- 'Yuvraj's ommission from the sqaud was shocking' - 'Over the years we just neither showed enough vision nor bothered to nurture talented players' - 'Australia and South Africa have good chance to win'
For a visiting cricketer, an India tour conjures up the image of a batsman surrounded by a shoal of fielders and facing relentless spin from both ends and South Africa should not expect anything different in the four-test series starting on Thursday.
Virat Kohli was effusive in his praise for Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha's record 199-run stand.
Indian bowlers, with the exception of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, were far from impressive as they struggled for wickets on the third and final day of the second tour match against the West Indies Board President's XI which ended in a draw in Basseterre, St. Kitts on Saturday.
'I think if we had rattled one or two more in the morning, we threw everything at them today morning and with all due respect, they batted incredibly well. Maybe at a stage, 350 was on our mind, that we were possibly looking at. But then it just seemed to get a bit slower and it was definitely not reversing as much as it was yesterday'
The shocking death of batsman Phillip Hughes on Thursday has cast doubts on whether the first Test between Australia and India will go ahead in Brisbane next week.
The ongoing India vs England series is turning out to be a battle within a battle with both Virat Kohli and Joe Root vying for the title of the best batsman in world cricket.
India opener Lokesh Rahul fell agonisingly short of his maiden Test double century as he helped his team to 391 for four in a robust reply to England's first innings total of 477 in the fifth and final Test in Chennai on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina joined the run feast with superb centuries as India A posted a mammoth 582 for nine against South Africa A to take command of the first unofficial Test in Rustenburg on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina joined the run feast with superb centuries as India A posted a mammoth 582 for nine against South Africa A to take command of the first unofficial Test in Rustenburg on Sunday.
"During the county stint, I got to spend time with English players Stuart Broad and Samit Patel (who both play for Nottinghamshire) and former England coach Peter Moores.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar has advised Indian batsmen to show patience and lauded Ajinkya Rahane for his unbeaten 89-run innings which helped India end the opening day at 231-7 against South Africa in the fourth and final Test in New Delhi.
India's skipper Virat Kohli scored a splendid unbeaten century to guide his team to a comfortable 302 for the loss of four wickets at stumps on day one of the first Test against the West Indies in Antigua on Thursday. At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Kohli carried his limited-overs form into Tests and scored an effortless 143 off 197 balls, which was laced with 16 boundaries.
Can India avoid the humiliation of a series whitewash, asks Harish Kotian.
Here are the statistical highlights from the second day's play of the fourth cricket Test between India and England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
David Warner's 12th Test century and a bittersweet 95 from Chris Rogers put Australia on course for a huge total on an emotional first day in the fourth and final Test against India on Tuesday.
Indian spin troika of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra kept their stranglehold on the inexperienced West Indies Board President's XI to bowl them out for a paltry 180 on the first day of the final warm-up game in Basseterre (St Kitts).
Should India go in with six batsmen and three fast bowlers?
While South Africa grabbed a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, the visitors squandered a golden opportunity to script a memorable win outside the sub-continent.
'The fitness parameters of the current Indian team are the best that it has ever been,' says the coach.
At stumps, India were comfortably placed at 157 for 2, after bundling out the West Indies for a meagre 182 by tea, riding on left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha's five-wicket haul.
Former captain Ian Chappell has called for drastic reduction in 'on-field chatter' and a limited use of DRS in Test matches after a gripping but tense India-Australia series.
It is understood that barring captain Virat Kohli, almost all the Test team regulars will be in action in the one-off Test against Afghanistan.
'All you need is that players are in the frame of mind so that they can be at their best. After you take the field, you are expected to take over and adapt to situations'
Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina joined the run feast with superb centuries as India A posted a mammoth 582 for nine against South Africa A to take command of the first unofficial Test in Rustenburg on Sunday.
India's spinners have been a handful at home in recent years.
'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'
India's bench strength will be tested when a second string team takes on Zimbabwe.
Having decimated South Africa inside three days on a turning track in Mohali, India will again look to unleash their troika of spinners to spoil A B de Villiers's landmark 100th match when the two sides meet in the second Test, in Bangalore, on Saturday.
Shikhar Dhawan has now scored fastest hundreds by an Indian against two opponents. On his Test debut, vs Australia at Mohali in 2012-13, he got to the three-figure mark off just 85 balls. Rajneesh Gupta lists the fastest hundreds for India against each country.
A country which produced champion players of spin bowling such as Roy Dias, Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, it has been sharp downward slide for Dinesh Chandimal's men, who have consistently failed against Indian spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Former India wicket-keeper Syed Kirmani has said the days of ten-overs-a-side contest making a foray into international cricket is not far away as it would make the game even more interesting.
'You want a certain type of wicket when you play at home and when you don't get it you still have to perform. The guys have worked hard, they have toiled a little bit when they have had to'
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was rested for the first three One-day Internationals against Sri Lanka next month and batting mainstay Virat Kohli will lead the side in his absence.
Squaring off with India once again after a fiercely fought Test series, left-arm Australian pacer Mitchell Starc predicted an intense contest against the same opponents in their cricket tri-series match in Melbourne on Sunday.
He may have scored a fluent century to steady India from the early jitters against Sri Lanka in the second Test, but opener Lokesh Rahul has mixed feelings about his innings.
The day belonged to Smith, who has now scored six Test hundreds against India in the last seven appearances and in the process also completed 5000 runs in Test cricket.
MS Dhoni is ready for limited overs series against South Africa.
At the conclusion of the Asia Cup, Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji make an assessment after 36 matches India has played so far in the 2013-14 season.
Keeping a lid on emotion will be nearly as important as executing gameplans for both India and Australia when the world's top two teams continue their captivating series with the third Test in Ranchi on Thursday.
