Despite the leadership changes, KKR have retained key players, including Venkatesh Iyer, who has been re-signed at a huge price of Rs 23.75-crore and named the team's vice-captain.
India may have won the toss in Vadodara, but the real storm broke at the team announcement. Arshdeep Singh's exclusion from the first ODI against New Zealand ignited a wave of fan fury, turning the spotlight firmly on India's puzzling pace-bowling choices.
What Gambhir Wants: Players who are not playing to the gallery, care for dressing room
Sanju Samson received a big vote of confidence as bowling coach Morne Morkel said the opener was just one knock away from breaking free from a lean run.
The 36-year-old all-rounder once again rose to the occasion, batting with remarkable patience, steel and a fierce will to fight. Partnering first with Jasprit Bumrah and then Mohammed Siraj, Jadeja weathered thunderbolts and mind games. His 61 not out off 181 balls, spread over nearly five hours, brought India within 22 agonising runs of victory.
Indian team management will heave a sigh of relief with Tilak Varma ticking all the boxes on his return to competitive cricket after a lower abdominal surgery as the 'A' team, comprising mostly of IPL stars, comfortably defeated the United States of America by 38 runs in a high-scoring warm-up game in Navi Mumbai on Monday.
While Gautam Gambhir's anger at the leaks is understandable, blaming Sarfaraz Khan without concrete proof seems premature and unnecessary.
'Gambhir raised concerns about a lack of discipline within the team.'
India head coach Gautam Gambhir mounted a strong defence of the tough Eden Gardens pitch despite losing to South Africa in the first Test.
With Rohit Sharma stepping away from Test cricket, all eyes are now on who will lead India into a new red-ball era.
The indefatigable duo of Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Siraj is expected to be the big talking point on Saturday when the selectors pick a 15-member Indian ODI squad for a three-match series against New Zealand starting January 11 in Vadodara.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir has dismissed claims that his team had an unfair advantage in the Champions Trophy by being stationed in Dubai.
India's absolute dominance at home will come under examination when they meet a determined New Zealand in the decisive third ODI at the high-scoring Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday, with the three-match series locked at 1-1.
Indian cricketers - both past and present - have voiced strong support for the armed forces following a daring cross-border strike
India head coach Gautam Gambhir said his team is still searching for that "perfect game" despite entering the Champions Trophy final with an all-win record. He is hopeful that it will come in the summit clash on Sunday.
Virat Kohli's stroke-filled 91-ball 93 set up India's win in the series opener against New Zealand.
'Rohit & Agarkar, much better guys to front up for the media.'
A look at India's 5 best victories against Pakistan in T20 World Cups.
Dwayne Bravo, the new mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders, has stated that he will incorporate elements from former KKR strategist Gautam Gambhir's successful blueprint with his own distinct approach for the upcoming IPL season. Bravo, who replaced Gambhir after his departure to become the head coach of the Indian team, acknowledges the importance of building on KKR's previous success while also bringing his own style to the role.
Pant cops blow during nets ahead of ODI series against New Zealand
'You are creating insecurity, which, at some stage, will come back and hurt you.'
Amid his poor run, there was also speculation that he had developed serious differences with Gambhir and that there was dissension in the dressing room due to the poor performance of him and other senior batters, including Virat Kohli.
Former India coach Rahul Dravid found Rohit Sharma's openness to change a major positive while he was leading the team.
Gautam Gambhir has rubbished speculation that Shreyas Iyer was being side-lined from the ODI set-up despite his brilliant form
India Head Coach Gautam Gambhir finds himself caught between a rock and hard place.
Both the stars were woefully out of form during the just-concluded Test series against Australia that the visitors lost 1-3 to surrender the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as well as a spot in the World Test Championship final.
Shivam Dube shows he's no longer just a spin basher as smarter mindset fuels growing comfort against pace.
Gambhir was named India Head Coach in July after the end of Rahul Dravid's tenure.
Former off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin defended under-fire India head coach Gautam Gambhir after the 0-2 home Test series loss to South Africa.
The pitch used for the India vs South Africa first Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in November has received a "satisfactory" rating from International Cricket Council.
Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma ignore each other on match eve
Brad Haddin believes he might have insight into the recent exchange of heated words between Gautam Gambhir and Ricky Ponting.
Indrani Mukerjea, in pure white, sporting dancing pearl jhumkas, bobbed about the accused box, occasionally floating up front to whisper urgent suggestions to her lawyer Ranjeet Sangle as retired cop and prosecution witness Dinesh Kadam gave her a long look. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel returns to cover the Sheena Bora murder trial after 18 months.
Abhishek Sharma has been outstanding with the bat in T20 Internationals, having smashed two centuries and seven fifties to amass 1199 runs at a phenomenal strike rate of 190.92.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir has backed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to play crucial roles in the upcoming Champions Trophy, asserting their "massive value" to the team.
The day was all about a hero and his fans, and by the time they left the stadium, 18 fours and nine sixes from the former India skipper had more than satiated their appetite.
India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak on Friday acknowledged that Sanju Samson has been going through a lean phase without doubting the quality of the struggling batter, and reiterated the team management's support for him.
England coach Brendon McCullum on Monday described his Indian counterpart Gautam Gambhir as a "strong leader of men", backing him to achieve success with the national team in near future.
Former captain Rohit Sharma highlighted Arshdeep Singh's effectiveness with the new ball and in the death overs.
Former batter Manoj Tiwary said India head coach Gautam Gambhir is 'not the right choice' for the role and is better suited to mentoring IPL franchises.
