Ajinkya Rahane's place in the India Test squad has come into question following a string of low scores in England but batting coach Vikram Rathour said they are not overly worried about the vice captain's form slump.
New rules, new captains, but same excitement as two months of cricket extravaganza kicks off in Kolkata.
Ajinkya Rahane is a 'bowler's captain' whose calm leadership will come in handy in India's bid to bounce back in the four-Test series against Australia, seamer Ishant Sharma said.
'Rahane hasn't lost the game as captain, he was really brave yesterday to give India a little sniff. I thought the runs were always too much for them, but he gave them a sniff.'
Ajinkya Rahane is, more than anyone else, keen on getting big runs under his belt and it's a matter of just one game before the India vice-captain regains his form, head coach Rahul Dravid said on Monday.
After his sterling show in Australia, Rahane hasn't had the best outing with the bat this series with mostly single digit scores apart from one half-century in the second Test in Chennai.
India seized the initiative with Ajinkya Rahane shuffling his bowlers smartly
Royal Challengers Bengaluru all-rounder Krunal Pandya revealed his mindset behind bowling a bouncer out of the blue to Kolkata Knight Riders record-signing Venkatesh Iyer during the opening match of Indian Premier League 2025, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, on Saturday.
But Kohli came to the defence of his deputy, insisting that Rahane is the team's most important batsman along with Cheteshwar Pujara.
He was a central figure in India's epic turnaround during the 2020-21 tour of Australia but stand-in captain of that series Ajinkya Rahane says "someone else took the credit" for decisions he made to resurrect the team after the nightmarish 36 all out in the Adelaide Test.
All eyes will be on Captain Shubman Gill and Coach Gautam Gambhir to lead the Indian Test team into a bold new era.
Ajinkya Rahane's dismissal proved crucial as Rajasthan never really got back the momentum.
Jaiswal, who made his ODI debut against England, scoring 15 in Nagpur last week and was at Ahmedabad with the Indian team for the third and final match, will join the Mumbai team in Nagpur on Friday.
'but in my mind, it was just about going out there and giving myself a few balls and just getting used to the speed of the game again and the atmosphere.'
England will need their batting unit to fire against India, who are eyeing a 13th consecutive Test series victory on home soil.
In 23 First Class matches, Sangwan has 77 wickets at an average of 19.9. With three five wicket hauls against his name, his best figures if 6 for 33 came against Mumbai.
India finished Day 2 of the second Test against Australia on a strong 277 for 5 in 91.3 overs, with a handy lead of 82 runs, and three days still left.
Shardul Thakur's second first-class hundred brought Mumbai back from the brink in their Elite Group A clash against Jammu and Kashmir at MCA BKC Ground in Mumbai on Friday.
Rahane was left to pick up the pieces at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and responded in emphatic style.
Rahane admitted that the run out handed Australia the momentum as they recorded an eight-wicket win inside two and half days.
Shardul Thakur emerged as the unlikely hero for Mumbai on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A
Varun Chakravarthy, a key player for both the Indian team and the Kolkata Knight Riders, emphasizes the importance of consistency and reveals he is working on new variations to his spin bowling.
'This hundred was special. My time with Hampshire really helped me. I dedicate this hundred to the people who backed me, supported me when I was going through a rough patch'
Venkatesh, one of the marquee players this season, was bought back by KKR for a massive Rs 23.75 crores, making him one of the most expensive players in the league.
The opening round of Ranji Trophy matches will begin from February 17 following a five-day quarantine and the squad size, including support staff, has been capped at 30.
Gavaskar was impressed with Rahane's field placements
Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants, both struggling in the Indian Premier League, will be looking to turn their fortunes around when they face each other on Friday.
The Indian Premier League IPL) throws up surprises every season, with underdogs rising to challenge established powerhouses, new players emerging as key contributors, or teams overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. Every match days, the record books are rewritten as players consistently strive to push their personal bests and achieve new heights.
Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Shardul Thakur and Prithvi Shaw and Head Coach Ravi Shastri took the RT-PCR test on their arrival at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Naharaj international airport.
Wives and kids of CSK players took to the pitch for the after-game party, joining in the cheers and taking in the love of the fans who lit up the stadium in Ahmedabad.
Mumbai will now need to beat Meghalaya by a big margin and hope for favourable results in other matches to keep their quarter-final hopes alive.
Before the opening day of the second Test, the BCCI officially announced that Rahane, Ishant and, more importantly, Ravindra Jadeja are out of the match due to various injuries.
Back from national duty, Ishan Kishan joined the Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2021 campaign.
Ajinkya Rahane steered clear of the controversy surrounding domestic stalwart and his former Mumbai teammate Wasim Jaffer
A crestfallen India captain Virat Kohli's defence of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane lacked conviction, as he put the ball in the selection committee's court regarding the future of the two out-of-form senior batters.
'I would like to mention, he fulfilled his responsibility in Australia with flying colours, it was amazing to see him lead the team towards victory, which has always been our goal," Kohli said during a virtual media interaction on the eve of the first Test against England.'
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have begun their pre-season preparations with a week-long domestic players' training stint in Mumbai, ahead of their main camp in Kolkata starting March 12 at Eden Gardens. The Mumbai camp, running from February 21-28, features nine domestic players, including Venkatesh Iyer, who was re-signed by KKR for a staggering Rs 23.75 crore after being released, making him the third most expensive player in the IPL auction.
'The pitch looks pretty similar, I do not know how it is going to play, we have to wait and see'
Ajinkya Rahane was not amused with questions related to his poor form, insisting that concerns about his lean patch are unfounded and contribution doesn't mean a Test hundred in every game.
India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will be leading Mumbai in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. Prithvi Shaw has been named as vice-captain while Yashasvi Jaiswal has also been named in the 20-member squad.
