A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
Images from Sunday's IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings, in Mohali.
Wishes poured in from all quarters for former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who celebrates his 39th birthday on Tuesday.
At the conclusion of the Asia Cup, Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji make an assessment after 36 matches India has played so far in the 2013-14 season.
Considering that the tournament Down Under will be played on faster wickets, it's obvious that spinners are unlikely to play a significant role. In these circumstances, having one spinner in the playing eleven is the most one can expect, says Bikash Mohapatra.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the accolades for the Indian kabaddi team after it triumphed in the 2016 World Cup, its third in a row, on the back of a memorable second-half fightback against Iran, in Ahmedabad, on Saturday.
The Indian Premier League has given players an idea of how to cope with pressure situations, especially in the knockout stages, feels India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
He finished a stellar T20 International career, registering the record for most by runs any player in T20 World Cups -- 1,292 runs in 35 matches.
Apart from Kohli, many cricketers and other sports personalities have also extended their congratulatory messages to PM Modi, who is now set to start his second term as PM.
India's inexperienced cricket team will have to recover quickly from the eye-opening loss to Sri Lanka and lift its game by a few notches against an unpredictable Bangladesh in the Nidahas Twenty20 Trophy, in Colombo, on Thursday.
The big question is of bench strength and chances for the likes of KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik and Umesh Yadav.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni hoped that Axar Patel would eventually come good with the bat and fulfill his potential to be a good No 7 batsman.
Off-spinner Parveez Rasool picked up his 9th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket as India Green dismissed the Blue team for a paltry 177 before finishing the day at 100 for 3 in the final round robin league encounter of the Duleep Trophy.
India's captain was on Thursday ruled out of Asia Cup due to a Grade 1 left side injury.
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar was one of the first celebrities to wish his followers on social media.
"Conditions are different in India and they have so many world class players, especially in the batting and spin-bowling."
Congratulatory messages poured in for 37-year-old Gambhir from fellow cricketers on social media.
With a strike rate of 115, Shikhar Dhawan is the MVP from the India-West Indies series according to Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji.
India's captain Virat Kohli expressed happiness after the rushing 143-run victory over Ireland in the second Twenty20 international, in Malahide, on Friday to win the series 2-0.
Twenty-four players, including 14 Indians (of which three are uncapped) and ten overseas, were retained as the retention window for the 2014 Pepsi IPL season closed at 1700 hours on Friday.
Jadeja, Shami also return for limited overs series starting Jan 12
Half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik combined with excellent performances from their bowlers helped India 'A' outclass Australia 'A' by 50 runs to win the 'A' teams tri-series in Pretoria, on Wednesday.
Sunil Gavaskar picked Pakistan as the favourites against India in the marquee match of the ICC World T20 to be played at the Eden Gardens on Saturday. India, who were the overwhelming favourites to win the title before the start of the mega event, were humbled by New Zealand in their opening match while Pakistan pummeled Bangladesh in their opener. "After the loss to New Zealand, India will be under far more pressure against Pakistan. I feel Pakistan start as favourites for the game on Saturday," Gavaskar told NDTV. Gavaskar said the highly awaited match will be about Indian batting versus Pakistan bowling as usual. "It is still pretty much Indian batting versus Pakistan bowling. However, with the way Indian bowlers have performed recently, they also won't be easy to tackle either. Ashwin (Ravichandran) is bowling well and so is Nehra (Ashish), ever since he has made a comeback. Then you have Jasprit Bumrah. So it will be a test for Pakistani batsman.
Opener Murali Vijay hit a half-century as India's batsmen survived some intense pressure from Australia's bowlers on the last day to draw the fourth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Rajneesh Gupta figures out the Indian ODI and T20 sides for the South Africa series.
For all those who are likely to get a game, there will be just one target -- to make most of their chances as some of them might not get too many with just about 16 months left for the 50-overs World Cup.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead a full strength India squad for the two-match Twenty20 series against the West Indies in the United States on August 27 and 28.
Just outside the Oval, a combination of Indian origin fans gathered to honour their heroes. There was a combination of Indian style dances and Bollywood music played on the stage as the crowd waited for the team to arrive.
India came up with a clinical all-round display to beat Pakistan by seven wickets in a one-sided opening Super-10 league match of the ICC World Twenty20 in Mirpur on Friday.
India edged out Bangladesh by one run in a thrilling World Twenty20 match on Wednesday to keep alive their hopes of reaching the semi-finals.
India's selectors went on expected lines, leaving out former champions while giving the nod to top performers in domestic circuit in the 30-man probables' list for the 2015 World Cup.
Trailing 1-2 in the series, India have some concerns with most batsmen not showing enough flexibility at different batting positions.
Tendulkar shared a video in which he showed a 'priceless' thing that is very close to the legendary batsman.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan picked Virat Kohli as India's key player, but asserted that his team cannot take the other batsmen lightly when the teams meet in the ICC World T20 match in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will miss Chennai Super Kings' six-day conditioning camp ahead of the team's departure to the United Arab Emirates for the Indian Premier League next month because of personal commitments.
India's former and current players took to social media to wish ace off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on his 40th birthday, on Friday.
A win on Friday would seal the three-match series for Virat Kohli and Co.
Cricket fraternity and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the death of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jagmohan Dalmiya.
Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar will mentor 11 emerging players, including Parveez Rasool and Unmukt Chand, as part of an initiative by sports apparel company.
Virat Kohli struck a majestic 127 as India fashioned a 59-run win over the West Indies in Dharamsala, effectively sealing the ODI series 2-1 after the visitors dramatically pulled out from the remainder of the tour over an acrimonious pay dispute with their board.
