Rishabh Pant wicket keeping skills and batting order may have been under scrutiny in the recent ODI series, but he has the backing of Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting ahead of the IPL. "I think it's actually a big job for me and the coaches when he comes in, to make him forget what's happened in the last few days," Pointing said. "He's probably lucky it happened in the last couple of games. It would have been hard to play all five games under that kind of pressure. Now he's back in a competition where he has dominated in the past. If he can win a couple of games for us then everything will be forgotten. I can't see anyone better than him as a second wicketkeeper in that Indian World Cup squad."

S Sreesanth looked at his optimistic best after the Supreme Court relieved him from the life ban imposed by the Board of Control For Cricket in India (BCCI) for his alleged involvement in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal. The 36-year-old pacer compared himself Indian tennis ace Leander Paes saying, "If Leander Paes can win Grand Slams at 42, I can at least play some cricket at 36."

On days, Kedar Jadhav is everything any Captain would like to have in his team. The situation can be that the identified fifth bowler is being soundly thrashed by the opposition and there comes Jadhav to bowl and suddenly the batsman panic and loses his wicket. The Captain, looking for a balance in the team and go with only four genuine bowlers and he needs parttimer to bowl few overs. Jadhav enters the scene and not only bowls seven overs but also takes a wicket.

The 19-year-old was sent back from Australia and it was widely believed that it was because the youngster was losing focus. However, the young batsman Prithvi Shaw dismissed speculations that indiscipline forced his premature return from the Australia tour and insisted that it was only because of slow recovery from an ankle injury. Prithvi had sustained the injury while fielding in a practice game and initially it was said that he would be available from the third Test onwards.

Australia deserves to win the five match ODI series against India. They played with a purpose with almost every player fighting to retain his place for the World cup squad. On the other hand, India rested key players, shuffled its batting order and had a look at newcomers and looked an unsettled side throughout the series. While India may have lost the series at home to the underdogs Australia, it is only a hiccup before the grand show – the World Cup. While at times the Indian fans may have wondered whether Virat Kohli’s men were as strong as they appeared, the conditions in England – at the start of the summer, will dictate the so-called favourites.