K L Rahul (67) scored his fourth half-century (his fifth in Test cricket) of the series and along with fellow opener Murali Vijay (42 batting), conjured up a stand of 91 -- their best of the series -- on a JSCA track that remained good for batting.
India captain Virat Kohli lauded his bowlers, saying that they strike as a unit and none of them are hungry for any personal milestone.
The Kolkata crowd showed all their love for Tendulkar by chanting 'Sachin Sachin', taking the master blaster back to his playing days.
Rest the skipper against a West Indies team whose batsmen would struggle against some Ranji Trophy sides and try out some new players in the Hyderabad Test recommends Harish Kotian.
Both DC and RCB have looked solid so far and are placed atop the standings with three wins out of four games each.
India play their World Test Championship opener against the Windies on Thursday, but captain Virat Kohli will be in a quandary over team selection. Will they play Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma, or drop either to adopt a five-bowler strategy?
The odds are in favour of table toppers Kolkata Knight Riders as they square off against defending champions Mumbai Indians, experiencing a campaign that is oscillating between high and low, in a potentially exciting Indian Premier League contest in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Former pacer Ajit Agarkar says someone like Ravichandran Ashwin not making it to the India's playing eleven in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, speaks volumes about the strength of the bowling attack of the defending champions.
Narayan Jagadeesan followed up his double ton in the previous game with a magnificent triple century to help Tamil Nadu declare their first innings
In all likelihood, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane would get another chance but over the past two years, his inconsistency has hurt this team badly.
A cultural shift with rising fitness standards are the primary reasons for India's current depth in fast bowling department, said former captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly. A young Jasprit Bumrah in the company of the experienced Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar has made India's bowling one of the world's most potent pace attacks.
The selectors may allow the India off-spinner to complete his remaining two matches for Worcestershire in English county cricket.
All-rounder Krunal Pandya and medium pacer Deepak Chahar earned their maiden call up in the Indian squad to replace the injured Washington Sundar and Jasprit Bumrah for the three-match Twenty20 International series against England, starting in Manchester on Tuesday.
Mohammad Shami also revealed that skipper Virat Kohli leaves it on his pacers to decide which one of them gets to bowl with the new ball.
'The crowd, the pink ball, floodlights everything was new to us. It all added to the pressure'.
Shami said the success of the current group boils down to the joy they share in each other's success.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead an 18-man squad for the Test series against England. Opener Gautam Gambhir, whose last Test was in 2012, makes a comeback while two uncapped medium pacers - Ishwar Pandey and Pankaj Singh - find a place in the team after Zaheer Khan, who had to set out of the India leg of the Indian Premier League following a back injury, was overlooked.
The skipper added that the journey since leading the side has been a learning curve for him, even as Australian cricket is just starting to come out of a period of strife.
With 36 different playing XIs in as many Tests under Kohli's captaincy, the Indian line-up is begging for some consistency.
Having found some light at the end of the tunnel, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be keen to expose the chinks in Kings XI Punjab's armoury during their must-win IPL encounter in Indore on Monday.
The white-ball games that were held in Sydney indicated that the deck was a flat one and express pace comes in handy on such surfaces.
Ahead of the first Test between India and England in Rajkot, Rajneesh Gupta looks at the two teams and their numbers.
Prithvi Shaw, who last played for India in October 2018, returns to the side after Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the ODI and Test series due to a left calf muscle strain.
IMAGES from the IPL 2022 game between Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders in Pune on Saturday.
India return to place from where journey to glory began.
Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav's "mature performance" in the ongoing cricket World Cup, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar feels the duo are on the path to become "world-class" bowlers and have been the key to India's success in the tournament.
The tourists, chasing 287 runs for victory, were dismissed for 140 at the new Perth Stadium when Jasprit Bumrah was caught and bowled by quick Pat Cummins.
5 instances when teams didn't cross the 70 run mark in 13 seasons.
Team combination a worry for India
Former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra has called Ishant Sharma the "least talented" among the current crop of pacers in the country, adding that the lanky bowler managed to play 60 plus Tests by virtue of his dedication and hard work.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels the team needs a 'brave' bunch of youngsters going forward.
'For us, it's about finding that perfect balance but if someone like Shardul is not available, then we definitely need to think how to pick up 20 wickets and not try to plug in another guy, who can give us some runs with the bat. I think we are very comfortable how first Test went'.
A summary of Ranji Trophy semi-finals played at Kolkata and Pune on Monday
Stung by a remarkable fightback from West Indies on the final day of the rain-hit second Test, India will have to look at their bowling combinations and get back to winning ways when the third cricket Test begins in St. Lucia, on Tuesday.
Former captain Vinay Kumar hit an unbeaten 83 and shared a crucial 97-run stand for the last wicket Ronit More (10) to help Karnataka take a 39-run first innings lead against Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
Tattoos are widely popular among sports players. When it comes to cricketers, they use the ink to portray their personalities.
'They need to click as a group, not as batsmen or bowlers.'
Double centurion Agarwal, meanwhile, climbed to the 11th spot after his player-of-the-match effort of 243 in India's only innings. The 28-year-old has reached 691 rating points after scoring 858 runs in his first eight Tests.
Mominul spoke about how temperament has become a big factor.
Indian bowlers were made to toil as England began their campaign on a promising note, riding on star batsman Joe Root's 11th century to finish the opening day of the first cricket Test at a solid 311/4 in Rajkot on Wednesday. - Scorecard England's leading batsman in recent years, Root was his customary elegant self and made 124 off 180 balls, while Moeen Ali was one short of his fourth Test hundred when the stumps were drawn after 93 overs at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
