India will be looking to round off their T20 World Cup preparation with a marked improvement in their death bowling besides providing crucial game time to its untested players in the three-match series against South Africa.
Skipper Rohit Sharma will be travelling to the port city on Wednesday and is expected to feature in the series-opener.
The 34-year-old not being picked for the first two T20s raised questions over his fitness but Kotak said the veteran pacer has no issues on that front.
When you are batting at No. 6, you need to be ready for collapse, says Deepak Hooda
Lucknow Super Giants silenced all doubts with a dominant run chase, storming to their first victory of IPL 2025.
Axar also patted fellow spinner Varun Chakravarthy (5/42) for coming up with a match-winning spell.
Umesh was brought in as Shami's replacement
Tilak Varma became the first batter ever to notch three successive hundreds in T20s, while Shreyas Iyer underlined his credentials with a smooth century
'Hardik is also a part of leading group. When we sit, we decide what we want to do in the game going forward and also on the field. He is always around. It's like we have a lot of captains on the ground.'
Having recovered completely from an injury following a car accident, Mumbai's Musheer Khan is determined to make an impact in his maiden IPL season.
India is facing form concerns and selection dilemmas as they enter the final phase of their Champions Trophy preparations.
Former Bangladesh opener Imrul Kayes reckons the absence of Jasprit Bumrah will provide his team an opportunity to put India's pace attack under pressure.
India's young guns will get an opportunity to fire on the big stage and carry forward the team's exceptional dominance over England when they clash with the visitors in the three-match Twenty20 series, starting in Kanpur on Thursday.
Spin great Ravichandran Ashwin says New Zealand, despite the absence of the long-serving pace duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, who have quit playing the 50-over format, will pose a challenge to India.
The Impact Player rule in the Indian Premier League is working at the moment but it could pose issues for the development of all-rounders at some stage, reckons New Zealand and Gujarat Titans all-rounder Glenn Phillips.
Mohsin's dodgy hamstring made the decision easier for Chetan Sharma's committee
'The 2018 series win in Australia stands out in his captaincy.'
The high-scoring IPL 2025 match between Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants in Visakhapatnam, which witnessed batters clobbering 29 sixes and 34 boundaries in total, five bowlers came up with decent bowling spells and withstood the onslaught.
K L Rahul is likely to be rested for the white-ball series against England, starting in Kolkata on January 22.
Delhi Capitals won a humdinger against Lucknow Super Giants to kick off their IPL 2025 campaign on a winning note in Visakhapatnam and pocketed full points with a one-wicket win in an encounter that went down to the wire.
'I will meet him on October 24th'
He is being looked at as a specialist Test batsman, but young Cheteshwar Pujara feels that his sterling performances in the four-Test series against England has given him enough confidence to excel in the other two versions of the game -- ODIs and T20s.
Australia Test captain Pat Cummins is eyeing the upcoming Indian Premier League as his comeback platform from an ankle injury and has expressed confidence in regaining full fitness ahead of the World Test Championship final against South Africa, starting June 11 at Lord's.
Ajinkya Rahane, who was appointed KKR captain and led Mumbai into the Ranji Trophy semi-finals and scored 467 runs, said he would carry the confidence from domestic cricket into the upcoming edition of the IPL.
Anil Chaudhary, a veteran umpire, believes that Indian umpires are struggling due to overemphasis on theoretical knowledge and lack of practical experience.
Pace sensation Mayank Yadav is expected to unleash his raw speed while the absence of India's T20 regulars will provide another opportunity to the fringe players in the three-match series against Bangladesh, beginning in Gwalior Sunday.
But in a chat with Melinda Farrell on her YouTube channel, de Villiers let it slip that he wishes to play the game again.
Rahul, who initially batted at No. 6 in the first two games, didn't look comfortable and fared far better at the familiar No. 5 position with a useful 40 off 29 balls in India's one-sided 142-run victory in the third ODI in Ahmedabad.
Shikhar Dhawan joined the Legends League Cricket (LLC) following his retirement from international cricket.
Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes Virat Kohli needs to relax and not overthink his form ahead of India's crucial Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan.
Smriti Mandhana achieved a career-best world number two rank in T20Is and climbed to the seventh spot in ODIs
'Indian cricket is on an upward curve, definitely, other teams have to catch up with us and (the Champions Trophy) final is going to be crucial.'
Pacer Siddharth Kaul on Thursday announced his retirement from Indian cricket, saying he is open to playing in county cricket or in overseas leagues.
On the captain himself not getting to bat much during the series, Dhoni said, "Difficult one, we did what was right to put in the opposition (in the ODIs). We decided to do what was the right way to play cricket." Dhoni said that this series helped the team develop a pool of 10-12 fast bowlers.
While the Indian squad looks ravishing, with talent aplenty, here are five Indian players to watch out for in the series.
Shastri said he doesn't 'remember a single (T20) game in the last six-seven years as coach of India, barring the World Cup'.
India will tour Ireland, their first visit to the country since 2007, for a couple of T20 Internationals in June before the full series in England from July to September The T20 matches will be held in Dublin on June 27 and June 29, the BCCI announced on Wednesday.
Rohit Sharma smashed a century to help India secure a nine-wicket win over England in the second ODI, clinching the three-match series 2-0.
'Certain formats require a certain skill set and whenever we look at these kinds of players, if the talent is there, then you don't want to shy away from blooding them.'
