Rishabh Pant's place in the playing eleven is far from guaranteed, while Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy are locked in a tight contest for the additional all-rounder's slot as India confront several selection dilemmas ahead of the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi.
India will look to reprise their home template of big first-innings totals and sustained spin in the short two-Test series against South Africa beginning in Kolkata on Friday.
The second and final Test starts in Guwahati from Saturday with India trailing 0-1 after the defeat on a challenging Eden Gardens pitch in Kolkata.
India's awe-inspiring batting depth will face a stern test against South Africa's quality spin attack in the first Test, starting in Kolkata on Friday.
South Africa pulled off a sensational victory inside three days of the opening Test against India on Sunday and the manner of it would go a long way in silencing those who doubted their credentials as the reigning world test champions.
'An outstanding leader. He's a really strong leader of men.
Ravichandran Ashwin's three-word post on X featured the Nike tick symbol in the Indian tri-colour with the words 'Just leave it'.
Gambhir Leads Chorus as Cricket Fraternity Hails India's Triumph
Working with Abhishek has made me understand how to become a coach: Yuvraj Singh
The last time two specialist keepers played together in a Test was in 1986, when Kiran More and Chandrakant Pandit featured in the same XI, with Pandit playing as a batter.
India's Head Coach Gautam Gambhir has seen both ends of the spectrum with high of Champions Trophy and low of six Test losses and he'll have tough choices to make once the new two-year cycle comes around with the new season.
Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh expressed disappointment at the loss but praised India's all-round performance.
With Rohit Sharma stepping away from Test cricket, all eyes are now on who will lead India into a new red-ball era.
Ravichandran Ashwin exposed India batters' lack of quality to battle ball tweakers by claiming that if legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar or past domestic heroes Amol Muzumdar, the India women's team head coach and Mithun Manhas had played against spinners on such a track, the Test would have gone to four days, unlike India's harrowing 30-run defeat against South Africa at Eden Gardens.
Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and K L Rahul perished early as India fumbled in the chase of a mammoth 549-run target on Day 4 of the second Test.
The Bellerive Oval is one ground where the side boundaries are smaller in size, hence hitting the right lengths would be paramount considering anything short would be flying over cover, point, square leg or mid-wicket on either side of the fence.
'We knew it won't be easy to hit how much you may connect. Plan was to bowl smartly and when a batter is set, force him to hit on the bigger sides than small sides.'
Indian cricketers - both past and present - have voiced strong support for the armed forces following a daring cross-border strike
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.
'Will any coach think of keeping out Rohit and Kohli from the ODI team? That means there is something going on within the team against the two players.' Manoj Tiwary, who played 12 ODIs and three T20Is for India, said iconic players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli deserve greater respect.
With the scars of last year's home series whitewash against New Zealand still raw, preparing rank turners may invite risk.
'We would like to believe and back ourselves to know these conditions or adapt to these conditions a lot faster even if we find them slightly different, as compared to, say, somebody who is brought up in Johannesburg and has played all his cricket at the Wanderers ground.'
Speculations and debates have sparked over social media since last week, after chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the management's decision to hand over the ODI captaincy from Rohit to Shubman Gill.
There are three aspects of the decision taken jointly by Agarkar and Gambhir with the blessings of someone very powerful in Indian cricket ecosystem. First, they are on same page that both Rohit and Virat Kohli aren't exactly in their scheme of things for the 2027 World Cup.
'At least one year on the job is absolutely important to review someone's performance.'
It may be a matter of celebration in the Indian dressing room but there is something that has not gone down too well with cricket fans.
'The best coach is the one who is tactically superior. He should know how to pick the right XI according to the conditions.'
India embracing high-risk approach in T20s, says Gautam Gambhir
'For him, win or defeat never mattered, he always told us to give our best and never worry about the results.'
India's Test No 3 Sai Sudharsan said his primary aim is to win matches for the team rather than focusing on individual goals.
Since making a comeback to the T20 team for the Asia Cup, Shubman Gill has struggled to tally just 184 runs in 10 innings.
With no ODI series in Australia in the next two years, it is impossible to think that the legendary duo will again be seen Down Under in India blues.
Arshdeep Singh has enough experience to understand that the Indian team management is trying different combinations looking at the bigger picture, bowling coach Morne Morkel said.
After taking a dig at former India skipper Rohit Sharma on his fitness, Congress leader Shama Mohamed, on Wednesday, again sparked controversy, drawing a religious angle to cricketer Sarfaraz Khan's omission from the India and India A squads announced recently by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The problem with Surya has been his limited range of strokes and always trying to play behind the square using the pace and bounce of the deliveries
India head coach Gautam Gambhir has dismissed claims that his team had an unfair advantage in the Champions Trophy by being stationed in Dubai.
When the Indian team entered the ICC Cricket Academy Arena for their evening net session ahead of the Asia Cup, Samson was the first to start his solo keeping drills with fielding coach T Dilip, even as others were just about lumbering up.
While Gautam Gambhir's anger at the leaks is understandable, blaming Sarfaraz Khan without concrete proof seems premature and unnecessary.
Tilak Varma, India's match-winner in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan, received a grand welcome on his return to Hyderabad on Tuesday.
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.
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