SPORTS

The three-match ODI series against South Africa will provide great exposure to a lot of Indian cricketers. Some promising youngsters are part of the squad to make a mark in the series, while certain experienced hands are vouching for a place hoping to play the 2023 World Cup in India. When India's squad for the South Africa ODIs was announced, it marked maiden call-ups for Venkatesh Iyer and a return for Ravi Ashwin after four years, while the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan and Yuzvendra Chahal also made comebacks.

However, former India opener Gautam Gambhir reckons that if there is one player among the above whose chances of playing for India hang by a thread, it’s Shikhar Dhawan. Once an integral part of the Indian unit, the only squad in which the left-handed batter can find a place for himself is the ODIs.

Legendary India batter Mohammad Azharuddin believes that there is no harm in making star opener Rohit Sharma the captain of the Test team as he is currently the best player in the country across formats.

The statement by the former Indian skipper arrives Virat Kohli surprisingly stepped down as Test captain last week. Rohit Sharma was made the T20I captain as Kohli resigned from the role after the culmination of the 2021 T20 World Cup. Later on, BCCI named Rohit the ODI skipper as well.

Now, the focus is on India's next Test captain. A few names are popping up everywhere but Azharuddin believes India should go with Rohit.

"If he is your no.1 player in all formats, then what is the problem?," said Azhar while speaking to India News.

Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh recently gave his take on Sunil Gavaskar backing Rishabh Pant to take over as the new Test captain of the Indian cricket team after Virat Kohli. Kohli stepped down as the Test captain of the Indian team on Saturday (January 15) following the side's 2-1 defeat in the recently-concluded three-match Test series against South Africa.

Kohli-led India came close to winning their maiden Test series in South Africa when they got the better of the Proteas comfortably in the series-opener in Centurion. However, they lost the next two matches in a row to concede the series 2-1 and were denied a historic series win on South Africa soil.

Sunil Gavaskar has expressed that Virat Kohli was on the verge of getting fired by the BCCI had he decided not to resign as the captain of the Indian Test cricket team after taking a 2-1 loss against South Africa in January 2022.

While on a video conference with a media house, Gavaskar did not take long to speculate that the Indian cricket board were already on their way to take away Kohli’s position as the leader of the red-ball squad because the board officials are unlikely to forget overseas losses.  

The fact that the South African team was without some of its biggest players and the Men in Blue were expected to return home with a series win also didn’t help make Kohli’s case any stronger.

South African broadcaster SuperSport has responded to the allegations of foul-play made by the Indian players during Day 3 of the recently-concluded third Test between the two sides at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town. Indian players, including captain Virat Kohli, didn't shy away from venting out their frustration on the official broadcaster for the hosts after a controversial DRS call went South Africa's way on Day 3 of the Test match.

The incident happened during Day 3 when South Africa skipper Dean Elgar was trapped plumb lbw by R Ashwin. The on-field umpire raised his finger and deemed Elgar out. However, the SA captain went for a review and the DRS hawk-eyer showed the ball was going over the stumps despite the replays suggesting that the ball had hit him below his knee.