Discarded veterans Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh have kept their base price in the highest bracket of Rs 2 crore, while Zaheer Khan and Cheteshwar Pujara's base price start with 1.5 crore for the upcoming players auction of the seventh edition of Indian Premier League.
Senior India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara is set to return on county circuit for a short stint with Nottinghamshire as cover for Australian pacer James Pattinson.
The 24-year-old Saurashtra batsman says he's back to full fitness and confident of regaining his place in the Indian team.
While Cheteshwar Pujara's place in the Test side is not under any doubt, there are question marks creeping over whether he is the right batsman for the No 3 slot, especially overseas.
'It has been a wonderful journey so far. Playing the 50th Test match for the country will be a proud moment for me. Yes, there have been ups and downs but looking at my recent (good) form, I will be keen to score some runs in my 50th Test'
India put together their second highest team total on Australian soil, piling up 622/7 declared on the second day of the match. Their highest team total, 705/7 declared, was also incidentally scored at this venue, in 2004.
India ended the fourth day of the Lord's Test on 181 for loss of 6 wickets.
Who do you feel is India's best bat for the No. 3 slot in the second Test against Sri Lanka, starting on Thursday, August 20.
India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has been issued a British work permit and is set to join Derbyshire County Cricket Club this week for the remainder of the English County Championship.
"This time it's Rohit, not Virat....if you know you know," Stokes tweeted.
India's dependable No 3 landed and scored 162 for MRC against Crombest Club giving another example of his commitment towards the game irrespective of the level of competition.
The right-hander feels that keeping India's relatively inexperienced pace attack, aside from Jasprit Bumrah, on the field for as long as possible could be the key for the hosts in the five-Test series beginning in Perth on Friday.
Virat Kohli is the epitome of swagger, KL Rahul's strokeplay embodies lazy elegance but it is patience that is Cheteshwar Pujara's second name.
The selectors have decided to persist with struggling opener K L Rahul who has gone through a string of poor scores.
Cheteshwar Pujara, a vital cog in India's batting wheel, on Tuesday, stressed on the importance of leaving the ball on the bouncy pitches of South Africa during the three-Test series beginning, in Cape Town, on Friday.
Cheteshwar Pujara rose to the occasion with a maiden century in Australia, pulling India out of a deep hole to a respectable 250 for nine on day one of the first Test in Adelaide on Thursday.
His century in the Perth Test during the 2018-2019 series is rated by many as his finest, which Virat Kohli also acknowledges as his best in Australia.
'I am sure there is enough time for us to prepare and guys are looking forward to this series. This is the best opportunity for us to win our first series in South Africa. So all of us are looking forward to it.'
Shubman Gill, silenced his doubters with a noteworthy performance in the recent Test series against England.
Maharashtra batsman Ankit Bawne scored a gutsy century under pressure as West Zone took a vital 43-run first innings lead against East Zone on the second day of the Duleep Trophy quarter-final in Lahli.
Despite the ups and downs, The Oval remains a ground of rich memories and monumental moments for Indian cricket.
Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have been a "bit of a headache" for South Africa and the hosts will look to get them out early on Day 3 of the series-deciding third Test, said Proteas batter Keegan Petersen, in Cape Town, on Wednesday.
Former India captain and team director Ravi Shastri said Cheteshwar Pujara, who was not picked up by any of the teams for this year's Indian Premier League, deserves to be compensated handsomely as a reward for his consistent contributions to the Test team's success this home season.
India are set to play a Test against England from July 1 to July 5.
'Excellent setting for an intra-squad match simulation here in Southampton.'
India will need to bat 90 plus overs on the final day of the third Test and score another 309 runs with Pujara and Rahane aiming to save the match
Former Australia cricketer Brad Hodge called Jasprit Bumrah 'a nightmare to face' in an enormous compliment but picked Cheteshwar Pujara's runs at number three as the vital difference between the two sides.
With more than a 100 runs still to get, it would be an uphill task for Maharashtra to turn the match around on Day 3.
India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara jumped a couple of rungs to second, while skipper Virat Kohli held on to the fifth spot in the latest ICC rankings for Test batsmen.
He did admit in a roundabout manner that he was putting too much pressure on himself earlier, which has changed since he scored 91 and 61 at Leeds and Oval at a decent clip.
Former players Irfan Pathan and Parthiv Patel believe pace bowler Mohammed Shami will the hold the key for India with the ball in the upcoming ICC World Test Championship against New Zealand.
India ended the third day of the third Test at Headingly at 215 for the loss of two wickets.
Ravi Shastri guided India to back-to-back series wins in Australia and his short advice to current head coach Gautam Gambhir is to "stay calm" over the course of five Tests Down Under and avoid knee-jerk reactions.
With the Indian players having to stay in the bio-bubble for the next two months during the tour of Australia, some of the players opted to bring in their families to help them cope with the isolation period.
The world's top two Test teams will clash in a five-match affair starting on November 22 in Perth and India will enter the contest having held the trophy for nearly a decade, which includes winning two consecutive series Down Under.
Here are some of the memorable celebratory moments...
Cummins hopes the conditions this time would be in Australia's favour, saying they would need to get the likes of Pujara out of his comfort zone to stop India.
Ravichandran Ashwin's childhood coach Sunil Subramanian wished the experienced off-spinner ahead of his 100th Test as India is set to lock horns with England in the fifth and final Test of the five-match series at Dharamsala from Thursday.
India are yet to win a Test in Birmingham in nearly six decades -- boasting of a dismal record of seven losses and one draw in eight attempts.
'See, he (Kohli) is a kind of player who performs well in all the formats of the game and the way he started off, if there was some other batsmen, I don't think they could have started in the same way. I think it's his confidence and way he is batting, in last two to three years, it would have been difficult for any other batsman to score at such a strike rate'
