India went on an experimentation spree in the limited overs series against the West Indies but not much came out of it except Tilak Varma emerging as a contender for a World Cup middle-order slot on the back of his exploits in the T20 series.
Yashasvi Jaiswal hit a century on debut as India seized complete control on the second day of the first Test against the West Indies.
Gautam Gambhir backed the struggling KL Rahul, stating that every player goes through a lean patch and Rahul shouldn't be singled out.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the first ODI against Australia on Friday?
Exactly 11 months are left for the marquee event in India and the series starting on Friday will give the team an initial idea about some of the middle-order slots
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja dominated with the ball for India while Virat Kohli ended his long wait for a Test century.
Sanju Samson replaced Virat Kohli for the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, while Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube earned his maiden call-up to the Indian team.
As much as Ishan Kishan has done his bit, India will need Iyer, the proverbial slayer of spin bowling in the middle overs during the World Cup.
IMAGES from the IPL match played between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on Friday.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index of IPL 2024 after Game 46.
West Indies hope to use new ball effectively on Day 2 to stage comeback
The Indian batters will have to put their best their foot forward against Australia in the series-deciding third ODI in Chennai on Tuesday.
A fairytale moment unfolded at the Wankhede as Virat Kohli climbed to the summit, overtaking the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
Jasprit Bumrah was out of action for the past few months due to a back stress fracture, which forced him to miss the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup.
India will be expecting more runs from the middle order and discipline in the death overs as they look for a series sealing win against New Zealand in the second ODI in Raipur on Saturday.
There has been a lot of talk going around KL Rahul's poor form and ahead of the third Test, former India coach Ravi Shastri opened up on Rahul's struggles.
The truth of the matter is that India lost their second successive WTC final on day two of this encounter when they collapsed to 71/4 in response to Australia's first-innings total of 469.
Stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma, on Sunday, said his side wanted to bat in tough conditions as part of their preparation for the upcoming World Cup and hence chose to take first strike in the fifth ODI in Wellington.
Taylor said if New Zealand can strike early, it will put tremendous pressure on the Indian middle-order.
We have Shubman Gill at one end ready to carry on the mantle but what about his partner?
Ajinkya Rahane will be aiming to pile on the runs to extend his international career and lead India to a series sweep against a feeble West Indies.
Bharat shone during his 158-minute stay in the middle
Suryakumar Kumar is within striking distance of England batter Dawid Malan in the race to hold the highest rating of all time for men's T20I batters.
'There's going to be a lot of logistics involved given the IPL final is only a week before the WTC final'
New Zealand, on the other hand, will be eager to grab a consolation win to boost their morale.
India's batters will have to counter a potent Pakistan bowling attack that can make an impact irrespective of the nature of the pitch.
India has lost three finals and on four occasion it bit dust at the semifinal stage. It also made an exit at the preliminary stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup.
A series clean sweep in sight, the Indian team is unlikely to tinker with its batting line-up tough skipper Rohit Sharma could be tempted to look at some of his bowling options during the final ODI against Sri Lanka, in Thiruvananthapuram, on Sunday.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya returned to the Indian squad for the three-match ODI series against South Africa after a six-month injury lay-off along with fit-again senior opener Shikhar Dhawan and seasoned seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. This was the first selection meeting under new chairman Sunil Joshi. However, vice-captain Rohit Sharma is yet to fully recuperate from his calf muscle injury and is expected to return to action during the Indian Premier League later this month.
Shikhar Dhawan was a 'bit shocked' at his exclusion from India's Asian Games squad
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer feels incumbent vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will have to consistently score runs to remain in the Test reckoning.
India could field three spinners against Australia in the final.
It is learnt that Shubman has been told that he would bat in the middle-order in the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur, where Ajinkya Rahane will lead the team in the absence of Virat Kohli, who is on a break.
Hardik Pandya has quit Gujarat Titans to rejoin his former team Mumbai Indians, following a trade between the two franchises.
With the series on the line, captain Hardik Pandya is unlikely to make changes despite clamour for inclusion of Prithvi Shaw.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the 3rd Test played between India and Australia in Indore on Thursday.
With the three-match T20I series ahead and also the World Cup round the corner, India will have to address this weakness to ensure that their much-vaunted batting doesn't crumble on an odd day when the condition aids swing bowling in England.
After R Ashwin led India's fightback with a six-wicket haul, India skipper Rohit Sharma at Shubman Gill took India to 36/0 at the end of Day 2 in Ahmedabad.
IMAGES from the IPL match played between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans in Mumbai on Friday.
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