Should India should include an extra batsman in Karun Nair? Or should all-rounder Hardik Pandya be added to give the team more balance?
What should India's playing 11 be for the 1st Test against England?
After a below-par effort against Pune Supergiants, the Delhi Darevils will be looking to hit the straps rightaway with their prime players set to comeback in the playing XI as they take on bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab in an IPL encounter at Mohali on Saturday. Following three horrendous seasons, the Daredevils have had a decent outing so far under Rahul Dravid's mentorship and Zaheer Khan's captaincy, having won five of their eight games and are placed third in the eight-team table. There has been no standout performer as such but contributions from most of the players in their five victories has made it clear that Dravid's men are certainly not dependant on any one individual to carry the team forward.
Ajinkya Rahane steered Rising Pune Supergiants home with an unbeaten half-century as the visitors outclassed Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets to keep their hopes alive, in the Indian Premier League in Delhi, on Thursday.
India A could not take advantage of a strong opening partnership and lost four quick wickets for an addition of just 16 runs as they ended the third day of their four-day game against Australia A at 158 for four, still needing 108 runs to avoid the innings defeat, in Brisbane on Saturday.
Skipper Manish Pandey led from the front with a timely century while Dhawal Kulkarni showed his all-round prowess as India A defeated South Africa A by 3-wickets in the quadrangular One-Day series in Townsville, Australia on Wednesday. Pandey anchored the innings with a brilliant unbeaten 100 off 105 deliveries that had hit nine boundaries and a six. He was ably supported by Kulkarni, who chipped in with 23 as the pair added 47 runs for the unbroken eighth wicket stand after India A were in trouble at 187 for 7.
Mumbai Indians batsman Michael Hussey on Monday said he believes that his team is still in contention for a place in the play-offs stage following their easy victory over Rajasthan Royals, in the Indian Premier League, in Ahmedabad.
The R Ashwin-led Kings XI slipped to the fifth spot after suffering back-to-back losses against Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively. Overall, the hosts have registered four wins from eight matches this season.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Spoilt for choice with a pool of top quality performers in their ranks, formidable India are overwhelming favourites against minnows Bangladesh in a proverbial 'David vs Goliath' one-off cricket Test that starts in Hyderabad on Thursday.
'T20 is so fast-paced that a coach can do very little from the sidelines, you need a very good captain, who can take decisions there and then.'
Here are the statistical highlights from the third day's play of the fifth and final cricket Test between India and England in Chennai.
India again proved too strong for Zimbabwe, winning the second One-Day International by eight wickets in Harare, on Monday. After dismissing the hosts in 34.3 overs for a paltry 126, the tourists chased down the modest target in 26.5 overs and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, having won the opening ODI by nine wickets on Saturday.
Kings XI Punjab registered a comfortable six wicket win over laggards Rajasthan Royals
'Let's see. You are the first one to tell me this. I need to see why they have not picked me. I don't know what the plan is now that I am not there in the team. Probably, I will be playing the Ranji Trophy'
Half-centuries by Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin kept India on course for a first innings lead after England made a spirited comeback on day two of the third Test on Sunday. - Scorecard: Having bowled out England for 283 earlier in the morning, India looked in charge at 148-2 at tea before Adil Rashid's double strike jolted the hosts who lost three wickets in 19 balls to slump to 156-5.
India pulled the curtains down on England's winter of discontent, in a manner befitting their dominance, as the hosts clinched the five-match series 4-0 with an innings and 75-run victory in the fifth and final cricket Test in Chennai on Tuesday.
With the One-Day International series proving to be a stroll in the park, Mahendra Singh Dhoni would look to finish the tour of Zimbabwe with another dominant performance when he leads India in the three-match Twenty20 series against the hosts, starting in Harare, on Saturday.
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday.
Delhi Daredevils will be aiming to display more impact in their batting department as they face a formidable challenge from defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL encounter, in Hyderabad, on Wednesday.
A new look Kings XI Punjab under Ravichandran Ashwin will take on Delhi Daredevils in their opening encounter of IPL-2018 here tomorrow, as both sides look to begin the T20 tournament on a winning note.
Young batsman Karun Nair and debutant Sam Billings batted with lot of responsibility before their bowlers came good as Delhi Daredevils displaced Kolkata Knight Riders from the second spot with a comfortable 27-run win in their Indian Premier League match, in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Chris Morris' brilliant unbeaten knock of 82 went in vain as Gujarat Lions held their nerves to pull off a thrilling one-run win over Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League match.
It will be a test of character and battle for supremacy when Delhi Daredevils and Gujarat Lions, two of the most impressive teams of IPL 9, lock horns against each other at the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday. Barring one bad day in office, both Daredevils and Gujarat Lions had a near perfect campaign so far in the tournament. While new outfit Gujarat Lions are comfortably placed at the second spot in the eight-team standings with eight points from five matches, the Daredevils are a place below in the third position with six points from four games.
Failing to put up any fight against a rampaging Australia A, India A suffered a 10-wicket loss in the second unofficial Test to go down 0-1 in the two-match series on Saturday.
Opener K L Rahul missed out on a hundred while captain Cheteshwar Pujara struck a solid fifty to steer India 'A' to 221 for six on a rain-affected first day of the first 'unofficial' Test against Australia 'A', in Chennai, on Wednesday.
India goes into the third and final Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday hoping to register their first series victory in the island nation in 22 years.
Heres a roundup of all the Ranji Trophy action from across India.
Ajinkya Rahane was chosen as captain of the depleted Indian team for the limited overs tour to Zimbabwe next month as the selectors decided to rest several seniors including Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
Parthiv Patel was unlucky to miss out despite a fine showing in the Test series against England as the selectors preferred to recall Wriddhiman Saha for the one-off Test against Bangladesh.
Cheteshwar Pujara waged a lone battle with a fighting 86 but Rest of India's batting line-up floundered against Gujarat's bowling attack and were pushed against the ropes by the newly-crowned Ranji Trophy champions.
India's old warhorses like Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh will look to impress the Indian Premier League franchises when they take the field in the Super League stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament, starting in Kolkata, on Sunday.
'We understood that once we get a couple of wickets, it's gonna be a downslide pretty quick'
India captain Virat Kohli maintained his red-hot form as he and Murali Vijay struck fine centuries to help the hosts overtake England on day three of the fourth Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, on Saturday.
Mumbai Indians thump Delhi Daredevils by 146 runs in an IPL match in New Delhi on Saturday.
Delhi Daredevils' hopes of reaching the play-offs have become slender after five losses from seven matches but their batsman Sanju Samson today said that his side need to keep going and play with a positive mindset in the remainder of the Indian Premier League.
A rampaging Kolkata Knight Riders stand in the way of Delhi Daredevils' revival plan as the two teams, with contrasting runs so far, gear up to clash in an Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture in Kolkata on Friday.
It will be a different sort of challenge for Mahendra Singh Dhoni when he captains a new-look Indian cricket team against Zimbabwe in the first ODI of a short series starting in Harare on Saturday.
Rajasthan Royals comprehensively crushed favourite 'whipping boys' Delhi Daredevils by 62 runs in a thoroughly one-sided encounter to consolidate their chances of making it to the play-offs in the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League on Thursday.
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