South Africa and India, in Cape Town, on Tuesday.
India opener Prithvi Shaw is likely to retain his place in the playing eleven for the second Test against New Zealand, starting Saturday, while Ravindra Jadeja may replace Ravichandran Ashwin.
Cheteshwar Pujara struck a defiant century in an Adelaide Oval furnace to rescue India after Australia's pacemen threatened to dominate day one of the series-opening Test on Thursday.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Karun Nair created records albeit of different kinds.
'This is the best Indian side I have been part of'
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 1 of the 1st Test.
Victorious India will seek more of the same when the second Test against South Africa starts at The Wanderers on Monday, but for the home side there is much to ponder as they try to level the series at a ground where they have never beaten the visitors.
Saurashtra have never had it better in Indian domestic cricket's rich history, having won their second Ranji Trophy title in three seasons
'Going forward, they might need 4-6 weeks to get going themselves. It's a tough job and if you are bowling 140-150 kmph, running about 25 yards to bowl one ball at a time and then keep bowling for a few overs.'
Smith (900 points) is placed second behind New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (919).
Not just the 40 points, India will also be eyeing a 3-0 whitewash in the Gandhi-Mandela series.
Rishabh Pant smashed a blistering 146 and forged a 222-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja to drag India back into the contest in the rescheduled fifth Test against England in Edgbaston on Friday.
Sharma and Yadav have launched their campaign for Australia.
India's strong opening day show may have put South Africa on the backfoot in the first Test in Centurion, on Sunday, but home side pacer Lungi Ngidi said they still can turn the match around if they bowl the tourists out under 350.
'You are going to face an England team where Joe Root is back to his absolute best, where Oliver Pope is playing his best-ever for England. Ben Stokes has amalgamated the team and got playing in an ultra-positive and rock and roll fashion.'
IMAGES from Day 1 of the rescheduled 5th Test between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Friday.
A fit again Wriddhiman Saha was named in the Rest of India squad that will take on first-time Ranji Trophy champions in the Irani Cup to be held in Mumbai from January 20-24.
'There are greats, there are legends and then there is @sachin_rt.'
Bandon Mein Tha Dum is about a team that hits rock-bottom, loses key players, has its global reputation shrink overnight, but despite all the setbacks, pulls off one of the greatest comeback victories in the history of international cricket, applauds Shailesh Karkera.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee of the BCCI has picked the squads for India's upcoming series against New Zealand and Bangladesh
Ashwin picked Smith's wicket in the first session of the Boxing Day Test on Saturday for a duck.
India last lost a Test series on home soil nearly 10 years ago.
According to Pujara, his nemesis Patrick Cummins bowled the 'ball of the series' about which he couldn't do anything.
'They have got tremendous depth in their squad, the big guns are back and they are a quality outfit under the leadership of Virat Kohli.'
It was a performance to remember for the ages by the Indian team as they thrashed England by 151 runs on a gripping final day of the second Test at Lord's on Monday.
Lokesh Rahul, who hit two half-centuries in the deciding Dharamsala Test against Australia, on Thursday, jumped 11 places to a career-high rank of 11th in the latest ICC chart for Test batsmen.
Parthiv Patel gave his views on on what the World Test Championship title would mean for Virat Kohli.
Images from Day 2 of the second Test between Australia and India, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Saturday.
The three-day practice game will give a chance for the players who are already in the West Indies to shift from limited overs to the five-day format.
To keep their minds off the Pune disaster, the team went on a hike at Tamhini Ghat on Monday, and the trek to the Western Ghats seemed to have brought out their inner Platos and Ramanujas.
Of all the things that went right in the Test series opener against New Zealand, Cheteshwar Pujara's transformation from an obdurate accumulator of runs to a free-scoring batsman when needed must be the most pleasing for India captain Virat Kohli.
Shreyas Iyer's dream Test debut has put India in pole position in the opening Test against New Zealand but it also presented his team with a selection headache for the second and final test in Mumbai next week.
Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have been a "bit of a headache" for South Africa and the hosts will look to get them out early on Day 3 of the series-deciding third Test, said Proteas batter Keegan Petersen, in Cape Town, on Wednesday.
Rohit Sharma feels there can't be a one-size-fits-all approach for batting on turning pitches in India.
Debutant Shreyas Iyer and recalled opener Shubman Gill struck half-centuries to help India overcome Kyle Jamieson's terrific display of seam bowling and post 258/4 on Day 1 of the opening Test against New Zealand.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI in the first Test against England, starting on Wednesday?
Cheteshwar Pujara scored the 27th first-class century of his career and the first one in county cricket as Derbyshire seized the initiative against Leicestershire in a Division Two encounter in Derby.
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