In good news for India, their bowling spearhead Zaheer Khan and fellow pacer Ishant Sharma appeared to be fit to play in the opening Test against Australia beginning in Melbourne, on Monday.
Australian spin legend believes India's chances of upstaging Michael Clarke's men in their own backyard in the upcoming four-Test series will largely depend on the fitness of their pace bowlers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan.
Former Skipper Sourav Ganguly revealed that Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda will fly to Australia as cover for injured fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who has been ruled out of a three-day practice match starting in Canberra on Monday.
The Indian team management will decide in the next 24 hours if they need to seek a cover for fast bowler Ishant Sharma ahead of the important four-Test series against Australia, starting on December 26.
Images from Day of the tour match between Cricket Australia Chairman's XI and the touring Indians, in Canberra.
Young right-arm fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun replaced injured Praveen Kumar in India's Test squad for the upcoming four-match away series against Australia.
Kalra was in line to replace senior opener Shikhar Dhawan in the Ranji squad but as it now stands, he will not play any further.
Even as England captain Andrew Strauss tries to solve the Zaheer puzzle, Bikash Mohapatra presents a few other batsmen who have struggled against 32-year-old left-arm seamer.
Rajneesh Gupta lists India's innings victories after the innings and 15 runs over the West Indies in the second Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.
Injured opening batsman Murali Vijay has kept his place in India's squad for the final two Tests against Australia, while all-rounder Hardik Pandya dropped out with a shoulder problem.
Capitals were the best team in the league and their 20-point finish at the group stage was an indication of their consistent performances which didn't dip due to the COVID-19 forced break. CSK, over the years, have been in final eight times and won on three occasions which speak volumes of the team's ability to lift their game just when it's required most.
India captain Virat Kohli on Saturday vowed to continue with five specialist bowlers despite their big defeat against England in the third Test but hinted at a rejig in attack for the fourth game by factoring in the workload of speed merchants.
Veteran batsman Rahul Dravid and pacer Ishant Sharma, who were the top Test performers for India on the recent tours to England and the West Indies, would receive Cricket Board awards at the function scheduled to be held in Chennai in December.
Reader Bhagya Vasudev sent us these pictures from Wellington.
Ishant Sharma has been toiling hard for the past one month but does not have results to show for his on-field efforts during the tour of Australia.
Resolute rearguard action by Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh helped Australia escape with a remarkable draw against India on the final day of the third Test in Ranchi on Monday.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar were rested and Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath and Bengal wicketkeeper Wriddhimaan Saha recalled to India's 16-member ODI squad for the tour of the West Indies.
Impressed with the camaraderie India's pacers share among themselves, bowling coach Bharat Arun said that the attack is not only closely knit but can also clock high speeds consistently.
'The pink ball Test is probably going to be a bit more challenging in terms of conditions and how the ball moves around in the evening and stuff like that.'
Rahane is playing back-to-back Ranji games after a long time and it would be a good opportunity for him to get some runs under his belt, especially at his home turf, before he heads for New Zealand with the India 'A' team.
Kohli injures right shoulder while fielding in Ranchi
Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming on Saturday exuded confidence that the defending champions have enough firepower in their batting to take on Deccan Chargers pace attack which played havoc against Kochi Tuskers Kerala in their last IPL match.
Hit hard by injuries on the disastrous tour of England, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni conceded that the players are overworked and called for a rotation policy to give them rest.
Images from Day 1 of the 5th Test at the Oval in London on Friday
All the Indian batsmen and bowlers will get a look in and skipper Virat Kohli is expected to decide his best possible combination for the playing eleven for the first Test depending on their performances in the coming two days.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday said injury-prone pacers Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma are expected to be fit for the first Test against Australia.
Former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram has raised concerns over Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma's fitness, insisting the two Indian pacers have not bowled enough in the run-up to the Test series against Australia, starting on December 26.
Images from the third and final day's play between India and Australian Chairman's XI in Canberra, on Wednesday.
With a pace attack led by two injury-prone bowlers, things are not looking too good for India ahead of the gruelling Test series against Australia, feels fast bowling legend Glenn McGrath.
Team India's pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma got some vital bowling practice on the third and final day of their warm-up match against Cricket Australia Chairman's XI before the match ended in a draw in Canberra on Wednesday.
Spin legend Shane Warne feels that bowling is India's weak link and Australia can exploit this to their advantage in the four-match Test series beginning in Melbourne on December 26.
The Indians are likely to field their first team when they take on Cricket Australia Chairman's XI in their second and final warm-up game, on Monday, with the focus on the fitness of their fast bowlers ahead ofthe four-match Test series, starting December 26.
Surprised with the nature of wickets in Australia, former India captain Rahul Dravid, said that team India should hope that the wickets remain slow during the World Cup. However, Dravid was of the view that playing in different surfaces will pose a challenge of its own. "It's going to be a challenge, it is not easy. You are playing in very different conditions," Dravid told reporters on sidelines of an event. It was a bit "strange" to see that most of the Australian wickets were slow during the recently-concluded Test series and Dravid hopes the pitches behave in the same manner to assist India's most potent weapon, spin. "That's the advantage India has, if the wickets stay slower and lower as we have seen in the Test matches, then the spinners will come into the mix and India can afford to play two and even three spinners," he said.
Amid growing concern over his fitness, India pacer Ishant Sharma is learnt to have got his troublesome ankle checked by a doctor in Canberra.
India play three ODIs against Australia starting in Sydney on Saturday before travelling to New Zealand for a five-ODI and three-T20I assignment starting January 23.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Anurag Thakur on Sunday said that the board is not averse to having different coaches for different formats in future just like Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni captaining teams across Tests and limited overs respectively.
The Indian cricket squad had a rigorous training session at the Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham on Monday, with left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha turning up at the nets after joining the team as Harbhajan Singh's replacement.
The pacer feels that the new ICC rule from October 1 that different balls will be used from the two ends in the one-dayers, has helped swing bowlers like him to move the ball for longer periods.
The pacer feels that the new ICC rule from October 1 that different balls will be used from the two ends in the one-dayers, has helped swing bowlers like him to move the ball for longer periods.
Ian Bell takes blame for run-out controversy admitting he was naive to assume the ball was dead.
