Late last month in Kolkata, Shami expressed a desire to first play for Bengal before making his return to the national team. He also participated informally in motivational and fitness sessions with state players.
Going into the penultimate game of the rubber, the pressing question is whether to tweak their conservative approach and bolster the spin department by playing left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav at the cost of a spin all-rounder.
Jasprit Bumrah has regained the top spot in the ICC men's ODI Player Rankings after fashioning India's 10-wicket win over England with a career-best haul of 6/19 in the first match at The Oval in London.
Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja were among the first ones to reach India.
Harry Brook could be in contention to replace Ollie Pope as Ben Stokes' deputy when England travel to Australia this winter.
Umran Malik has fully recovered from dengue and is fully focused on delivering his best performance at the upcoming Duleep Trophy.
Ever since his return to international cricket in 2023 ahead of the 50-over World Cup after a long while of battling injuries, Bumrah has been unplayable, delivering some of the best spells in recent memory.
Gill second successive ton as skipper takes India to 310 for 5
'In India, there are fans. They are crazy.'
The matter of Bumrah's availability for the series should have been a highly-guarded secret. That it was bandied about all through suggests the matter was deliberately placed in the public domain. This has become the basis of the hounding of Bumrah, by some former players and fans, asserts Rohit Mahajan.
'If you look at the last one-and-a-half years, Bumrah is a player who we have missed a lot. We have not decided who is going to play white ball and who red ball but eventually we have to give breaks to our bowlers.'
'The entire team started working on the fitness, and at the same time, Virat paid a lot of attention to the Test format, and he wanted the team to be one of the best in the world.'
'When Bumrah is not bowling, we should go on the defensive and keep them all tied up.' 'Just stop the flow of runs and wickets will fall.'
Johnson, a two-Test veteran for India, passed away tragically on Thursday.
Harbhajan, however, felt the current crop of spinners lack aggression.
Kapil Dev believes the injury-enforced absence of key players like Jasprit Bumrah can hamper any team and hopes India's pace spearhead will return to action soon.
'If Mahendra Singh Dhoni announces retirement, he can prove to be a good option. He has played a lot of cricket and has won big tournaments.'
Mohammed Shami's absence will certainly leave a gaping hole in India's planning but former South African pacer Fanie de Villiers believes that Rohit Sharma's men have the best chance of ending a 31-year wait for a Test series win in the Rainbow Nation.
'I just enjoyed my time at home and then obviously trying to get into the rhythm, get into the game routines, you know, do the small things and really loved the process throughout.'
Former South Africa fast bowler Vernon Philander says Jasprit Bumrah has set high standards for pacers across the world.
Legendary James Anderson is set for his final appearance in Test cricket as the upcoming home season for England will be the last for cricket's most successful fast bowler, a report in UK media said.
Bengal pacer Mohammed Shami, playing his first competitive match after a long injury lay-off of nearly a year, took 4/54 in 19 overs.
Virat Kohli's childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, remains confident that the star batter will rediscover his form ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy, despite recent struggles.
Hayden shared his views on how to dismiss the Australian batters at Gabba.
He is yet to bowl at full intensity in the nets at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani returned a five-wicket haul as a dominant Mumbai crushed Himachal Pradesh by an innings and 120 runs.
Rabada played in the Titans' first two matches in this season's IPL, taking two wickets before flying back to Johannesburg.
Khaleel said he saw the India recall coming his way.
Delhi Capitals' fast bowler Avesh Khan has been asked by the BCCI to stay back in the UAE after the conclusion of IPL 2021 to join India's T20 World Cup squad as a net bowler.
Shubman Gill said India's batters will have to dominate unlike last time when the top order was blown away for 66.
Pataudi medal was an afterthought, ECB should have done better: Farokh Engineer
'The prospect of Konstas facing Jofra Archer with the first ball of the Ashes on November 21 -- potentially delivered at 155km/h -- doesn't feel like a fair fight.'
Glenn McGrath said his prediction this time is based on how England were held to a 2-2 series draw by India in the recent Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy five-Test series.
'There is nothing I can really do on my right side'
India's Bumrah produced a devastating spell in the morning, dismissing Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Chris Woakes before Archer struck with his third delivery to remove Yashasvi Jaiswal in his first test for four years.
Every time a fast bowler appears on the Indian cricket scene, there's a sense of anticipation -- will he be the "genuine" quick bowler that India has been looking for? As many as 24 fast bowlers have played Test cricket for India since Kapil Dev retired in 1994. Here are some of the fast bowlers who've now faded into obscurity.
Bumrah finished as the leading wicket-taker with an incredible tally though India lost the series 1-3 after the six-wicket defeat in the fifth Test at the SCG
Another India lower-order collapse gave England a fighting chance of a thrilling victory in the first Test at Headingley on Monday, with the hosts 21/0 in their second innings at the close of play on day four, chasing 371 to win.
Images from Day 2 of the 'Pink-ball' second Test between Australia and India in Adelaide on Saturday.
Among other developments from the RCB camp, West Indies all-rounder Romario Shepherd and England's Liam Livingstone have returned to India and rejoined the squad on Wednesday.
