Troy Cooley is considered one of the best fast bowling coaches in world cricket. His moment of glory came as England's bowling coach during the historic 2005 Ashes, when the home team's fast bowlers were a nightmare for the Aussie batters.
Virat Kohli dropped a position to 11th leaving India with no batsmen in the top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, in the latest update of the ICC Player Rankings released by the International Cricket Council on Tuesday.
Captain Steven Smith was well-entrenched for his third century in successive Tests even though India restricted Australia to 259 for five on the opening day of the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. Electing to bat, he again was the visitors' main tormentor, anchoring the innings with an undefeated 72 at stumps. Check out some photos from the day's play.
Bharat Arun is focussed on his next goal -- preparing the talented back-up pacers keeping an eye on the 2019 World Cup in England.
Rahane spoke about how pink ball's increased pace off the pitch during the 40-50 minutes of the twilight session, will be the biggest challenge for any batsman.
Avesh Khan dismissed Dhoni and South Africa's Faf du Plessis for his two wickets during Delhi Capitals' seven-wicket win over CSK
Former India captain Rahul Dravid believes that India's batting is heavily reliant on Virat Kohli in the middle overs.
Considering that the tournament Down Under will be played on faster wickets, it's obvious that spinners are unlikely to play a significant role. In these circumstances, having one spinner in the playing eleven is the most one can expect, says Bikash Mohapatra.
A battle royale is in the offing as heavyweights Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals clash in a high-profile IPL encounter, in Chennai, on Tuesday.
Tamil Nadu produced an all-round display to beat Mumbai by 26 runs and register their second consecutive win in the Vijay Hazare One-Day cricket tournament, on Friday.
Playing an extra batsman in the second Test against England will be a 'conservative move' with the Lord's pitch looking more bowler-friendly than Edgbaston, feels India bowling coach Bharat Arun.
'The pitch should have enough for the bowlers to be interested on all days of the Test.'
Former captain Sourav Ganguly feels that India's pace trio of Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami have to lift their game as one can't expect Ravichandran Ashwin or a Ravindra Jadeja to pick fifers consistently on good pitches against quality opposition. "On a Day 1 pitch like this (Rajkot), the fast bowlers need to come into play. That's why I keep harping that play on good pitches in India, so that you learn how to play overseas," Ganguly told ESPN Cricinfo. Not one to hold back, the straight talking former skipper said that pitches that they played against South Africa (2015) and Australia (2013) were absolute "minefields" (common terminology for underprepared tracks).
A series win in Australia will certainly put Kohli on a higher pedestal even though the quality of the home team's batting line-up suffered adversely due to the bans of former skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner.
It is believed that if Saini stays back, it will help bowling coach Bharath Arun to invest more time in the 26-year-old Karnal-lad
Delhi all-rounder Rajat Bhatia is a surprise inclusion in the 30-man shortlist, for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20, to be held in Bangladesh from March 16 to April 6. It includes young Kerala wicketkeeper Sanju Samson, former India Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand, Railways leg-spinner Karan Sharma and Harbhajan Singh.
'I think they're feeling the pressure a little bit to be honest'
A play-offs spot having sealed after a resounding victory in their previous match, Kolkata Knight Riders would aim for a top-two finish with a win when they take on an inconsistent Kings XI Punjab in an IPL match, in Mohali, on Tuesday.
Assured of a play-off berth, Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to quickly recover from their loss in the previous game and finish the league phase on a high when they take on table-toppers Delhi Capitals in their final IPL round-robin game in Dubai on Friday.
Former speed merchant Brett Lee reckons Australia's pace trio would hold the key during the year-end home Test series against India and is keen to figure out how much the kookaburra ball swings without saliva Down Under.
India have won the first two Tests by comprehensive margins -- by 304 runs in Galle and an innings and 53 runs in Colombo.
Akhtar saw it coming having seen the division in the Indian dressing room during the T20 World Cup.
Up against Delhi Capitals, RCB will need to address their middle-order woes, to return to winning ways, in what could be touted as a battle of equals.
Javagal Srinath believes India need to identify its frontline pace attack who can take wickets upfront during their title defence at the ICC Cricket World Cup starting next month.
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 would look to continue their ruthless streak
The sub-narratives in the main story will be equally intriguing in the next 13 days.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the three-match T20Is and ODIs against West Indies but has been included in the Test squad, while veteran wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is 'unavailable' for the entire tour.
Starting January 24, India will be playing five T20 Internationals, three ODIs and two Test matches, and squads for the tour will be picked on Sunday.
India's 3-0 whitewash of South Africa in the four-match Test series has surprised former captain Sunil Gavaskar even though he feels that the Proteas were incapable of playing on Indian pitches.
Dhoni's men will have to adapt to the conditions quickly to avoid any such hiccup in the play-offs.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag is confident that the current Test team under Virat Kohli has the quality in its pace attack to win outside the sub-continent just like Sourav Ganguly's team did during 2000-2004. The Test team under Kohli has been invincible at home, having thrashed South Africa and New Zealand by identical margins of 3-0 and is also on a roll against England leading 2-0 in a five-match series.
'We've learnt to stand up - it all started from Dada's (Sourav Ganguly) team'
Virat Kohli battled hard in difficult circumstances, scoring 43 not out to guide India to 110 for five in 36 overs. The visitors need another 84 runs for victory with two day's play still left in the match.
Kohli has consistently dominated headlines with his extraordinary batting prowess.
The third and final cricket One Day International between India and South Africa was abandoned after rains intervened at the innings break to leave the home side with a 2-0 series win in Centurion.
Former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie feels the current Indian bowling attack led by Jasprit Bumrah makes the team one of the favourites for the upcoming ICC World Cup, along side hosts England.
For Kohli, a trophy-less cabinet doesn't do justice to the champion performer that he has been for a decade.
A freak heel injury that was supposed to heal in three and half weeks took three and half months but Varun Aaron is back again raring to unleash his 140 plus thunderbolts as he gears up for another comeback to the India team.
India's selectors went on expected lines, leaving out former champions while giving the nod to top performers in domestic circuit in the 30-man probables' list for the 2015 World Cup.
