Rishabh Pant's disappointing outing against Zimbabwe isn't a cause of concern for head coach Rahul Dravid, who hinted that the flamboyant left-hander could start in the T20 World Cup semi-final against England at Adelaide on Thursday.
Who do YOU think should be part of India's playing XI for Tuesday's opening ODI against England?
The sub-narratives in the main story will be equally intriguing in the next 13 days.
Stars like Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer will miss the season due to injuries.
Bhuvneshwar (3-15) rocked England early in their pursuit of 171
'One thing I can say is that they would be watching the fast-bowling department more than anything else as they are going to Australia in four months' times after the IPL.'
Laxman accompanied Team India as its coach during its two T20I match series against Ireland,
The day night Test will be played at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru from Saturday, March 12.
Glimpses from DC's practice session on Wednesday...
Tarak Sinha, the Indian coach with most number of international and first-class cricketers as his disciples, died on Saturday morning after a prolonged illness.
Captain Virat Kohli is unlikely to feature in the tournament because of his India commitments.
Hardik Pandya was missing from the squad as he has not joined the team yet.
Narayan Jagadeesan followed up his double ton in the previous game with a magnificent triple century to help Tamil Nadu declare their first innings
Rohit Sharma ended his barren spell with the bat as Mumbai Indians edged Delhi Capitals off the final ball of the match.
Kohli maintains highest fitness standards while 23 of his colleagues checked-in at NCA for rehab in 2021-22 season
It is understood that Indian cricket is finally ready to move beyond Karthik. In 2019, World Cup ended his 50-over career and 2022 might just witness his international T20 swansong.
The Indians will aim to create a world record for the most consecutive victories in T20 Internationals in the series opener.
Fast bowler Deepak Chahar and batter Suryakumar Yadav have been ruled out of the upcoming three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka.
Bolstered by Shreyas Iyer's return, Delhi Capitals will look to maintain the form they showed in the first half of the season as they resume their IPL campaign against a struggling Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Ravichandran Ashwin's superlative show in the fourth Test against Australia has helped him regain the top spot among bowlers in the latest ICC Rankings.
We have to play aggressive cricket, says stand-in skipper KL Rahul
Who do you think should be part of India's playing for their T20 World Cup opening match against Pakistan on Sunday?
While Rohit Sharma will lead the side, the inclusion of KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav is subject to fitness.
Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will be vice-captain for the series.
India have recalled Ajinkya Rahane to reinforce their batting line-up, which will have to be at its best to negate the Australian attack.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar picked Rohit Sharma to lead India in T20 Internationals after Virat Kohli, while KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are his two options as the vice-captains in the shortest format.
The big question for Captain Rohit Sharma and Head Coach Rahul Dravid is to where to accomodate Virat Kohli, who has struggled for runs across formats in the last couple of years.
It may be an inconsequential game on paper but Indian bowlers await another tough test against South Africa ahead of the T20 World Cup when the two teams meet in the final game of the three-match series in Indore on Tuesday.
Yashasvi Jaiswal presented a heady cocktail of patience and flair on debut but India's expected series win over West Indies will not serve as an accurate parameter.
The lack of runs from their Indian batters -- Prithvi Shaw (106 runs in 8 matches), Manish Pandey (160 runs in 10 games), Sarfaraz Khan (53 runs in 4 games) and Lalit Yadav (66 runs from six games) -- proved a big factor in another below-par season for Delhi Capitals.
'Actual finishers are guys like Suryakumar Yadav. He is a brilliant finisher. You have Rishabh Pant, who is a brilliant finisher. You have Hardik Pandya, who is a brilliant finisher too.'
Pant is part of the Indian Test squad and may not be available after the first few games while Dhawan is expected to play all matches.
England, who were blown away by the visitors at Southampton, will back themselves to make a strong comeback.
World Cup-winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was seen interacting with the India players after their series-clinching win in the second T20 International against England in Birmingham on Saturday.
"As professionals, we have to keep up the intensity. Yes, there's a lot of cricket and that's why we give them breaks. And people need to understand that when we give players a break, it is only to manage the workload keeping the bigger picture in mind."
Cricket fans in England could get the chance to see the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma clearing boundaries on a regular basis, with London mayor Sadiq Khan set to spearhead a campaign to bring the Indian Premier League to the English capital.
India has lost three finals and on four occasion it bit dust at the semifinal stage. It also made an exit at the preliminary stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Rohit Sharma's buoyant India will look to continue its winning run and extend domination over the West Indies when they clash in the second T20 International in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, on Monday.
India face Australia in the WTC final on June 7 at The Oval in London.
Ishan Kishan earned his maiden Test call-up, while Suryakumar Yadav was also included for the first two Tests of the four-match series against Australia next month.
