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.
Cheteshwar Pujara continues to be the only Indian batsman in the top-20 list as he has managed to maintain his sixth spot, while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is the highest-ranked bowler at number eight, in the latest ICC Test rankings issued in Dubai.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI in the first Test against Australia?
Sitharaman, who was giving her 2021-22 Budget Speech, started off by giving a special shout out to what the Indian team
Photos of the Day 3 of the second Test between India and England, being played at Lord's
In Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, India, says Haresh Pandya, has a bunch of exciting young batsmen who will go places, individually and collectively.
Two more failures in two home games could effectively mean end of the road for Ajinkya Rahane, who is leading India in the first Test in Kanpur, starting on Thursday.
Cheteshwar Pujara struck an unbeaten century to give India a slender first innings lead on Day 2 of the fourth Test against England.
'I knew that I had to stay patient and wait for the loose balls but the way they bowled, they bowled in the right areas'
Sunil Gavaskar slammed the Indian team management for fielding an unchanged eleven in the dead rubber against Afghanistan, wondering whether the "fear" of bench players succeeding over current favourites prompted it to play the same team.
Inclement weather played spoilsport, as not a single ball was bowled on the second day of India's opening tour fixture against Leicestershire, in Leicester, on Friday.
Mohammad Shami walked off the field after failing to complete his 14th over but top order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara insisted that the injury was not "serious" and the pacer would be back in action on Sunday.
South Africa batter Keegan Petersen says his team will look to keep India's lead under 200 in the second Test, as anything more will be difficult to chase on a pitch that is getting tougher by the day.
The 29-year-old, who signed a Kolpak deal with Yorkshire in 2019 only to return to the South African domestic circuit this season, returned figures of 3 for 64 as India were bowled out for 202 in 63.1 overs on Day 1 of the second Test, in Johannesburg, on Monday.
Ravindra Jadeja on Saturday became the second fastest Indian to reach 150 Test wickets, behind team-mate Ravichandran Ashwin, when he bowled Dhananjay de Silva during the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
I really like the look of Shikhar Dhawan. He's a talented, aggressive opener, says former Australia captain Ian Chappell.
Hardik Pandya hasn't featured in Tests since 2018 and has only recently recovered from a career-threatening back injury.
Kevin Pietersen says the performance Indian batsmen, especially Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, will be critical to the side's chances during its lengthy tour of England, come this summer.
The overnight batsmen each survived a review to power India to 435 for six at lunch in response to Australia's 451 after a wicketless session played out under an overcast sky.
Saurashtra have never had it better in Indian domestic cricket's rich history, having won their second Ranji Trophy title in three seasons
"I know the importance of opening the innings. I am glad I could make it count. It's always important to embrace the challenge, it's not going to be easy. Back in Durham we had time off to look at our training and technique and after the World Test Championship final we had 20-25 days, that was a real game-changer."
It is learnt that BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah and CEO Hemang Amin have all got in touch with their Cricket Australia counterparts after complaints reached them. They have been assured that the Indian contingent will be made to feel comfortable from here on. The series is tied 1-1 currently.
Australia captain Tim Paine's efforts to distract Ravichandran Ashwin on the fifth and final day of the third Test in Sydney on Monday failed terribly as the India off-spinner gave him a befitting reply.
Images from Day 1 of the second Test between South Africa and India in Durban on Thursday.
Still finding his feet in the Twenty20 format, Cheteshwar Pujara knows that he cannot be "flamboyant" like some of his Kings XI Punjab teammates in the IPL but the Indian says he is hoping carve a niche for himself by emulating South African legend Jacques Kallis.
India's Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara has raised a concerns like "picking the googly", "spotting the seam" while batting against the pink ball under lights during the Duleep Trophy game between India Blue and India Green.
India's biggest problem on the ongoing tour of England, says Harish Kotian, is the poor run of Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli.
Following the debacle in the New Zealand ODI series, the selectors finally lost patience with the under-performing Suresh Raina and Ishant Sharma and axed them from India's squad for the Asia Cup later this month. Cheteshwar Pujara, who played two ODIs in Zimbabwe in August, made a comeback to the ODI squad.
Rohit Sharma returned to India's playing XI for the third Test
Rohit Sharma has overtaken captain Virat Kohli to become the top-ranked Test batsman from India.
Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has said that his side will be looking at a 300-plus target for England in the second innings.
Cheteshwar Pujara stood tall amid ruins as Sri Lanka struck twice in the truncated morning session to reduce India to 74 for five before rain forced play to be called off early on day two of the opening Test on Friday.
India pacer Mohammed Shami says India will be looking to set New Zealand a target only after having enough "back-up runs" in the second innings on the final day of the World Test Championship final, said senior pacer
Photos from Day 4 of the first Test match between India and England in Nottingham, on Saturday.
Team management was always clear that once Rohit is fit and able to join the squad, he will be Rahane's deputy.
Left-arm pacer Thangarasu Natarajan earned his maiden call-up to the Indian Test squad after he was named as the replacement for the injured Umesh Yadav for the last two games against Australia.
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".
Senior cricketers Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina will lead India Red, India Blue and India Green teams respectively in the Duleep Trophy to be played at Greater Noida International Cricket Stadium from August 23 to September 14. The four-day tournament will be played for the first time with pink ball and under lights.
Australia's David Warner's batting exploits in the third and final Test against South Africa earned him a career-best fifth in the latest ICC Rankings for Test batsmen, even as India's Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli dropped to No 8 and 10 respectively.
'Remembering the bravehearts and the innocent civilians who lost their lives'
