The series promises a fascinating duel between the two modern-day pace greats.
India A skipper Rishabh Pant will look to build on the gains from the first match, while the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav will aim for crucial red-ball game time in the second four-day match against a Temba Bavuma-led South Africa A in Bengaluru from Thursday.
India wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who played in the fifth and final Test at The Oval against England in their last assignment, has been named Iyer's deputy.
'So make sure first you pick the right characters and then if you see that, try and give them a longer run so that they themselves should be content and happy that they've got a longer run rather than just chopping and changing as well.'
N Jagadeesan hit an unbeaten half-century to lead India A' confident reply in Australia A's huge first innings total on Day 2 of the first unofficial Test.
India A captain Shreyas Iyer has pulled out of the second unofficial Test against Australia A starting in Lucknow on Tuesday because of personal reasons.
India's awe-inspiring batting depth will face a stern test against South Africa's quality spin attack in the first Test, starting in Kolkata on Friday.
Expect some fireworks for the highly-versatile Cameron Green along with Quinton de Kock, Matheesha Pathirana, Venkatesh Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi.
The short turnaround time from the high of winning a controversy-marred Asia Cup notwithstanding, Shubman Gill's India will be outright favourites against a struggling and under-strength West Indies when the teams face-off on a green-top in the first Test in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Skipper Shubman Gill had a long batting stint while the troika of Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel returned to action for India's final training session here on Wednesday before the first Test against the West Indies.
After bowling out SA A for 309, overnight 299/9, in the first session, India succumbed to their own waywardness, and the relentlessness of off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen (5/61), to concede an innings lead of 75.
Azharuddeen was the vice-captain of the side, and now that role has been handed to Tamil Nadu's N Jagadeesan.
This was India's fourth defeat in the last six Tests at home and in all four Tests -- including three against New Zealand -- their batters have flopped against spin.
Tilak Varma was in fine touch for Hampshire recently, smashing 100, 56, 47 and 112 in four innings for the English county side.
Punjab Kings' batter Priyansh Arya scripts massive milestone in IPL 2025 final
The final Test begins on Friday in New Delhi, and the Shubman Gill-led side is expected to maintain their winning combination as they look to wrap up the home series.
Spinners and medium pacers were treated alike as he pulled, cut, flicked.
Shreyas Iyer's 604 runs across 17 matches for Punjab Kings at a strike-rate in excess of 175 did not resonate with the selectors during the Asia Cup selection.
Opener Sam Konstas smashed a century to lead Australia's superb showing with the bat on the rain-hit Day 1 of the first unofficial Test match against India A.
Assessing Sai Sudharsan's temperament and Nitish Kumar Reddy's utility in home conditions would be topmost on India's checklist when the high-on-confidence hosts take on a floundering West Indies
Mumbai were bowled out for 181 in their second innings, setting J&K 243 runs to win the season-opening match.
Batting stalwart Cheteshwar Pujara, ignored for the two-Test series against South Africa, cracked an unbeaten century as defending champions Saurashtra made a mockery of the Jharkhand bowling attack.
Ahead of the mini-auction, scheduled to be held in Doha on December 26, the 10 franchises have released their list of retained and released players.
Round up of all the Ranji Trophy action on Thursday
Responding to India's squad selection for the home series against West Indies, former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan opined that pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah could have been rested for the series in order to groom a young fast bowler.
Fresh from a hard-fought 2-2 draw in England, Shubman Gill's men will be eager to translate their overseas resilience into home dominance.
After the first phase, which saw CSK openers dominating the proceedings, it's their bowlers who are coming to their own in the second phase.
RCB batter Devdutt Padikkal's absence at No. 3 will also be partially filled by Patidar's availability. Padikkal has been sidelined for the remainder of the IPL due to a hamstring injury, and Mayank Agarwal, who is primarily an opener, has been brought in by the franchise to take his place.
The fringe and aspiring bunch will look to own the elevated Duleep Trophy stage as the red-ball competition returns to its traditional zonal format and marks the start of India's domestic cricket season.
India Test skipper and T20 vice-captain Shubman Gill reached the BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE) for fitness assessment ahead of travelling to Dubai for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Central Zone advanced to the Duleep Trophy final by virtue of their first innings lead in the drawn match against West Zone.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have signed Mayank Agarwal as a replacement for the injured Devdutt Padikkal, while Delhi Capitals (DC) have signed Afghan batter Sediqullah Atal in place of Harry Brook.
Virat Kohli's unbeaten 73 off 54 balls led Royal Challengers Bangalore to a seven-wicket victory over Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.
'We are not a team that looks at venue, we look to play positive and good cricket'
Devdutt Padikkal stroked a sparkling 63 from 45 balls, inclusive of a six and six fours, to propel RCB to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory against Rajasthan Royals.
'Will any coach think of keeping out Rohit and Kohli from the ODI team? That means there is something going on within the team against the two players.' Manoj Tiwary, who played 12 ODIs and three T20Is for India, said iconic players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli deserve greater respect.
Karun Nair played a pivotal role in Vidarbha's Ranji Trophy title last season, which also helped him make a comeback to the Indian Test team after a long gap of eight years.
Josh Hazlewood scalped four wickets in a brilliant spell as Royal Challengers Bengaluru staged a stunning comeback to edge Rajasthan Royals by 11 runs.
The 20-year-old Padikkal was one of the finds of the last IPL, scoring 474 runs with five half-centuries and contributing handsomely to RCB's campaign.
'Most of the batters performed. I would say that is a very good sign going forward. Apart from this you have got three quality batters who are not even part of the squad -- Shreyas (Iyer), Sarfaraz (Khan) and (Devdutt) Padikkal.'
