There was plenty of action over the last 12 months that kept the loyal Indian fan interested.
'No better time to say goodbye'
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar has backed Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to play in the T20 World Cup in June, saying the two senior players are not only the key batters but also terrific fielders in the Indian team.
The Indian team will have a five-day training camp in Chennai ahead of the Test series.
Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma ignore each other on match eve
India's hopes of breaking their ICC trophy drought after 2013, remained unfulfilled as Australia handed them a crushing loss at the WTC Final.
In his 13th pink ball Test since 2015, the 34-year-old Australian pacer has taken 72 wickets at an average of 17.
India's head coach Gautam Gambhir, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, and star batter Virat Kohli have arrived at the team hotel in Kanpur ahead of the second Test against Bangladesh, scheduled from September 27 to October 1 at Green Park Stadium.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the 1st Test played between India and New Zealand in Bengaluru, on Thursday.
Parthiv Patel believes that Virat Kohli's exhibition with the bat will hold the way into India's possibilities in the WTC final.
Australia's two-time World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting believes India will have to over some mental demons to win an elusive ICC trophy.
India have lost only once to Pakistan in the T20 World Cup in seven meetings, their only defeat coming in 2021 when the Virat Kohli-led side lost by 10 wickets at the Super 12 stage.
Any of these match ups could influence the outcome of the Perth Test.
The Ranji Trophy resumes on Thursday, promising a star-studded spectacle as Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant headline a host of big names returning to action.
'What I feel is that India should have played games, you know matches, at least two-three games before the Test match (WTC), to get acclimatised to the conditions.'
The spotlight will, however, continue to be on the 33-year-old Kohli in Mohali with the contest against Sri Lanka being his 100th Test match for the country.
'Gautam Gambhir and Morne Morkel will need to provide Rohit with more inputs like whether to bowl bouncers or bowl round the wicket or whether we are allowing the game to drift.'
Did Virat Kohli deserve to be replaced as India's ODI captain? Rajneesh Gupta presents all the numbers.
Opener Rohit Sharma has demonstrated his leadership qualities in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and is an obvious choice to succeed Virat Kohli as India's Twenty20 captain, according to several former players.
Rohit Sharma has now led India to the third global final in last 12 months.
Sharma took to Instagram and shared candid pictures of the 33-year-old cricketer
Bangladesh's stand-in captain Najmul Hossain Shanto rubbished suggestions that spinner Nasum Ahmed 'intentionally' bowled a wide ball to deny Virat Kohli a century.
Images from the T20 World Cup Super Eight Group 1 match between India and Australia, at Gros Islet, St Lucia, on Monday.
Rahul Dravid will need a specific plan to get the best out of superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup, said Brian Lara.
India's newly-forged coach-captain combination of Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav will look to make instant impact against a Sri Lankan team in disarray.
Images from the T20 World Cup Super 8 Group 1 match between India and Bangladesh in Antigua, on Saturday.
Anushka Sharma was in a jubilant mood after the Indian team led by her husband Virat Kohli crushed England by 203 runs in the third Test in Nottingham on Wednesday.
In the ODI rankings, Sri Lanka's two ODI matches at home against Zimbabwe =saw a number of movers, most notably on the bowling side through spinner Maheesh Theekshana, who moved to a career high rating (634) and rank (11th) with four wickets across the matches.
Captain Virat Kohli led India to a resounding seven-wicket win over South Africa in the second T20 International with an unbeaten half-century, in Mohali, on Wednesday.
Tuesday's game will be a repeat of the semi-finals of the 2008 ICC Under-19 World Cup in which a Kohli-led India defeated a Kane Williamson-captained New Zealand in Kuala Lumpur.
Suryakumar Yadav will turn up for Mumbai in their Buchi Babu match against TNCA XI, aiming to get his Test career back on track.
Hardik Pandya is all set to lead India in the three-match T20 International series against Sri Lanka, starting on July 27.
Save Jasprit Bumrah, whose injury-prone body and exceptional skills demand workload management, questions are now being raised as to why the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja opted out of Duleep Trophy.
Virat backed me and told me 'go and play your game'
Will India bring in Sanju Samson for the struggling Shivam Dube?
India will hope the return of regular captain Virat Kohli proves to be the difference for the hosts against New Zealand when the world's two top-ranked Test sides clash in the second and final match at the Wankhede Stadium from Friday.
Australian captain Pat Cummins couldn't believe his ears when he found a near 100,000 people at Narendra Modi Stadium go pin-drop silence after Virat Kohli's dismissal giving the vibe of a "quiet library" during the World Cup final against India.
While Rohit Sharma will lead the side, the inclusion of KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav is subject to fitness.
'I hadn't thought before that a fast bowler would be discussed so much in India but that is happening today and I feel happy and proud about that'.
This is India's fourth ODI World Cup final.
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