The Indian players played in the IPL before the T20 league was suspended due to coronavirus.
Responding to India's 246 for eight declared after a day of multiple rain interruptions, Leicestershire were primed to take a sizable lead over the tourists when Pant was in his element.
Ahead of the gruelling five-match Test match series against England, the Indian Test team led by skipper Virat Kohli, had a centre wicket training at the Durhan Cricket Club in Durham on Tuesday.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the 1st Test played between South Africa and India at Centurion on Sunday.
Two more failures in two home games could effectively mean end of the road for Ajinkya Rahane, who is leading India in the first Test in Kanpur, starting on Thursday.
'We had hoped that however behind we were, we could've shown more fight but we knew we needed exceptional performances. It was not a 469-run wicket. We gave away a lot of runs -- bowling was disappointing. We played some poor shots yesterday.'
Reflecting on the win in the most challenging of circumstances, Smith said he could not be more proud of his team
Rishabh Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara forged the only century-plus partnership of the innings but India still finished the day 321 behind.
India suffered a top order meltdown chasing a small victory target of 145
'Our plan was simple, stick to our basics'
Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow put England on course for a ground-breaking run chase against India despite Jasprit Bumrah's brilliance on day four of the rescheduled fifth Test, setting up a fitting series finale in Birmingham on Monday.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI in the third Test against Australia?
Images from Day 5 of the fourth Test between Australia and India, at the Gabba, on Tuesday.
Images from Day 1 of the pink-ball first Test between Australia and India, in Adelaide, on Thursday.
'He (Virat) is certainly one who can push us back and we will have to get the better of him'
K L Rahul has managed just 38 runs in three innings in the ongoing Test series against Australia.
Shreyas Iyer sparkled with a half-century on debut, while Ravindra Jadeja also hit an unbeaten fifty to keep New Zealand at bay on Day 1 of the first Test in Kanpur on Thursday.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the first Test against Bangladesh, starting on Wednesday?
Ajinkya Rahane never gives up. After surprising the cricketing world with the fastest fifty of IPL 2023 at the Wankhede stadium on Saturday, the out of favour India batter yearns to play a Test match at his home ground.
It has been decided that Rishabh Pant will not play the two T20 Internationals against Ireland and hence Hardik Pandya, who is his deputy for the South Africa series, is expected to lead the side.
Pacer Craig Overton says England still hold all the aces going into Day 4 of the third Test against India, at Headingley, Leeds, on Saturday.
India ended the third day of the third Test at Headingly at 215 for the loss of two wickets.
With the WTC final set to get underway shortly after the IPL, India skipper Rohit Sharma said the players' workloads will be closely monitored.
The Indian cricket coach has backed senior India pros Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, after the duo struck a half-century each in the 2nd innings of the 2nd Test at the Wanderers.
'What a player you're just amazing in what you do @imjadeja,' Shelly tweeted alongside a pic with the CSK captain after Saturday's game at the Wankhede.
K L Rahul came in for harsh criticism from former India medium pacer Venkatesh Prasad who claimed the opener's selection was based on "favouritism'.
Murphy started out as a medium pacer but later found off-breaks to be his calling card.
India's head coach Rahul Dravid doesn't regret one bit playing the four-Test series against Australia on spinner-friendly tracks.
India ended Day 3 at The Oval at 270 for the loss of three wickets.
JP Duminy says Australia could trump the hosts 2-1 in the much anticipated Test series
Virat Kohli's talismanic presence will be the shot in the arm that India would need in their bid to win the historic first-ever away Test series against South Africa.
The visitors, who are 2-0 behind in the four-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, finished the frenetic opening day 47 runs ahead with six wickets in hand.
Jaiswal's 213 off 259 balls was well complemented by opener Abhimanyu Easwaran's 154
Former opener Sunil Gavaskar predicted an India win by a 4-0 or 3-1 margin, depending on the weather, adding that the visitors would emerge victorious anyway as England is depleted without the likes of Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer.
'I think it's more about trying to challenge both edges of the bat'
Images from Day 4 in the first Test between India and New Zealand, at Green Park in Kanpur, on Sunday.
BCCI tweets "All buckled up South Africa bound".
The current cycle runs from July 2021 to June 2023 and comprises the top nine Test teams, all of whom will play six series each
Rishabh Pant smashed a blistering 146 and forged a 222-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja to drag India back into the contest in the rescheduled fifth Test against England in Edgbaston on Friday.
A resolute Ravichandran Ashwin and a hamstrung Hanuma Vihari battled pain and a hostile Australian bowling attack while displaying the largely extinct art of Test-saving batsmanship to snatch a remarkable draw for India in the third Test, after Rishabh Pant raised visions of an improbable victory, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, on Monday.
