With their backs to the wall after conceding a big first innings lead, the top-order faltered again as India 'A' scored 265 for 6 against Australia 'A' by the end of third day's play in the second unofficial 'Test', in Chennai, on Friday.
The former captain's struggling innings of 51 off 96 balls and his failure to rotate the strike in the first ODI has brought to focus the rejigging that captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri will have to fret upon.
The 22-year-old Kuldeep, who replaced injured skipper Viart Kohli, returned figures of four for 68 in 23 overs after Australia decided to bat and made a resounding start.
Images from the 5th ODI between India and Australia, played in Nagpur on Sunday
The Pune outfit is presently languishing at the sixth spot in the eight-team standings with just four points.
Dhoni has to ponder over both the batting and bowling departments of his team.
Mumbai Indians are all set to open the defense of their title against new outfit Rising Pune Supergiants.
Pacer Vernon Philander claimed six for 21 as South Africa thrashed Australia by a huge margin of 492 runs to claim the four-match series 3-1, in Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
The intense interest in the incident around the world reflects not only surprise at Steve Smith blithely admitting the conspiracy to cheat but also a perception that the Australian team are serial offenders in bending and breaking the rules.
Indian batsmen frittered away the initial advantage before reaching 248 for six against a disciplined Australia to leave the fourth and final cricket Test evenly poised, in Dharamsala, on Sunday.
Glenn Maxwell fired Australia to their maiden T20 series win over India with a sensational hundred, overshadowing India captain Virat Kohli's special effort in the second and final T20 International, in Bengaluru.
The Virat Kohli-Steve Smith clash on the controversial DRS call today triggered a full blown verbal war between the Cricket Boards of India and Australia before the ICC ruled out action against the two captains as charges were not laid.
A confident India will look to pile the misery on the a struggling Australia and seal the five-match series when the teams clash in the third One-Day International, in Indore, on Sunday.
During his patient knock, Pujara faced 250 balls, hitting 16 of them for fours, and added 75 runs for the unbeaten fifth wicket stand with Vihari.
It will be a battle of survival for the two national captains as Virat Kohli's struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore square off against a fledgling Pune Supergiants led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in an IPL encounter for the bottom-rung teams in Bengaluru on Saturday. With five defeats in seven games, RCB are currently placed at a lowly seventh spot in the table with four points while Pune are just a notch above in sixth spot courtesy their third win against Delhi Daredevils, on Thursday. It has been a tough journey for the two superstars of Indian cricket as their franchises have dished one disappointing performance after another. RCB with perhaps the most intimidating batting line-ups has had to taste defeat because of a pedestrian bowling attack that has failed to defend 180 plus scores in most of the matches.
On a roll after three consecutive wins, a resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad will start as overwhelming favourites against struggling Rising Pune Supergiants in an Indian Premier League match, in Hyderabad, on Tuesday.
Getting his team composition right will be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's primary aim as Rising Pune Supergiants meet an out-of-sorts Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League cricket tournament encounter, in Mohali on Sunday.
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.
The four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy is locked at 1-1 and the match at Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA), which is organising it's first-ever Test, is set to be a make-or-break affair for both teams.
Virat Kohli will face the toughest battle of his fledgling captaincy career when India take on a resurgent Australia in the second cricket Test.
'When it comes to technique...you grow up on wickets that are fast and bouncy, when you come to the subcontinent, it is your first series and it is hard to adapt. When you keep coming back, there are no excuses. You should know the conditions'
Rising Pune Supergiants will stand in the way of Kolkata Knight Riders's revival when they clash in an Indian Premier League T20 match?
The all-rounder is at the top of the MVP table more because of his batting than his bowling, note Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji.
IMAGES from the 2nd ODI played between Australia and India at Adelaide on Tuesday
Virat Kohli's Indian team will be aiming for another comprehensive show against a depleted Australia when the two sides square-off in the opening encounter of the five-match series, in Chennai, on Saturday.
'Kohli is the kind of ethereal athlete who can not only help Elon Musk discover life on Mars, but also test out its gravitational parameters by stroking hundreds in the red dirt.' 'But when playing for India, he needs assistance,' says Dhruv Munjal.
Captain Rohit Sharma continued to lead by example as a thoroughly professional Mumbai Indians outclassed Pune Supergiants by eight wickets in an Indian Premier League encounter.
The players auctions for this year's IPL is scheduled for this weekend. Rajneesh Gupta looks at the players retained and released by the teams for IPL 2017.
The Indian cricket team went from strength to strength in 2019, especially in Test cricket where they are rightly perched at the top. They went unbeaten in Test cricket in 2019 which included winning their first-ever series in Australia, after which they registered three successive whitewashes against West Indies, South Africa and Bangladesh.
Ahead of the start of the ninth season of the IPL, Rajneesh Gupta presents a detailed statistical analysis of the players involved.