Former India batter Suresh Raina has backed under-fire national head coach Gautam Gambhir, saying the team's recent poor run in home Tests cannot be attributed to the support staff, as players must shoulder responsibility for the results.
'When you are playing on spin-friendly pitches, you need to prepare differently.'
India will look to reprise their home template of big first-innings totals and sustained spin in the short two-Test series against South Africa beginning in Kolkata on Friday.
Application required in Test cricket was missing, says Kumble after India's batting collapse
South Africa pulled off a sensational victory inside three days of the opening Test against India on Sunday and the manner of it would go a long way in silencing those who doubted their credentials as the reigning world test champions.
Traditionally carved from top-quality willow, famous bat-makers, source the bulk of their willow wood from Kashmir.
'It (the pitch) wasn't free-flowing. You felt comfortable, but the scoreboard wasn't going anywhere.'
India's awe-inspiring batting depth will face a stern test against South Africa's quality spin attack in the first Test, starting in Kolkata on Friday.
India A registered a fighting three-wicket win over South Africa A in the first four-day match, in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
Jurel's consistent batting has made him a strong contender for a place in the playing XI as a specialist batter.
K L Rahul on Saturday conceded that Indian batters' repeated struggles against spin, especially on home tracks, remain a concern.
'I've been thinking a lot about giving back, and what better time than now!'
Marco Jansen demolished the Indian batting line-up with a six-wicket haul before South Africa extended their lead on Day 3 of the second and final Test.
'Never knew golf could be this much fun.'
'I definitely believe the kind of form he is in, the way he is batting, it will strengthen the Indian batting line-up.'
Pant's gritty fifty keeps India A together in chase of 275
Not handing the ball to lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah to start the third day's play on a challenging Eden Gardens surface was "questionable", said the legendary Anil Kumble.
Memes, angry tweets, and sarcastic jabs poured in, with some calling him a 'fraud' and others even demanding he return the Rs 27 crore paid by the franchise.
'...there's something better and meaningful to explore.'
Ravichandran Ashwin exposed India batters' lack of quality to battle ball tweakers by claiming that if legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar or past domestic heroes Amol Muzumdar, the India women's team head coach and Mithun Manhas had played against spinners on such a track, the Test would have gone to four days, unlike India's harrowing 30-run defeat against South Africa at Eden Gardens.
Senuran Muthusamy and Marco Jansen made Indian finger spinners' look ordinary in good batting conditions with invaluable lower-order contributions as South Africa seized control of the second Test.
Dhoni and Sangakkara, two contemporaries who relentlessly stayed in contention for the number one spot during their era, went head-to-head in the 2011 World Cup final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
South Africa will aim for their first Test victory in India in more than 15 years.
On one of India's most challenging surfaces in recent memory -- a dry, unpredictable turning track where every ball felt like an event, Temba Bavuma played one of the defining innings of his career.
With Bumrah leading the charge, India prised out five wickets in the second session to snuff out South Africa's hopes of reaching the 200 mark.
After bowling out SA A for 309, overnight 299/9, in the first session, India succumbed to their own waywardness, and the relentlessness of off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen (5/61), to concede an innings lead of 75.
'We would like to believe and back ourselves to know these conditions or adapt to these conditions a lot faster even if we find them slightly different, as compared to, say, somebody who is brought up in Johannesburg and has played all his cricket at the Wanderers ground.'
Smashes second fastest T20 hundred by an Indian batter at India A's Asia Cup Rising Stars match against UAE on Friday.
India will be desperate for a quality replacement for the crucial No. 4 slot with Shubman Gill likely to be ruled out for the must-win second and final Test against South Africa.
India bowling coach Morne Morkel admitted his side was "surprised" by how quickly the Eden Gardens surface "deteriorated" after a dramatic second day in which 15 wickets fell and the opening Test swung sharply in India's favour.
With a mic in one hand and the captain's armband on the other, Rishabh Pant is ready to bring the entertainment to IPL 2025!
'You saw Yashasvi Jaiswal start in the second innings, did you see the first three balls, the kind of shots that he attempted?'
Sack Gambhir before he damages any more careers, if you must. But it cannot stop there. The project ahead must be bigger, more ambitious, and far more urgent: Rebuilding the spine of Indian cricket from the grassroots up, and giving the Test team the seriousness it deserves. Only then will Indian cricket stop lurching from one crisis to another and begin, once again, to imagine greatness, suggests Prem Panicker.
The series promises a fascinating duel between the two modern-day pace greats.
Pant picked up the injury on the opening day of the Old Trafford Test when he attempted a reverse sweeps against Chris Woakes. Despite the injury, the following day he returned to bat and scored a fighting half-century.
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between India and South Africa, in Kolkata, on Friday.
Abhimanyu Easwaran made the future path all the more tough with his second duck of the match, while Sai Sudharsan concluded his lukewarm preparation for the South Africa Test series with an underwhelming 23 off 38 balls.
Dhruv Jurel made a strong case for his continued presence in the senior Test eleven with his second hundred in as many innings against South Africa A while fortifying India A's position on the third day of the four-day match in Bengaluru on Saturday.
It was also his third hundred in the last seven innings after going past three digits against Australia A at Lucknow and the West Indies at Ahmedabad.
This was India's fourth defeat in the last six Tests at home and in all four Tests -- including three against New Zealand -- their batters have flopped against spin.
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