'I was playing country cricket and working as a carpenter, and that was the dream for me.'
The T20 WC champions will look to enter this phase with clarity of intent as they refine roles, streamline combinations and settle the XI that will carry the weight of expectations in front of home crowds.
Grind pays off for Ruturaj Gaikwad, now upto him and luck to prove his 50-over mettle.
South African pacer Kagiso Rabada, who missed the first Test against India in Kolkata due to a rib injury, is in awe of his team's ability to rebound from setbacks.
Rishabh Pant's place in the playing eleven is far from guaranteed, while Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy are locked in a tight contest for the additional all-rounder's slot as India confront several selection dilemmas ahead of the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi.
The focus is to bring momentum back into the Indian dressing room: Morne Morkel
Trump made the announcement in response to what he described as China taking "an extraordinarily aggressive position on trade" by sending "an extremely hostile letter to the world."
China Eastern Airlines has resumed its Shanghai-Delhi service after a five-year gap, marking the first mainland Chinese carrier to restore direct flights to India this year. The resumption follows the resolution of border tensions and aims to boost trade, economic, and cultural exchanges between the two countries.
A senior Pakistani minister has admitted that the country failed to capitalize on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), citing attempts by the previous government to undermine Chinese investments, leading to investor flight.
Chinese airline China Eastern is set to begin its Delhi-Shanghai flight from Sunday, days after IndiGo's flight to Guangzhou from Kolkata, marking the resumption of the flight services between the two countries after a gap of five years.
South Africa are the World Test champions and skipper Temba Bavuma wants them to play like it and prove their credentials in the two-Test series against India beginning on Friday.
Gill, who donned the opener's role during India's unbeaten run to the Asia Cup trophy, mustered up 127 runs in seven appearances.
India and China will resume direct flight services by the end of this month after a five-year gap, signaling an effort to rebuild ties strained by the border standoff in eastern Ladakh.
'The No. 3 spot can't become a game of musical chairs.'
Gearing up for Trump 2.0 era, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday cautioned there will be no winner in a tariff or tech wars between China and the United States and vowed that Beijing would firmly safeguard its interests.
The contest between England's dialled-down "Bazball" approach and Australia's more methodical batting could determine who prevails in the Ashes series beginning in Perth on Friday.
The Global Times, a prominent state-run Chinese media outlet, published an article titled "China and India are cooperation partners, not rivals: Xi," highlighting President Xi Jinping's remarks about the bilateral meeting, saying, "as long as the two countries stick to this overarching direction, China-India relations can sustain steady and long-term growth."
Expect nothing less than hostility, fire and close contests as Ben Stokes' England come armed with their Bazball philosophy to try and get the better of a depleted Australia.
The Perth Stadium curator has promised the wicket will be green, fast and bouncy but Stokes offered no thoughts on whether England would attack with four quicks or pick the specialist spinner, Shoaib Bashir, in their 11.
'Players who are playing First-Class cricket throughout the year, they would have had 14 First-Class games potentially with India A games, the Irani Trophy, the Duleep Trophy or even more. So a bit of break in between, switching in the formats is always good.'
Their last eight Tests in Perth have all been defeats, with the most recent setback a bitter innings and 41-run capitulation in 2017 that saw Joe Root's team surrender the urn.
'I think it's an ongoing process, just continuously putting in hours of work and speaking to people that have played in these conditions, have done well in these conditions.'
'The longer India hangs out to dry, the worse the New Delhi-Washington relationship gets.'
Pakistan's premier quick Shaheen Shah Afridi blanked out, leading to a hilarious moment after he briefly forgot Bangladesh's famous cricketing nickname, the Tigers
'But I would say given the importance of this series and given the conditions we think we are going to face, he (Nitish Kumar Reddy) might miss out in this Test this week.'
During a special briefing in Tianjin, Misri confirmed that the prime minister will first address the SCO plenary session before meeting President Putin.
'The strategic difference over technology and territory between India and China remain great and security interests on both sides will likely prevent a short-term rapprochement of any depth.'
Bolton slammed Trump's tariff policy, asserting that it has "shredded" decades of Western efforts to align India away from its Cold War ties with the then Soviet Union (Russia) and address the growing threat from China.
The relations between New Delhi and Washington are on a downturn after Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, including a 25 per cent additional duties for India's purchase of Russian crude oil.
'One Chinese interlocutor said India should realise that "China can do without India, but India could not do without China", pointing to its inability to do without Chinese intermediates and components,' former foreign secretary Shyam Saran discovers on a visit to China.
With no ODI series in Australia in the next two years, it is impossible to think that the legendary duo will again be seen Down Under in India blues.
Navarro's remarks came after the public display of bonhomie by the three leaders on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin on Monday.
The Congress party has criticized the Modi government's approach to China following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, questioning whether the government is legitimizing Chinese aggression.
India bowling coach Morne Morkel admitted his side was "surprised" by how quickly the Eden Gardens surface "deteriorated" after a dramatic second day in which 15 wickets fell and the opening Test swung sharply in India's favour.
'Xi is an individual led by a harder calculus and would scoff at melting over gestures.' 'That we did not know this was our failure,' asserts Aakar Patel.
Since making a comeback to the T20 team for the Asia Cup, Shubman Gill has struggled to tally just 184 runs in 10 innings.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to work towards a "fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable" resolution of the festering boundary issue and pledged to work towards stabilising global trade.
Shreyas Iyer's exclusion for the upcoming Asia Cup sparked outrage among the fans and experts, after his stellar showing with the bat in IPL 2025.
"I didn't even know there was an Indian women's cricket team," said pacer Kranti Goud as she reminisced her journey from Madhya Pradesh's obscure Ghuwara village to the very top of the sport she picked up by chance.
