The performance of openers Rohit Sharma and K L Rahul has been the biggest plus for India in the batting department. Both have showed remarkable temperament and technique in testing conditions to give the team a solid start.
The series is even more important for Kohli as it would also define his legacy as a leader having already established himself as world's premier batsman.
On a day dominated by bowlers, Gowtham (6/67) foxed the opposition batsmen as West Indies A were bowled out for 194 in the first innings, which left them trailing by seven runs.
The Bharat Army showed up in all their splendour at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Day 1 of the 4th Test in Sydney on Thursday.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the second Test?
Mayank Agarwal will make his debut in the Boxing Day Test.
Not just the 40 points, India will also be eyeing a 3-0 whitewash in the Gandhi-Mandela series.
Among his wards, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari have taken to Test cricket like duck to water, all-rounder Vijay Shankar is staking World Cup claims, while Shubhman Gill broke into the ODI team in New Zealand.
The young turks are playing in the challenging English conditions with red duke ball for the first time in their career.
Virat Kohli's horror run with the bat brought back memories of England 2014 while Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara also failed to live up to their top billing. A look at how the Indian players fared in New Zealand.
A pool of 346 cricketers will go under the hammer at the IPL Player Auction in Jaipur on December 18.
Virat Kohli's men ticked almost all the boxes during their 203-run win in the opening encounter in Visakhapatnam and they would like to maintain the same intensity in their bid to seal the series in Pune itself.
Shikhar Dhawan's poor technique in testing conditions along with the fitness status of Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin will come up for discussion when the selectors pick the Indian team for the two-Test series against the West Indies.
A series win in Australia will certainly put Kohli on a higher pedestal even though the quality of the home team's batting line-up suffered adversely due to the bans of former skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner.
In a bizarre incident, the start of a Ranji Trophy match between Vidarbha and Andhra on Monday was delayed by a few minutes after a snake entered the ground in Vijaywada.
Two more failures in two home games could effectively mean end of the road for Ajinkya Rahane, who is leading India in the first Test in Kanpur, starting on Thursday.
The player registration deadline closed on Thursday and the list comprises 207 international players including 21 capped Indians.
If records were kept for standing ovations received in a match Alastair Cook would top that list too after a fairytale day at the Oval in which he engraved his 291st and last Test innings with a sublime century. Arriving at the crease on 46 not out to thunderous applause from a 19,000 crowd on Monday morning, England's most-capped Test player, record run scorer and century-maker rolled back the years to score 147.
West Indies all-rounder Rahkeem Cornwall said making Cheteshwar Pujara his first victim in his debut Test was a good feeling to have.
More than the runs scored, it is the manner of his dismissals that is causing frustration, considering that the Indian cricket establishment has invested heavily in the 21-year-old from Rourkee.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who was left out of the first Test, is back in the mix as Shardul Thakur seems to have done his hamstring some damage during the training session at Lord's on Monday.
Bad light and intermittent rain led to substantial loss of play with only 25.3 overs bowled on day four.
After India outplayed Australia with bat and ball in Melbourne, Captain Virat Kohli is convinced India have the firepower to break new ground.
List of players released by IPL teams ahead of next month's auction for 2020 season:
Marnus Labuschagne rode his luck to a home-ground century as Australia exploited India's injury woes and punished their poor fielding to reach 274 for five at the close of a steamy opening day of the series-deciding fourth and final Test, in Brisbane, on Friday.
The three-day practice game will give a chance for the players who are already in the West Indies to shift from limited overs to the five-day format.
India 'A' lead the series 1-0.
In the absence of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul was named vice-captain of the ODI and T20I teams. He also makes a comeback to the Test team, as Shikhar Dhawan was named only in the limited-overs' side.
Australia were on 103 for 2 in the second innings, a lead of 197 runs, at the close of play on the third day of the third Test against India, in Sydney, on Saturday.
Images from Day 4 of the third Test between Australia and India, at the SCG, on Sunday.
Axar Patel's heroics down the order went in vain as India A suffered a narrow five-run defeat to West Indies A in the fourth unofficial ODI of the five-match, in Coolidge, Antigua, on Friday.
Shaw kept taking on the bowlers and ensured boundaries came in every over as he got into the 90s.
India will look to make the most of their only warm-up game, beginning, in Sydney, on Wednesday against Cricket Australia XI.
India will be desperately hoping that Rohit replicates his limited overs success in the traditional format
India's susceptibility to quality swing bowling once again came to the fore as they struggled to reach 174 for six after England's tail wagged considerably to give the hosts an upperhand on the second day of the fifth and final cricket Test, in London, on Saturday.
Following is a fact box on the second Test of the four-match series between Australia and India:
Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad believes Shreyas Iyer can be the solution to the No 4 problem in India's batting line-up in limited-overs cricket given his fine growth as a player in the past two years.
There is talk that if India go for a four-pronged pace attack, with both Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane having a crack at the first Test.
In the end, it turned out to be a nightmare with dark clouds hovering over the future of this Indian team and no sign of 'VIBGYOR' in the Rainbow Nation.
