With the 2019 ODI World Cup on the horizon, focus has firmly shifted to white-ball cricket with the arrival of limited-overs' specialists, in Sydney, on Tuesday.
Out-of-form opener Shikhar Dhawan's place in the team will be one of the main discussion points when the Indian team management zeroes in on the playing eleven for the ICC World Cup match against arch rivals Pakistan in Adelaide on Sunday.
India will start their Asia Cup campaign against minnows Hong Kong on Tuesday followed by the big game against Pakistan.
'When Hardik was dropped from the Zimbabwe tour, coach Sanjay Bangar called, telling him to work hard and not lose focus.' 'This really motivated Hardik to do better and he emerged one of the star performers during India A's tour of Australia.'
The ignored trio of KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma were part of an optional practice session at Newlands, even as South Africa coach Ottis Gibson warned they would continue to torment India with pace.
The game features two of the world's leading batsmen captaining their sides in Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson, as well as a pair of strike bowlers at the top of their game in Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult.
India went in for an optional practice on Saturday and Dhoni was seen doing what normally a skipper does -- inspecting the Eden Gardens pitch, taking local feedbacks and giving his team mates a pep talk.
Former batsman V V S Laxman believes tinkering with Team India's support staff is not a viable option and newly-appointed team director Ravi Shastri and coach Duncan Fletcher should stay till the 2015 World Cup.
The skipper said that there has been a lot of experimentation at number four, and while the batting line-up at Adelaide, where Rayudu batted at four, was an ideal one, they would like to keep things mixed up until someone assumed responsibility at number four.
Former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri has been appointed interim coach of India's cricket team for the tour of Bangladesh. The team will play one Test and three One-day Internationals on the tour, which kicks-off with the Test, from June 10 to 14.
South Africa's explosive batsman David Miller, who will lead the Kings XI Punjab in this edition of the IPL, feels that captaincy has not brought any added pressure on him. "Responsibility changes a bit as captain, but I am really looking forward to it," Miller said. "No pressure, to be honest. I see it as an opportunity. We have changed the squad a little bit this year, couple of new additions, but most of the squad stays the same. "I really believe we can win the competition this year. The fact that we haven't won it, doesn't add any more pressure. It's a great opportunity for the guys to step up," he added. The 26-year-old said he is looking forward to the captaincy challenge.
Ashwin, Jadeja likely to be rested; Team selection on Aug 13
Pace bowler Dhawal Kulkarni, who has played a lot of domestic cricket before gaining his India cap, claimed he has learnt quite a bit from the likes of Austalian Shane Watson, his current captain at Rajasthan Royals.
The trio, according to sources, will provide input to BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya and secretary Anurag Thakur, who were on Sunday entrusted with the job of finding the new coach at the Board of Control for Cricket in India's Working Committee meeting in Kolkata.
Team India's cricket director Ravi Shastri has played a massive role in getting Shikhar Dhawan back on track after a prolonged lean patch during the tour of Australia that preceded the ongoing World Cup.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who has scored four Test centuries, has hit a fifty in each of the three Tests against England while Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav have also proved they are no dud with the bat.
Speedster Umesh Yadav feels that England could have scored more than 268 for eight as the wicket did not change much and it was "easy to play spinners" with not much turn on offer.
Looking to salvage pride in the third Test beginning, in Johannesburg, on Wednesday, team India got down to business at the Wanderers with a practice session that lasted just under four hours.
The appointment of next India chief coach, Chennai Super Kings's low de-merger valuation of Rs 5 lakh and Neeraj Kumar's appointment as the Anti-Corruption Unit's chief consultant are some of the key issues that will be discussed during the Board of Control for Cricket in India's Working Committee meeting, in Kolkata, on Sunday.
India are on course for an effortless ODI series whitewash over Zimbabwe but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he is concerned about the lack of opportunities for most of his batsmen in the tour so far. India posted an eight-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the second One-day International to claim an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series here. "So far, only three of our top batsmen have got the chance to play. In the batting department we would like to make changes," Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Promising that India will not back down from their "aggressive brand of cricket", team director Ravi Shastri feels consistency and patience would be key to success as the hosts gear up to face South Africa next month.
Should India bolster its batting by including Rohit Sharma at No 6? Pick India's playing XI for the first Test.
The Indian team management took this decision during this afternoon's net practice after having a look at the pitch. Although there was no official word on why the match was shortened, Indian coach Ravi Shastri was seen having an animated discussion with the local officials after getting a glimpse of the grassy pitch and a barren outfield that can cause injury while fielding.
Remunerations dominated former India coach Anil Kumble's 19-page proposal on restructuring of contracts to the Board of Control for Cricket in India in which he had demanded that the 'chief coach should earn 60 percent of the captains' estimated earnings'.
With Jason Holder's men just about managing to draw the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan 1-1, there is no doubt that the current Indian team are a few notches ahead in terms of quality.
According to a source in the BCCI, Kumble said: 'He doesn't want to continue with the team'
- 'Time Indian cricket looked beyond Fletcher' - 'Their bowling has been pretty inconsistent'
Newly-elected Board of Control for Cricket in India president Anurag Thakur, on Sunday, said the Board will advertise for the post of the coach of the Indian team.
Praising Team Director Ravi Shastri for lifting the morale, Test opener Murali Vijay has said that the former all-rounder has entered the Indian cricket dressing room at the right time as things have fallen into place with the current coaching set-up.
Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane said that his team will have to bowl with a lot of patience on fifth day on Monday in their pursuit of victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
The Men in Blue won the first T20I at Johannesburg by 28 runs and a victory on Wednesday will see them wrap up another series win on this tour.
Senior India batsman Rohit Sharma feels pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the world's best death bowlers and the duo have contributed significantly to the recent limited overs success of the team.
India aim to stay afloat against daunting South Africa in the second Test
India last won a Test series in England in 2007 under Rahul Dravid, and it will be no easy task ahead of the Virat Kohli-led side to replicate that feat.
Criticising Duncan Fletcher's coaching reign between 2011-15, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has said that work ethic during the Zimbabwean's tenure was "pretty abysmal" as players reported late in practice sessions.
The all-powerful working committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India retained former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri as Director of the Indian cricket team till next year's ICC World Cup while deciding to hold its Annual General Meeting in Chennai on November 20.
After their best-ever show at IPL 7, Kings XI Punjab will look to continue their aggressive brand of cricket when they start their campaign against Hobart Hurricanes in a Group B match of the Champions League Twenty20 in Mohali on Thursday.
Rishabh Pant may be the flavour this domestic cricket season but chief coach Anil Kumble feels that Parthiv Patel's experience as well as better "keeping skills" have enabled him to make a comeback into Indian Test side after eight long years. "Parthiv has been really consistent both with his keeping as well as his batting. That's why Parthiv was chosen. Rishabh has certainly shown the exuberance a young cricketer can bring in. He has shown a lot of batting skills. He has obviously got a lot of runs in domestic cricket. But Parthiv was chosen for his keeping skills and his experience," Kumble said on Thursday, giving a peek into his thought process on Patel's selection.
India's limited-overs' captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni says it is not necessary that knowledge of Hindi should be the main criteria while selecting the coach of the team.
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