India's bowling coach Bharat Arun is confident that the team's speed merchants Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav will take up the challenge to maintain speed as well as be accurate in the upcoming three-Test series against Sri Lanka, starting on August 12 at Galle.
The return of Ajinkya Rahane, Jayant Yadav and Hardik Pandya from injuries which they sustained during the England series will make it a tough choice for Kohli and Anil Kumble when it come sto selecting the final XI.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar said all-rounder Stuart Binny would lend much needed balance to the Indian team which is keen to bounce back after an embarrassing defeat in the first Test against Sri Lanka.
The pitches in Nagpur and Delhi have not been exactly what the team management wanted ahead of the South Africa tour but Mohammed Shami is happy that barren tracks like the one at the ongoing Test in Kotla have given him a chance to test his fitness while bowling long spells.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, on Sunday, made light of the criticism he is facing in the wake of continuing poor results by saying that a review of his leadership can be done only through PIL.
Not just the 40 points, India will also be eyeing a 3-0 whitewash in the Gandhi-Mandela series.
David Warner punished a wasteful India with his second century as Australia seized control of the first Test at close of play on Day 4. The left-hander, who scored an emotional 145 in the first innings, added another 102 to help fire Australia to a 363-run lead at a sun-drenched Adelaide Oval on Friday. In the course of the day's play several milestones were set. Check them out.
In the end, it turned out to be a nightmare with dark clouds hovering over the future of this Indian team and no sign of 'VIBGYOR' in the Rainbow Nation.
Sourav Ganguly emphasised the need for playing day/night Tests to attract more spectators to stadiums.
After the 72-run loss in the opening Test, the margin got bigger as the visitors handed the home side a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
On a high after sealing the series with comprehensive victories, an upbeat India will be aiming to complete a 3-0 rout in order to retain it's No 1 Test ranking, when they meet a listless West Indies in the final Test match of the series in Port of Spain on Thursday. Having already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series after their crushing 237-run win in the third Test, Virat Kohli and his men will be aiming to go for the kill and keep their top ranking in Test. India were reinstated as the No.1 Test side after Australia 0-3 whitewash at the hands of Sri Lanka.
India crushed West Indies at the third Test in St Lucia on Saturday, clinching the series and prompting captain Virat Kohli to say his team are going from "strength to strength".
All set to defend their cricket World Cup crown in less than a month, India will get their preparations underway with the aim of finding the right combination for the marquee event.
India Test regulars like Cheteswar Pujara and Ishant Sharma have also thrown their hat into the ring with base prices of Rs 50 and Rs 75 lakh respectively.
Faced with the prospect of a humiliating 0-3 series whitewash, a desperate India would be aiming to bounce back to winning ways against an unrelenting South Africa in the third and final Test, starting in Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli lauded his bowlers for their lion-hearted effort.
Bharat Arun is focussed on his next goal -- preparing the talented back-up pacers keeping an eye on the 2019 World Cup in England.
'I think, the Test probably shifted in their favour when we batted in the first innings. We were looking to bat better but I don't think there was enough application shown by us as a batting unit'
The maestro wants a repeat of the teamwork from the current pace battery.
It will not be the first time that the competition has had to be held outside India.
Cricketing superpowers clash in an ODI series Sunday onwards. Rajeesh Gupta gives us all the numbers on India-Australia one day encounters.
Ravindra Jadeja's superb all-round showing helped India win the ICC Champions Trophy with a thrilling five-run victory over hosts England in a rain-shortened final in Birmingham on Sunday.
Hardik Pandya has said that comparisons with Indian legend Kapil Dev are unwarranted
'I am always in favour of playing five bowlers, because if we play more batsmen, you can score 700 runs in a Test but that doesn't help in any way' 'We want to start the series with that same mindset, that our bowling should be strong enough to take 20 wickets' 'We have committed some mistakes we cannot afford in Test cricket if you want to be a champion side'
World champions India have consolidated their top rank on the ICC ODI Team Rankings after sweeping the series against Sri Lanka, which concluded in Ranchi on Sunday.
Is Kohli not a great captain in spite of so many wins? My answer is, yes, declares Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Of the 10 times India have made a fourth innings chase under Kohli, they have won only 1 and lost 7, with 2 draws. Rajneesh Gupta gives us all the numbers from a memorable game.
India scored 105 in the first innings and 107 in the second in the Pune Test. This is their lowest aggregate in a completed Test match at home.
The International Cricket Council released the provisional squads of the 12 teams for next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand on Friday. However, co-hosts Australia and minnows Ireland decided against releasing the provisional list although they submitted 30 names to the parent body within the stipulated deadline.
Rajneesh Gupta gives you the numbers-that-matter from the IPL auction 2017.
Outwitted in both the T20 and the ODI series, India will seek redemption in the Test format by trying to spin a web around the formidable South Africans in the four-match series starting in Mohali, on Thursday.
Rohit Sharma may have been in and out of the team often during his seven-year career, but India skipper Virat Kohli is of the view that the talented Mumbai batsman could be the X-factor at the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar said that he would favour India going with four specialist bowlers and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in a five-pronged attack in the first Test against South Africa, starting in Mohali, on Thursday.
Seniors like Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara came in for a lot of flak for their below-par showing with the bat, while Jasprit Bumrah also failed to live up to expectations.
Listless Indian bowling allowed New Zealand get off the hook. The home team rode on captain Brendon McCullum's magnificent double century to continue their remarkable fightback and take a commanding lead on the fourth day of the second Test in Wellington on Monday.
Virat Kohli hit a splendid century but Mitchell McClenaghan claimed four wickets to lift New Zealand to a thrilling 24-run victory against India in the first One-Day International in Napier.
Rohit Sharma says India are confident of putting up a good show in the first Test against Australia as past two weeks' stay in Adelaide and the two tour-games have helped them get familiar with the conditions.
A few proven, but currently out-of-form, cricketers are likely to get the nod when the national selectors draw up a list of 30 Indian probables for the upcoming World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in Mumbai on Thursday.
Former captain Graeme Smith feels South Africa's 'powerful' bowling attack will put the Indian batting line-up under serious pressure in the upcoming Test series, starting January 5 in Cape Town.
A look at the squads for the seventh season of the Indian Premier League at the conclusion of the two-day auction in Bangalore.
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