That Rohit will make a comeback was indicated by skipper Kohli in England and that was precisely the reason why he was rested for the limited overs series against West Indies.
Sri Lanka have decided to rest strike bowler Lasith Malinga for the first Test against West Indies in Galle which starts on Monday.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the interesting numbers from Day 4 of the India-England Test at Lord's.
South Africa will recall opener Herschelle Gibbs for the second and final Test against Sri Lanka starting in Colombo on Wednesday.
'Certainly, I've had some success at Galle, and I know some of the other seamers have as well, so it is certainly not doom and gloom for the seamers. We've got to be ready to put in a big shift.'
India may have slipped to fourth in the Test rankings following the drawn Test in Fatullah, but its openers, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, achieved career-best rankings for batsmen.
The Sri Lankan spinner was reported for a suspect action after last month's opening Test against New Zealand in Galle.
Dilshan, 31, was dropped for Sri Lanka's tour to Australia in November but returns in place of Jehan Mubarak, who struggled in the first two matches.
Still licking the wounds of a 10-wicket mauling in Galle, a jittery India go into the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka starting in Colombo on Sunday with their status as the World No 1 team at stake.
Suryakumar Yadav has been to wait for his turn in ODIs despite his phenomenal show in T20 cricket.
Sri Lanka named a 16-member team for the upcoming Test series against India with uncapped 23-year-old fast bowler Vishwa Fernando the only fresh face picked by the national selectors.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers from the first Test.
What things should they improve upon to make a comeback in the second Test, beginning in Colombo, on Monday.
Jonny Bairstow, restored to the England side but shorn of his keeping gloves, celebrated his return with a sparkling 110 to help them to 312 for seven on the opening day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka on Friday.
Opener David Warner is still looking for his first Test hundred against Sri Lanka while Smith has managed only one century in his last 18 Tests.
India's specialist Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha said it will be difficult to fill the void created by Mahendra Singh Dhoni's retirement from the longer version of the game as the former skipper was a proven match-winner.
Firecrackers went off in the stadium as Muttiah Muralitharan stepped out to bat in his swansong Test and players from both India and Sri Lanka also did their bit to make the spin wizard's farewell match a memorable affair.
Sri Lanka called up uncapped paceman Dammika Prasad as an additional bowling option for the second Test against India in Galle starting on Thursday.
South Africa retained the iconic Reliance ICC Test Championship mace and with it won a cash award of $500,000 following its 2-0 series win over the West Indies in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Captain Dimuth Karunaratne continued his rich vein of form to remain unbeaten on 49 with Angelo Mathews yet to score as only 36.3 overs of play were possible due to rain and bad light.
Sri Lanka's Akila Dananjaya spun a web around New Zealand's batsmen, picking up all five wickets on a rain-shortened opening day of the first Test in Galle on Wednesday. Experienced batsman Ross Taylor held firm with an unbeaten 86 against the guile of Dananjaya to take the touring side to 203 for five when rain forced early stumps.
Angelo Mathews, playing his 100th Test, batted aggressively and got a reprieve when Babar floored a sitter at cover when the batsman was on 36.
Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath, the most successful left-arm spinner in Test history, will retire after the series opener against England in Galle next month, local media reported on Monday.
Joe Root scored a breezy, unbeaten 67 and will resume on the third morning with Jonny Bairstow, who has 24.
Dom Bess claimed five wickets as England dismissed hosts Sri Lanka for 135
Pakistan's off-spinner Saeed Ajmal failed to provide satisfactory results in an informal biomechanic test in light of his bowling ban, which has reportedly prompted the Pakistan Cricket Board to go on the back-foot to apply for his reassessment.
'I don't want to run around things too much. I am going to keep doing my work and follow my process. I love doing my fitness drills and work on my skill level. I knew if it has to come, it will come'
Babar Azam becomes fastest Asian batter to reach 10,000 international runs
India skipper Virat Kohli stoutly defended his five-bowler strategy, saying the blame lays with the batsmen who failed to deliver while chasing 176-odd runs in the first Test in Galle.
'India are very, very patient but if you are willing to be patient and bowl all day you will take wickets'
But Mendis and Embuldeniya then ran through the batting line-up to bundle them out for 132 in the second session as West Indies lost their last eight wickets for 40 runs.
India captain Virat Kohli says comeback man Parthiv Patel 'respects' the fact that he is a stopgap keeper but expects him to make full use of the opportunity so that he can grab the second wicketkeeper's slot, especially when India plays away from home.
Former captain Mahela Jayawardene hit a classy unbeaten century to help Sri Lanka close on 305 for five on the first day of the second Test against South Africa in Colombo on Thursday. In a chanceless six hours at the crease, Jayawardene finished on 140 not out off 225 balls, including one six and 16 fours, to give Sri Lanka a solid start in their bid to level the two-match series.
Spinners Dunith Wellalage (3-42) and Maheesh Theekshana (2-26) kept Sri Lanka in the hunt but Dasun Shanaka's side were left to rue a limp performance with the bat.
Sri Lanka's top cricket administrators say it is difficult to believe allegations of pitch-fixing in a 2016 Test match against Australia which have triggered a probe by the International Cricket Council.
Opener Ahmed Shehzad has been recalled to Pakistan's Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka after being dropped for the April-May series against Bangladesh on disciplinary grounds. Besides Shehzad, the selectors also recalled southpaw Shan Masood, another out-of-favour opener, who was ignored for the last few series and tournaments.
Pakistani cricket authorities said that they would be soon be sending suspended off-spinner Saeed Ajmal for an informal biomechanic tests in a bid to get him cleared before next year's World Cup. The PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said the decision to send Ajmal for the informal test on his remodelled bowling action was taken after positive reports from the team of experts which is
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com explains why skipper Virat Kohli is backing his opening batsman to carry on the good form in the next two Tests of the series.
'I mean, I certainly wasn't looking at how many innings I haven't scored, because when you are playing all formats you are not thinking which format you have not scored runs in how many innings. You cannot utilise so much energy in that but it always feels good to score runs especially when the team wins'
800 gets so lost in celebrating its grand subject that it forgets something pretty elementary: Cricket is a team sport!, notes Sreehari Nair.
