Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming said that captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni would play a 'more prominent' role as a batsman in the upcoming Indian Premier League by batting 'relatively high' in the order.
There remains a big question mark over who will be India's No.4 in the World Cup.
IMAGES from the second One-Day International between India and New Zealand in New Delhi, on Thursday.
A first T20 series victory in New Zealand will be the icing on the cake for the Men in Blue, who have far exceeded expectations during their three-month sojourn in this part of the world.
Rohit Sharma-led squad will be hoping it has enough left in the tank to record a maiden T20 series win in New Zealand
The short limited-overs' series against minnows Zimbabwe was far from a cakewalk, especially the Twenty20s, but India coach Sanjay Bangar was happy with the team's showing, saying the youngsters in the side made an impact.
The skipper said that there has been a lot of experimentation at number four, and while the batting line-up at Adelaide, where Rayudu batted at four, was an ideal one, they would like to keep things mixed up until someone assumed responsibility at number four.
It was India's players all the way, with Jasprit Bumrah emerging the most valuable, ahead of K L Rahul. Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index after the just-concluded three-ODI series between India and Zimbabwe.
The tournament, which has been shifted to the UAE due to five million plus COVID cases in India, is a 'TV-only event', expected to be lapped up by all and sundry who crave for cricket and Bollywood in equal measure during prime time.
India's quest to find the right combination for the upcoming World Cup ended with a 35-run defeat in the decisive fifth ODI against Australia as they lost the series 2-3.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's late assault and some fine bowling by the spinners saw India crush West Indies by 93 runs in the third One-Day International at North Sound in Antigua, on Friday.
Hardly challenged in a dominating run this season, India once again start as overwhelming favourites when they take on an inconsistent-but-gritty New Zealand in a three-match One-Day International series, starting in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Rain is expected to play role in 5th ODI in Thiruvananthapuram even as the wicket-keeper batsmen will look to complete 10,000 ODI runs.
Yuvraj Singh breezed his way to a 56-ball 84 and gave the national selectors another timely reminder of his worth, even as Abhishek Nayar slammed a 39-ball 75, to take India Blue to the final of the NKP Salve Challenger Series with a 11-run win over India Red in Indore on Friday.
After their below par showing in the World Cup, some senior Indian players are living on borrowed time.
A summary of the day's matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 tournament.
A ruthless India, sporting its new flaming orange and blue colours, will be eyeing pole position with a solid knock-out punch on an already disintegrated England in Sunday's high-profile World Cup encounter. With an unbeaten record in six encounters so far, Virat Kohli's men are all but through to the semi-finals with 11 points, but victory over England will tighten their grip at the top and, in the process, oust the world's No 1 ODI team from the global event.
India showed commendable character in Rajkot to level the series, proving that the panic buttons were pressed prematurely following the 10-wicket loss in Mumbai.
He may have silenced his detractors with a fine knock in Mohali but India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, assessing his batting in recent times, on Sunday said "I am losing an ability to freely rotate in the middle". - Scorecard Dhoni struck 80 off 91 balls and shared a 151-run partnership for the third wicket with Virat Kohli (154) to guide India to a seven-wicket win over New Zealand in the third ODI and help the hosts take a 2-1 lead in the five-match ODI series. The captain moved himself up to number four.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's Paisa Vasool Players.
With Jason Holder's men just about managing to draw the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan 1-1, there is no doubt that the current Indian team are a few notches ahead in terms of quality.
Since the tour of Sri Lanka in July-August 2017, India have tried as many as six different batsmen -- KL Rahul, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik and Ajinkya Rahane -- at number four.
Mayank Agarwal could likely to make his ODI debut as the first of the three-match ODI series kicks off in Chennai on Sunday. But all eyes will be trained on under-fire Pant who will have to work to prove his worth in the squad.
Images from Thursday's IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, in Jaipur.
With their big-hitting batsmen back in the mix, Royal Challengers Bangalore would prefer chasing targets said skipper Virat Kohli, who himself is set to play his first Indian Premier League game of the season against Mumbai Indians, in Bengaluru, on Friday.
Dwayne Smith cracked a blistering 79 as a dominant Chennai Super Kings steamrolled Delhi Daredevils by eight wickets for their sixth straight win in the Indian Premier League.
Of all the talented cricketers that Shane Warne has seen over the years, Sanju Samson is ' a very special talent' and the Rajasthan Royals mentor is hoping that the big-hitting batsman would become an India regular in all formats if this IPL goes well for him.
The fifth and final ODI against Australia will be one last chance for Rishabh Pant, Vijay Shankar, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja to do something special and stake their claim for a place in the World Cup team
Ashton Turner took an experienced Indian attack to the cleaners with some unbelievable hitting, helping Australia chase down a record breaking target of 359 runs and level the five-match series.
Images from Tuesday's IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, in Abu Dhabi.
The pitch was slow and shot-making difficult but India batting coach Sanjay Bangar said these factors cannot cover up for the fact that batsmen 'let the team down' in the lost fourth One-Day International against West Indies, on Sunday.
India overcame a disastrous start to beat New Zealand by 35 runs in the fifth and final One-Day International in Wellington on Sunday and finish the series with a 4-1 scoreline in their favour.
The Indian fans could get a glimpse of the immensely talented Shubman Gill in the senior team jersey if he is chosen to replace Virat Kohli for Thursday's fourth ODI against New Zealand.
The right-arm medium pacer caused Maharashtra's batsmen a lot of problems with his extra bounce on a green Wankhede wicket, taking four wickets for 62 runs as Maharashtra struggled to 219 for 7 in 57 overs in their first innings, at stumps on the second day, in reply to Mumbai's 402 all out.
IMAGES from the 4th ODI played between India and South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Saturday
Brothers Krunal and Hardik Pandya excelled with the bat and ball respectively as Baroda crushed Punjab by 75 runs in a Vijay Hazare Trophy Group A match.
India stand-in-captain Rohit Sharma admitted that accommodating Ajinkya Rahane is tough as he is considered a specialist opening batsman in the 50-over format by the team management.
Dhoni would be the centre of discussion amid speculation that the Jharkhand player is contemplating retirement even though he hasn't spoken about it till now.
Young Karun Nair cracked a brilliant unbeaten half-century to guide Rajasthan Royals to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils in their IPL-7 match at the Ferozshah Kotla stadium in New Delhi.
The biggest challenge before Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri ahead of the semi-final will be how best to utilise Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
