Rajasthan Royals will be desperate to snap their four-match losing streak and finish in the top two when they meet table toppers Kolkata Knight Riders in an important IPL match in Guwahati on Sunday.
The brief chat between Rohit and Rinku sparked curiosity.
Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane backed Shreyas Iyer to deliver a punchy performance for the team in the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Tamil Nadu.
Vivrant Sharma and Abid Mushtaq made contrasting fifties in Jammu and Kashmir's four-wicket win over Tripura on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match in Jammu on Friday.
Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane flopped with the bat as defending champions Mumbai were shocked by Baroda by 84 runs.
Among other developments, middle order batter Shreyas Iyer will miss the next three Tests due to injury.
'I wanted to convert the loose balls, and play till the end.'
The key to Kolkata Knight Riders success this season lies in their players' newfound ability to support each other through highs and lows, something that was "missing" over the past two years, feels the team's vice-captain Nitish Rana.
Meanwhile, the champion franchise shared a heart-warning message for their opponents in the final.
'Once I got my first wicket, that built up my confidence. Fortunately, I was able to take six wickets.'
'I did not make Kolkata Knight Riders successful, it was KKR that made me a successful leader.'
KKR trumped SRH in the league stage matches and it will give them an edge going into Sunday's summit clash, Matthew Hayden and Kevin Pietersen.
Kagiso Rabada grabbed a five-wicket haul before K L Rahul rallied India to 208/8 on a rain-hit Day 1 of the first Test.
In the absence of national regulars, the focus will shift on the likes of Rinku, who was surprisingly not picked for the first round despite having an impressive first-class record.
Even a whiff of an incident like the violent 1989 shirt-ripping attack on Krishnamachari Srikkanth by a Karachi spectator would be ruinous. It would set back the ties further, derail an ongoing tournament, and harden Indian attitudes on playing Pakistan anywhere at all, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'We haven't discussed anything with M S Dhoni. We will speak post October 15.'
'Right from the 17th over, I had butterflies in the stomach! To be honest, I thought anything can happen in the last over'
A resurgent Delhi Capitals will look to exploit Kolkata Knight Riders' bowling vulnerabilities and ascend to top-four in the table during their Indian Premier League match in Kolkata on Monday.
Sri Lanka leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay wreaked havoc with a six-wicket haul to hand India a 32-run defeat in the second ODI match.
So, what are the options that India can look forward to?
Rohit was spotted having a deep conversation with members of the KKR franchise in their dressing room.
For DC, the onus will be on Prithvi Shaw and veteran Australian David Warner to provide a solid start.
'After a smashing start to his T20I career, it is now time for Rinku Singh to make his mark in the ODI format.'
Dravid was particularly happy with how Shreyas Iyer has been showing consistency at the back-end of the tournament.
India's Shreyas Iyer scored a half-century and fast bowlers Mukesh Kumar and Arshdeep Singh took a combined five wickets as the home side beat Australia by six runs in the final Twenty20 International to deny the visitors a consolation win on Sunday.
India's star batter Virat Kohli didn't join the team's optional practice session in Thiruvananthapuram due to personal reasons but is expected to link up with the squad before the second warm-up game against The Netherlands on Tuesday.
Both skipper Rohit and main batter Kohli will play in the upcoming series so that Gambhir can tactically think about the combinations.
'With the reverse swinging creating opportunities for wickets for the seamers, and with the way England have played the finger spinners, India might stick to two seam bowlers and a finger spinner making way.'
Rohit Sharma, did not mind losing the toss and said he would have batted first nonetheless and "under the lights, it will be nice for the seamers to bowl".
Iyer smashed 530 runs at an average of 66.25 in 11 innings and a strike rate of over 113. He scored two centuries and three fifties, with the best score of 128*. He ended up as the seventh-highest run-scorer in his debut tournament.
Former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim has backed Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan as the best replacement options at number 4 and 5 if the first-choice players are not fit in time for the Asia Cup and World Cup.
A look at the best bowling performances in the KKR vs SRH match:
Rajasthan Royals' star-studded batting will face the serious challenge of decoding Sunil Narine's mystery at Eden Gardens when they take on two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in a top-of-the-table IPL clash in Kolkata on Tuesday.
As captain, Gautam Gambhir won KKR its two titles. Now, as team mentor, can he inspire KKR to achieve glory?
In a devastating Boxing Day Test at SuperSport Park, India experienced one of its most humbling overseas defeats in recent memory, succumbing to an innings and 32-run loss in less than three days.
Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will expect a lot more from their top-order as they aim to get their campaign back on track against a power-packed Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL match in Chennai on Monday.
Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand, starting in Hyderabad on Wednesday, with a back injury.
Rohit and Shubman Gill took charge of the South African new-ball bowler duo of Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen and unsettled their rhythm.
IMAGES from the first Test played between South Africa and India in Centurion on Tuesday
Shardul also had a grand Sangeet and Haldi ceremony over the weekend, pictures of which went viral.
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