New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson is aware that the challenge of playing Test cricket in India will be different from what it is back home, his enviable record notwithstanding.
Virat Kohli is intense and aggressive on the field but off it he is nice and welcoming, according to his Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate New Zealand pacer Kyle Jameison. The lanky pacer said the Indian skipper is extremely passionate about winning.
England produced a brilliant comeback to beat Australia by two runs on the final ball of their first T20 international in Southampton on Friday after the visitors looked to be cruising to victory in their first competitive match for six months.
India head coach Ravi Shastri on Wednesday said the ICC World Test Championship final should be a best-of-three affair in the long run and not a one-off match like his side is set to play against New Zealand in the inaugural edition.
The defender later became the club's assistant coach before embarking on an eventful career as a head coach, managing Dutch sides Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord plus Premier League sides Southampton and Everton and La Liga's Valencia.
Imperious Liverpool extended their Premier League home winning streak against Arsenal to six on Saturday with an easy 4-0 victory that lifted them to second in the table.
A round-up of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
IMAGES from Day 5 of the 3rd and final Test played between England and Pakistan played at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday.
Former and current players took to Twitter to extend wishes to Ravi Shastri
A summary of Saturday's matches in the FA Cup.
The ICC Awards will comprise a total of 13 individual recognitions in all, as well as five Team of the Year announcements for each format across both men's and women's cricket.
India are likely to rest most of their senior players during the T20I series against New Zealand at home, which starts less than a week after the final of the T20 World Cup next month.
Shakib Al Hassan became the second bowler to take 100 T20 wickets, after Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga, as Bangladesh defended 112-8 by bowling Australia out for 62 in 13.4 overs, the tourists lowest Twenty20 score.
India will hope the return of regular captain Virat Kohli proves to be the difference for the hosts against New Zealand when the world's two top-ranked Test sides clash in the second and final match at the Wankhede Stadium from Friday.
India finished a gruelling home series against England, but Virat Kohli has already moved on to his next big task -- IPL 2021.
Fast bowler Jofra Archer will, however, go through a second COVID-19 test and will join England's behind-closed-doors training camp on Thursday, provided he tests negative.
Senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revealed he had given serious thought about retiring after the England series in 2018 as he felt he was not being adequately backed despite being a proven match-winner for the Indian team.
It was Virat Kohli's fourth unsuccessful attempt to lead India to an ICC title
Liverpool took over at the top of the Premier League table despite being held to a 0-0 draw against Manchester United in a scrappy match on Sunday.
Kane Williamson's team became Test cricket's first official world champions
Kane Williamson is aware that spin is a "big component" in a Test series in India and expects his specialist slow bowlers -- left-arm orthodox Ajaz Patel and off-spinner William Somerville -- to adapt to the conditions quickly and make a difference.
India will be without captain and batting mainstay Virat Kohli, who decided to skip the first of the two Tests, while batter Rohit Sharma, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami will miss both matches.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday
Quarantine restrictions might hamper the Indian team's preparations for next month's ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand but bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar feel that the players' abundant experience will be enough to counter that challenge.
'They have got tremendous depth in their squad, the big guns are back and they are a quality outfit under the leadership of Virat Kohli.'
Lacazette fired the Gunners ahead in the eighth minute after poor defending by the home side before new signing Gabriel made it 2-0 in the 49th and Aubameyang put the icing on the cake with a superb shot into the top corner.
Newcastle grabbed a point to leave City manager Pep Guardiola frustrated.
Former skipper Sourav Ganguly described India as favourites to lift the World Cup, saying the team is in best possible shape to win the quadrennial event which gets underway at England on May 30.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the 3rd Test played between England and Pakistan at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Monday.
England have named uncapped seam bowler Ollie Robinson in their 14-man squad to replace all-rounder Ben Stokes for the second Test against Pakistan starting on Thursday, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Wednesday.
Parthiv Patel gave his views on on what the World Test Championship title would mean for Virat Kohli.
England batsman Zak Crawley had a nagging feeling early in his innings that a hundred was on the cards before he powered on to realise his dream of a first Test century with a sparkling unbeaten 171 against Pakistan at the Rose Bowl on Friday.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said on Tuesday all of its home-based players heading to England for a two-match Test series and the World Test Championship final have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Before heading to Australia for the Ashes in the winter, England play seven Tests at home against New Zealand and India this summer.
Everton secured their English Premier League status as Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored five minutes from time to snatch a thrilling 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace after they rallied from two goals down at a rocking Goodison Park on Thursday.
The television rights in the UK for England's tour of India remain undecided with just a week left for the opening Test match in Chennai from February 5.
Pakistan middle-order batsman Mohammad Rizwan hit a defiant half century on a difficult batting pitch to guide his side past the 200-mark in their first innings and frustrate England in the second Test on Friday.
IMAGES from Premier League matches played on Saturday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday
Pakistan opener Abid Ali scored a half-century but England's seam bowlers used the muggy conditions to their advantage to restrict the tourists to 126 for five at the close of a rain-hit opening day of the second Test at the Rose Bowl on Thursday.