Ashwin, Jadeja likely to be rested; Team selection on Aug 13
Uncertanity over the availability of Wriddhiman Saha, who had a split webbing in his right hand, for the first One-Day International against Sri Lanka seems to be over as the wicketkeeper batsman looked fit ahead of the opening game, in Cuttack on Sunday.
India's bowlers may have come under severe criticism for a below-par showing in the recent Test series in Australia but head coach Duncan Fletcher has defended them, saying the thrashing they got from the home side's batsmen was due to the inexperience of some of them.
- India are strong contenders to get into semi-final along with Australia, New Zealand and South Africa - Rohit is a class player and if he gets going at the top of the order, then he also has the ability to single-handedly win matches for India
India's limited overs cricket will usher in a new era with the national selectors expected to name Virat Kohli as the captain when they pick the squad for three ODIs and three T20 Internationals against England in Mumbai on Thursday. Test skipper Kohli is expected to be anointed captain of the limited overs teams also, after Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to step down from the job in a surprise decision last night.
Indian touring parties that have left Australia empty-handed over the last 70 years
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar, on Friday, said that Virat Kohli should consider playing in the final Test against Australia starting, on Saturday, even if he is not fully fit if the team management feels his presence will boost the side in the series decider.
If KL Rahul is fit, Abhinav Mukund will be expectedly left out, a strange coincidence because he was the original back-up opener in this Test squad ahead of Shikhar Dhawan.
Help coach Anil Kumble and captain Virat Kohli in selecting India's best 11 for the first Test against the West Indies.
Captain Virat Kohli played a pivotal role with a workmanlike 82, lifting India from a double blow at the beginning of innings to 172 for three in the second Test against Australia in Perth on Saturday.
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.
Coming down heavily on the Indian bowling attack in Australia, former captain Sunil Gavaskar said that it's time "we look for a fresh set of bowlers" in the Test ranks to ensure better showing in overseas conditions.
The Virat Kohli-led team must take inspiration from the last trip to Sri Lanka, in 2010, when India beat Sri Lanka by five wickets, thanks to hundreds from Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman.
The series is out of bounds but Indian cricket is all set to enter a new era under the feisty Virat Kohli, whose leadership would be put through a trial by fire when the visitors seek redemption in the fourth and final Test against Australia starting in Sydney on Tuesday.
Kohli was at his aggressive best in the just-concluded second Test against Sri Lanka as he smashed a strokeful 213 off 267 balls to help India amass a huge first innings total.
Perhaps for the first time, India's pace strength is not centred on any one individual, or set of individuals.
The 22-yard strip at the Feroz Shah Kotla will be the cynosure of all eyes as a buoyant India seeks their biggest series triumph against South Africa when they square off in the final Test of the four-match rubber in Delhi on Thursday.
Their World Cup build-up halted by West Indies team's sudden mid-series pullout, India would resume the preparations for the mega-event when they square off against under-cooked sub-continental rivals Sri Lanka in a hastily-arranged ODI series starting in Cuttack on Sunday.
Off-spinner R Ashwin is matching Indian batsmen at their game
Back-to-back half-centuries against Sri Lanka were just the confidence-booster Wriddhiman Saha needed as he slowly recovers from a hamstring injury that prevented him from playing in the third Test of the just concluded series.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed five for 52 as Indian bowlers dominated the proceedings to bowl out West Indies for a meagre 196 on Day 1 of the second Test in Jamaica.
Hosts India would look to do an encore by putting England through another rigorous spin test when the two teams square off in the third Test starting in Mohali, on Saturday.
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.
Looking to salvage pride in the third Test beginning, in Johannesburg, on Wednesday, team India got down to business at the Wanderers with a practice session that lasted just under four hours.
The consistency of India's bowlers throughout the tournament disguised the team's batting problems till they were exposed in the semi-final against Australia.
How India's players fared in Australia.
Virat Kohli and Indian cricket remained an enduring love story and Sourav Ganguly held out promise for a path-breaking reign off the field in a year during which the country finally embraced pink ball Tests. There were the heartbreaks, the biggest one being a World Cup semi-final exit, and not to forget the anxious wait on what Mahendra Singh Dhoni might do next after being on a sabbatical for half the year.
Help Captain Kohli and Head Coach Shastri pick India's XI for the Rajkot Test.
Despite crushing South Africa comprehensively in the recent Test series, Team Director Ravi Shastri feels that the current crop of Indian batsmen need "massive improvement" when it comes to facing spinners on tracks that offer turn.
Images from the fourth One-Day International between Australia and India in Canberra, on Wednesday.
India started their limited-overs tour of Australia on a positive note, comprehensively beating a second-string Western Australia XI by 74 runs in a Twenty20 warm-up game on Friday with Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan striking fluent half-centuries.
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.
India's skipper Virat Kohli scored a splendid unbeaten century to guide his team to a comfortable 302 for the loss of four wickets at stumps on day one of the first Test against the West Indies in Antigua on Thursday. At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Kohli carried his limited-overs form into Tests and scored an effortless 143 off 197 balls, which was laced with 16 boundaries.
The Indian cricket team went from strength to strength in 2019, especially in Test cricket where they are rightly perched at the top. They went unbeaten in Test cricket in 2019 which included winning their first-ever series in Australia, after which they registered three successive whitewashes against West Indies, South Africa and Bangladesh.
Former India batsman V V S Laxman, who always reserved his best for the mighty Australia, feels that Suresh Raina 'needs a lot of clarity' as to how he would find a solution against short-pitched bowling.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is highly impressed with young Gujarat pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who has given the Australian batsmen hard time during the limited overs series in Australia that concluded in Sydney on Sunday.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the 2nd Test at Perth on Monday
For a visiting cricketer, an India tour conjures up the image of a batsman surrounded by a shoal of fielders and facing relentless spin from both ends and South Africa should not expect anything different in the four-test series starting on Thursday.
David Warner scored 124 in his 100th match and combined with Aaron Finch (94) for a record 231-run opening stand, as Australia posted a 21-run victory over India in the fourth One-Day International in Bengaluru, on Thursday. Check out some statistical highlights from the match.
Who were the most valuable players in the just-concluded India-Australia ODI series? Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji 's formula provides overwhelming evidence that the bat complete overwhelmed the bat.
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