A struggling Kings XI Punjab will have to pull out all stops against in-form and unbeaten, Rajasthan Royals, when the two teams clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Mayank Agarwal, who was the third opener for the West Indies series, is a contender for the yet-to-be-decided squad of 17 that will travel Down Under.
On a day when the pitch played out easy barring the extra bounce and reverse swing extracted by the Aussie pacers, a determined Pujara held India's innings together.
The Elite list is set to comprise only three players ---skipper Virat Kohli, his limited overs deputy Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.
With Shikar Dhawan back in the squad, it is indeed a happy problem for skipper Virat Kohli, who has to choose two quality openers among three.
Skipper Vinay Kumar took five for 34 as defending champions Karnataka skittled out Tamil Nadu for 134 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament final, which saw 14 wickets tumble at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"Look, the injury (to Kohli) may not be very serious. But he is a man who loves to be on the field, and the fact that he was not on the field means that the injury was a little more than what is given out (to be). So, he can rest completely... he can be fit for the next Test," Gavaskar said.
Chennai Super Kings will aim to maintain their pole position with a victory over a struggling Kings XI Punjab
Chennai Super Kings will look to continue their winning streak when they lock horns with Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Mohali, on Sunday.
India's selectors went on expected lines, leaving out former champions while giving the nod to top performers in domestic circuit in the 30-man probables' list for the 2015 World Cup.
The current fiasco now completely established that there is no communication between the selectors and senior players, who decide their own schedule. 'Dhoni feels that it would not be fair for him to join us at this stage, given that the team has done so well and reached the quarter-final stage in his absence. He does not want to upset the team balance'
The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators announced a new category 'A+' with an annual retainership of Rs. 7 crore. The top category includes the likes of captain Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.
A near-perfect series for Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Pant has broken into the Test mainly on the basis of his batting and not his glove work.
Shikhar Dhawan's poor technique in testing conditions along with the fitness status of Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin will come up for discussion when the selectors pick the Indian team for the two-Test series against the West Indies.
Whether it is by choice or compulsion of injuries, Kohli's fetish for tinkering with playing XI is well documented -- something that wasn't questioned till the South African debacle happened.
It will not be the first time that the competition has had to be held outside India.
'He is always going to be an attacking player but reading of the situation when one is playing red ball cricket is required. We are glad that he has been picked in the national team and I hope he takes this maturity and builds from thereon'
Veteran opener Gautam Gambhir kept his place, while all-rounder Hardik Pandya was the surprise inclusion in the 15-member Indian squad for the first two matches of the five-match Test series against England, starting in Rajkot, on November 9.
India take on a war-ravaged-but-resilient Afghanistan in their first ever Test match, in Bengaluru, on Thursday.
The hits and misses of the week.
Trade analyst Vinod Mirani gives us the weekly verdict.
Should left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav make his Test debut? Or must India retain the winning Bengaluru side?
'I think they're feeling the pressure a little bit to be honest'
Indian captain Virat Kohli has been rendered a doubtful starter for the fourth and final cricket Test against Australia in Ranchi, a scenario that has put the hosts under immense pressure on the eve of the decider of the bitterly fought series.
India have the option of playing all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
Kohli's 147 -- his 15th Test hundred -- and an equally confident 136 by Murali Vijay enabled India to extend their first-innings lead to 51 runs in reply to England's 400.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the Indian team for the limited overs tour of Zimbabwe starting June 11, while top stars like Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have been rested.
Injuries have forced India to make changes to their winning combination. With Murali Vijay and Wriddhiman Saha returning home, the visitors are likely to field a new combination.
After a below-par effort against Pune Supergiants, the Delhi Darevils will be looking to hit the straps rightaway with their prime players set to comeback in the playing XI as they take on bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab in an IPL encounter at Mohali on Saturday. Following three horrendous seasons, the Daredevils have had a decent outing so far under Rahul Dravid's mentorship and Zaheer Khan's captaincy, having won five of their eight games and are placed third in the eight-team table. There has been no standout performer as such but contributions from most of the players in their five victories has made it clear that Dravid's men are certainly not dependant on any one individual to carry the team forward.
India's R Ashwin struck a counter-attacking half-century to help India claw back into the match after the hosts got off to a shaky start on Day 3.
'Let's see. You are the first one to tell me this. I need to see why they have not picked me. I don't know what the plan is now that I am not there in the team. Probably, I will be playing the Ranji Trophy'
West Indies' wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin's century went in vain as they slumped to a 16-run loss against India 'A' in their second and final warm-up 50-over match ahead of the five-match ODI series against India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Ahead of the first Test between India and England in Rajkot, Rajneesh Gupta looks at the two teams and their numbers.
The curse of stardom, especially in a country like India -- which wants its Gods to be tidy and punctilious -- is that stardom forces you to stop exploring the frozen sea inside you, and instead inspires you more and more to perform out of a small puddle, observes Sreehari Nair.
Perennial under-achievers Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab will look to recover from opening losses and put their campaign back on track.
Images from Day 1 of the fourth and final Test between India and Australia in Dharamsala, on Saturday.
590 cricketers -- including 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players -- will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
Rajasthan Royals would be keen to adapt quickly to their new 'home ground' when they lock horns with last season's runner-up Kings XI Punjab in their campaign opener in the Indian Premier League in Pune.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's heroics with the bat went in vain as Chennai Super Kings went down by four runs against Kings XI Punjab in a close finish in the Indian Premier League.
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