Pujara may not have set alight county cricket with his Yorkshire stint but many believe the time he spent in the country gives him a distinct advantage over his team mates.
Images from Tuesday's IPL Qualifier 1 between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, in Chennai.
Skipper Cheteshwar Pujara hit a scintillating 140 as India 'A' posted 281 for three against South Africa 'A' at stumps on the opening day of the first unofficial Test in Rustenberg.
Kohli trails Smith by 26 points and will have to produce a string of strong performances to leapfrog the Australian.
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.
Virat Kohli's side are determined to keep the momentum rolling into the second clash in Perth and inch closer to a breakthrough series triumph Down Under.
Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane struck fluent centuries as India fought back bravely before a flurry of late wickets allowed a sloppy Australia to take a slight edge on stumps on Day 3 of the third Test, in Melbourne
'It's the communication, both of us have been playing Test cricket for a long time. Especially me and him -- we are playing (only) this format particularly and we have spent a lot time not just on field by talking about this format' 'To be very honest I was hoping to get a double hundred. They had so many runs on board. I thought it will help the team if I could get a double hundred'
A Mitchell Johnson bouncer that struck India captain Virat Kohli on the helmet during the first Test on Thursday might actually help players get past the shock of Phillip Hughes's death, according to Australia spinner Nathan Lyon.
Harish Kotian evaluates the Indian team's performances in the first Test.
Behind its high-decibel campaign, powered by well-organised party machinery, the BJP also appears to have made a slight departure from its 'next generation' approach to stay ahead of an aggressive Congress and enhance its prospects of securing a majority of seats.
His four-wicket haul guided Kolkata Knight Riders to a seven-run win over Kings XI Punjab and West Indies all-rounder Andre Russel said they bowled like champions in their Indian Premier League match in Kolkata.
The mood in the Indian camp was summed up best by the skipper after a green pitch was unveiled on eve of the maiden Test at the new facility.
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.
Hanuma Vihari's role as an opener is a stop-gap one and he will be given enough opportunities in his preferred middle-order spot should he fail at the top, assured chairman of selectors MSK Prasad.
India take on a war-ravaged-but-resilient Afghanistan in their first ever Test match, in Bengaluru, on Thursday.
The Delhi high court will on Friday hear the bail pleas of former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla and suspended Railway Board Member Mahesh Kumar and two other accused in the Rs 10 crore cash-for-post railway bribery case.
Needing just 106 runs to win with all 10 wickets intact at the start of the fourth day, the hosts eased past their target before lunch for the loss of just two batsmen.
Perennial under-achievers Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab will look to recover from opening losses and put their campaign back on track.
India captain Virat Kohli, on Thursday, claimed his comment on friendship with the Australian team was 'blown out of proportion'.
Indian and Australian cricketers will soon be sharing dressing rooms in the Indian Premier League and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, fresh from his team's triumph in one of the most controversial and hard-fought bilateral contests in recent times, feels it's time to 'move forward'.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 3:
Pacer Mitchell Starc has expressed disappointment with International Cricket Council rating the Optus Stadium pitch as 'average' after Australia beat India in the second Test by 146 runs.
Should the struggling Rahane make way for an extra bowler?
Minor tweaks to his bowling after the lunch break made all the difference for left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe who claimed a career-best six for 35 to put Australia ahead in the opening Test against India on Friday.
Factbox on the four-Test series between India and Australia, which starts at Pune on Thursday:
India's out-of-favour seniors Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag have been omitted from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's contracted players' list for 2013-14. The retiring Sachin Tendulkar, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin are the five players in Grade 'A', and will pocket Rs 1 crore for the 2013-14 season.
India's star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin would be feeling the heat from his team mate Ravindra Jadeja as the two spinners take on Bangladesh in a one-off Test, starting in Hyderabad from Thursday.
Images from the India v SA, second Test, day 1, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru.
A near-perfect series for Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
India captain Ajinkya Rahane has applauded his team for playing as a unit, saying that every member of the side contributed in the 3-0 whitewash against Zimbabwe in the ODI series.
India aim to stay afloat against daunting South Africa in the second Test
The ball was old, the stage set and expectations high but India's Rohit Sharma again spurned the opportunity to assert his long-form credentials in the first test against New Zealand on Thursday. Often hailed as the next big thing to come out of Mumbai since Sachin Tendulkar, the 29-year-old is an automatic choice in the limited-overs side and the only batsman to score two one-day international double centuries.
Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni batted at number seven against , promoting the likes of Sam Curran, Jadhav and Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of himself but the ploy backfired badly
While there were brilliant performances from Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane, India's pathetic bowling attack -- which could not claim 20 Australian wickets in any of the four Tests -- was depressing.
CSK have been on a roll with three wins on the trot that have boosted them to the top of the table.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain, criticised the lack of fight from India in the second Test at Lord's while urging the beleaguered visitors to dig deep.
India 'A' batsmen failed to deliver when it mattered the most as they crashed to a 121-run defeat in the second unofficial 'Test' against South Africa 'A', who rode on seamer Beuran Hendricks' six-wicket haul to level the two-match series 1-1 in Pretoria, on Tuesday.
A formidable Indian cricket team is likely to revel in home conditions, as they prepare to host and dominate New Zealand in the first Test in Kanpur, from Thursday, heralding the beginning of a long 13-match home season.
CSK, with their experience of winning important moments, will certainly make Capitals wary.
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