Former Australia captain Michael Clarke believes India is in "safe hands" and has "enough talent" to trounce England, but it will all come down to how the young-looking squad will leave a mark in the series on a territory known for being "tough".
"Not make him bowl more than 12-13 overs a day": Ganguly on utilizing Bumrah on England tour
Earlier, Tanush Kotian (90 not out) and Anshul Kamboj (51 not out) brought up their respective half-centuries to take India A to 417 for 7 at tea on the fourth day of their second unofficial Test in Northampton on Monday.
Former star spinner Harbhajan Singh picked Ravichandran Ashwin ahead of all-rounder Shardul Thakur for India's upcoming Boxing Day Test clash against South Africa in Centurion.
Was it an injury? A missed opportunity? Captain Shubman Gill has an explanation-but it's not one many are buying.
'We won't miss Virat and Rohit. I have faith in our young team.'
'Ideally we would have wanted about 40 runs more'.
'We all know what Stokes is capable of, but it's great to have your leader being able to grab the ball like that and showing you the way sometimes.'
'I will play under him again and I have played under him before, so I will try to learn a lot of things and how he gets performance out of players.'
'There is a reason why wickets often fall after a change of bowling. It forces the batter to recalibrate. That variability isn't available to Shubman Gill with his current crop'
Shardul also had a grand Sangeet and Haldi ceremony over the weekend, pictures of which went viral.
"We will have an advantage...": BCCI VP Shukla on India's new-look squad for England tour
With the series nicely poised at 1-1 going into the third Test, the narrative built around both the teams has changed significantly following India's 336-run routing of England at Edgbaston.
Reddy bowled 26.5 overs in the two 'Tests' against England Lions and Morkel has 'challenged' his ward to bowl more.
India finished Day 3 on 90/2 to lead England by 96 runs at stumps in the opening Test on Sunday after England were dismissed for 465 in the first innings.
The series, to commence on June 20, will be played at Headingley in Leeds, Edgbaston in Birmingham, Lord's and The Oval in London, and Old Trafford in Manchester.
Shubman Gill played a masterful captain's knock with his second century of the series on the opening day of the second Test
Led by Shubman Gill, a defiant India put on a mentally strong and technically disciplined response to keep the series alive with England 2-1 up. While there were plenty of positives to take forward, a few concerns continue to linger as the series heads to a decider at The Oval.
Pant now has three Test centuries on English soil.
India pacer Prasidh Krishna says he has learned to "switch on" as per the team's requirements and is now looking to carry his rich IPL form on to the tour of England.
England captain Ben Stokes on Tuesday dismissed the chatter surrounding Jasprit Bumrah's availability for only three Tests out of five as "India's problem" and said he is expecting the "passionate" visitors to fight hard in the second Test irrespective of the team composition.
India T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav was named the icon player for the Triumph Knights Mumbai NorthEast, while Shreyas Iyer went to SoBo Mumbai Falcons.
India's young guns are fearless and mentally hardened by the IPL exposure. But true mettle will be tested when adversity strikes -- and this time, there will be no Kohli to stir up the crowd, no Rohit to deliver a captaincy masterstroke, and no Ashwin to conjure wickets out of nowhere.
A rampaging Mumbai Indians will look to maintain their winning run in a vital mid-table battle against a dangerous Lucknow Super Giants in an Indian Premier League clash here on Sunday.
As questions swirled around dropped catches, poor captaincy calls, and a one-dimensional bowling attack, former players didn't hold back.
Shubman Gill was deemed Rohti's long-term successor and was crowned the new Test skipper.
'Most of the batters performed. I would say that is a very good sign going forward. Apart from this you have got three quality batters who are not even part of the squad -- Shreyas (Iyer), Sarfaraz (Khan) and (Devdutt) Padikkal.'
Digvesh Rathi's ability to consistently hit an immaculate length with subtle variations, like the off-break and carrom ball, makes him a dangerous bowler, feels former Australia white-ball great Shane Watson.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the 1st Test between England and India at Headingley in Leeds on Saturday.
Bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur will also be aiming to continue his dream run for Mumbai so far.
Rishabh Pant will aim to hit the refresh button after a wretched run, as Lucknow Super Giants make one last-ditch attempt to stay alive in the IPL play-offs race by winning their remaining three league matches, starting with the clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Lucknow on Monday.
Only two batters have managed to achieve this unique record before him.
Gill second successive ton as skipper takes India to 310 for 5
Captain Rishabh Pant said Lucknow Super Giants' inability to cash in on their chances ultimately led to their early exit from the playoffs race.
This was India's seventh defeat in their last nine matches as their poor run in Test cricket continues following successive series defeats against New Zealand at home and in Australia.
This happened in the 20th over of Delhi Capitals' innings with Sandeep bowling four wide balls and a no ball in the over.
Hardik Pandya's maiden five-wicket haul in T20 cricket and star batter Suryakumar Yadav's fluent 67 went in vain as Lucknow Super Giants beat Mumbai Indians by 12 runs in an Indian Premier League match in Lucknow on Friday.
As India prepares to take on England in the first Test at Leeds, all eyes will be on pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest player to feature in the IPL as he turned out for Rajasthan Royals against Lucknow Super Giants in Jaipur.
IMAGES from the IPL match between KKR and LSG at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday
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