India coach Gautam Gambhir on Monday backed "incredibly tough men" Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to prove their critics wrong and find form in Australia.
India must start planning for Rohit Sharma's successor if the team do not play well in their five-Test series in Australia as the captain could well retire from the longest format, former skipper Krishnamachari Srikkanth has said.
With Australia looming large, the form of 37-year-old Rohit and superstar batsman Kohli, 35, is of particular concern to Indian cricket fans.
After India's batting frailties were brutally exposed in a 3-0 home series defeat by New Zealand, captain Rohit Sharma said it was important that his players get in the right frame of mind for what promises to be a challenging tour of Australia.
After stunning victories in Bengaluru and Pune, the Black Caps won the third Test in Mumbai by 25 runs to become the first team to whitewash India at home in a series featuring three or more matches.
Batsmen have forgotten how to defend in Test cricket because of the T20 game, India coach Gautam Gambhir said Thursday ahead of the third and final match against New Zealand.
Through three World Cup titles, two World Test Championship (WTC) finals, and a 12-year Test series winning streak on home soil, Kohli and Sharma, often together, have been integral to every major Indian success of the last 17 years.
After a surprising series defeat by New Zealand, India's skipper Rohit Sharma said undue expectation was being put on frontline spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, as he called for more collective bowling efforts to win Test matches.
Seamer Mohammed Shami will not play in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy test series against Australia while spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been sidelined with a groin injury as the country's cricket board (BCCI) announced an 18-member squad on Friday.
Rohit Sharma will stay on as captain of India's Test and one-day teams, the country's cricket board said, after he ended his T20 international career with a World Cup triumph.
Speaking after the title triumph, Suryakumar Yadav revealed the words from the skipper that moved the entire team.
The right-hander has scored the second-most runs of any player at Men's T20 World Cup - behind only Virat Kohli - who also announced his retirement from the format after their T20 World Cup 2024 triumph.
It was not clear when the Indian team would arrive home, with Indian media on Monday reporting they were stuck in Barbados, delayed by Hurricane Beryl.
Rohit’s bold stance and Kohli’s sacrifice bore fruit as they both have now hung up their boots in T20Is as World Cup winners.
Shortly after India's second T20 World Cup triumph, an emotional Rohit lay on the ground before walking towards the centre and tasting the soil of the Kensington Oval pitch.
“I don't think he can lose two World Cup finals in seven [six] months. He will probably jump into the Barbados ocean if he loses two finals under his captaincy in seven months,” Ganguly told PTI.
India will be out to end their global title drought while South Africa will be seeking to bury their 'chokers' tag at Kensington Oval on Saturday when the tournament's two unbeaten sides clash in the Twenty20 World Cup final.
India captain Rohit Sharma has urged his team to remain calm and stay composed as they seek a second ICC Men's T20 World Cup title against South Africa on Saturday.
Former captain Kohli, 35, has now scored just 75 runs in seven innings this tournament at an average of 10.71.