Having struggled in the past one year after suspensions of Steve Smith and David Warner, Australia finally seemed to have picked their pieces and playing exactly like a five-time champions ought to.
India will look to plug the chinks in its armoury and provide finishing touches to its preparation for the four-Test series when it takes on the West Indies Cricket Board Presidents' XI in the final warm-up match, starting in Basseterre, St Kitts, on Thursday.
India's new chief coach Anil Kumble will be keeping a keen eye on speedster Mohammed Shami's fitness along with the form of opener Shikhar Dhawan when the team begin its tour of West Indies.
India will be looking to round off their T20 World Cup preparation with a marked improvement in their death bowling besides providing crucial game time to its untested players in the three-match series against South Africa.
After taking an unassailable 3-0 lead following the nine-wicket victory in the fourth One-Day International against England, India is likely to give a break to some of their key players in the inconsequential fifth and final match at Headingley, Leeds, on Friday.
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday defeated title holders Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets via Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-truncated Indian Premier League Eliminator to set up a meeting against Mumbai Indians in Friday's Qualifier 2.
The last time Team India won an ICC World Cup was in 2011 in India. It was a 50-over ODI format that was won under the astute leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
One of the primary focus of Monday's encounter could be the inclusion of Indian cricket's latest enfant terrible Hardik Pandya, who is coming back from provisional suspension for his loose talk on a TV chat show.
The Indian team is still searching for the right middle-order combination with the World Cup just a few months away.
Buoyed by an overwhelming victory in the previous game, a resilient India would look to continue the momentum and seal off their second successive T20 series win when they take on Sri Lanka in the third and final Twenty20 International, in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. India shrugged off their embarrassing defeat in opening T20 match in Pune with a commanding show in Ranchi, where they outclassed the island nation by 69 runs to level the series. The Indian batsmen had struggled to cope with the 'green' track in Pune but adjusted well on a slow strip at Ranchi, where they did not put a foot wrong. The bowlers, too, were in complete control, never letting the Sri Lankan batsmen dominate. Moreover, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy was impressive and all his experiments, be it reshuffling of the batting order or bowling tactics, paid off. India not only mastered the conditions but also executed their plans to perfection.
India skipper Virat Kohli and his predecessor Mahendra Singh Dhoni are among the top players who are retained by their respective Indian Premier League franchises, Royal Challengers Bangalore and comeback outfit Chennai Super Kings respectively.
Gujarat Lions will have their task cut out when they lock horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Daredevils once again had a stop-start campaign in the ongoing IPL and are standing on the verge of yet another early elimination.
Having sealed the series with a comprehensive win in the second T20I at Lucknow riding on skipper Rohit Sharma's brilliant ton, the home team would look to give reserve bench players like Shreyas Iyer, MS Washington Sundar and the uncapped Shahbaz Nadeem an opportunity before it embarks on the tour of Australia.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead an 18-man squad for the Test series against England. Opener Gautam Gambhir, whose last Test was in 2012, makes a comeback while two uncapped medium pacers - Ishwar Pandey and Pankaj Singh - find a place in the team after Zaheer Khan, who had to set out of the India leg of the Indian Premier League following a back injury, was overlooked.
IMAGES from the T20 World Cup semi-final match played between India and England in Adelaide on Thursday.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah earned his maiden call-up to the Test squad, while Parthiv Patel made a comeback for the three-Test series in South Africa.
Many seniors including captain Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are all set to be rested for the upcoming five-match T20I series against South Africa, with an eye on the marquee tour of England in July.
Bolstered by Shreyas Iyer's return, Delhi Capitals will look to maintain the form they showed in the first half of the season as they resume their IPL campaign against a struggling Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Rahul Tripathi batted like a man on a mission before Umran Malik sizzled with his pace as Sunrisers Hyderabad kept their slim IPL play-off hopes alive with a narrow three-run win over Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Kohli started his English summer on a bright note hitting an unbeaten 52 off 55 balls while Mahendra Singh Dhoni also played some delightful strokes square off the wicket.
Pacer Mohammad Shami, who is recuperating after shoulder surgery, and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, back with a re-modelled action, are among 30 players named by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's senior selection committee for a preparatory camp ahead of the South African team's upcoming tour of India.
Factbox on Saturday's World Cup Pool B match between India and Zimbabwe at Eden Park in Auckland.
Hardly challenged in a dominating run this season, India once again start as overwhelming favourites when they take on an inconsistent-but-gritty New Zealand in a three-match One-Day International series, starting in Mumbai, on Sunday.
The last wicket pairing of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami produced a stunning rearguard century partnership as India recovered from a dramatic middle-order collapse to post a commendable 457 in their first innings on Day 2 of the opening Test match against England, in Nottingham, on Thursday.
"India have to be honest now. What happens when India arrive at a World Cup? Everyone plays them up. Nobody wants to criticise them because you get hammered on social media and pundits worry about losing work in India one day," he wrote. However, Vaughan feels now is the "time to tell it straight,"
One of the finest fast bowlers in current times, Mohammed Amir would be pitted against the talismanic Virat Kohli in what could turn out to be a battle primarily between India's vaunted batting line-up and against Pakistan's potent bowling attack.
Virushka's wedding was, of course, the biggest Indiansports shaadi of the year, but other athletes too tied the knot this year.
Talented Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma made a comeback to the Test squad for the West Indies series, which will also mark the farewell and landmark 200th Test of batting icon Sachin Tendulkar, next month.
Senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was the big surprise in India's squad for the T20 World Cup to be held in the United Arab Emirates next month.
Factbox on Saturday's World Cup Pool B match between India and United Arab Emirates.
Former selector Sarandeep Singh highlighted the selection blunders in India's T20 World Cup squad and said though Rohit Sharma is the obvious choice to lead the side in white-ball formats, he is not a long-term option.
Chennai Super Kings seem to hold a slight edge going into the match as they have not only got the better of their southern rivals twice in the league stages but also have the winning momentum going into the match on what promises to be a bouncy track.
Senior Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik on Thursday earned a recall to the Indian team for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy after Manish Pandey was ruled out due to a side strain.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar has picked young leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal as the best young talent from the just-concluded IPL-9, terming the Royal Challengers Bangalore player the best in terms of talent and temperament. 25-year-old Chahal took 21 wickets from 13 matches to finish IPL-9 as second highest wicket taker behind pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 23 from 17 games. "I am considering those who have temperament and not just talent. Yuzvendra Chahal, Rishabh Pant and Krunal Pandya are the top three. I will pick Chahal at the top as he has got the right temperament," Gavaskar said. "He (Chahal) is not afraid of tossing up the ball and he kept on doing that. When there is some turn on the pitch, there have to be big edges from the batsmen's bat. Chahal also has a big heart and he is not afraid of a big hit. On many occasions, he came back after being hit for sixes to claim wickets," he told NDTV.
CSK and Sunrisers Hyderabad (since inception) have traditionally been two of the most balanced sides in most IPL editions but both have ensured scratchy starts this year
The No. 4 slot is considered the most vital position for any successful ODI side, yet India are struggling to find a solution to their revolving door conundrum for some time now.
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.
It was a tale of contrasting emotions as curtains came down on the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru.
After winning the 2nd T20I with ease, the Windies go into the decider with confidence and the tie will certainly not be a cakewalk for the hosts, who will look to seal their second T20I series this season.
