The Oval will host the fifth and final Test between India and England from Thursday, and the Indian team has hit the ground running two days after staging a remarkable comeback to draw the fourth match in Manchester.
In this rivalry, numbers fade and national pride takes centre stage.
Former England captain Michael Atherton suggested India could include three spinners for the must-win fourth Test against England at Manchester, starting on July 23.
In the next 18 months, India will play several marquee events including the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series against Australia in November, next year's ICC Champions Trophy and a possible appearance in the World Test Championship Final in June.
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said on Tuesday that middle-order batters KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan are locked in a selection battle for the second Test against New Zealand here even though head coach Gautam Gambhir is keen to give the former, a long rope.
T Dilip reappointed as India fielding coach for England tour; Gill, Sudharsan may miss warm-ups
Virat Kohli's batting a plus but lots of areas need improvement, says Shubman Gill
The 36-year-old all-rounder once again rose to the occasion, batting with remarkable patience, steel and a fierce will to fight. Partnering first with Jasprit Bumrah and then Mohammed Siraj, Jadeja weathered thunderbolts and mind games. His 61 not out off 181 balls, spread over nearly five hours, brought India within 22 agonising runs of victory.
The Men in Blue, led by newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir, arrived in Sri Lanka for a six-match white-ball series on Monday.
Gambhir led the team to the ground and oversaw the training session which included fielding drills and sessions with the players.
Pacer Anshul Kamboj has been added to the India squad in England as cover for Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh
Jasprit Bumrah had made himself available for three of the five Tests in England and the Indian team management felt it was right to honour the star pacer's call considering his workload, said assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate.
Trailing 0-1 in the five-match series, visitors eye spin boost at Edgbaston.
'I will watch India's match against New Zealand with no tension -- just enjoy the cricket.'
For the first time in many years, India are going into a home Test match as underdogs and not favourites. Ask any player worth his salt and he would tell that it is not a happy place to be.
With two Tests left, India trailing the five-match series 1-2, and Bumrah available for only one of them, Panesar feels India needs to go all out in Manchester next week.
Assessing Sai Sudharsan's temperament and Nitish Kumar Reddy's utility in home conditions would be topmost on India's checklist when the high-on-confidence hosts take on a floundering West Indies
'Really happy with BCCI. They've agreed with most things I've asked for. The crux of the support staff will remain as they are.'
'His hands are quite sore. We want to get his confidence back up.'
India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate on Thursday said the team is "leaning towards" playing lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the fourth Test in Manchester as the visitors look to pull themselves back on level terms in the five-match series against England.
The Bellerive Oval is one ground where the side boundaries are smaller in size, hence hitting the right lengths would be paramount considering anything short would be flying over cover, point, square leg or mid-wicket on either side of the fence.
Check out the Kolkata Knight Riders squad for the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League.
India are aiming for a quick turnaround in the second Test, starting in Pune on Thursday.
'Time has come to scrutinise the role of India's batting coach.'
The usually mobbed Indian cricket team likes training in a relaxed atmosphere and that was evident in their body language as the players went about their business in their only practice session at the Kent County Cricket Ground before the fourth Test in Manchester.
Images from Thursday's IPL match between Pune Warriors and Kolkata Knight Riders in Pune.
It took the Indian team many intense sessions on the ground and off it to transform into a world class fielding unit. But, at the MPCA stadium here on Friday, its much-admired fielding coach T Dilip's focus was not on intensity but on "rhythm and flow".
Sitanshu Kotak, 52, is a longtime staff of the National Cricket Academy as its batting coach
Will Sai Sudarshan or Abhimanyu Easwaran bat at No. 3?
Opener Neil Broom produced a hurricane 117-run knock off just 56 balls as Otago Volts recorded a comprehensive 62-run win over Perth Scorchers in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament in Jaipur on Wednesday.
'We feel slightly behind the game now but there certainly won't be any letting up and certainly won't be any surrendering.'
To defend their Asia Cup title, India must improve catching and find a steady middle order. Friday's dead rubber is a good chance to try these out.
Against Bangladesh, Samson wasn't even considered good enough to come inside the top seven of the line-up and that begs a question as to what is he doing in the team if he isn't good enough to come ahead of Axar Patel.
Doeschate admitted that Sunday's match could be a contest of spin between the two sides.
The matter of Bumrah's availability for the series should have been a highly-guarded secret. That it was bandied about all through suggests the matter was deliberately placed in the public domain. This has become the basis of the hounding of Bumrah, by some former players and fans, asserts Rohit Mahajan.
Rishabh Pant hasn't been a part of the playing eleven in the last two group games as India handed over the wicketkeeping duties to KL Rahul, who has performed remarkably well behind the stumps and provided solidity to the middle order.
The greatest nights in cricket and the glamorous WAGs (wife and girlfriends) are back on our television screens.
The first Test, beginning in Chennai on Thursday, is expected to be played on the red-soil trampoline which often offers good purchase to pacers, but the black-soil composition is more likely to assist the spinners.
South Africa crushed the Netherlands by 231 runs in a lop-sided Group B match to record their second successive victory in the 2011 World Cup.
Six batsmen made ducks as visiting Lancashire bowled Essex out for 20 in a second division game at Chelmsford on Friday, their lowest score in a first-class fixture. It was also the lowest score in county cricket since Essex skittled Surrey for 14 at the same ground in 1983.
