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.
Senuran Muthusamy and Marco Jansen made Indian finger spinners' look ordinary in good batting conditions with invaluable lower-order contributions as South Africa seized control of the second Test.
'In a format driven by aggression and innovation, the question remains: Can Shubman Gill's classical batting style continue to find space in India's T20 future?'
The others to arrive after a delayed flight were K L Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy along with some members of the support staff.
Ignored Karun Nair hits 2nd ton to take Karnataka to 319/3 against Kerala in the Ranji Trophy.
Ahead of the mini-auction, scheduled to be held in Doha on December 26, the 10 franchises have released their list of retained and released players.
Chasing 121 for victory, India were 63/1 at stumps and West Indies will draw solace from being able to force a final-day finish after being made to follow on.
YIndia's batting unit includes Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, who can all open the innings. Jaiswal will only be drafted in if one of them is ruled out due to injury. Similarly, Prasidh Krishna could only come into contention if there is an issue with Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, or Harshit Rana.
The cricketing ecosystem has learned to survive the prolonged absence of Kohli and Rohit -- at least in two formats -- in this interim period.
'Rishabh Pant is not fit for West Indies series, hopefully he will be available for home Tests against South Africa.'
Kuldeep was instrumental to India's success at the Asia Cup, topping the wicket-taking chart with 17 wickets. Chopra explained the rationale behind dropping the left-arm wrist spinner, attributing it to batting depth.
Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and K L Rahul perished early as India fumbled in the chase of a mammoth 549-run target on Day 4 of the second Test.
The Proteas arrive high on confidence, having fought out a hard-earned 1-1 draw in Pakistan last month under challenging conditions.
Indian spinner Ravi Bishnoi and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh moved up to the sixth and 10th spot respectively in the latest ICC T20 rankings released on Wednesday.
While many captains have buckled under the pressure, the responsibility to lead a team followed by a billion-plus fans appears to have brought the best out of Gill.
Kuldeep Yadav has a good record in T20 Internationals with 69 wickets in 40 matches at an economy rate of 6.77, with a best of 5/17 against South Africa.
Assessing Sai Sudharsan's temperament and Nitish Kumar Reddy's utility in home conditions would be topmost on India's checklist when the high-on-confidence hosts take on a floundering West Indies
There is a school of thought that having done the hard yards in the England series, Karun Nair deserves an opportunity against a weaker opposition where a century could boost his career.
Virat Kohli is yet to arrive in Bengaluru and it is not clear when he will undergo the mandatory fitness test ahead of the new season.
Shubman Gill struck his 10th Test century, while Ravindra Jadeja picked up three wickets as India dominated Day 2 of the second Test against West Indies, in Delhi, on Saturday.
Responding to India's squad selection for the home series against West Indies, former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan opined that pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah could have been rested for the series in order to groom a young fast bowler.
India's awe-inspiring batting depth will face a stern test against South Africa's quality spin attack in the first Test, starting in Kolkata on Friday.
The home side, chasing a 2-0 series sweep, reduced West Indies to 140-4 with left-armer Jadeja (3-37) leading the way.
India will enter the Asia Cup as defending champions under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav, with the tournament serving as key preparation for next year's World Cup at home.
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.
Jaiswal gears up for SA Test with big hundred but Mumbai get only 1 point
Deepak Hooda smashed a brilliant double hundred to put Rajasthan in control as they took a massive lead against Mumbai on Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match.
Mystery spinner Varun Charkravarthy on Wednesday rose to the top spot in ICC's T20 International Bowlers' Rankings for the first time
The short turnaround time from the high of winning a controversy-marred Asia Cup notwithstanding, Shubman Gill's India will be outright favourites against a struggling and under-strength West Indies when the teams face-off on a green-top in the first Test in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Shubman Gill enjoyed a phenomenal run with the bat in England, piling up 754 runs at an average of 75.40 with four centuries.
Fresh from a hard-fought 2-2 draw in England, Shubman Gill's men will be eager to translate their overseas resilience into home dominance.
After the proceedings began with light warm-up and catching, the action shifted to the nets where all batters had long stints in the nets while the other pace bowlers too put in the hard yards.
'Off to England for the World Test Championship Final with the one and only Rohit Sharma.'
Team India touched down in Manchester on Sunday ahead of the must-win fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy
Skipper Shubman Gill had a long batting stint while the troika of Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel returned to action for India's final training session here on Wednesday before the first Test against the West Indies.
'If they have picked him ahead of Yashasvi Jaiswal, and as many felt, Sanju Samson, you can imagine how extremely privileged he is.'
This was India's fourth defeat in the last six Tests at home and in all four Tests -- including three against New Zealand -- their batters have flopped against spin.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the 2nd Test between India and West Indies in New Delhi on Monday.
South Africa will aim for their first Test victory in India in more than 15 years.
We didn't ask for rank turners so need to put in more effort to get bounce and turn: Jadeja
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