The weather stands in the way of India going 2-0 up in the series after rain forced an early end to play on day four with the West Indies in deep trouble at 48/4 in their second innings and 256 runs behind the visitors, in Kingston, on Tuesday.
Besides Kohli, who led India to a historic Test series triumph in Sri Lanka recently, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra were also named among the probables.
Prithvi Shaw, who last played for India in October 2018, returns to the side after Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the ODI and Test series due to a left calf muscle strain.
Ishant Sharma was not part of the Indian squad that lifted the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 but the beanpole pacer has no doubt that the team would do whatever it takes to defend the title in England later this year.
Paceman Munaf Patel's devastating five-wicket haul propelled Rest of India to a nine-wicket win over Ranji champions Mumbai on the penultimate day of the match.
Senior pacer Ishant Sharma said that the Test series win over Australia earlier this year gave the Indian team a different kind of self-belief.
Images from Day 3 in the first Test between India and Australia at Mohali.
It was a performance to remember for the ages by the Indian team as they thrashed England by 151 runs on a gripping final day of the second Test at Lord's on Monday.
'I think it's a very healthy trend. It's an embarrassment of riches.'
Munaf Patel and Sudeep Tyagi wreaked havoc with seven scalps between them as India Red won the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy, steamrolling Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Blue team-mates by seven wickets in an extremely lop-sided final in Nagpur, on Sunday.
Ishant Sharma delivered eight no-balls in Australia's innings.
The Indian team's net session in Ahmedabad on Tuesday saw all its leading players, except captain Anil Kumble, missing. Many of those who played in the drawn first Test against South Africa in Chennai did not arrive in the city and were thus unable to make it for the optional practice session that lasted nearly two hours.
Spinner Ajantha Mendis claimed 5-56 as Sri Lanka dismissed India for 249 on the first day of the third Test.
India's fast bowlers made steady inroads into the Bangladesh batting line-up by reducing the touring side to 125 for four at lunch on the third day of the one-off Test in Hyderabad on Saturday.
The lack of runs from their Indian batters -- Prithvi Shaw (106 runs in 8 matches), Manish Pandey (160 runs in 10 games), Sarfaraz Khan (53 runs in 4 games) and Lalit Yadav (66 runs from six games) -- proved a big factor in another below-par season for Delhi Capitals.
The series-levelling win in the third Test against South Africa has helped India retain the second place in the ICC Test Championship table. India had come into this Test facing the possibility of slipping to fourth on the ladder after South Africa won the second Test in Ahmedabad by an innings and 90 runs following a drawn first Test in Chennai.
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum stubbornly provided a glimmer of hope for his side on the third day of the second Test against India as he battled to his ninth Test century to thwart the visitors' push for a series-levelling victory on Sunday.
The touring side have the option of replacing Thakur with either a spinning all-rounder in Ravichandran Ashwin or a fourth seamer in Ishant Sharma.
Team India's throwdown specialist D Raghavendra has skipped travelling to the UAE with the rest of the support staff as he has tested positive for COVID-19.
Following Monday's selection, Rajneesh Gupta presents the Test career figures of the touring party along with the players' performance against Australia.
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.
Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has suggested that Rudra Pratap Singh should be inducted into the playing XI ahead of Sreesanth along with Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar. He also stated that the Indian team has looked listless on the England tour thus far.
Pant is part of the Indian Test squad and may not be available after the first few games while Dhawan is expected to play all matches.
Images from Day 1 of the third Test between India and England, at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
In all likelihood, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane would get another chance but over the past two years, his inconsistency has hurt this team badly.
India were bowled out for 246 in their first innings on the opening day of the first cricket Test against the West Indies in Kingston on Monday. At stumps on day one, the home team had scored 34 for one in reply.
The complete list of players sold in the IPL 2025 Auction in Jeddah.
Images from the India vs Australia, 5th ODI in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar condemned the ugly on-field altercations between Indian and Sri Lanka players on Day 4 of the third and final Test in Colombo on Friday, saying such incidents are poor advertisement for the sport.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat against New Zealand in the first One-Day International in Napier on Tuesday. For India, pacer Ishant Sharma was rested after injuring his shoulder during the second Twenty20 International against New Zealand. He was replaced by Praveen Kumar, while Munaf Patel took the place of Irfan Pathan. Sachin Tendulkar, who missed out on the last two one-dayers against Sri Lanka, also returns to the Indian team.
Their pride hurt in the Twenty20 internationals, India would be aiming to rediscover their winning momentum when they take on a rampaging New Zealand in the first match of the five-ODI cricket series starting in Napier on Tuesday.
Surprised with the nature of wickets in Australia, former India captain Rahul Dravid, said that team India should hope that the wickets remain slow during the World Cup. However, Dravid was of the view that playing in different surfaces will pose a challenge of its own. "It's going to be a challenge, it is not easy. You are playing in very different conditions," Dravid told reporters on sidelines of an event. It was a bit "strange" to see that most of the Australian wickets were slow during the recently-concluded Test series and Dravid hopes the pitches behave in the same manner to assist India's most potent weapon, spin. "That's the advantage India has, if the wickets stay slower and lower as we have seen in the Test matches, then the spinners will come into the mix and India can afford to play two and even three spinners," he said.
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.
Indian captain Anil Kumble was cleared to play the second Test while paceman Irfan Pathan replaced the injured Sachin Tendulkar.
It was a special day for Virat Kohli at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Friday as he complete the landmark of 100 Test matches.
Rohit Sharma finally had his first stint of outdoor training after spending weeks indoors.
Ashutosh Sharma broke Yuvraj Singh's record by scoring the fastest T20 half-century off 11 balls in Railways' 127-run victory against Arunachal Pradesh.
Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar picked four wickets each as Sri Lanka were dismissed for a paltry 179 in 47.1 overs. India hit up the runs with 17.4 overs to spare, in Tuesday's tri-series match.
Rookie Tamil Nadu all-rounder Vijay Shankar has been drafted in the Indian squad for the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka with seamer Bhuvneshar Kumar and senior opener Shikhar Dhawan being released.
"The Indian team is good enough to beat Australia on their home soil. I hope we win a series in Australia for the first time," Chauhan said in a felicitation function in New Delhi on Saturday.
