Abhishek Sharma waged a lone battle with an entertaining 68 from 37 balls in the second T20I against Australia at MCG on Friday.
Australia's stand-in captain Mitchell Marsh continued his fine run of form on Sunday, scoring 46 not out and leading his side to a seven-wicket triumph over India in the weather-affected first one-day international at Perth Stadium.
Arshdeep Singh -- statement spells against SA shows need to give pacer consistent ODI outings
Skipper Shubman Gill acknowledged that the choice between a spinner and an extra seamer for the first Test against South Africa is nothing short of a "conflict".
The Indian team's heavy reliance on all-rounders will be tested by a plucky Australia in the second ODI but the spotlight will continue to stay firmly on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, both of whom would look to turn back the clock with series-saving knocks in Adelaide on Thursday.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav will depend heavily on his spin troika as India gear up for yet another demolition act of Pakistan in what promises to be an intense and tense Super 4 face-off of the Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday.
India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar feels the debate over preparing a spin-friendly track at the Eden Gardens for the opening Test against South Africa is pointless as the country has been laying out such wickets for ages.
'I feel Kuldeep Yadav is your automatic choice. But it seems like you are doing an injustice if you leave Axar out.'
Kuldeep was the architect of the collapse, producing a clinical spell of 4/7 in just 2.1 overs.
Our batters never play such kind of bowlers, were overawed by big names: UAE coach Rajput
There is a school of thought that having done the hard yards in the England series, Karun Nair deserves an opportunity against a weaker opposition where a century could boost his career.
Indian Test skipper Shubman Gill spoke on the team dinner hosted by head coach Gautam Gambhir on Thursday
The cricketing ecosystem has learned to survive the prolonged absence of Kohli and Rohit -- at least in two formats -- in this interim period.
Images from the second T20 International between India and South Africa, at the PCA's New Chandigarh Stadium, Mullanpur.
Kuldeep was instrumental to India's success at the Asia Cup, topping the wicket-taking chart with 17 wickets. Chopra explained the rationale behind dropping the left-arm wrist spinner, attributing it to batting depth.
Against Bangladesh, Samson wasn't even considered good enough to come inside the top seven of the line-up and that begs a question as to what is he doing in the team if he isn't good enough to come ahead of Axar Patel.
Pat Cummins captured the sentiment perfectly, calling this potentially the 'last chance' for fans Down Under to witness these legends in action. With both stalwarts set to be 39 and 40 respectively by the 2027 World Cup, every appearance carries added significance. Ro-Ko have been the heartbeat of Indian cricket for over 15 years. Their return brings an emotional lift to the team and raises expectations for the series against the world champions.
Australia opener Travis Head expects the "great white ball" duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to carry on till the 2027 ODI World Cup.
The lack of runs from captain Suryakumar Yadav and his deputy Shubman Gill remains a talking point.
Shubman Gill is the flavour of the season after his stupendous show in the recent Test series against England but he will face a contender in Axar Patel for vice-captaincy
India captain Rohit Sharma had previously acknowledged Axar's recent fatherhood as a reason for his unavailability for the last two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
Rajat Patidar and Axar Patel struck half-centuries in a match dominated by the bowlers.
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.
This brings us to the question of combination and perhaps Arshdeep could miss out on more games going into the T20 World Cup -- a tournament that will be held in the sub-continent -- India and Sri Lanka.
For a bowler this effective to be sidelined repeatedly, there must be either a very specific tactical reason -- or something unspoken within the dressing room dynamics.
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.
The pitches in West Indies, where the Super 8 matches will be played, are conducive for spinners.
India will be keen to get the job done against Bangladesh and seal their place in Sunday's final before considering resting their players.
As India gear up for the T20 World Cup at home, the selectors have backed a squad built on impact, and versatility.
Axar Patel completes 200 T20 wickets, joins Ravindra Jadeja in elite company
Indian spinner Ravi Bishnoi and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh moved up to the sixth and 10th spot respectively in the latest ICC T20 rankings released on Wednesday.
Abhishek Sharma's scintillating 75 was beautifully complemented by Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy as India comfortably hammered Bangladesh by 41 runs to enter the Asia Cup final in Dubai on Wednesday.
With Bumrah leading the charge, India prised out five wickets in the second session to snuff out South Africa's hopes of reaching the 200 mark.
Axar Patel, who had a perfect view of Jaiswal's catch, was lavish in his praise.
Rohit Sharma hit an unbeaten century, while Virat Kohli returned to form with a fluent fifty as India cruised to an emphatic nine-wicket victory in the inconsequential third and final ODI against Australia.
The likes of Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Axar Patel would all like to get some decent hit out there in the middle ahead of Sunday's clash against Pakistan.
'We cannot deny that Pakistan also played brilliantly.'
The final Test begins on Friday in New Delhi, and the Shubman Gill-led side is expected to maintain their winning combination as they look to wrap up the home series.
The inclusion of Gill in the squad has raised doubts in the minds of management about who will open the innings for their side, along with left-hand batter Abhishek, in the tournament.
This was India's third victory in a row against Pakistan and their 11th victory overall against the arch-rivals in 14 T20 matches.
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