India were 227 for eight in their second innings at stumps on the third day of the second cricket Test against New Zealand at the Edens Garden on Kolkata on Sunday. India, thus, took an overall lead of 339 runs over New Zealand with two wickets in hand. Rohit Sharma made 82 while Wriddhiman Saha was unbeaten on 39 along side Bhuvneshwar Kumar (8 not out).
Considering Hardika Pandya's heavy recent workload, the decision was made to negate any possibility of a major injury concern, the BCCI said on Friday.
A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday.
In Nagpur, he extracted good bounce and movement from a batting-friendly track, which could prove crucial in South Africa with India set to face wickets that are expected to aid the faster bowlers.
On a high after sealing the series with comprehensive victories, an upbeat India will be aiming to complete a 3-0 rout in order to retain it's No 1 Test ranking, when they meet a listless West Indies in the final Test match of the series in Port of Spain on Thursday. Having already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series after their crushing 237-run win in the third Test, Virat Kohli and his men will be aiming to go for the kill and keep their top ranking in Test. India were reinstated as the No.1 Test side after Australia 0-3 whitewash at the hands of Sri Lanka.
Yuvraj Singh made it back to the Indian team for the limited overs series against Australia but seniors Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were again ignored.
Basu is most satisfied about the transformation he has brought in the fitness levels of speedsters Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami.
Rohit, who now has five centuries from 28 Tests, gained a whopping 36 slots after his knocks of 176 and 127 in the first Test against South Africa in Visakhapatnam
Indian captain MS Dhoni is confident that his inexperienced bowling attack will deliver in the four-Test series against Australia which starts on December 26.
As far as the Indian team is concerned, even a 3-0 result against the hosts will not be enough for the second-placed side to claim the number one spot in the ICC rankings, while a favourable outcome for the home team will boost its qualifying chances for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
India are leading the five-match series 3-0 and should they taste success in the final Test, it will be their biggest against England, the previous being the 3-0 whitewash in 1992-93 under Mohammed Azharuddin's captaincy.
With a new captain in place, Rising Pune Supergiants would look to make amends for a poor last season but have a tough opening battle at hand against two-time former champions Mumbai Indians.
The Sri Lankans have played 17 Tests in India in 35 years, but failed to win a single one.
Shocked by an inexperienced Sri Lankan side on a green wicket in the first Twenty20 match, India would aim to regain its winning touch and keep the series alive.
India goes into the third and final Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday hoping to register their first series victory in the island nation in 22 years.
The in-form Virat Kohli was on Monday rested for the forthcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka, while Delhi's left-arm spinner Pawan Negi was a surprise inclusion for the three-match series.
Australia captain Steve Smith won the toss and opted to bat against an Indian side missing their inspirational skipper Virat Kohli through injury in the fourth and final Test in Dharamsala on Saturday.
Key facts on the India squad for the 2015 cricket World Cup.
India's seven-pronged bowling unit has five pacers with four quicks, who can regularly hit 140 clicks, and Prasanna wants captain Virat Kohli to play five bowlers in the first Test against South Africa.
Gautam Gambhir started his new season in the right earnest with a patient century as Delhi made a pedestrian Assam attack toil by reaching 269 for four at stumps on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Group A encounter in New Delhi on Saturday.
India will look to make the most of their only warm-up game, beginning, in Sydney, on Wednesday against Cricket Australia XI.
Help Captain Kohli and Head Coach Shastri pick India's XI for the Rajkot Test.
The famed Indian batting line-up crashed for a lowly 135 to lose the first Test by 72 runs in Newlands on Monday.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India's Committee of Administrators (COA) on Tuesday doubled the annual retainership amount to Rs 2 crore for seven Grade A cricketers, including captain Virat Kohli and former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Riding on Rohit Sharma's fluent 82, India emerged stronger in the battle of attrition against a gritty New Zealand to take complete control of the second cricket Test by grabbing a 339-run lead, on day three of the second Test at Eden Gardens on Sunday.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the three-match T20Is and ODIs against West Indies but has been included in the Test squad, while veteran wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is 'unavailable' for the entire tour.
The home team was comfortably placed at 139 for one, thanks to the second wicket stand from opener Danushka Gunathilaka (74) and Lahiru Thirimanne (59) before collapsing to 187 all out.
The hits and flops of the week.
'Finisher' Dhoni takes blame for not taking the across the line, saying: "We lost the match in the last five overs of either innings."
The Elite list is set to comprise only three players ---skipper Virat Kohli, his limited overs deputy Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.
Former India pace spearhead Javagal Srinath has raised doubts about the team's bowling attack ahead of the upcoming ODI cricket World Cup though he has rated the defending champions' batting line-up as the strongest going into the showpiece event.
Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews has blamed his batsmen for the heavy defeat in the second Test against India in Colombo, saying they lost the game with their first innings batting.
The Mumbai youngster took the place of Kedar Jadhav, who was dropped from the T20I squad after his below-par showing in the three-match series against Australia.
Rajneesh Gupta figures out the Indian ODI and T20 sides for the South Africa series.
The plan was to keep Virat Kohli quiet and South Africa's wrecker-in-chief Vernon Philander said his team executed it to perfection during the 72-run win over India in the opening Test in Cape Town.
tung by the defeat in the series opener despite putting up a big score, India will have to plug their bowling loopholes when they take on Australia in the second One-Day International on Friday, fully aware that any slip-up will make their task of bouncing back difficult.
Up-and-coming Karnataka batsman Lokesh Rahul and Uttar Pradesh leg-spinner Karn Sharma were named in India's 19-man Test squad for the tour of Australia, which was announced after the selection committee of the Board for Control of Cricket in India met in Mumbai on Monday morning. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will miss the opening Test, from December 4, at the Gabba in Brisbane, because of an injury and Virat Kohli will stand in for him.
The Pune outfit is presently languishing at the sixth spot in the eight-team standings with just four points.
Karnataka dished out a clinical show as they beat Andhra Pradesh by 53 runs in their Elite Group A match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, in Bengaluru, on Monday.
