IMAGES from Day 1 of the 1st Test between Australia and Sri Lanka on Thursday
All-rounder Mitchell Marsh leads a 14-man squad packed with international experience, a group featuring Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Peter Handscomb, Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Joel Paris, Matthew Renshaw and Chris Tremain.
The second Test between India and Bangladesh at Kolkata's Eden Gardens will be the first day-night Test on Indian soil, making India the seventh country to host a day-night Test.
Australia's hopes of winning back respect and moving on from a ball-tampering scandal that plunged the team into disgrace face their first test on Sunday when Tim Paine's rebuilding side meet Pakistan in the series-opener in Dubai.
Jasprit Bumrah, the fastest Indian pacer to 50 wickets, is now seventh in the bowlers' list after a leap of nine places owing to his five-wicket haul against the West Indies.
Peter Siddle has been brought into Australia's squad while uncapped fast bowler Kyle Jamieson has been called into the New Zealand squad.
Battle commences at Edgbaston on Thursday and the last time Australia won there was the opening match of the 2001 series which they ended up dominating 4-1.
With the Sydney Cricket Ground reliably Australia's most spin-friendly wicket, the hosts may find it tough going to manufacture a face-saving victory and square the series.
India showed commendable character in Rajkot to level the series, proving that the panic buttons were pressed prematurely following the 10-wicket loss in Mumbai.
Rajneesh Gupta offers insights about the World Test Championship Final.
Virat Kohli and Indian cricket remained an enduring love story and Sourav Ganguly held out promise for a path-breaking reign off the field in a year during which the country finally embraced pink ball Tests. There were the heartbreaks, the biggest one being a World Cup semi-final exit, and not to forget the anxious wait on what Mahendra Singh Dhoni might do next after being on a sabbatical for half the year.
Images from Day 1 of the pink-ball first Test between Australia and India, in Adelaide, on Thursday.
A resolute Ravichandran Ashwin and a hamstrung Hanuma Vihari battled pain and a hostile Australian bowling attack while displaying the largely extinct art of Test-saving batsmanship to snatch a remarkable draw for India in the third Test, after Rishabh Pant raised visions of an improbable victory, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, on Monday.
India will embark on a bid to end 70 long years of fruitless attempts to win a Test series in Australia from a similar position of strength, 2-1 up with one to play after a crushing victory in Melbourne.
India have never won a Test series on Australian soil, but go into the series-finale starting Thursday with a 2-1 lead. The visitors need only a draw to claim a piece of history.
Australia coach Justin Langer lamented a lack of world-class batsmen in his side's line-up and pointed out that Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have been the difference for the visitors in the ongoing four-match Test series.
India put together their second highest team total on Australian soil, piling up 622/7 declared on the second day of the match. Their highest team total, 705/7 declared, was also incidentally scored at this venue, in 2004.
590 cricketers -- including 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players -- will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
Hetmyer smacked three sixes and eight fours in his entertaining knock, helping his side chase down a modest target of 128.
Australia were 221 for 4 at close of play, in response to India's 408, on Day 2 of the second Test at the Gabba, on Thursday. Check out some images from the day's play.
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