Team India touched down in Manchester on Sunday ahead of the must-win fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy
He might be drawing comparisons with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, but wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel on Friday said nobody can quite match up to the former India captain and he would rather focus on carving his own niche in international cricket.
The short turnaround time from the high of winning a controversy-marred Asia Cup notwithstanding, Shubman Gill's India will be outright favourites against a struggling and under-strength West Indies when the teams face-off on a green-top in the first Test in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
In mounting tension, Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton struggled to get bat on ball, surviving several frenzied appeals before the umpires decided it was too dark to continue.
Underdogs Nagaland showed they are made of sterner stuff as their batters fought tooth and nail all day to score 365/5 and frustrate Tamil Nadu who would be fancying their chances of enforcing a follow-on after a mammoth 512-run first-innings total in a Ranji Trophy Group A match in Bengaluru on Monday.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday said it would pass order on Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan's plea seeking to protect his publicity and personality rights, and restrain websites and platforms from using his image, likeness, persona and fake videos, including sexually explicit material.
Abhimanyu Easwaran and K L Rahul hit half-centuries to build India's A lead on Day 3 of the second unofficial Test against England Lions at County Ground, Northampton, on Sunday.
All eyes are once again on Rishabh Pant - India's in-form batter and game-changer.
The India-Pakistan tensions have had no impact on the bonhomie within the UAE cricket team, which is a mix of expatriates from the two countries, insisted skipper Muhammad Waseem.
The fringe and aspiring bunch will look to own the elevated Duleep Trophy stage as the red-ball competition returns to its traditional zonal format and marks the start of India's domestic cricket season.
Here's a roundup of all Ranji Trophy matches played on Day 1 on Wednesday.
"We will have an advantage...": BCCI VP Shukla on India's new-look squad for England tour
Later in the day, Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen will face Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia.
No major injury for Rishabh, he should be fine for Manchester Test: Gill
Nitish Kumar Reddy has been ruled out of the remainder of the series against England due to a knee injury.
'Sometimes vice-captains aren't brilliant captains.'
The most wickets by an Indian in international cricket are by spinner Anil Kumble, with 953 scalps at an average of 30.06, with best figures of 10/74, with 37 five-wicket hauls and eight ten-fers.
India stuck to their pre-series decision to field Bumrah in only three Tests and was hence not played in the final Test at the Oval
In women's singles, Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist and 2019 world champion, will have to recover from the shock defeat against fellow Indian Unnati Hooda at the China Open.
As India weigh their options ahead of the second innings, all eyes remain on Pant
Kidambi Srikanth entered the quarter-finals of Malaysia Masters after defeating Ireland's Nhat Nguyen in his second-round match but H S Prannoy bowed out with a straight game loss.
India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant are expected to play in the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford starting from July 23.
The report also indicated that Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal are unlikely to get a call-up to the T20I squad as the team management might not upset the team's core combination.
Since he took over, head coach Gautam Gambhir has stressed on multi-skilled players across formats, especially those who can add batting depth.
Rishabh Pant walked out to bat on Day 2 despite fracturing his toe.
Rahul Dravid's exit as Rajasthan Royals' head coach has more than what meets the eye
Jurel has produced a solid body of work in first-class and Test cricket alike, even though he displayed a completely different avatar for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as a finisher since his debut in 2023.
'As much as we may want, unka number itni aasani se nahi aayega (It's not going to be easy for Rahul)'
India and England players will push their tired bodies on the line with everything to play for in the fifth and final Test starting at The Oval on Thursday
'There's probably no need to sort of walk him off in that fashion'
Harshit Rana has been included in the India Test squad as a cover and travelled with the rest of the team via train to reach Leeds
'It would have been understandable if, after a gruelling tour where five Test matches were crammed into a little over six weeks, he had opted to rest.''
A devastating flashflood in the Kheer Ganga river on August 5 demolished nearly half of Dharali -- the key stopover en route to Gangotri with many hotels and homestays, and neighbouring Harsil, where an Army camp bore the brunt of the flood fury, barely giving time to the victims to run to safety.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has offered his thoughts to solve India's selection dilemma ahead of the fourth Test against England in Manchester, scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
'Aspiring doctors have put in years of their lives to study in preparation for NEET exams as they start studies from Class 9 to get good marks.' 'And today, after the NEET paper leak, these students even after getting good marks are unable to get admission in any good medical college (because of inflated merit marks due to the paper leak).' 'They are thinking, was it worthwhile to study so hard for the examinations to become a doctor?'
The Indian squad, which is expected to comprise 16 members, will be one of the trickiest ones in recent times as there is a debate around who the new captain should be.
'Yeah, 100 per cent. That's a good question, and I think that's something we'll obviously reflect on after the tour, the things we could have done better.'
England had moved to within 35 runs of securing a famous victory over India when bad light and torrential rain ended an extraordinary fourth day of the final Test at The Oval on Sunday.
The Indian mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto fought hard to beat Hoo Pang Ron and Su Yin Cheng of Malaysia to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia Championships.
India A batters enjoyed their time on a placid batting track with all the top four batters helping themselves to half-centuries as the first unofficial 'Test' against England Lions ended in a draw
