Spinners R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha took full advantage of a spinning track to rip through New Zealand's top order and put India in the driver's seat by the end of the second day in the opening Test in Hyderabad on Friday.
Michael Clarke was the top performer of the day.
Records were broken by the runs while Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin hammered the West Indies bowlers and scored their respective tons in the first innings of the first Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Tweakers world over are experimenting with what they claim to be new variations but Indian off-spinner R Ashwin can't understand the hype around the teesras and insists that there are just two basic deliveries to work with for an off-spinner.
Yuvraj Singh made it back to the Indian team for the limited overs series against Australia but seniors Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were again ignored.
The match, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, will also be a face-off between skippers KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, both seen as future India captaincy material.
Images from India's practice session at the Eden Gardens.
Selection Committee chairman Krishnamachari Srikkanth on Thursday lauded the youngsters, particularly the spin duo of R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha, for their good show in the first Test against the West Indies.
India's spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin (887 points) and Ravindra Jadeja (879 points) held onto the top two slots in the latest ICC's Test ranking for bowlers while skipper Virat Kohli was a rung behind Steve Smith in the batsmen's list.
Harbhajan Singh, who was dropped for the ODI series against England, has been ignored for the first Test against the West Indies, beginning November 8 at the Ferozeshah Kotla, in Delhi.
The India-England two-match T20 series will commence on Thursday. Rajneesh Gupta gives you a sneak-peek in to how players from both teams have fared in T20 internationals thus far.
Images from the second ODI of the CB tri-series between India and Sri Lanka in Perth, on Wednesday.
Kohli is now five points clear after Smith's knock of 36 in the Adelaide Test
Virat Kohli was rested from the three-match T20I series against the West Indies.
Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who starred with a nine-wicket haul in the first Test against England, rose nine places to break into the top-five of the latest ICC rankings issued on Tuesday.
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'There have been rule changes to what ICC has done to the one-day format, and there is no point in going with same set of skills time and again, unless the game change your skill or let the game take the demand out of you'
India will host Sri Lanka in a three-match series starting February 9 ahead of Asia Cup and World T20. The tour begins in Pune, then the teams head to Delhi to play the second match on February 12 and the final game will take place in Visakhapatnam on February 14, reported ESPN cricinfo. It will be the first time the two sides face each other in the shortest format since the World T20 final in 2014, which Sri Lanka won. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, which acquired Test status in November 2015, will host its third international match and only its second T20I.
Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed loss of momentum due to free hits conceded as one of the reasons for his side's defeat at the hands of Highveld Lions in Champions League Twenty20 in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Following his consistent performance in the recent past, India's R Ashwin broke into the top 20 of the ICC ODI bowling charts for the time in his career, while batsman Virat Kohli moved up one rung to be placed fourth in the latest ranking released on Wednesday.
Reacting sharply to the innocuous reply from the South African, Ashwin came out with a loaded tweet.
Spin is going to play huge part on the upcoming tour of Australia, and, says Harish Kotian, India's young spinners R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha will have to adapt quickly and deliver.
Images from the Day 4 play of the third Test between India and West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday.
Harbhajan Singh, till recently a regular in the national team, appears destined to stay on the sidelines with debutant R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha doing exceedingly well in the opening cricket Test against the West Indies.
The spirit of cricket debate was reignited once again at the ongoing ODI tri-series and it was India at the centre of it all yet again.
Harbhajan Singh, who was dropped for the ODI series against England, has been ignored for the first Test against the West Indies, beginning November 8 at the Ferozeshah Kotla, in Delhi.
Rediff.com gives you a glimpse of the personalities that graced the event:
The film is directed by the superstar's daughter Soundarya R Ashwin.
A round-up of final day of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Thursday.
Former India opener and two-time IPL champion skipper Gautam Gambhir believes Virat Kohli's non-performance as Royal Challengers Bangalore captain should lead to his removal from the hot seat as it is now a question of accountability.
Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly is in favour of drafting left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha in the India side for the Perth Test in place of a struggling R Ashwin.
Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan's form and fitness turned out to be the main concern for the Indians after the left-armer failed to impress on the second day of their warm-up game against CA Chairman's XI, at the Manuka Oval, in Canberra, on Tuesday.
India commence the new cricket season with a five One-Day International series and one-off Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka, with the opening match on July 21. Here's a look at the individual records of the players selected.
R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha may have had a phenomenal home Test series against the West Indies, but their real test will be in Australia, where the pitches are more suited to pacers, feels Manu Shankar.
Rewarding Ravichandran Ashwin for his stupendous show in the just-concluded Test series against the West Indies, the BCCI, on Monday, decided to bestow the Dilip Sardesai award on the off-spinner.
Images from Day 5 play between India and West Indies being played at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.
India spinner R Ashwin was disappointed with the way the wicket in the third Test against the West Indies behaved over the first two days, saying it was more like a first class match track.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni led from the front, scoring his first century in 21 months to help India put up a huge 631 for seven (declared) on day two of the second Test against the West Indies at Eden Gardens.
India's newest spin sensation R Ashwin, on Sunday, tied the knot with his childhood friend Preethi Narayanan in a low-key wedding ceremony attended by only family members and close friends, in Chennai.
India has retained the same squad for the second Test against the West Indies, once again leaving out senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh from the side.
