Former captain Sunil Gavaskar wants India pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who is going through a lean patch, to be put through 'stringent tests' to ascertain his fitness in the run-up to the first of the four-match Test series against England.
Injuries to Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan clouded India's preparations for the first Test against England, starting next week.
Middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh returned to the top tier of BCCI's contracted cricketers, while Ishant Sharma and Virat Kohli were also promoted to Grade A in the new list announced on Saturday.
Manoj Tiwary and Ajinkya Rahane, who impressed during the last edition of the Indian Premier League, also made it to the 15-member squad, as did pacer Ashok Dinda and leg-spinner Rahul Sharma.
One of India's most successful pacers, Zaheer Khan celebrated his 40th birthday last week.
Decimated by injuries but spirited nonetheless, Mumbai Indians will bank on their familiarity with the conditions to fight through another tough challenge when they take on England's Somerset in the semi-final of the Champions League Twenty20 at the M A Chidambaram stadium, in Chennai on Saturday.
Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels India are missing a tear away pacer in the ongoing World Twenty20 and should try Ashok Dinda in their remaining Super Eight matches given that spearhead Zaheer Khan is not in the best of form.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday defended beleaguered speedster Zaheer Khan, calling him the "Sachin Tendulkar of Indian bowling" but at the same time indicated a few changes in the team line-up for the last World T20 group match against England in Colombo on Sunday.
Delhi Daredevils on Monday announced that Zaheer Khan has been appointed captain of the franchise for the forthcoming ninth edition of the Indian Premier League.
Dale Steyn produced a fiery pace bowling spell of three for just eight runs as Deccan Chargers knocked Royal Challengers Bangalore out of the Indian Premier League with a nine-run victory in a tense match in Uppal on Sunday.
ROhit Sharma recently threw a party to celebrate his record ODI knock. His teammates form the Indian national team, Mumbai Ranji team and a few Bollywood celebrities were seen in attendance.
By scoring over 300 runs New Zealand batted themselves to a comfortable position but Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha said they too did a good job by taking six wickets on a pitch which did not help the bowlers much.
Indian paceman Umesh Yadav said speed was his only virtue before he came in touch with senior pro and team-mate Zaheer Khan, who taught him a few tricks of the trade to improve as a bowler.
Senior Australian batsman Mike Hussey feels that his team is not overtly worried about playing the Indian swing bowlers, even though opposition pace spearhead Zaheer Khan has promised to unsettle the hosts with moving deliveries.
Indian captain MS Dhoni is confident that his inexperienced bowling attack will deliver in the four-Test series against Australia which starts on December 26.
The volley of words against Greg Chappell continues. Now, former India batsman VVS Laxman says that the Australian took "Indian cricket backwards" during his two-year tenure as the national cricket team's coach.
Royal Challengers Bangalore paceman R Vinay Kumar said having world-class bowlers like Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Muttiah Muralitharan and Daniel Vettori in their ranks would make his job easier in the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
'The IPL was a big learning for me that whatever you do at this level, you should be confident about yourself.'
While former Committee of Administrators head Vinod Rai's recently published book gives an insight into the Anil Kumble-Virat Kohli drama and Ravi Shastri's eventual appointment as Head Coach, the book also contains a sprinkling of factual errors.
The Indian selectors named left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan in the 17-member squad for the tour of Australia, which begins on December 26, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
Fresh from his match-winning exploits against table-toppers Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils opener Shreyas Iyer says his Ranji experience acted as a confidence-booster for him in the Indian Premier League cricket tournament.
Unlike many past and present day cricketers, including his teammates, India's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan prefers to steer clear of playing the prediction game ahead of the coming World Cup.
The fit-again duo of opening batsman Virender Sehwag and pacer Zaheer Khan is all set to return to the Indian squad after missing the Asia Cup when the selectors meet in Mumbai on Wednesday to choose the side for the upcoming cricket tour of Sri Lanka.
Sachin Tendulkar gained a spot to be at number 11 in the latest ICC rankings for Test batsmen.
Images from the second ODI of the CB tri-series between India and Sri Lanka in Perth, on Wednesday.
Young spinner Rahul Sharma and pacer Sreenath Aravind are the two new faces in India's depleted 15-member squad for the first two one-dayers in next month's One-Day International series against England.
Ricky Ponting (137) Michael and Clarke (140), both of whom tormented India in the second Test in Sydney with centuries, joined hands once again for an unbroken 251-run fourth wicket stand which took the hosts to a comfortable 335 for three after a shaky start on the opening day of the fourth and final Test in Adelaide.
Sachin Tendulkar remained the highest-ranked Indian batsman at the 12th spot in the latest ICC Test charts released on Tuesday.
Images from Sunday's India-Sri Lanka tri-series match at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium.
Seasoned off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Monday went past Harbhajan Singh to become the third highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket, reaching the mark in his 80th match.
Team India has never fared so badly in recent years. Not only have they been battered in England, losing the Test series 4-0, but all their top players kept picking up some injury or the other.
Australia have been harping that the dot balls and maidens they have been stringing together against India is a reason for their dominance in the ongoing Test series but statistics are not as conclusive as it would appear.
Zaheer Khan said that Arjun will need to prove himself in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League.
Here's the complete list of which team bagged who, and for how much!
Check out the star arrivals.
Statistical highlights on Day 1 of the first Test between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Monday.
In good news for India, their bowling spearhead Zaheer Khan and fellow pacer Ishant Sharma appeared to be fit to play in the opening Test against Australia beginning in Melbourne, on Monday.
Australian spin legend believes India's chances of upstaging Michael Clarke's men in their own backyard in the upcoming four-Test series will largely depend on the fitness of their pace bowlers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan.
Ruled out of cricket for the next four months due to hamstring and ankle injuries, India's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan has something to cheer about as he has been nominated in as many as three categories for this year's LG ICC Awards to be held in London on September 12.
