'Going forward, they might need 4-6 weeks to get going themselves. It's a tough job and if you are bowling 140-150 kmph, running about 25 yards to bowl one ball at a time and then keep bowling for a few overs.'
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.
India pacer Ishant Sharma wrecked havoc with the ball as he claimed a five-wicket haul to leave the Sri Lanka Board President's XI in tatters on Day 2 of the three-day tour match, in Colombo, on Friday.
India's limited overs captain Mahendra Sigh Dhoni has said that inconsistent performances will be scrutinized thoroughly in the future.
With two senior pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (thigh injury) and Ishant Sharma (side strain) all but ruled out, Navdeep Saini will certainly be the fourth pacer after Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav.
The Indian team landed in South Africa for the Test series, starting on December 26.
Pacers Umesh Umesh and Ishant Sharma shared four wickets between them in absence of injured R Aswhin as Essex batsmen made India toil hard by reaching 237 for five on the second day of the three-day practice game, in Chelmsford, on Thursday.
India will look to make the most of their only warm-up game, beginning, in Sydney, on Wednesday against Cricket Australia XI.
India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the home Test series against South Africa after suffering a stress fracture in his back and will be replaced by Umesh Yadav.
Mayank Agarwal will make his debut in the Boxing Day Test.
Two more failures in two home games could effectively mean end of the road for Ajinkya Rahane, who is leading India in the first Test in Kanpur, starting on Thursday.
India's lower order put on a rock-solid show to help the hosts take a slender lead.
Images from Day 5 of the first Test between India and New Zealand, at Green Park in Kanpur, on Monday.
'In Australia, you will get extra bounce but there will only be lateral movement till the kookaburra seam doesn't flatten. It won't be like England where the ball swings all day. Once you get adjusted to the bounce, batsmen can hit you all day'
With 36 different playing XIs in as many Tests under Kohli's captaincy, the Indian line-up is begging for some consistency.
Before the selectors meet again to finalise the squad, you can take on the role and pick 15 players from the 30-member probables list you feel are best to represent the country at the 2015 World Cup.
Shikhar Dhawan moved up 10 places to achieve a career-best 24 while teammates Murali Vijay and Ravindra Jadeja also moved up in the latest Test rankings.
Rookie seamer Ishwar Pandey was named in India's Test and ODI squads for the tour of New Zealand. Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the team on the tour, which starts with the first One-Day International in Napier on January 19, 2014.
Battered and bruised after four successive defeats, India will make a last-gasp effort to avoid the embarrassment of being whitewashed by an unrelenting Australia when the two sides clash in the fifth and final One-Day International in Sydney, on Saturday.
Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar feels that Ishant Sharma should step up in a leadership role as the bowling unit has the skill set and ability to take 20 Australian wickets in the third Test starting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
As India go in to the four-match Test series against Australia that commences in Adelaide on Tuesday, here is a factbox.
Virat Kohli was rested from the three-match T20I series against the West Indies.
On paper, it is difficult to imagine how Bangladesh will even be able to compete in a format which has been their weakest till date.
India opener Prithvi Shaw is likely to retain his place in the playing eleven for the second Test against New Zealand, starting Saturday, while Ravindra Jadeja may replace Ravichandran Ashwin.
Also giving the training a miss were first Test double centurion Mayank Agarwal and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.
Kohli said it is imperative to think about the future teams.
Bharath Arun, who has overseen the golden era of Indian fast bowling, believes that a lot of exciting fast bowlers are coming through the ranks and coaches, along with selectors, should be identifying the next batch in earnest.
How do India and Australia's teams stack up? Rajneesh Gupta presents all the numbers.
Considering Hardika Pandya's heavy recent workload, the decision was made to negate any possibility of a major injury concern, the BCCI said on Friday.
Help Virat pick his team. Be the selector, chose your playing 11 for the first Test.
Delhi's strong batting line up of Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith and Pant himself will look to fire on all cylinders right from the opening game.
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between India and Bangladesh, in Indore.
Having made a commendable comeback from the brink of a series defeat, India will look to increase their stranglehold on hosts England to draw parity when the two teams square off for the fourth Test, in Southampton, on Thursday.
Barring Amit Mishra's inclusion, there were no major surprise in India's Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka, the selectors retaining as many as 14 players who had toured Bangladesh for the one-off Test earlier this month.
Images from Day 3 of the first Test between India and Bangladesh, in Indore.
tung by the defeat in the series opener despite putting up a big score, India will have to plug their bowling loopholes when they take on Australia in the second One-Day International on Friday, fully aware that any slip-up will make their task of bouncing back difficult.
Factbox on the four-Test series between Australia and India, which begins on Thursday
The Indian team is fully focussed on winning the ongoing Test series in England but both skipper Virat Kohli and the BCCI mandarins are also discussing the roadmap for the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will be an acid test for the captain himself.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India's Committee of Administrators (COA) on Tuesday doubled the annual retainership amount to Rs 2 crore for seven Grade A cricketers, including captain Virat Kohli and former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
How the IPL teams have shaped up after the auction.
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