Runs have dried up for Suryakumar, with his last T20I fifty coming back in October 2024. With the World Cup less than two months away, the pressure has begun to mount.
The 39 year-old has played 86 Tests, 117 ODIs and 44 T20Is for South Africa with a total of 544 international wickets.
Morne Morkel, India's bowling coach, is delighted to have Mohammed Shami back in the squad and hinted at a possible return for the veteran pacer in the fifth T20 International against England in Mumbai on Sunday.
Morne Morkel, has revealed his newfound love for Indian cuisine, particularly dosas and murgh malai chicken.
Rishabh Pant's place in the playing eleven is far from guaranteed, while Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy are locked in a tight contest for the additional all-rounder's slot as India confront several selection dilemmas ahead of the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi.
India's bowling coach Morne Morkel expects the batting unit to lift its performance under pressure in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan
Abhishek Sharma's flamboyance will meet its match in Shaheen Shah Afridi's precision in what promises to be an "edge of the seat" battle in the Asia Cup final on Sunday.
Morne Morkel isn't here to shake things up. He sees the Indian cricket system as a well-oiled machine, and his goal is to help it run even smoother.
The pitch, left unwatered for nearly a week, appeared dry and brown with faint traces of grass, conditions that could bring reverse swing and variable bounce into play later in the match.
Little-known ambidextrous Bengal spinner Kaushik Maity seamlessly doubled up for both roles during the optional practice session.
'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.'
The second and final Test starts in Guwahati from Saturday with India trailing 0-1 after the defeat on a challenging Eden Gardens pitch in Kolkata.
'We knew it won't be easy to hit how much you may connect. Plan was to bowl smartly and when a batter is set, force him to hit on the bigger sides than small sides.'
The batters' constant failure in making runs in the first innings is costing the team dear, admitted bowling coach Morne Morkel even as India are in danger of losing the first Test series at home since 2012-13.
This happened following India's practice session that saw both India's senior batters hit the nets at the Optus Stadium.
The others to arrive after a delayed flight were K L Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy along with some members of the support staff.
India suffered a major pre-match blow in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan as star all-rounder Hardik Pandya was ruled out of the title-deciding clash in Dubai due to a niggle.
'Pretty amazing. The whole tournament, we remained unbeaten, it feels pretty amazing to be in this position.'
Countering Bumrah before spinners come into play will be key for SA: Graeme Smith
'Tomorrow we can just focus on doing a good warm-up, get the boys ready to hopefully get the ball in the right area and create a little bit of excitement again.'
Shubman Gill's form in the series is a concern for India as he has now gone six games without a half-century.
Indian Test skipper Shubman Gill spoke on the team dinner hosted by head coach Gautam Gambhir on Thursday
Prasidh Krishna has the ability to bowl "magic balls" and the pacer needs to be given an extended run to serve India for a long time, said bowling coach Morne Morkel in London on Sunday.
The 'Impact Player' in IPL might have restricted Chennai Super Kings' Shivam Dube's role but 'India's Shivam Dube' aspires to be a full-fledged all-rounder backed by head coach Gautam Gambhir and helped by bowling coach Morne Morkel.
'Yeah, 100 per cent. That's a good question, and I think that's something we'll obviously reflect on after the tour, the things we could have done better.'
Morkel said Mayank's recent start in bowling shows promising progress, with efforts now directed towards hitting the 150 kmph mark consistently.
Seldom has an India vs Pakistan clash played with such a volatile backdrop, where cricket seems inseparably knotted with off-field tension, provocative gestures, and fines slapped on both camps.
Earlier, warm-up routines had players darting through shuttle runs and high knees before bats were unsheathed.
With the much-anticipated Group A clash against arch-rivals Pakistan looming, India is sparing no effort in their training sessions, honing skills and strategising tactics.
And ahead of the 4th Test, some members of the Indian team went all out at a gym training session.
'He leads a lot of actions. And in this series so far, he's done it with the ball at times that we've needed somebody to put his hand up and create something.'
Siraj took a six wicket haul in the first innings and got rid of Zak Crawley in the final hour on day five.
The Oval will host the fifth and final Test between India and England from Thursday, and the Indian team has hit the ground running two days after staging a remarkable comeback to draw the fourth match in Manchester.
Abhishek Sharma's brutal yet beautiful stroke-play was the highlight of India's optional net session on Tuesday
Morne Morkel resigns as Pakistan's bowling coach
India's pace great Zaheer Khan is reportedly set to part ways with Lucknow Super Giants after just one season as their mentor.
Defending champions India had a full-fledged practice session at the ICC Academy in Dubai on Friday as they put the finishing touches to their Asia Cup preparations.
'He has been working hard on his bowling. This was a perfect game for him.'
The usually mobbed Indian cricket team likes training in a relaxed atmosphere and that was evident in their body language as the players went about their business in their only practice session at the Kent County Cricket Ground before the fourth Test in Manchester.
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