Shubman Gill's thumb fracture is certainly a "jolt" for India ahead of the series opener against Australia
Shreyas Iyer would be aiming to revive his start-stop international career, while Ishan Kishan would aim to clear the popular perception about his allegedly 'misplaced priorities'.
Shane Watson's unbeaten hundred could not prevent Australia falling to a seven-wicket defeat to India in the third and final Twenty20 match on Sunday as Suresh Raina hit a four on the last ball to complete a 3-0 clean sweep in the series.
Sri Lanka's interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya expects his team to take advantage of the recent retirements by stars like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
In the recently held Asia Cup in the UAE, India were criticised for their bowling depth (or lack of it) in the absence of Bumrah while Pakistan boasted of bowlers who rattled the batters with their express pace.
Recuperating from an elbow injury, star Australia batsman Steve Smith says Test cricket remains his top priority and he is ready to skip the T20 World Cup to be in the best shape for the Ashes series against England.
India's newly-forged coach-captain combination of Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav will look to make instant impact against a Sri Lankan team in disarray.
Unprecedented series defeats against Sri Lanka and New Zealand have placed Gautam Gambhir under immense pressure barely three months into his appointment as the head coach of the Indian team.
India captain Virat Kohli and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah were the only two Indians who found a place in Wisden's T20 International team of the decade, which didn't feature ex-skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Australia's limited overs captain Aaron Finch was named captain of the team, which has two more Australian in Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell, two England cricketers -- Jos Buttler and David Willey, two Afghanistan all-rounders -- Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, and New Zealand's Colin Munro and Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga.
India's T20 World Cup campaign begins on June 5 against Ireland at the newly-constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. India play Pakistan on June 9.
South Africa have named three front-line spinners in their squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman but left out opening batsman Janneman Malan.
Having lost the third ODI to Sri Lanka, Shikhar Dhawan's men will be looking to go one better against Sri Lanka with a T20 team that is ahead in almost all departments.
Surya, world's No. 1-ranked T20I batter, played some exquisite shots all round the park to come up with a 28-ball 53 to take India to 181 for 8
India opener Shubman Gill's reign at the top of the ODI batters' list was short-lived as he was replaced by former Pakistani skipper Babar Azam in the ICC Player Rankings issued on Wednesday.
India can seek motivation from the fact that they can claim the top spot in the ICC Twenty20 International rankings if they make a clean sweep in the three-match series that begins on January 26.
'He's got a pretty good record against Indian batsmen (123 wickets in 28 Tests versus India).' 'In India too he has a great record (56 wickets in 11 Tests in India), that is a pretty good record against a country that traditionally plays spin very well.'
Afghanistan has shown great promise in taking its game to the next level, as its journey from the lower divisions to competing on cricket's biggest stages testifies. Since the ICC World Cup 2015, Afghanistan has won 25 of 44 games across formats. That includes 11 Twenty20 Internationals wins in 13 matches. Those statistics, and the fact that it has never lost a T20I to Scotland, will give Afghanistan a mental boost when the two sides lock horns in Tuesday's (March 8)second Group B match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. Afghanistan certainly has all the ingredients to beat Scotland and this contest should be a keenly fought one.
The ICC has suspended Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga for two matches and docked a fine of 15 per cent on the match fee of Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz for breaching its Code of Conduct during the third T20I in Dambulla.
While Agar is some way short of all-rounder status, Finch said the 26-year-old was working hard to get there.
In T20 cricket Gayle, perhaps, holds the same place that Don Bradman has in Test cricket.
Former India captain Mithali Raj on Tuesday attributed the national team's underwhelming performance in the Women's T20 World Cup to lack of growth across departments over the past three years.
Bangladesh defeated Pakistan 2-0 in their first win over the latter in a Test series but Rohit did not read too much into it. The Mumbaikar was also not worried about pacer Rana
India opener Smriti Mandhana has jumped three places to reach a career-best third position in the latest ICC Women's T20I Player rankings released on Sunday.
Anil Kumble expressed his disappointment with India's humiliating 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand, particularly criticising the team's top-order batting and the questionable pitch preparation.
While India are on top of the World Test Championship (WTC) table, the Bangladesh skipper believed that it will all boil down to how they perform during those five days and result can come even in the last session.
South Africa will tour Pakistan next month for the first time in 13 years to play two Tests and three Twenty20 Internationals.
Nathan McSweeney is on the brink of a major debut, set to partner Usman Khawaja as Australia's opening batters in the series against India.
Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya has made his much awaited return to the field of cricket as he leads the Reliance 1 side in the DY Patil T20 tournament.
Referring to India's problem of plenty in pace bowling, Kohli said, as a captain, he couldn't have been happier.
However, an ICC spokesperson, according to a report in cricket.au.com., said that playing conditions for the men's T20 World Cup will be discussed in the organisation's Cricket Committee, which is scheduled to meet in the middle of this year, before they are formally signed by the Chief Executives Committee (CEC).
Former champions Sri Lanka will look to exploit Australia's top-order woes when they clash in a group 1 Super 12 match of the ICC T20 World Cup here on Thursday.
Images from the ICC T20 World Cup Group B match between Scotland and Namibia on Friday.
All eyes will be on star India batter Virat Kohli, who is perhaps battling the biggest form crisis of his career.
This is Ravichandran Ashwin's sixth stint at the top of the rankings. He first became number one in December 2015.
Mumbai Indians will soon get the much required batting boost as the world's No. 1 ranked T20 batter Suryakumar Yadav has cleared almost all the fitness tests at National Cricket Academy and is very close to playing his first IPL game of the season.
Ravichandran Ashwin said on Tuesday that star Pakistan batter Babar Azam "should not be mentioned in the same line" as Indian icon Virat Kohli
The 33-year-old is virtually assured of his place in the India squad for the T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies but was out for a duck in his first match of the season against Delhi Capitals on Sunday.
Australia on Tuesday named Steve Smith and David Warner in their Twenty20 squad for home series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan as selectors firm up plans for next year's World Cup on home soil.
India opener Rohit Sharma has progressed six places to a career-best eighth position in the MRF Tyres ICC men's Test player rankings after a fine performance in the low-scoring third Test against England in Ahmedabad.
The Bermuda Cricket Board has roped in Saurashtra's Niraj Odedra as the national team's head coach on a short term basis with an eye on qualification for the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States.
