He will have to fight it out with the in-form KL Rahul and a solid Murali Vijay for one of the opening slots in the playing XI of the Test team but Shikhar Dhawan terms the competition "good for Indian cricket" and finds "nothing wrong with it". "I am aware that there could be three players for two (opening) spots. But there is nothing wrong in it. In fact it is good for Indian cricket. To have healthy competitions among players for places in the team is good for Indian cricket and the game in general.
Rohit Sharma-led squad will be hoping it has enough left in the tank to record a maiden T20 series win in New Zealand
India's marauding cricket team will be aiming to reclaim the No 1 spot in ICC rankings when it takes on an unsettled New Zealand in the second Test starting, in Kolkata, on Friday.
A thrilling victory over England in the second match of their One-day series was tempered for New Zealand with the news that all-rounder Corey Anderson would be sent home.
Matt Henry shrugged off the disappointment of missing out on selection for next month's World Twenty20 with a hostile spell of pace bowling that helped New Zealand ease to a 159-run win over Australia in the first one-day international on Wednesday.
Ahead of the India-New Zealand series, Rajneesh Gupta looks at the Black Caps' Test records.
The Indian team is still searching for the right middle-order combination with the World Cup just a few months away.
Summarising everything cricket from around the world...
The immensely talented Shreyas Iyer enhanced his reputation of a finisher with a scintillating 29-ball-58, as India crushed New Zealand by six wickets in a high-scoring first T20 International in Auckland on Friday. Iyer built on KL Rahul's (56 off 27 balls) blazing start and Virat Kohli's useful 45 off 32 balls as India made short work of a 204-run target, knocking it off with an over to spare.
After a comfortable outing in the tournament-opener against Bangladesh, title favourites England are set to face a much stiffer test against New Zealand in a crucial ICC Champions Trophy Group A fixture in Cardiff, on Tuesday.
As if a pitch that can barely be distinguished from the outfield was not enough for New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum to worry about ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka, it turns out his top batsman may have a broken finger.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Chennai Super Kings vs KKR in Kolkata on Sunday.
Photos from Day 2 of the 3rd Test played at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday
England's sporting global ambitions have never been fully realised since Sir Alf Ramsey's team won the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Whether it is Gary Linekar or Hary Kane, the 'Cup' that they desperately want never came home during the last five and half decades.
To India's comfort, New Zealand's tournament has gone on a downward spiral during their last three games but their initial good work helped them beat Pakistan to a last four spot.
Heavy overnight rain ended New Zealand's hopes of winning the third Test against South Africa and levelling the series at 1-1 on Wednesday when the final day in Hamilton was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
India's Virat Kohli continued to torment New Zealand with the bat, hitting an unbeaten 85 to secure a six-wicket victory with nearly 17 overs to spare in the first One-day International at Dharamsala on Sunday.
Shikhar Dhawan's injury has unintentionally forced India to go for a tactical rejig despite convincing victories in the first two games against South Africa and Australia.
Australia pace bowler Kane Richardson is to return home for further examination on a back injury and has been replaced by Joel Paris in the squad for their final one-day match against New Zealand in Hamilton on Monday. Richardson, 24, did not play in Australia's four-wicket victory in the second match in Wellington on Saturday. "Kane Richardson's back pain hasn't subsided sufficiently to take part in the final ODI in Hamilton," a Cricket Australia spokesperson told Australian reporters in Wellington on Sunday.
Images from the first T20 International between India and New Zealand in Wellington on Wednesday.
The Indian fans could get a glimpse of the immensely talented Shubman Gill in the senior team jersey if he is chosen to replace Virat Kohli for Thursday's fourth ODI against New Zealand.
Mumbai Indians have won three out of the four IPL finals they have been part of, including the two against CSK in 2013 and 2015.
Brushing aside the criticism for not scoring quickly enough, Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara said positive intent and not strike rate is what all that matters in Test cricket.
Wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha's battling half-century helped India reach 316 before the hosts were dismissed in their first innings against New Zealand on the second morning of the second test at Eden Gardens on Saturday.
India's batting sensation Virat Kohli was on Monday named captain of the ICC World Twenty20 team of the tournament, which also featured veteran seamer Ashish Nehra.
It was not an ideal preparation, but New Zealand made good use of their time in the middle against a mediocre Mumbai attack on Day 1 of their only warm-up match ahead of the three-Test series against India.
India frittered away a solid start as a middle-order collapse saw them reduced to 291 for 9 on the opening day of the first cricket Test against New Zealand despite half-centuries from Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara in Kanpur on Thursday.
While multiple-time world champions and Champions Trophy winners Australia are always a tough nut to crack, New Zealand will enter the game at Edgbaston with renewed confidence after their six-wicket warm-up win over Sri Lanka at the same venue.
Premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be in focus alongside speedster Mohammed Shami when defending champions India take on New Zealand on Sunday in their opening warm-up game ahead of the Champions Trophy in London.
Pace bowler Jackson Bird has been recalled by Australia for the first Test against New Zealand after James Pattinson was deemed not quite ready to stand up to the rigours of a full workload, captain Steve Smith said on Thursday.
Mitchell Marsh kept calm after New Zealand got the sniff of an unlikely victory and scored his sixth one-day international half century to guide Australia to a four-wicket win in the second match of their one-day series on Saturday.
Opener Colin Munro hammered an unbeaten 109 before the Kiwi bowlers straitjacketed the Indian batsmen as New Zealand outplayed the hosts by 40 runs in the second Twenty20 to level the three-match series, in Rajkot on Saturday.
Scans reveal early stage stress fracture in Starc's right foot after he was forced from field for treatment
590 cricketers -- including 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players -- will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla had given South Africa a slender lead over New Zealand at the end of the third day of the first Test on Friday, which was disrupted for 30 minutes by a fire alarm at University Oval.
Batting first, Board President's XI made 295 for 9 in 50 overs and then bowled out the tourists for 265 in 47.4 overs.
"The ebbs and flows of the game made it such a good one for the spectators. It was just unfortunate we came out on the other side of it."
A record partnership by Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson gave New Zealand victory with two balls to spare in a tense third one-dayer against Pakistan in Auckland on Sunday. The three-wicket win in the rain-abridged match also wrapped up the series for New Zealand 2-0. Initially set a target of 291 to win, New Zealand made a disastrous start with Brendon McCullum out for a first-ball duck. But Guptill and Williamson restored order with a 159-run stand, a New Zealand ODI record for the second wicket, to set the side up before a lengthy rain delay shortened the match by seven overs. When play resumed, New Zealand were set a revised target of 53 off 45 balls, which they reached with two balls to spare and with the help of a contentious umpire's call.
A hobbling Kane Williamson guided New Zealand to 142 for five at the close of play on the third day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Hamilton, with the hosts needing another 47 runs to seal a 2-0 series sweep.
Trent Boult took two quick wickets after lunch to help New Zealand complete a 122-run victory over Sri Lanka on the fifth day of the first Test at University Oval in Dunedin on Monday.
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