Shubman Gill might just want to be fit enough to bat, as even a half-fit skipper is seen as more effective than Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran or Sarfaraz Khan.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav and his deputy Shubman Gill's indifferent form is a massive concern but the national selection committee is unlikely to make any shocking changes when it picks the 15-member squad for next year's T20 World Cup in Mumbai on Saturday.
Shami, 35, was left out of India's 15-member squad for the two home Tests against South Africa, scheduled to commence on Friday at the famed Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Before his most recent snub, Shami had openly expressed his disappointment about being sidelined from India's recent Test fixtures.
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Ishan Kishan's return to the Indian T20 setup is a story of timing, perseverance and a domestic season that selectors simply could not overlook.
Australia captain Alyssa Healy is set to make a comeback in the ICC Women's World Cup semi-final against India on Thursday.
Pakistan captain Shan Masood gave a vote of confidence to his country's controversial policy of preparing slow, spinning wickets for home Tests, even after it backfired on Thursday and they lost the second Test to South Africa.
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.
Pakistan captain Shan Masood scored 87 as the hosts reached 259 for 5 at the close of play on Day 1 of the second Test against a wasteful South Africa, who were poor in the field but kept in the contest by fine bowling in Rawalpindi on Monday.
India batter Tilak Varma on Saturday underlined the team management's push for a flexible batting order, saying most players are ready to bat anywhere depending on match situations.
Domestic veterans Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajat Patidar and Rinku Singh could keep the team management interested going forward in Test cricket.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir mounted a strong defence of the tough Eden Gardens pitch despite losing to South Africa in the first Test.
Shubman Gill has been ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing first Test against South Africa after he continues to be under observation in a Kolkata hospital for a neck injury.
'We have to show consistency and move forward with the current combination.'
Jitesh Sharma, who has emerged as India's preferred wicketkeeper-batter in T20 format with less than two months left for the World Cup, has played down his 'competition' with Sanju Samson in the squad, saying it only brings out his "A-game" to the fore, strengthening the side.
Mandhana led the Indian charge at the top, and her partnerships with opening batter Pratika Rawal created quite a buzz in the showpiece event.
India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak is livid with the criticism that has been directed towards head coach Gautam Gambhir after India's defeat to South Africa in the opening Test.
Speaking on Taruwar Kohli's YouTube channel, Vijay praised Dhoni's power-hitting, mental strength and unmatched impact on the game.
Smriti Mandhana dropped a rung to second but Jemimah Rodrigues scaled nine positions to be 10th in the latest ICC women's ODI rankings after India's title-winning World Cup performance.
After this snub, it looks difficult for Shubman Gill at this point to make a comeback to the T20 team with plenty of talented young players waiting in the wings.
The fourth T20I between India and South Africa was called off on Wednesday owing to poor visibility after a dense layer of smog engulfed the Ekana Stadium raising serious questions about BCCI's scheduling of matches in northern part of India during peak winter month.
Ravichandran Ashwin exposed India batters' lack of quality to battle ball tweakers by claiming that if legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar or past domestic heroes Amol Muzumdar, the India women's team head coach and Mithun Manhas had played against spinners on such a track, the Test would have gone to four days, unlike India's harrowing 30-run defeat against South Africa at Eden Gardens.
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South African captain Laura Wolvaardt said she "couldn't be prouder" of her team's campaign in the ICC Women's World Cup and promised to get stronger in the coming times after they lost to India in the title clash in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.
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South Africa join Australia, India and New Zealand in the semi-finals but who their opponents will be, and where they will play next, will be answered on Sunday when the latter two clash in Dubai.
'I'm feeling strong. I am feeling fit, and I am feeling ready to go,'
Shubman Gill's fate wasn't actually sealed on Saturday when BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia announced the squad for the T20 World Cup but when the fourth T20 International was called off on Wednesday due to thick smog.
The national selectors brought back wicketkeeper-batter Kishan along with Rinku Singh while dropping Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill who has been struggling in the T20 format.
The entire nation erupted in joy when captain Harmanpreet Kaur completed the decisive catch to dismiss Nadine de Klerk off Deepti's bowling in the 46th over.
Abhimanyu Easwaran made the future path all the more tough with his second duck of the match, while Sai Sudharsan concluded his lukewarm preparation for the South Africa Test series with an underwhelming 23 off 38 balls.
'Some players will feel comfortable with a former player. Some players will be comfortable with a coach that's never played the game before but he's got a lot of years of experience of coaching the game.'
'The Women in Blue's final act drew a peak concurrency of 21 million viewers as Harmanpreet Kaur's team became the first Asian team to lift the Women's World Cup.'
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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.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma deserve to be treated differently for their body of work over the years and their place in the ODI side should have never been a topic of debate, reckons ex-India batting coach Sanjay Bangar.
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.
'I think it's an ongoing process, just continuously putting in hours of work and speaking to people that have played in these conditions, have done well in these conditions.'
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