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.
India descended to the 6th position in the ICC World Test Championship points table due to a 2-point penalty
Jasprit Bumrah doesn't seem to be a long-term captaincy option given his nagging fitness concerns.
Victory for South Africa followed Test success over West Indies in Guyana in August and Bangladesh in a two-Test series in October.
The live viewership of the Test played between June 18 and 23 touched 130.6 million across 89 territories.
Parthiv Patel believes that Virat Kohli's exhibition with the bat will hold the way into India's possibilities in the WTC final.
One of New Zealand's most successful coaches who is now currently director of cricket at the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mike Hesson expects Rohit and Gill to open but wants Agarwal, who lost his spot in the eleven after two Tests in Australia, to be given a chance.
Even though India's all-round struggles in the ongoing series have compounded their issues, there were some soothing words from the opposition camp, which has not put a foot wrong on this trip.
'Sometimes you're so used to muscling the ball that you end up forgetting the soft hands which probably used to happen eight or 10 years back. A complete cricketer is a cricketer who plays T20 format and Test cricket successfully. He can adapt his game.'
Konstas revealed how his cousin died of leukemia and his grandpa of bowel cancer, and expressed hope the match at SCG would continue to raise awareness about the disease.
The inaugural WTC final is scheduled to be held in Southampton from June 18-22.
'We have seen both teams not having played Test matches for a couple of months. So, it is a one-off. Anything can happen. I will sit on the fence'
New Zealand pacer Tim Southee said their World Test Championship triumph will take at least a couple of weeks to sink in.
The postponement of the Test series between South Africa and Australia means New Zealand have become the first team to qualify for the inaugural ICC World Test Championship final to be held in England from June 18 to 22, with June 23 as the reserve day.
The victorious New Zealand cricketers will carry the ICC World Test Championship Mace on a week-long, nationwide tour of the country, starting on July 26, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said on Wednesday.
Dravid insisted his team is not feeling any pressure going into the World Test Championship final against Australia.
India captain Virat Kohli is not too concerned about the limited preparation time that his team will get for the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand as he believes that it has the requisite understanding of conditions from its past experience of playing in England.
Warner has also taken aim at his Ashes nemesis England veteran pacer Stuart Broad, implying that he will not be the force that derailed the opening batter's 2019 trip this time.
Rajneesh Gupta offers insights about the World Test Championship Final.
Given the Indian batting line-up's weakness against swinging deliveries, New Zealand could go in with an all-pace attack with the pitch likely to offer pace and bounce.
New Zealand captain Tim Southee said playing two Tests at Galle, known as a spinner's paradise, was always going to be challenging.
Shubman Gill is all set to open with Rohit Sharma after he was named in India's 15-man squad for the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand, in Southampton, from June 18.
The Indian players played in the IPL before the T20 league was suspended due to coronavirus.
New Zealand made as many as six changes for the ongoing second Test, some forced and some rotated ahead of the World Test Championship final against India in Southampton from June 18.
Cameron Green's participation in the upcoming marquee five-match Test series against fierce rivals India was on Friday thrown into doubt after a back injury ruled him out of the ongoing tour of England.
Australia coach Justin Langer said on Tuesday his team's "slack" attention to detail in bowling required overs in the India series had cost them a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Jaiswal has made a reputation as one of the most ferocious Test openers in a long time, capable of scoring fast and big both.
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.
Only seven matches in the history of Test cricket have been abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Images from Day 3 of the second Test between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Saturday.
In the first Chennai Test against Bangladesh, Pant scored a magnificent century and returned to Test side with a bang.
Australia's success in Christchurch sets up home Test series against India
Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma ignore each other on match eve
Skipper Rohit Sharma chose not to place batters under the cosh for the series defeat against New Zealand
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.
Rain washed out an entire day's play for the second time in the ICC World Test Championship final in Southampton on Monday, diminishing hopes of a result in the India vs New Zealand contest.
Michael Clarke expressed that if star India batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli fail to perform during the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, they could retire
Aiming to complete the World Test Championship cycle and host the final in June as per schedule, the ICC is contemplating splitting points for all those WTC bilateral series that had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The change in WTC rule, prompted by the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed Australia (82.22%) to leapfrog India (75) to the top of the standings
Shah, the leading run-scorer for Afghanistan in Tests and ODIs, wanted to give the Kiwis, the inaugural WTC champions, a tough time.
