Whether it is by choice or compulsion of injuries, Kohli's fetish for tinkering with playing XI is well documented -- something that wasn't questioned till the South African debacle happened.
The talented Shreyas Iyer will be auditioning for the vacant number four slot when India take on West Indies in Sunday's second ODI of the three-match series.
The teams are ready to battle it out and with no established name figuring in India's bowling department
Spinner Amit Mishra shone with four wickets but the Indian fast bowlers were far from impressive as their two-day warm-up match against West Indies Cricket Board President's XI ended in a draw at St Kitts. Shai Hope's unbeaten century was the highlight of West Indies Cricket Board President's XI innings on the second and final day of the opening practice game. WICB Board President's XI were 281 for seven when play was called off.
Pant received flak for his poor shot selection following a string of low scores in the recent limited over series against West Indies and South Africa.
It was after many years that an Indian cricket team lived up to expectations outside the sub-continent.
Their World Cup build-up halted by West Indies team's sudden mid-series pullout, India would resume the preparations for the mega-event when they square off against under-cooked sub-continental rivals Sri Lanka in a hastily-arranged ODI series starting in Cuttack on Sunday.
His childhood coach, Dinesh Lad, says he never really had to do anything special to mould the driven all-rounder except for "working on his mental strength".
This year's IPL was action-packed and Redifff.com reloads some of the memorable moments, in pictures, from this year's competition.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Friday said that a Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) will be formed in the next couple of days to announce the new selection panel on a three-year tenure. Ganguly said the CAC will be appointed only for one meeting to decide the selectors as the appointment of the men's head coach has already been done by the previous panel led by former captain Kapil Dev.
It will be interesting to see if India turn to Kuldeep Yadav for the second Test in Chennai, starting on Saturday, or continue with their strange tactics of freezing him out.
India captain and batting mainstay Virat Kohli was named skipper of the International Cricket Council's Test and ODI teams of the year, following a remarkable run in 2018.
Despite resting several of their top players, Mumbai Indians managed to outclass Kolkata Knight Riders by nine runs in their last round league match to finish top of the standings in the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
Indian team director Ravi Shastri also made it clear that Shami will figure in the playing XI during the two warm-up games against West Indies (in Kolkata, on Thursday) and South Africa in Mumbai on March 12 in order to assess his fitness.
One of Indian cricket's best chairmen of selectors, the 'Colonel' is confident that Virat Kohli's men will have a smooth ride to the semi-finals and can take it from there on.
More than the runs scored, it is the manner of his dismissals that is causing frustration, considering that the Indian cricket establishment has invested heavily in the 21-year-old from Rourkee.
'The game against Delhi Capitals came to my mind. However, Gayle told me 'Mayank, just watch the ball and the rest will be fine'.
Delhi finished their torrid campaign with a 13-run win that not only saw them end with 10 points from 14 games, but also ended Mumbai's journey.
Powered by a swashbuckling 133 off just 59 balls by AB de Villiers and a classy 82 from skipper Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bangalore trounced Mumbai Indians by 39 runs in the Indian Premier League, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Besides KL Rahul, another individual who would like to answer his critics with solid performances is Pant.
Shikhar Dhawan struck a sublime hundred in the nick of time as India delivered yet again in a series decider to beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the third ODI and record their eighth successive win in a bilateral contest.
India got off to a horror start in their practice match as youngsters Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill failed with the bat on Day 1 of the three-day game against New Zealand XI at Seddon Park, in Hamilton, on Friday. All the batsmen were dismissed by fast bowler Scott Kuggeleijn as India were reduced to 5/3 in the seventh over.
Ashish Nehra running into bowl one last time at a place where it all began will form the sub plot as India aim to better their abysmal T20 record against New Zealand in the three-match series starting in New Delhi, on Wednesday.
Hardly challenged in a dominating run this season, India once again start as overwhelming favourites when they take on an inconsistent-but-gritty New Zealand in a three-match One-Day International series, starting in Mumbai, on Sunday.
After making impressive debuts in their respective openers, Rising Pune Supergiants and GujaratLions will test each others' strengths when the two new entrants clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Rajkot on Thursday. The two teams feature a lot of faces from the suspended Chennai Super Kings and at least six players, who played in the same side till last year, will now be in opposite camps. Close friends and CSK teammates Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina will now be devising strategies as rival captains. Both have admitted that playing in a jersey other than 'yellow' has been very "emotional" but have promised to give their all for their new teams. The Dhoni-led Pune Supergiants were very convincing and dominant when they handed defending champions Mumbai Indians a nine-wicket drubbing. They did not even require their middle order, packed with Dhoni himself and players such as Steven Smith, to come out with the top-order delivering it for them comfortably.
Looking for a proper tune-up before the three-match Test series against hosts Sri Lanka gets underway, India would be hoping that rain stays away from their one and only three-day practice game beginning at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, on Thursday.
MSK Prasad has just completed an eventful tenure during which he successfully oversaw the transition of leadership from Mahendra Singh Dhoni to Virat Kohli.
Bowler Jaydev Unadkat in another player to watch out for as the three-match series in the shortest format kicks off in Johannesburg on Sunday
Changes on cards as no end to India's middle-order woes
Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com picks his best eleven on performances from the first half of the tournament.
Twenty-four players, including 14 Indians (of which three are uncapped) and ten overseas, were retained as the retention window for the 2014 Pepsi IPL season closed at 1700 hours on Friday.
Justin Langer said the contest would likely be an exciting one thanks to the two teams being evenly-matched.
Shubman Gill's stellar show for India A in the recently-concluded two-match unofficial Test series against New Zealand is an indicator that he is ready for Test debut, believes senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. Shubman had scores of 83 and 204 not out batting in middle-order in the first unofficial Test for India A and then scored a hundred while opening the batting in the second game, showing his versatility at different slots. Prithvi Shaw, back in the Test squad after 16 months, is also a contender in the playing XI with his equally dazzling repertoire of strokes.
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.
India have won the first two Tests by comprehensive margins -- by 304 runs in Galle and an innings and 53 runs in Colombo.
Former batsman V V S Laxman believes tinkering with Team India's support staff is not a viable option and newly-appointed team director Ravi Shastri and coach Duncan Fletcher should stay till the 2015 World Cup.
A steadily improving Delhi Daredevils look all set to challenge the might of title contenders Kolkata Knight Riders when the two teams clash for the second time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match, in New Delhi on Saturday.
The raucous chants Jeetega bhai Jeeetega Hindustan Jeetega was met with the counter Jeetega bhai jeetega Pakistan Jeetega.
IMAGES: Mumbai Indians versus Kings XI Punjab, Wankhede Stadium, May 16, 2018.
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