Nair will bat at No 5 at The Oval in what many see as his last chance at redemption.
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.
K L Rahul on Saturday conceded that Indian batters' repeated struggles against spin, especially on home tracks, remain a concern.
Domestic veterans Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajat Patidar and Rinku Singh could keep the team management interested going forward in Test cricket.
'The moment was right': Head floors England with match-winning hundred
I'd like India to have extra bowling depth against Australia: Ian bishop
India crushed West Indies by an innings and 140 runs inside three days in the first Test to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, in Ahmedabad, on Saturday.
Australia dominated day two of the second Ashes Test on Friday with a punishing batting assault on a lifeless Gabba pitch as England fumbled their chances in the field.
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.
In India's first innings, only Yashasvi Jaiswal (58 off 97 balls) and Washington Sundar (48 off 92 balls) could contribute substantially as the home team suffered a batting collapse after starting the day at 9 for no loss.
The likes of Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Axar Patel would all like to get some decent hit out there in the middle ahead of Sunday's clash against Pakistan.
Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma was crowned Player of the Tournament in India's maiden ICC Women's World Cup triumph, says she still cannot believe she bowled the title-winning delivery.
Alex Carey scored 63 and Beau Webster 60 as Australia were bowled out for 286. West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph took 4 wickets for 61 runs on Day 1 of the second Test.
Skipper Vihaan Malhotra (13) was dismissed in the fourth over by medium pacer Salam Khan (3/35), who also removed Abhigyan Kundu (12) and Mohamed Enaam (1), reducing India A to 85 for five inside 11 overs.
It was also his third hundred in the last seven innings after going past three digits against Australia A at Lucknow and the West Indies at Ahmedabad.
'We would like to believe and back ourselves to know these conditions or adapt to these conditions a lot faster even if we find them slightly different, as compared to, say, somebody who is brought up in Johannesburg and has played all his cricket at the Wanderers ground.'
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.
Rinku smashed 17 fours and six sixes during his stay in the middle. He was batting on 98 at stumps on the third evening and faced a total of 247 balls across two days.
Images from the fifth T20 International between India and South Africa, in Ahmedabad, on Friday.
Suryakumar Yadav on Sunday acknowledged the shortage of runs from him but India's T20I skipper did not count it as lack of form, saying that runs will come sooner than later.
The series promises a fascinating duel between the two modern-day pace greats.
'They are up their own backsides convinced that Test cricket has changed so much that only they know anything about the modern game.'
India will be desperate for a quality replacement for the crucial No. 4 slot with Shubman Gill likely to be ruled out for the must-win second and final Test against South Africa.
The former CSK stalwart also noted that Axar Patel's consistency over recent years positions him as a natural leader within the DC core. But the trickier decision, according to Raina, concerns veteran opener Faf du Plessis, who endured a lean run with just 202 runs from nine games.
'If they have picked him ahead of Yashasvi Jaiswal, and as many felt, Sanju Samson, you can imagine how extremely privileged he is.'
South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad wholeheartedly admitted that the use of the word 'grovel' took the sheen away from his team's landmark Test victory over India.
Speaking on the RCB Podcast, the English cricketer revealed that the team's style and clarity of communication made the transition seamless.
Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni batted at number seven against , promoting the likes of Sam Curran, Jadhav and Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of himself but the ploy backfired badly
Steve Smith said the decision to drop Nathan Lyonwas taken to strengthen the pace-bowling department.
Even as Australia pressed hard to regain control with key breakthroughs, Jemimah's focus never wavered. Her shot selection was immaculate and temperament unflappable.
Caught by Wicket-keeper Alex Carey after edging a Pat Cummins delivery, Rohit's shot selection and technique highlighted the technical difficulties Pujara believes stem from his batting position shift.
Virat Kohli has two hundreds and a fifty in his last three innings, while Rohit Sharma has a hundred and two fifties in his last four outings.
Pace bowling all-rounders always come at a premium and therefore, the troika of Green, Venkatesh Iyer and West Indies' Jason Holder, all coming at the highest base price of Rs 2 crore (US$220,000), are set to headline the bidding war.
At stumps, Sai Sudharsan and Kuldeep Yadav were at the crease with India requiring another 522 runs to win and level the two-Test series.
Spinner Matthew Kuhnemann hopes Australia's bowlers will curb the fireworks from India's batting star Abhishek Sharma in the fourth T20I on Thursday.
Since making a comeback to the T20 team for the Asia Cup, Shubman Gill has struggled to tally just 184 runs in 10 innings.
Flamboyant Indian opener Abhishek Sharma, who notched up another fifty in the Asia Cup on Wednesday against Bangladesh, credited his fearless batting to sheer hard work and hours of practice in the nets.
'Most of the batters performed. I would say that is a very good sign going forward. Apart from this you have got three quality batters who are not even part of the squad -- Shreyas (Iyer), Sarfaraz (Khan) and (Devdutt) Padikkal.'
After his magnificent double hundred against England, India skipper Shubman Gill on Thursday said he had stopped enjoying his batting in pursuit of runs but going back to basics and making some technical changes helped him rediscover the joy in his craft.
'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?'
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