'Jitesh Sharma has shown he is quite a capable player. He can bat lower down the order and look to hit the big shots even with a slightly older ball.'
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
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.
It is understood that right after India's abject surrender against South Africa in the two-Test series at home last month, someone who matters in the cricket board had once again informally approached VVS Laxman to check if he would be interested in coaching the red ball team.
South Africa pulled off a sensational victory inside three days of the opening Test against India on Sunday and the manner of it would go a long way in silencing those who doubted their credentials as the reigning world test champions.
With Samson pushed to No. 5 in the batting line-up, fans are now call for his promotion up the order in the dead rubber final Group A match against Oman on September 19.
Bumrah steps aside from Test captaincy race; Gill, Pant now leading contenders
Speculations and debates have sparked over social media since last week, after chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the management's decision to hand over the ODI captaincy from Rohit to Shubman Gill.
This isn't just a Test match - it's a test of Shubman Gill's leadership, temperament, and decision-making.
At this moment, the Indian think tank is doing a tough balancing act of building the team around a new set of players without completely cutting ties with the old guard.
'Raat mein bande ne chashme pehne hue hain,' Bumrah chuckled in a video shared by the BCCI.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels Zak Crawley's time-wasting tactics at the end of the third day in the ongoing third Test was "as good a piece" he has ever seen, but said India can't complain as the visitors employed the same approach on the second day at Lord's.
Rohit Sharma and Co, started prepping in right earnest for the ODI series starting on Thursday.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand on Sunday?
'Am I the reason team will lose? Kuldeep might think, I am bowling so well, even after that I am not playing, then am I the problem in this team?'
Here are the crunch moments that were series-defining and the contributions of the players who came of age during the English summer.
'The more you bat in England, the better it is because you never feel you are set in England.'
The architects of the win were Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill, who blasted a 105-run opening stand that left Pakistan's bowlers gasping.
Images from the first One-Day International between India and England in Nagpur, on Thursday.
Following Shubman Gill's second fifty of the season, Australian great Matthew Hayden believes the youngster will dominate world cricket in the next decade.
As India start their T20 World Cup title defence in less than 72 hours, one is tempted to look at Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir's working relationship which has been fantastic, at least so going by the results -- a whopping 31 wins in 39 games with a winning percentage of 79.48.
The skipper and his opening partner are both in Gaul.
Central Zone captain Dhruv Jurel and East Zone skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran missed the Duleep Trophy quarterfinals, which began in Bengaluru on Thursday, owing to fever and groin niggle respectively.
Ollie Pope believes the young Indian side, led by a 'fantastic' Shubman Gill, has plenty of depth and talent, but it will miss the aura of Virat Kohli
South Africa completed a memorable 2-0 series sweep against India after off-spinner Simon Harmer claimed 6/37 to bowl the Proteas to a comprehensive 408-run victory in the second Test,
Ben Stokes, the man who had earlier lit up the field with a sensational century, didn't bowl a single over.
Coming off a commanding 336-run win at Edgbaston, Team India not only ended their winless streak at the historic venue, but also levelled the five-match series 1-1 in stunning fashion thanks to Shubman Gill's twin hundreds and a rousing spell from pacer Akash Deep.
Ishan Kishan's sensational comeback and Sanju Samson's inconsistent displays with the bat will reignite debate over who should be Abhishek Sharma's preferred opening partner.
Ravindra Jadeja's omission from the India ODI squad for Australia tour raised a few eyebrows but the veteran all-rounder was not surprised as the selection committee and team management had "communicated" to him about their inability to pick him.
As Shubman Gill entered the team hotel before their Delhi Capitals clash, a young fan's pure joy erupted.
Karun Nair rued that he could not convert the starts he got in the recent Test series against England into big scores.
Simon Harmer led South Africa's lion-hearted bowling effort as the Proteas registered a thrilling 30-run victory against India inside three days of the low-scoring opening Test.
He will break Hashim Amla's record of scoring 2,000 ODI runs in the least number of innings.
Shubman Gill, the vice-captain of India's white-ball teams, praised the new head coach, Gautam Gambhir, for his clear thinking
'Samson is most dangerous in the top three. That's where he wins you matches. He should be left there.'
India begins their T20 World Cup campaign against the USA, aiming to leverage their strong team composition and recent form to secure a victory.
India will enter the Asia Cup as defending champions under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav, with the tournament serving as key preparation for next year's World Cup at home.
'As the game unfolds our plans keep changing and the good thing is that everybody in the team is aware of that... it's not that if we win we are on a high and if we lose we are down and out; it's pretty stable and neutral.'
Test captain Shubman Gill divulged that India is still mulling over its combination ahead of the opening Test against the West Indies in Ahmedabad on Thursday, hinting at the possibility of Kuldeep Yadav being sacrificed for batting depth and team combination.
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