Hardik Pandya hasn't featured in Tests since 2018 and has only recently recovered from a career-threatening back injury.
With Australia taking a 2-0 lead in the four-match Test series against India, the scales are titled highly in favour of the hosts. History also shows that the Melbourne Cricket Ground has been a happy hunting ground for the hosts. With the Boxing Day Test around the corner, here is a quick look at how the teams stand.
The first day of inaugural day-night Test match also marks the first death anniversary of Phil Hughes, who had died after being hit on the cricket field
From outcast to hero, Steven Finn rediscovered the zing that made him England's youngest bowler to take 50 Test wickets by ripping through Australia and boost the home side's hopes of regaining the Ashes.
The best-case scenario for RR would be Kings XI Punjab losing their last match and Sunrisers Hyderabad winning no more than one in their last two outings.
A scrappy India will have to lift their game by several notches against an improving Australia when the two fierce rivals clash in a virtual quarter-final cricket match of the ICC World Twenty20, in Mohali, on Sunday.
Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com lists seven memorable moments from the week gone by in IPL 9.
New Zealand will have their tails up and eye another upset when they resume the trans-Tasman rivalry with a strong Australian side.
Steven Smith admitted that Usman Khawaja has the right to feel aggrieved after the Australia captain confirmed the in-form batsman had been overlooked for Wednesday's opening one-dayer against New Zealand.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji reveal the Most Valuable Players of the India-Australia ODI series.
Rajasthan Royals, struggling at the penultimate spot on the points table after two wins and four straight defeats, need something special against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Sunday's IPL match in Dubai.
Australia's Test side deserve credit for impressive performances in the ongoing four-match tour of India, proving wrong a host of experts and pundits who predicted a whitewash for the home side, batsman Gautam Gambhir has said.
Vijay in 11th spot; Kohli falls five places
Minor tweaks to his bowling after the lunch break made all the difference for left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe who claimed a career-best six for 35 to put Australia ahead in the opening Test against India on Friday.
Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has urged selectors to be patient with the rookies in Steven Smith's team as they battle to cement places in the wake of a string of retirements.
Nathan Lyon revealed that he has been analysing ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to improve his own bowling.
Ahead of their Indian Premier League debut, the Rising Pune Supergiants have assembled a formidable team.
Photos from Day 3 of the first Test played at The Gabba on Saturday
The nominations for the 81st annual Golden Globes are out, and Barbie and Succession lead the list.
Steve Smith and Aaron Finch struck half-centuries to help Australia to a three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first One-day international in Colombo on Sunday. Sri Lanka, who lost the toss and were sent out to bat on a dry, turning wicket, set the visitors a target of 228, but Australia successfully chased them down with 19 balls to spare to give them the lead in the five-match series.
Ravichandran Ashwin held on to his top spot, while Ravindra Jadeja rose a rung to be fifth in the all-rounders' chart of the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Tuesday.
Ravichandran Ashwin on Monday, rose to a career-high second in the ICC Test rankings for bowlers even as A B de Villiers lost his top spot in the batsmen standings.
A bemused, if almost ambivalent reaction, has come from South Africa in contrast to the angry backlash in Australia to their cricket team's admission of cheating in a Test match between the sides at Newlands on Saturday.
Former Australian coach John Buchanan has backed Michael Clarke's side to beat India.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list the Most Valuable Players during the India-Australia ODI series.
Images from the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals, in Ahmedabad, on Thursday.
This provided only the sixth such instance in Test cricket of the first six batsmen getting the past the half-century in an innings and four of them have have come against India.
Australia captain Michael Clarke doubts he will be fit for the start of the World Cup in February but hopes to be back at some stage during the tournament.
England batsman Joe Root has identified the need to be more assertive to convert his half-centuries to three figure scores, starting with the third test against Sri Lanka at Lord's on Thursday. The 25-year-old has been dismissed 13 times between the scores of 50 and 98 since 2015, and was most recently caught on 80 against Sri Lanka in the second test, which he described as a "car crash". Root, who is ranked second in the world test rankings behind Australia's Steven Smith, said he should have doubled the nine test centuries he has amassed in his career. "Probably double (number of centuries) if you look at the amount of fifties. You are always striving to get better. Over the last couple of months it has been very frustrating," Root told British media.
Table-toppers Mumbai Indians are on course to make it to the play-offs but the game is crucial for Rajasthan, who are languishing in seventh place. Defeat would mean a step closer to elimination.
Images from Sunday's Indian Premier League match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals in Abu Dhabi.
The Pune outfit is presently languishing at the sixth spot in the eight-team standings with just four points.
Australian power-hitter Glenn Maxwell reflected on the 'homeworkgate' saga during Australia's 2013 series of India. Maxwell endured an unpleasant introduction to Test cricket, when four Aussie players were suspended for failing to submit a written feedback to then coach Mickey Arthur and later suffered a 0-4 whitewash in India. "Other than making my debut and taking my first wicket, I try to forget most of the other things about that tour," Maxwell said. "It was a bit of a disaster. "It felt like everyone was sort of walking on eggshells. It wasn't enjoyable," he said. The all-rounder, who is considered as 'subcontinent specialist' is likely to picked during Australia's next Test tour of India in 2017 and the 27-year old feels the side will be better equipped next time under captain Steven Smith.
While SRH can't afford to slip up even one bit with five games remaining, RR would be hoping to continue the winning momentum and hope that their foreign recruits continue in good nick like they did in the match against CSK.
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma said their batting performance against Rising Pune Supergiant in Qualifier 1 was their worst of this Indian Premier League.
It has been a dramatic turnaround for the KL Rahul-led side after a string a losses earlier in the tournament.
'Australia has always prided itself on taking a highly competitive approach to international cricket. This will not change, however CA is confident that what occurred in Durban will remain an aberration'
Australia's Aaron Finch will not require surgery on his injured hamstring, the country's cricket board said on Monday, raising hopes that the captain will be fit for next month's World Twenty20 in India.
Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals have failed to live up to expectations in the IPL so far and are placed sixth and seventh respectively on the points table in the eight-team competition.
Table-toppers Mumbai Indians will be itching to avenge their double defeat against Rising Pune Supergiant in the league stage when the two teams face-off in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League in Mumbai, on Tuesday.
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