The Indian cricket team, on Thursday, skipped the optional practice session ahead of the opening Test against South Africa, while skipper Virat Kohli also gave the pre-match press briefing a miss, a noticeable departure from convention for a bilateral engagement.
The rumoured differences, drama and intrigue seemed to have taken a backseat as coach Anil Kumble gave skipper Virat Kohli throwdowns during the Indian cricket team's indoor net session in Birmingham on Friday.
Injuries to KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan have brought Gautam Gambhir back into the picture, and batting coach Sanjay Bangar says the Delhi batsman will be a vital cog in the Indian Test team in the long home season.
India's batting coach Sanjay Bangar on Friday said that the several water breaks taken by New Zealand batsmen disturbed the rhythm of his bowlers while insisting that one breakthrough will put the hosts on top in the first cricket Test in Kanpur. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (65 batting) and Tom Latham (56 batting), who frustrated India with their unbeaten 117-run stand, took several water breaks apart from the stipulated drinks intervals. And, Bangar said that the intermittent breaks did disturb the tempo of their spinners.
Prithvi Shaw, on Wednesday, said his captain Virat Kohli tried his hand at marathi, the teenager's mother tongue, to make him feel comfortable in the hours leading up to his Test debut.
The Kapil Dev-led ad-hoc committee on Wednesday emerged as the frontrunner to pick the next India cricket coach but a final decision on panel formation would be taken only after the next Supreme Court hearing.
Kings XI Punjab skipper David Miller gave the post-match presentation ceremony a miss after his team suffered another stinging loss in the ninth edition of Indian Premier League.
Captain Virat Kohli has thrown his weight behind India's struggling openers but the tourists' defeat in Perth showed they have yet to find a solution to their top order woes.
They could be breathing down each others' necks in their marquee World T20 clash on Saturday, but a few of Indian and Pakistani cricketers, on Thursday, showed great camaraderie.
'We will have a few changes in the next couple of games'
'I never thought in my dreams that I would score fifty in One-dayers'
Several top cricketers are expected to attend the meeting in the presence of at least one Committee of Administrators (CoA) member. They are expected to deliberate on the issue at length.
The six, including current head coach Ravi Shastri, will give a presentation to the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) headed by the legendary Kapil Dev.
The Kapil Dev-led panel has got the green light from the BCCI's legal team to appoint the next coach of the men's side by mid-August.
The CoA chief refused to divulge any further details on the review meeting.
India's batting coach Sanjay Bangar defend Rohit Sharma's repeated failures in Test cricket, saying the Mumbai batsman deserves the same patience Sri Lanka had with their greats, Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravi Jadeja are under consideration for an India recall against Bangladesh, as the two-time winners look to shake-up their team following a first World Cup defeat.
'He has gone through ups and downs, he knows how to handle himself and is somebody who can get the team together.'
India head coach Ravi Shastri wants batting great Sachin Tendulkar to work with the national team as a consultant, provided it is not a case of conflict of interest.
Man of the match Virat Kohli has said that it is the challenge of playing on tough pitches like the one at Eden Gardens brings the best out of him.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India is all set to retain the support staff members comprising of Sanjay Bangar, R Sridhar and Bharat Arun, who came in as temporary replacements for Trevor Penny and Joe Dawes.
Putting down catches of England captain Alastair Cook and debutant opener Haseeb Hameed in the first hour of play spoiled India's chances of getting an early crack at the visiting team's middle-order, conceded India's batting coach Sanjay Bangar after the first day's play of the Rajkot Test on Wednesday.
Apart from Shastri, the other big names who will give presentations to the three-member committee include former Australia all-rounder and Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody, along with ex-New Zealand and Kings XI Punjab coach Mike Hesson.
The Indian team used a unique method to tackle Pakistan's Mohammad Irfan, who at seven feet one inch, is the tallest cricketer in the world.
The future of India's bowling coach Joe Dawes and fielding consultant Trevor Penny will be decided at the all-important Working Committee meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, in Chennai on September 26.
'It's really unfortunate that Umesh didn't get to play a lot in South Africa and in England. The reason being, bowlers who played, performed exceptionally well'
India's batting coach Sanjay Bangar defended Rohit Sharma's cheap dismissals in the two innings of the warm-up game, stating that the talented Mumbaikar's flair at No. 3 is necessary as they aim to score 300 plus runs on each batting day.
Heavy showers had been forecast for Sunday and they duly arrived early in the morning. It picked up as the scheduled start time of play approached.
As the newly-appointed head coach Ravi Shastri spells out why he was so desperate to have Bharat Arun as part of his support staff, Rediff.com's Harish Kotian listens in.
The Headlingley triumph marked the start of a new and important chapter in Indian cricket, with the Indians winning consistently away from home from that point onwards.
He has encountered technical problems outside the off-stump and perhaps that's one of the reasons he opted for throwdowns against the red duke ball, an effort to counter the swing factor in England at the on-going Champions Trophy.
India's newly-appointed batting coach Vikram Rathour says the opening slot and performance of the middle-order in ODIs are his primary concerns as he prepares to begin his tenure with the series against South Africa.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag has been appointed by Kings XI Punjab as the mentor for the upcoming Indian Premier League Season 9. "In his new role, Virender Sehwag will work closely with head coach Sanjay Bangar and be responsible for guiding and motivating the squad to help them excel at their performances," a press release from Kings XI stated. Sehwag, who played for Kings XI recently retired from international cricket as well as the IPL.
Former Team India Director Ravi Shastri has applied for the chief coach's post of the Indian cricket team, staking strong claims of returning at the helm.
Just a few days after the BCCI invited applications for the vacant post of India senior men's team head coach through its website, chief selector Sandeep Patil has thrown his hat into the ring for the high-profile job. "I have just applied (for the post)," Patil told PTI.
The BCCI finally invited applications for the head coach of the Indian cricket team, on Wednesday, with the circular comprising a nine-point criteria including one stating a 'desire' to have a Hindi speaking coach.
Former Team India Director Ravi Shastri along with his support staff which includes Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun and Ramakrishnan Sridhar are all set to re-apply after the Board of Control for Cricket in India advertises for the national coaching positions in the next couple of days.
Kohli scores brilliant century to leave first Test finely poised
India's batting came a cropper in the Hamilton game as they were dismissed for their seventh lowest total of 92.
Former India off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna on Friday took a dig at Virat Kohli and said if the current skipper feels he is the boss of Indian cricket then the team can do without a coach.
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