Cheteshwar Pujara, who was among the top-order batsmen who failed to click in the five-Test series against England, has turned his attention to Derbyshire to find form.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who was left out of the first Test, is back in the mix as Shardul Thakur seems to have done his hamstring some damage during the training session at Lord's on Monday.
Gearing up for a gruelling tour of Australia, the Indian team on Saturday began outdoor training with a light session after the entire contingent tested negative for COVID-19.
Senior India pace bowler Zaheer Khan and prolific batsman Cheteshwar Pujara left Mumbai by an early morning flight to South Africa along with three other players well ahead of the two-Test series against the hosts.
Virat Kohli's talismanic presence will be the shot in the arm that India would need in their bid to win the historic first-ever away Test series against South Africa.
India made just one change to their squad as Umesh Yadav replaced Shardul Thakur for the last two Tests of the ongoing four-match series against England.
Ajinkya Rahane is scouring the missing runs. By batting at the nets in shorts spans, against a variety of bowlers, and by doing everything else that is in his control, the seasoned Rahane is bracing up for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand, knowing well it could decide his future in the Indian team.
Opener Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara batted superbly to make centuries on Day 2 of the 2nd Test in Nagpur on Saturday. Here are the statistical highlights from the day's play.
As expected, the Indian selectors decided to stick with the same 16-member squad, which beat Bangladesh in the one-off Test, for the first two matches of the forthcoming four-match Test series against Australia, starting in Pune, on February 23.
Ian Chappell reckoned Indian batsmen need to strike a balance between caution and aggression. Known for his sharp cricketing mind, Chappell's line of thinking is a bit different from that of Kohli.
The hosts are without the services of all-rounder Jadeja for the first two Tests of the four-match series against England as he is nursing a thumb injury he sustained on the tour of Australia.
Shastri, batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Bharath Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar have all reached from their respective home cities on Sunday.
South Africa have often relied on fast bowlers on spicy home wickets to get them to victory, but are also well aware that India have developed an excellent pace attack that has brought them overseas success in the last few years.
Images from Day 1 of the third Test between India and England, at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
In the batsmen's rankings, Cheteshwar Pujara is the top-ranked Indian at the fourth position while opener Shikhar Dhawan climbed 21 places to be ranked 39th.
Australia pace spearhead Pat Cummins describes Cheteshwar Pujara as a 'brick wall', whose wicket he targeted once captain Virat Kohli returned home after the first Test during the recent series against India.
West Zone produced a clinical all-round performance to score a comprehensive 133-run victory over North Zone in the final and win their third successive Deodhar Trophy in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. Riding on Kedar Devdhar's 94 and skipper Cheteshwar Pujara's patient half-century, West Zone posted a challenging 281 for 3 in 50 overs. Spinners Arpit Vasavada (3-20) and Akshar Patel (2-23) then emerged the pick of the bowlers as North Zone were bundled out for 148 in 37.1 overs at the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.
'I have seen him evolve and mature, both as a person and a captain.'
Half-centuries by Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin kept India on course for a first innings lead after England made a spirited comeback on day two of the third Test on Sunday. - Scorecard: Having bowled out England for 283 earlier in the morning, India looked in charge at 148-2 at tea before Adil Rashid's double strike jolted the hosts who lost three wickets in 19 balls to slump to 156-5.
Pant bludgeoned four sixes and nine fours in his innings of 96 in 97 deliveries as India reached 357 for six
The spotlight will, however, continue to be on the 33-year-old Kohli in Mohali with the contest against Sri Lanka being his 100th Test match for the country.
Pacer Ollie Robinson destroyed India's batting line-up with a five-wicket haul to power England to a huge victory by an innings and 76 runs, on Day 4 of the third Test, at Leeds on Saturday.
Pacer Craig Overton says England still hold all the aces going into Day 4 of the third Test against India, at Headingley, Leeds, on Saturday.
Virat Kohli has not scored an international hundred since November 2019 but head coach Rahul Dravid dismissed notions that the owner of 27 Test hundreds is "lacking in motivation".
Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar came down heavily on India opener Rohit Sharma for throwing his wicket away with a reckless shot, on Day 2 of the fourth and final Test against Australia, in Brisbane, on Saturday.
Images from Day 2 of the fourth Test between India and England, at the Narendra Modi stadium, in Motera, Ahmedabad.
Batting coach Vikram Rathour on Saturday said that a first innings score of 250-plus will put India in a fighting position against New Zealand, keeping the prevailing conditions in Southampton in mind during the ICC World Test Championship final.
India captain Virat Kohli will end the year as the top ranked batsman while Ajinkya Rahane slipped a rung to be seventh in the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Tuesday. Kohli (928) remained 17 points ahead of Australia's Steve Smith who occupied the second spot while New Zealand skipper Kane Willamson (864) ends the year at number three.
Images from Day 1 of the fourth Test between England and India, at The Oval, on Thursday.
Shubman Gill once again showcased class as he hit his maiden Test fifty
New Zealand's Mumbai-born left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel is relishing every bit of his dream homecoming after grabbing all the four wickets during the first day's play against India in the second Test, on Friday.
'We only felt that it has never happened before, I don't think it will ever happen again. It was a freak inning'
We have to play aggressive cricket, says stand-in skipper KL Rahul
Rajneesh Gupta surveys the batting landscape in India-Australia Test encounters.
Delhi done in by poor batting as Karnataka win by 4 wickets
Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham said bowlers love playing under captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni because he knows their strength and how to get the best out of them.
'I am happy people are talking about me -- I always believe people talk about important people. I am not too concerned about that. It is all about contribution for the team.'
SKY perfectly equipped to play Tests, says Sachin Tendulkar
Cheteshwar Pujara slipped a couple of rungs to 10th but remained the best-placed Indian batsman, while the off-colour Virat Kohli dropped one spot to 15th in the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Friday.
The four-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy that promises a lot of twists and turns, engrossing sub-plots and probably career-defining performances.
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