The mountain of runs that he has plundered so far in first-class cricket has ensured that the focus is trained on young Rishabh Pant as India A get ready to take on visiting England in the second and final warm-up match here on Thursday.
This will be the last practice game before the six-match limited overs series - three ODIs and as many T20Is - begins with the first ODI in Pune on Sunday.
Pant, who was part of the India U-19 squad that finished runner-up to the West Indies in the last junior World Cup, has impressed one and all with his exploits in recent times.
His 308 against Maharashtra at almost run-a-ball, an innings that contained as many as 9 sixes and 42 fours, at the beginning of this Ranji Trophy season was followed by another blistering three-figure knock against Jharkhand, which helped him earn a call-up to the India T20 squad for T20 Internationals against England.
The pint-sized wicketkeeper, who is seen by many as Mahendra Singh Dhoni's successor, should relish the Brabourne Stadium track that afforded good bounce and on which the ball came on nicely in Tuesday night's day/night practice game, which England won. But not all attention will be on Pant as there's a rival to him for the wicketkeeper batsman's spot in Jharkhand's Ishan Kishan, his teammate in the World Cup U-19 side and also an attacking batsman like the Delhi player.
The selectors have named Kishan as wicketkeeper for the game.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane, coming off a long injury-lay off, will play his first game after his rehabilitation and would be eager to hit the straps before the ODI series.
Suresh Raina, who has lost his spot in the ODI team but is a member of the T20 squad, would also be keen to hit the high note.
There are other all-round aspirants like Vijay Shankar, Parvez Rasool and Deepak Hooda, besides experienced batsman Sheldon Jackson in the India A ranks.
The frontline bowling would be handled by senior pacers Vinay Kumar, Ashok Dinda and Pradeep Sangwan, along with left- arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem.
England too would like a game to be given to their main all-rounder Ben Stokes, wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow and speedster liam Plunkett who were in the reserves yesterday.
Key batsman Joe Root is, however, unlikely to play the game as he is set to join the team only on Thursday and then travel with the others to Pune for the first ODI.
Unlike the opening warm-up tie, the second one is a day match.
SQUADS
India A: Rishabh Pant, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Suresh Raina, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sheldon Jackson, Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem, Parvez Rasool, Vinay Kumar, Pradeep Sangwan, Ashok Dinda
England: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, liam Dawson, Alex Hales, liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey and Chris Woakes.
‘WIll continue to hit 6s’
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has offered words of comfort to his die-hard fans, still coming to terms with his decision to sign off as India captain, with an assurance that he would continue to play the aggressive brand of cricket that made him what he is on Wednesday.
Having relinquished limited overs captaincy after leading India to two World Cup triumphs during an eventful tenure that spanned nearly a decade, Dhoni captained the Men in Blue for one last time in a warm-up game against England Tuesday night.
The perfect finish may have eluded him, as his team lost by three wickets, but Dhoni, in a video chat with Yuvraj Singh, assured that he would continue to hit those trademark sixes if they are to be hit.
"If they bowl in my areas, the right areas and the situation permits I would look to hit sixes," Dhoni told long-time teammate Yuvraj.
Dhoni's stint at the helm had more ups than downs, and he called it amazing.
"The journey has been good, fantastic... It's good to have players like you (looking at Yuvraj), the job becomes much more easier. And enjoyed my 10 years, hopefully I will enjoy more whatever I have."
Referring to Yuvraj's six consecutive sixes in the inaugural World T20, Dhoni said, "Thanks to you I witnessed the six sixes from the best seat."
Dhoni was at the non-striker's end while Yuvraj bludgeoned Stuart Broad.
Yuvraj posted the video on social media after the match got over in which he asked a couple of very interesting questions to Dhoni, who answered each question in his typical manner.
Paying a tribute to his former skipper, Yuvraj said, "You have been one of the best captains ever. It's been amazing playing under you, winning three big championships, the World Cup and being the number one Test team in the world under you. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to go and slog as always."