When the Indian team entered the ICC Cricket Academy Arena for their evening net session ahead of the Asia Cup, Samson was the first to start his solo keeping drills with fielding coach T Dilip, even as others were just about lumbering up.
Working with Abhishek has made me understand how to become a coach: Yuvraj Singh
South Africa pulled off a sensational victory inside three days of the opening Test against India on Sunday and the manner of it would go a long way in silencing those who doubted their credentials as the reigning world test champions.
Speculations and debates have sparked over social media since last week, after chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the management's decision to hand over the ODI captaincy from Rohit to Shubman Gill.
"When a captain or a coach says something like this, obviously there is a bit of confidence and you've to back yourself up.'
The second and final Test starts in Guwahati from Saturday with India trailing 0-1 after the defeat on a challenging Eden Gardens pitch in Kolkata.
Ignored by the national selectors for T20 set-up, Yashasvi Jaiswal sent another stern reminder to the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee with a blistering 48-ball century as defending champions Mumbai crushed Haryana by four wickets in a high-scoring Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Super League B match, in Ambi, Pune, on Sunday.
'Will any coach think of keeping out Rohit and Kohli from the ODI team? That means there is something going on within the team against the two players.' Manoj Tiwary, who played 12 ODIs and three T20Is for India, said iconic players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli deserve greater respect.
Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh expressed disappointment at the loss but praised India's all-round performance.
The last time two specialist keepers played together in a Test was in 1986, when Kiran More and Chandrakant Pandit featured in the same XI, with Pandit playing as a batter.
'He will be a people's man. He will capture everybody's heart.'
Former India batter Ajay Jadeja defended head coach Gautam Gambhir from the criticism he has received following the 0-3 drubbing against New Zealand.
'He is a fantastic thinker of the game.'
Gambhir said while it is hypothetical at this point in time to talk about having separate Test team going forward but admitted that India must identify batters who are able to handle the grind of red-ball cricket.
India's sporting fraternity, including Olympic medalists Neeraj Chopra and PV Sindhu, expressed grief and condemnation over the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir.
'Once we have selected Gambhir and if he is interested to coach in all three formats, who am I to say 'You can't coach a particular format'?'
Washington Sundar expressed his gratitude towards head coach Gautam Gambhir and the support staff for their unwavering belief in his abilities in the post-day press conference in Melbourne on Saturday.
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.
'Every series is important, as simple as that, when you are playing for your country..'.
The former cricketer took to social media to celebrate the series win, sharing a photo of the team with the trophy and captioning it, "A tour de force!"
The Sydney Cricket Ground track was "not ideal" for a Test match, according to batting great Sunil Gavaskar, but India Head Coach Gautam Gambhir praised the wicket as "spicy" and "result-oriented".
Interestingly, the BCCI kept Hardik Pandya in the loop over the decision giving clear indications that he is likely to take over as India's T20 captain.
The Bellerive Oval is one ground where the side boundaries are smaller in size, hence hitting the right lengths would be paramount considering anything short would be flying over cover, point, square leg or mid-wicket on either side of the fence.
Former India head coach Rahul Dravid is expecting his successor Gautam Gambhir to do a "great" job with the national team.
Unprecedented series defeats against Sri Lanka and New Zealand have placed Gautam Gambhir under immense pressure barely three months into his appointment as the head coach of the Indian team.
Tilak Varma, India's match-winner in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan, received a grand welcome on his return to Hyderabad on Tuesday.
After KKR's victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday, he celebrated with the team and his family.
Ravichandran Ashwin exposed India batters' lack of quality to battle ball tweakers by claiming that if legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar or past domestic heroes Amol Muzumdar, the India women's team head coach and Mithun Manhas had played against spinners on such a track, the Test would have gone to four days, unlike India's harrowing 30-run defeat against South Africa at Eden Gardens.
'We knew it won't be easy to hit how much you may connect. Plan was to bowl smartly and when a batter is set, force him to hit on the bigger sides than small sides.'
Paine's comments stemmed from a recent media interaction where Gambhir took issue with Ricky Ponting's remarks on Virat Kohli's struggling form, saying that the Australian legend need not be concerned about Indian cricket.
Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill rewrote the record books on Sunday, putting together a blistering 105-run stand-the best-ever opening partnership for India against Pakistan in T20Is.
'It (the decision to pick Nitish ahead of Shardul) is also about moving forward and I feel that this is the best set of players that we have selected to do the job for the country.'
Like the billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Gautam Gambhir, the tenacious former opener-turned-coach, also seems to be governed by instincts while picking unheralded players and turning them into match-winners, points out Vishal Menon.
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.
With the scars of last year's home series whitewash against New Zealand still raw, preparing rank turners may invite risk.
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.
Gautam Gambhir's appointment will be a mere formality as he is only one to have applied for the coach's post.
The conversation between the two made for an interesting watch as they spoke about the importance of Test cricket, staying in the zone and talking of the knocks one enjoyed of the other.
India's Test No 3 Sai Sudharsan said his primary aim is to win matches for the team rather than focusing on individual goals.
Ashwin has had the opportunity to play under the wing of both stars. He pointed out that there isn't a huge gap between Gambhir and Dravid's approach or the passion that the duo shares for Indian cricket.
