'You saw Yashasvi Jaiswal start in the second innings, did you see the first three balls, the kind of shots that he attempted?'
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.
It was indeed a special moment when former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir touched down in the City of Joy to join his former club as the mentor.
Gambhir congratulated Bangladesh on their two-match Test series win against Pakistan. He praised Najmul Hossain Shanto's side, calling them a quality team.
In a mix-up that amused cricket fans, Shoaib Akhtar gave Pakistan a unique strategy ahead of the Asia Cup final, 'Get rid of Abhishek Bachchan early,' referring to India's star batter Abhishek Sharma.
Folks who had previously mocked Gambhir on social media suddenly acknowledged his foresight. Some even apologised for doubting him, flooding SM with praise and memes celebrating his 'KKR quota' selections.
Defending champions India had a full-fledged practice session at the ICC Academy in Dubai on Friday as they put the finishing touches to their Asia Cup preparations.
A Test series win in England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa ranks as a "bigger" achievement than an IPL title, said India's new captain Shubman Gill on Thursday.
Bhai, tune kya batting kiya hai, kamaal ka batting kiya tune'
With the much-anticipated Group A clash against arch-rivals Pakistan looming, India is sparing no effort in their training sessions, honing skills and strategising tactics.
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.
Responding to Gautam Gambhir's jibe at him, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting on Wednesday said the India head coach was a "prickly character"
The intense exchange between Kohli and Gambhir caused a stir on national television.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir put up a stout defence of under-pressure skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli ahead of tour of Australia.
Gambhir non-committal about Playing XI for Sydney Test
Team India wasted no time in getting their preparations underway as they kicked off their first training session at Lord's a few hours after their arrival in London on Saturday.
'What solution can Gambhir or Nayar possibly give, apart from telling him to not play those deliveries?'
Head coach Gautam Gambhir said the character and foundation of the current Indian team will be built on the remarkable act of courage from Rishabh Pant in the Manchester Test.
With the scars of last year's home series whitewash against New Zealand still raw, preparing rank turners may invite risk.
Amidst strong speculation of him wanting to snap the ties with Rajasthan Royals, wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson said his long association with the IPL franchise has transformed his life and career.
Simon Harmer picked up four wickets as South Africa staged an incredible fightback to shock India by 30 runs in a low-scoring first Test match.
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.
Just as India threatened to take full control before lunch, a costly fielding lapse by Mohammed Siraj handed England a lifeline - and it couldn't have come at a worse time.
Gambhir has made his selection process clear by stating his strong belief in players featuring across all three formats.
Young speedster Harshit Rana, who was added as a cover to the Indian squad for the opening Test against England at Leeds, has been released by the team management on Wednesday.
The leg-spinner was a part of KKR's 2014 IPL-winning team and hit the winning runs for the Gautam Gambhir-led side in the summit clash against the Punjab Kings in Bengaluru.
Cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir seems to be making most of the lockdown across the country. The lockdown across India was extended till May 3 to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and East Delhi MP Gambhir is getting to spending time with his kids at home, even though they are not letting him catch up with his sleep.
Rinku Singh credits Gautam Gambhir for Sunil Narine's transformation as 'specialist opener'
Gambhir highlighted the contributions of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ravinchandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja, who have transformed India from a batting-centric nation into a bowling powerhouse.
'Gautam Gambhir and Morne Morkel will need to provide Rohit with more inputs like whether to bowl bouncers or bowl round the wicket or whether we are allowing the game to drift.'
Nine years after he first made his India debut, Sanju Samson finally made it count with three centuries in eight innings against Bangladesh and South Africa last year.
Gambhir was left visibly moved as Dravid reflected on his successful tenure and offered words of wisdom for the new role.
Jitesh Sharma, who has emerged as India's preferred wicketkeeper-batter in T20 format with less than two months left for the World Cup, has played down his 'competition' with Sanju Samson in the squad, saying it only brings out his "A-game" to the fore, strengthening the side.
Shastri feels managing the workload of players, especially bowlers, will be Gambhir's biggest challenge.
One stellar IPL season of 19 wickets in Kolkata Knight Riders' triumphant campaign brought pacer Harshit Rana into the national reckoning.
In a series finale defined by pressure and fine margins, the Indian dressing room found its anchor in an unexpected source - the Shri Shiva Rudrashtakam.
'Four games don't make him a bad bowler'
With India's home aura cracking again, Sourav Ganguly has stepped into the pitch debate admitting the Eden surface was far from ideal but stressing that a world-class Test side should never crumble in pursuit of 124.
'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.'
'This will be a testing time for Indian cricket. And I'd say this truly marks the beginning of the Gautam Gambhir era.'
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