The pitch has occupied the centrestage in the contest between the arch-rivals so far.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Wednesday.
Skipper Rohit Sharma asserted that the 'three hours' on Day 2, when they collapsed for a lowly 46 in the first Test against New Zealand.
India's emphatic win over England was a tailor-made series for the debutants. The absence of key players gave India the perfect opportunity to test their bench strength and boy, did the youngsters grab the chance with both hands!
While the pace department needs some urgent solutions, the spin has a slightly different landscape.
It was a stunning defeat for India, who were dismantled by eight wickets in seamer-friendly conditions in the opening match at Bengaluru, as they suffered their first series loss on home soil since falling to England in 2012.
Suryakumar Yadav lauded his Mumbai team-mates who put up a match-winning performance with the bat.
Rohit and the team management will also have to keep some of the young talents like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel wrapped in cotton wool after experiencing some early success in top-flight cricket.
For India, the biggest disappointment was the poor showing of their senior most players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin.
'Young people say they know all this emphasis on Hindu-Muslim differences is politically motivated.' 'If you stop watching TV and turn off social media, you'll find the situation on the ground different.'
He steered the team away from trouble and kept grinding. His innings of 80 consisted of 6 fours and 2 maximums.
Since 2022, he has scored 514 runs in Tests from 12 matches (21 innings) at an average of 25.7, having registered three half-centuries and a century.
Pakistan have dropped plans to conduct "major surgery" on the national team as it included senior players Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi in the Test squad for the two-match series against Bangladesh.
Australia's batting great Ricky Ponting on Friday said he was 'surprised' by the Indian camp's wording around Rohit Sharma's absence from the Sydney Test.
Sarfaraz Khan missed out on a hundred by just four runs as India A and England Lions played out a draw.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir threw his weight behind under-fire batter K L Rahul ahead of the second Test against New Zealand, starting in Pune from Thursday.
Mumbai cricket looks set to continue its long-standing tradition of throwing up exciting young talent. Brothers Sarfaraz and Musheer Khan are being touted as great potential for the future following their exploits in school and their respective age-group cricket tournaments.
The national team, captained for the bulk of those years by Misbah Ul Haq, hosted its 'home' games in the United Arab Emirates and remained relatively successful until fixtures trickled back onto Pakistani soil in 2018.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel stole the show in India's record-breaking victory in the Rajkot Test.
Ahead of the Boxing Day Test in South Africa, several members of the Indian cricket team embarked on a wildlife safari, documenting their adventures with visuals posted on Instagram.
Shreyas Iyer would be aiming to revive his start-stop international career, while Ishan Kishan would aim to clear the popular perception about his allegedly 'misplaced priorities'.
India put up a spirited bowling performance, before Mumbai youngster, Sarfaraz Khan struck an unbeaten half-century to steer the team to a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh and clinch the U-19 tri-series one-day cricket tournament in Kolkata on Sunday.
Pakistan replaced veteran stumper Sarfaraz Ahmed with Mohammad Rizwan for the second match of the three-Test series.
Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI, is reportedly using individuals under the influence of drugs or posing as mentally disturbed to infiltrate India and deliver messages to terrorists in prisons. Officials have reported over 10 such cases since July, with individuals entering from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and being sent to prisons in Jammu, Punjab, and Rajasthan. Security agencies suspect these individuals are couriers tasked with relaying communication to jailed terrorists. The ISI's tactic is believed to be a response to the increased use of technology in communication, which leaves behind electronic footprints. This method of infiltration has also been linked to drug smuggling operations. The ISI's current tactic is reminiscent of its past use of "sawari operators" on the Samjhauta Express for covert operations, which were effectively curtailed by authorities.
As many as four world-class match-winners are expected to bid adieu to the game one by one in the next couple of years and Gautam Gambhir is in an unenviable position as head coach.
The national selectors on Sunday retained the Indian team, which hammered Bangladesh by 280 runs in the opening Test here, for the second and final match in Kanpur.
The source, however, disputed Fakhar's tone and said one of the newly inducted selectors, former captain Azhar Ali had spoken to length with Babar on Saturday and explained to him the decision to rest him for the two Tests.
'Bumrah is not the right option for captain.' 'All the pressure to deliver is on his shoulders. So taking on the mantle of captain will be added pressure.'
Banter between Shoaib Bashir and Sarfaraz Khan during the fourth Test in Ranchi on Saturday.
Images from Day 2 of the 3rd Test played between India and New Zealand, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
Following in the footsteps of elder brother Sarfaraz Khan, who was a big hit during the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League earlier this year, Mumbai youngster Musheer will also have the opportunity to hone his skills in England next month.
Rahul will come in place of Baba Indrajith, who scored 9 and 6 and didn't look comfortable at all against pace and bounce, which wasn't exactly 125 clicks.
How the India Test regulars and discards fared over the first two days in the opening round matches of Duleep Trophy.
The Duleep Trophy is set to return to its traditional zonal from next year after the state units gave a thumbs down to the four-team concept introduced this season.
Parthiv reckoned that Sarfaraz Khan will get the nod ahead of Devdutt Padikkal for the vacant Shreyas Iyer's position.
The left-arm wrist spinner, who grabbed three Kiwi wickets, patted Rachin Ravindra for making a splendid hundred.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the third Test between India and New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday
Despite the challenging build-up, Gambhir said he is "extremely confident" of retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The players will hope to be as confident as they prepare for the fight to keep their World Test Final chances alive.
'There will be a lot of spice to the contest -- there is a reason India is the only team other than England against whom Australia is keen to play a five Test series.' 'I'll watch, as I suspect most fans will -- but this one time, I'll watch with considerable trepidation and, from a fan's point of view, with the hope that the team finds its feet and that right quick,' notes the distinguished cricket commentator Prem Panicker.
