Skipper Rohit Sharma will look to feast on a Zimbabwe bowling attack in his bid to play an innings that is long overdue in a must-win game of the T20 World Cup match in Melbourne on Sunday.
It may be an inconsequential game on paper but Indian bowlers await another tough test against South Africa ahead of the T20 World Cup when the two teams meet in the final game of the three-match series in Indore on Tuesday.
'We ended up getting a result in four days is a testimony to the fact that we have become the side we have become today and strength of the squad was on full display.'
Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje are expected to spit fire on a track that will offer steep bounce as India's top-order gears up for its toughest test in adverse conditions against a top-notch South African side in the T20 World Cup on Sunday.
Thousands of fans from both countries have crisscrossed the globe to watch their team in action and trust rival captains Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam to tell you this is another 'match' for them, but all the 22 players and reserves know that this is 'The Match'.
In addition to the Karnataka batsman, leg-spinner Karn Sharma, who has been in great form for India A against the Black caps A side, was called as a replacement for injured Rajasthan youngster Rahul Chahar.
Gujarat Titans will need their batters to fire when they take on high-flying Lucknow Super Giants as both teams look to seal IPL play-offs berth at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Tuesday.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami took three wickets each as the tourists bowled South Africa out for 191 to claim an emphatic 113-run victory just after lunch on the fifth day of the first Test in Centurion on Thursday.
A sixth win in nine games takes IPL debutants LSG closer to a play-off berth, while the task gets tougher for Punjab with just four wins from nine games.
The Rohit Sharma-led, Indian team, on Sunday, departed for the Nidahas T20 Trophy to be played in Sri Lanka from Tuesday.
IMAGES from day 3 of the 1st Test between Bangladesh and India played in Chottogram on Friday.
Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Siraj have been added to the squad as injury replacements but they do not figure in the World Cup-bound squad, as of now.
IMAGES from the IPL 2022 game between Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants, in Mumbai, on Monday
The Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals player, had their first proper training session in months on Wednesday in UAE.
India's white ball players have that imposing alpha-male like presence out there in the middle even if their best player Kohli is on the wane.
While Rohit Sharma will be eager to test his ultra-aggressive batting template against the Asian giants, for Virat Kohli it is the perfect platform to return to form after enduring a tough phase in the last few years.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India selectors on Sunday included left-arm spinner Axar Patel in the Indian squad for the last two one-dayers of the ongoing series against Australia and dropped Ravindra Jadeja.
Rabada said mixing the lengths worked in his favour in the Super Over.
England batsman Jonny Bairstow was pleased to finally take SunRisers Hyderabad home after scoring an unbeaten 56-ball 63 against Punjab Kings in Chennai on Wednesday.
India's bowling shortcomings have been laid bare in the first two one-day internationals against Australia and unless pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah finds his rhythm quickly the tourists will have their backs to the wall in next month's Test series.
The Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals squad members, who arrived in Dubai last week, will have their first proper training session in months on Wednesday evening, having tested negative for COVID-19 thrice during their mandatory six-day quarantine.
Akhtar saw it coming having seen the division in the Indian dressing room during the T20 World Cup.
In the end, it turned out to be a nightmare with dark clouds hovering over the future of this Indian team and no sign of 'VIBGYOR' in the Rainbow Nation.
Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will lead India in the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur, starting November 25, before regular skipper Virat Kohli returns to take charge from the second Test in Mumbai.
Infused with new energy under Rohit, India looked a completely overhauled unit after being whitewashed in South Africa and the team would certainly want to continue from where it left of on Sunday night.
Pacer Mohsin Khan picked up four wickets as Lucknow Super Giants outclassed Delhi Capitals by six runs, to inch closer to the IPL play-offs, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Will this (Rohit, KL Rahul and Kohli), be India's top three going into the T20 World Cup?
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings in Sharjah on Saturday.
There were no major surprises with most of the players picking themselves.
Avesh Khan excelled with the ball to lift Lucknow Super Giants to a thrilling 12-run victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL 2022 match at the DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai on Monday.
K L Rahul has been named vice-captain of the squad, which also has Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harshal Patel, Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel.
Team India will usher in a new era, which will begin with the ODI series against the West Indies, beginning, in Ahmedabad, on Sunday.
Kings XI Punjab are likely to continue with the captain and coach combine of K L Rahul and Anil Kumble for next year despite finishing sixth in the 2020 Indian Premier League.
Eyeing a top-two finish, Chennai Super Kings will start as the firm favourites when they take on Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League, in Dubai, on Thursday.
India's ODI squad against Australia announced; squads for New Zealand tour declared
KL Rahul will have to show drastically improved leadership acumen when he leads India against a buoyant South African side in the second ODI on Thursday.
'You can never prepare for Super Overs. No team does. So, you have to trust your bowler's gut. You trust your bowler, and let them believe their instinct and gut'
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey have been dropped from the side while pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been rested.
Images from the IPL match between Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Chennai, on Wednesday.
Opener KL Rahul will be playing for India 'A' in their first unofficial Test against England Lions to be held in Wayanad from February 7-10.
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