A seemingly unstoppable force in the shortest format, the current India squad has an aura of invincibility around it unlike the one that ended the cricketing powerhouse's long wait for an ICC title in Barbados 19 months ago.
'He just has to do what he does best -- which is to destroy opposition bowling.'
If starting with Jitesh Sharma in the last three T20s in Australia felt like an experiment, his selection over fellow wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson in the series opener against South Africa provided ample clarity over team management's thought process going in to the World Cup at home.
The team's balance puzzle once again took centre stage on Tuesday night, even as individual performances from the ongoing series highlighted why leaving either out is a tough ask.
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Deep Dasgupta feels that India's T20I vice-captain Shubham Gill, who is currently struggling to get going in the shortest format, has to play a similar role what Virat Kohli did for so long by consistently holding on to one end.
Gill's highest score in the three Asia Cup matches has been an unbeaten 20 with the Test skipper failing to click in the games against Pakistan and Oman after a fruitful red-ball away series against England.
The alarming part is in 10 innings, Suryakumar Yadav has managed only 10 fours and three sixes and dot ball percentage has gone up to nearly 48, translating to five dot balls in every delivery.
'Kamboj, Bumrah, Siraj -- that's a serious bowling attack.'
"Just Rishabh being Rishabh": Pant's grit wins hearts as he returns to bat in Manchester Test
Former wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta highlighted the slope at Lord's as a significant factor, especially for the Indian players, who have never played before at this venue.
While former Australian opener Matthew Hayden reckons series will go India's way, two former India players believe otherwise.
It took eight years for Karun Nair to don India jersey again but 25 days into his second coming in Test cricket, the Karnataka batter could well have played his last international game
Karun Nair has got starts in majority of his six innings in England but he has not been able to convert them into something substantial.
Jasprit Bumrah doesn't seem to be a long-term captaincy option given his nagging fitness concerns.
'Their chemistry is organic and authentic, making them an appealing choice for collaborative endorsements.'
Less than a week after he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary on Tuesday said he has decided to reverse his decision.
'The position of the captain had been really unstable in the last few months'
Suryakumar Yadav's superior performance will put Shreyas Iyer's slot in the team in danger once Hardik Pandya is back.
In this World Cup, it won't be a misnomer if KL Rahul gets the DRS moniker in his name and we call it the 'Decision 'Rahul' System'.
Manoj Tiwary played 12 ODIs and three T20Is for India between 2008 to 2015, but had a nearly two-decade long career for Bengal during which he featured in 141 first class games,.
Deep Dasgupta said Raina might be back in the UAE to join the Yellow Army.
Unless India performs very well at the T20 World Cup, it could be curtains for chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma.
IPL had paved the way for Ajinkya Rahane's Test comeback after more than a year, but it was not the case for wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.
Mongia, Maninder, Das among notable names in contention for senior selectors' posts
The 'Impact Player Rule' allows a team to have four such players named in a squad of 15 before the match and they can be substitute any time during a team's innings by the 14th over.
Shastri said that IPL has been an ideal preparatory ground for the Indian players, most of whom are regulars for their respective franchises.
'He is very tentative in his first 20 balls and whenever he plays a big innings, he is a lot more confident.'
The Australians 'swept' their way to self-destruction in the face of the Indian spinners' guile in the second Test in Delhi on Sunday.
So, will Rahul allow Gill to continue his good form at the top of the order or perch himself out there at the onset with one eye on the Asia Cup?
Senior India speedster Mohammed Shami rates the current pace attack as the best in the history of Indian Test cricket. India's pace quartet of Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav has been very consistent in the past two years.
The left-hander was named captain of the Bengal Ranji Trophy squad for the opening match against Maharashtra.
For India to do well in the T20 World Cup, it won't be a bad idea to ask KL Rahul to bat in the middle order instead of opening with skipper Rohit Sharma, considering that the top batters, including Virat Kohli, are struggling in the Powerplay overs.
Ishant Sharma identified an One-day International match against Australia in Mohali in October 2013 that led to a change in his approach
In recent times, Kedar Jadhav has been the most under-utilised cricketer, which has led to varied opinions as to whether he is an ideal fit in India's ODI team combination despite averaging 42 plus in 69 games. Jadhav, who had sustained a hamstring injury in the past, bowled only 24 overs in his last 13 ODI games which is even less than two overs per game. Worse is that he hasn't got a single wicket and in four of these games, he wasn't even asked to bowl.
'If he loses his place in the ODI side, I don't know where it puts him, in terms of the India team in all 3 formats.'
'For me, Dhoni is the main guy in the middle order and people will revolve around him.'
Raina last played in the 50-over format in October 2015 and is making a comeback after two years and 8 months.
MP was a good team but it was Pandit, who brought about changes that were required to transform it into a champion team
Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar is the only new face in the 18-member Indian squad for the three-Test series against Sri Lanka.
In case of Umesh, he bowls a fuller length, gets that lethal outswing going his way at 140 clicks but the question is, if India can afford to play a bowler, who has a propensity to bowl too many boundary balls.
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