T20I World Cup

According to sources, "Jadeja is likely to undergo major knee surgery and will be out of action for at least three months. World Cup participation looks impossible in that case. The board (BCCI) will assess and take a call later on his improvement and surgery."

After skipper Rohit Sharma fell at the end of the eighth over of the match against Pakistan on August 28, Jadeja was surprisingly promoted to No. 4 and batted till the final over, making 35 runs in 29 balls. He shared stands of 36 with Suryakumar Yadav and 52 with Hardik Pandya for fourth and fifth wickets respectively. And when he was dismissed on the first ball of the final over, Jadeja had made the task of defeating the arch-rivals much easier for Pandya.

The team, led by KL Rahul, made a clean sweep of the ODI series with the 22-year-old Gill finishing as the leading run-scorer with 245 runs, which also included a century. Pakistan skipper Babar Azam continues to lead the ODI batting charts with 890 points, with India's Virat Kohli and all-format skipper Rohit Sharma occupying the fifth and sixth spots respectively.

Watson, in his ICC Review on Tuesday, however, added that he wouldn't be astonished if KL Rahul, who led India to a 3-0 ODI series win against Zimbabwe recently, "explodes" at the T20 World Cup in October-November this year. "Second one (pick) is Suryakumar Yadav," said Watson on Tuesday. "He's batting incredibly well, and he would be my No.2 pick.

When teams travel to Australia in October-November for the T20 World Cup, they are expected to get few noticeable things there. Bigger grounds, lesser grip for spinners, truer bounce for pacers, more horizontal shots for batters and change in par scores are the specific things which teams will have to take care of.

Injury to two premier pacers -- Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel -- is the biggest concern for India, going into the showpiece event in Australia. Both bowlers haven't been picked for the 2022 Asia Cup, which begins on August 27 in the UAE, and are currently undergoing rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru.

After the match, where he was adjudged as "Player of the Match" Chahar was understandably pleased over bouncing back to play for India again. He even corrected his team-mate, left-arm spinner Axar Patel, over the time he spent on the sidelines since tearing his left quadriceps in February during the T20I series against the West Indies.

After Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar and Prasidh Krishna picked three wickets each to bowl out Zimbabwe for 189 in 40.3 overs, Gill (82 not out, 4x10 and a 6x1) and Dhawan (81 not out, 4x9) were unbroken in their opening partnership to chase down the total and help India take 1-0 lead in three-match series. The win is also India's third 10-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in ODIs and also their 13th consecutive triumph over the hosts' in 50-over cricket.

At 110-8, Zimbabwe were in danger of being bowled out for a low total as Chahar, in his first international match since February this year, bowled a superb spell of 3-27. But fantastic counter-attacking knocks from Brad Evans (33) and Richard Ngarava (34 not out) and their record 70-run stand for the ninth wicket, their highest-ever against India, helped Zimbabwe get close to 200.

The first ODI between India and Zimbabwe will be played on Thursday in Harare. Rahul, who is coming back from long-term injury, on Wednesday shared a picture on the Koo app where he can be seen sharping his skills ahead of the opening match. In another picture, Team India can be seen having an insightful conversation with the coach as the visitors get ready to face Zimbabwe.