Standing in the first slip and observing Mahendra Singh Dhoni's match-reading skills convinced Sachin Tendulkar that he was ready for India captaincy, something he told the BCCI when he was asked for his suggestion back in 2007.
8045 - Runs scored by Rahul Dravid at number 3 position in Test cricket - most by any batsman at this position.
While Cheteshwar Pujara's place in the Test side is not under any doubt, there are question marks creeping over whether he is the right batsman for the No 3 slot, especially overseas.
Sehwag said Dravid's absence and the poor form of Tendulkar put enormous pressure on the rest.
Australia's callow bowling attack has tantalised with the promise of a brave new era, but faces its stiffest examination against India's veteran batsmen in the first Test in Melbourne starting on Monday.
Middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh returned to the top tier of BCCI's contracted cricketers, while Ishant Sharma and Virat Kohli were also promoted to Grade A in the new list announced on Saturday.
'Number four is just a number and anybody can fit in. I started in the middle-order in one-day cricket and went on to open because I was asked to by Sachin (Tendulkar) as captain. It is the same with Sachin.'
Former India opener Virender Sehwag has called out Shoaib Akhtar's bowling action, saying that the Pakistan fast bowler used to jerk his elbow while bowling and 'knew he was chucking too'.
Rajneesh Gupta surveys the batting landscape in India-Australia Test encounters.
With his century in Rawalpindi on Monday, Rachin Ravindra became the first player to score a century on debut in both the ICC World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy.
Greg Chappell believes MS Dhoni should gain more experience as captain in ODIs and Twenty20 before taking on the role in Tests.
Rajneesh Gupta lists the top 15 Indian batsmen and bowlers in Tests in England.
Sachin Tendulkar, who dropped a rung to 14th in the batsmen's rankings, leads a pack of five Indians in the top-20.
India (454 for eight) recorded their highest total against South Africa in South Africa, in the first Test, bettering the 414 at Cape Town in January 2007.
Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke both hit masterful double centuries to drive Australia to 604 for seven declared before their bowlers reduced India to 61 for two at the end of second day of the fourth Test on Wednesday.
Harbhajan Singh has been picked for the Chennai Test and becomes the ninth player to play 100th Test matches for India.
# Virender Sehwag is now the sixth Indian to reach 8,000 runs or more in ODIs, aggregating 8025 at an average of 35.66 in 240 matches, joining Sachin Tendulkar (18,111), Sourav Ganguly (11363), Rahul Dravid (10889), Mohammad Azharuddin (9378) and Yuvraj Singh (8051).
Though India and Pakistan have 108 points, the latter take fifth spot with a decimal points difference.
India beat England by nine runs in the second ODI to level the series 1-1.
Sachin, Sourav, Dravid and Kumble would not have asked for a better stage to make their final appearance on English soil than the historic Oval cricket ground.
Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara became the 11th cricketer to surpass 10,000 Test runs during his innings of 58 on the opening day of the second test against Australia in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Man of the match Jacques Kallis claimed two wickets, two catches and scored an unbeaten 91 as South Africa beat India by four wickets in the first ODI.
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who were rested for last month's One-Day International Series in Bangladesh, were included in India's 15-man squad, to be led by Rahul Dravid, for the upcoming matches in Ireland and Scotland.
Sachin Tendulkar was unbeaten on 70 as India ended Day 2 in the first Test on 278 for 3, one run behind New Zealand's first innings total. There were also notable contributions from Gautam Gambhir (72) and Rahul Dravid (66).
Ruled out of cricket for the next four months due to hamstring and ankle injuries, India's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan has something to cheer about as he has been nominated in as many as three categories for this year's LG ICC Awards to be held in London on September 12.
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni preferred to sit out of the three-day match against Somerset, and in his absence Gautam Gambhir is leading the side. Another notable absentee is VVS Laxman, but pace spearhead Zaheeer Khan is playing and his clash with Andrew Strauss is eagerly anticipated.
Yuvraj was not impressed with the hullabaloo around the move
ICC World Cup-winning Indian Under-19 team captain Unmukt Chand has said he doesn't like to imitate any cricketer as he believes in the philosophy of following on his own footsteps.
Desperate to exorcise the ghosts of the spot-fixing scandal once and for all, Rajasthan Royals will look to start afresh as they face the daunting prospect of running into IPL-6 winners Mumbai Indians in the inaugural group stage match of the Champions League T20 in Jaipur on Saturday.
The star batsman's come back was delayed during the jinxed series in Sri Lanka.
He achieved the feat in his 490th innings on Day 1 of the fourth Test against England, at The Oval, before being dismissed by Ollie Robinson for 50, his 27th half-century in the longest format.
The selectors will also name the squad and captain for the Twenty-20 championships as Dravid, alongwith Tendulkar and Ganguly, has pulled out of the tournament.
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