In the absence of national regulars, the focus will shift on the likes of Rinku, who was surprisingly not picked for the first round despite having an impressive first-class record.
Out of favour India batter Hanuma Vihari will be leading the South Zone squad in the upcoming Duleep Trophy tournament.
'We won't miss Virat and Rohit. I have faith in our young team.'
The big-hitting Suryakumar Yadav is the highest placed Indian at second spot, while young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal occupies the sixth position in the ICC T20I batting rankings issued on Wednesday.
'It is a dream to be part of the Indian team. My father (Sundar) and coaches, including M Senthilnathan, have played a big role in shaping me as a cricketer'
Gujarat Titans roared back to winning ways with a 38-run mauling of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
With the series locked at 1-1, Brisbane could well decide the course of the rubber and whether Rohit's men would continue to be the master of their fate in the ongoing World Test Championship.
Images from Day 2 of the 3rd Test played between India and New Zealand, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
The third ODI, a day-night match, will be held on Sunday at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.
Pictures from the 2nd ODI between India and Sri Lanka being played in Colombo, Sri Lanka
It could also open the door for in-form Andhra all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who scored a historic maiden Test century during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, reeling from three consecutive defeats, will face a resurgent Gujarat Titans in their fifth IPL encounter on Sunday.
'He has not lived up to expectations.' 'If this was Shubman Gill from Tamil Nadu, he would have been dropped.'
The all-rounder also speaks of how coach Ravi Shastri has inspired him and the challenge of opening in Test matches.
'Five spinners, Siraj ignored for Rana, and Jaiswal dropped. Brain-faded captain and coach combo!'
Washington Sundar spun a web around the India Blue batsmen for his successive five-wicket haul of the match as India Red emerged champions of the Duleep Trophy with a 163-run victory, in Lucknow, on Thursday.
It was a proper Test innings, it was of the highest class, and given the circumstances it came in, it was one of the best innings by an Indian batsman in recent memory, applauds Prem Panicker.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was on Saturday expectedly picked in the India squad for the Champions Trophy and pacer Mohammed Shami returned to national fold
Nayar believes that the whole team has bought into Rohit and Gambhir's philosophy, including the two spin greats.
India won't give into the temptation of tinkering with the Playing XI, feels opening batter KL Rahul.
Rohit's numbers with the willow has been a bit underwhelming during the five home Tests but those were played on difficult tracks.
Several of the home batters got starts but Clive Madande was the top scorer with an unbeaten 29 from 25 balls as Zimbabwe collapsed from 73-3 to 90-9 before a late innings flurry.
The young Tamil Nadu all-rounder knows he has to perform both with bat and ball whenever he gets an opportunity.
With 288 runs at a strike rate of 225, Nicholas Pooran is the top run-getter in IPL 2025, while Mohammed Siraj has been brilliant in Powerplay overs with 10 wickets in five games.
India's young guns are fearless and mentally hardened by the IPL exposure. But true mettle will be tested when adversity strikes -- and this time, there will be no Kohli to stir up the crowd, no Rohit to deliver a captaincy masterstroke, and no Ashwin to conjure wickets out of nowhere.
Suryakumar Yadav was picked as the India T20I captain ahead of Hardik Pandya, while Rohit stays as the captain of the ODI team.
Young Indian stars will be eager to usher in a new era in the shortest format with a series victory when they face Zimbabwe in the fourth T20I in Harare on Saturday.
Pandya's inclusion obviously adds firepower to batting and he can also open the bowling if necessary.
'Virat has been helping me a lot on different occasions'
The Bangladesh bowlers have the ability to spice up things but against India's formidable lineup, they would need plenty of runs on the board.
'We have nothing but respect for every Indian cricketer who takes the field on Friday'
Images from Day 1 of the 'Pink-ball' second Test between Australia and India in Adelaide on Friday.
This was India's seventh defeat in their last nine matches as their poor run in Test cricket continues following successive series defeats against New Zealand at home and in Australia.
Varun Chakravarthy was the second highest wicket-taker in IPL 2024 with 21 wickets in 15 games as he played a major role in KKR's title triumph.
'Rinku supported Zeeshan a lot during UP T20 league. A leg-spinner needs a lot of confidence from his captain. He was brought into bowl at crucial junctures and that helped him catch attention of scouts.'
India will look for the right balance as they aim for a series-levelling victory against a spunky New Zealand in the must-win second Test.
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said on Tuesday that middle-order batters KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan are locked in a selection battle for the second Test against New Zealand here even though head coach Gautam Gambhir is keen to give the former, a long rope.
Tech billionaires shadowed US President Donald Trump at the inauguration on Monday.
'If Rohit wants to open, KL should bat at No. 3. Nothing later than that.'
'The stakes are too high and it would have been a complete embarrassment had Bumrah broken down in a match.'
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