Australia's players said they had saved their best performance until the end of the tournament.
The squad also sees the return of proven Test and one-day bowler James Pattinson, who joined Australia A in India after recovering from a string of injuries
Dale Steyn produced a ferocious spell of fast bowling to inspire South Africa to a crushing 231-run victory over Australia in fading light on day four of the second Test on Sunday.
Pakistan's Test stalwart Younis Khan, who led the national team to its only World T20 title in 2009, remained unsold while captain Misbah-ul Haq was snapped up by the Islamabad franchise on the first day of the Players' Draft for the Pakistan Super League, on Monday.
Rajneesh Gupta surveys the batting landscape in India-Australia Test encounters.
An fine all-round display by Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler's late assault with the bat ended England's long losing streak against Australia as the visitors won the fourth One-Day International by 57 runs in Perth.
England needed to prove in the first Test they could compete with Australia and the hosts showed in Cardiff they are a 'dangerous side' .
Joe Root again put Australia's bowlers to the sword and together with Ian Bell gave England the platform on Friday to push for victory in the first Ashes Test after setting the tourists 412 to win with two days remaining.
Mitchell Johnson will not mind being the man England fans love to mock in the Ashes so long as he is taking wickets but the friendly abuse might start to get under his skin if the Australian paceman continues to fire blanks.
Australia paceman Mitchell Starc has expressed concerns about the pink ball to be used in the first day-night Test, saying it behaved "very differently" to the usual red ball and crowds might not even be able to see it.
Wriddhiman Saha was effusive in his praise for India's new Test captain Virat Kohli and said the team was all fired up under the elegant Delhi batsman.
Injured captain Michael Clarke has been named in Australia's 15-man squad for the World Cup in February and March.
Batsman Shaun Marsh struck a fighting half-century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday to drive Australia to a commanding 326-run lead over India at the close of day four.
The absence of an attacking spin bowler in the Indian side is hurting the visiting team's chances.
With a batting average of just a shade under 30, the pugnacious Mitchell Johnson plundered the Indian bowling to register his ninth Test fifty and give Australia a fighting chance in the second Test at the Gabba.
Umesh Yadav took three wickets on his comeback to Test cricket before Australia reached 221 for four at the close of play on the second day of the second Test against India on Thursday after battling their way back into the contest on the back of debutant paceman Josh Hazlewood's five for 68.
Australia captain Michael Clarke is fit to lead the side into the first Test against India on Tuesday and his return is a "huge boost" for the hosts, fast bowler Mitchell Johnson said.
Cricketing superpowers clash in an ODI series Sunday onwards. Rajeesh Gupta gives us all the numbers on India-Australia one day encounters.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha says he will be "under pressure" to perform if he makes the playing eleven in the decisive third Test against Sri Lanka, starting Friday, after the freak injury to Wriddhiman Saha opened the door for him after a "long wait".
Pakistan spinners Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah took nine wickets in the second innings as the hosts beat Australia by 221 runs in the first Test on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
David Warner's third consecutive Test century could not stop Pakistan from taking control of the first Test against Australia on Friday after the tourists squandered a strong start and were all out for 303 in their first innings.
The Australian media were united in their view that the Mitchell Johnson-inspired humiliation of England at Lord's marked a decisive shift in the balance of power in the Ashes series.
Australia captain Michael Clarke said he could not have asked for a better performance from his team following their 405-run mauling of England in the second Ashes Test at Lord's.
Michael Clarke remained unbeaten on 161, one of the more heroic of his 27 Test hundreds, as Australia reached 494 for seven before rain brought an early tea on the second day of the series-deciding third Test against South Africa on Sunday.
Hashim Amla's blistering stroke-play and Morne Morkel's fearsome bowling put South Africa in control of the second Test against Australia as they closed the third day on 192 for four on Saturday.
Nathan Lyon grabbed four wickets and Jackson Bird claimed his first victim of the series as Australia restricted England to 238 for nine at stumps on Day 1 of the fourth Ashes Test on Friday.
Former Australian captain Ian Chappell feels New Zealand are the dark horses even though India and South Africa will challenge Australia for the trophy.
Two brilliant individual performances by players on opposing teams lit up the second day of the first Test in Dominica on Thursday.
Opener Murali Vijay hit a half-century as India's batsmen survived some intense pressure from Australia's bowlers on the last day to draw the fourth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Tasmanian batsman Alex Doolan could be in line for a test debut pending the fitness of all-rounder Shane Watson after being named in Australia's 14-man squad for the fifth and final Ashes Test in Sydney.
'Nothing is confirmed yet either with anything, in regards to the captaincy, but if it works out that way and I am the next captain, then it's a lot of responsibility' 'Hopefully we can send Michael off on a high note at The Oval'
Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood received his reward for some fine domestic form on Wednesday when he was included in a pace-heavy 13-man squad for the first two One-Day Internationals against South Africa next month.
Pakistan's spinners scythed through Australia's top order in the second innings to get them close to victory in the first Test after twin centuries from Younus Khan and youngster Ajmal Shehzad helped the hosts set an improbable target.
To say Joe Root has been galvanised since being dropped for the fifth Ashes Test that completed England's dismal 5-0 rout in Australia in the early days of last year would be an understatement.
Australia rode on a dominating all-round display to thrash a lacklustre India by 72 runs in the first cricket One-dayer in Pune.
Prashant Dhanawade was lost for words initially when asked about his son Pranav's record-breaking cricketing feat. The 15-year-old became the first batsman to aggregate more than 1,000 runs in an innings in any format of the game when he scored 1009 runs for Smt. KC Gandhi School (Kalyan) against Arya Gurukul School in the HT Bhandari Cup inter-school cricket tournament, organised by the Mumbai Cricket Association.
Images from the 4th ODI played between India and Australia in Bengaluru on Thursday
India looking to avoid a seventh straight Test loss on Australian soil.
Australia dropped batsman George Bailey from the squad for their three-Test tour of South Africa on Monday and brought uncapped Alex Doolan and Shaun Marsh into the 15-man party. Bailey made his debut in the first Test of the recently-concluded Ashes series, but scored only 183 runs at an average of 26 as an unchanged Australia romped to a 5-0 sweep of England.
Mitchell Johnson will be rested for the opening One-Day International against England to freshen up for the rest of the series, Australia coach Darren Lehmann said on Thursday.
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