Australia thrashed Pakistan 3-0 at home but the Aussies know what to expect from their tour to India.
Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has been ruled out of the first Test against South Africa starting on Wednesday after a slow recovery from a calf injury.
Australia made a stuttering start to coach Justin Langer's tenure as they lost by three wickets to England in the opening match of the one-day series at The Oval.
Uncapped leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson , 23, joins lead spinner Nathan Lyon and left-arm orthodox Ashton Agar and Steve O'Keefe.
Australia captain Steve Smith brushed off concerns about his fitness on the eve of the fifth and final Ashes Test against England on Wednesday before Mitchell Starc's return to spearhead the pace attack was confirmed as the only change to his team.
Their father Geoff Marsh beamed with pride in the WACA crowd, having scored 138 at Nottingham as an opener in Allan Border's victorious 1989 team.
Australia are hopeful T20 captain Aaron Finch will be available for the World T20, but say it's too early to declare him fully fit for the tournament in India next month. Finch injured his left hamstring during Friday night's loss to India at the MCG, ruling him out of the final T20 match against India and the series in New Zealand. While the injury doesn't require surgery, Cricket Australia's medical staff are yet to give Finch clearance for the World T20, which starts on March 8.
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon has been dropped from Australia's squad for the one-day international series in New Zealand next month, while in-form batsman Usman Khawaja has also been overlooked for the three-match series.
Australia captain Steven Smith has shrugged off his team's lamentable form on tour and is adamant his side will lift for the Test series against South Africa.
Just into his second Test as India captain, Virat Kohli has come under severe criticism for his tactics from Australian batting greats Ian Chappell and Michael Clarke for the way he shuffled his bowlers during the ongoing fourth and final cricket Test.
Following is a factbox on the first Test match between Australia and England, which starts on Thursday:
Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar will join Australia's squad for the fourth and final Test against India in Sydney, captain Steven Smith said on Tuesday.
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.
Australian all-rounder Shane Watson says he will be 'extremely surprised' if captain Michael Clarke does not score a hundred in honour of the late Phillip Hughes in the first Test against India, starting Tuesday.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann expects the upcoming limited-overs series against India to be an exciting one given the 'aggressive' brand of cricket that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men have been playing of late.
Australia vice-captain and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been dropped for the first Test against India as selectors backed the team's three specialist seamers to bowl a full workload at Adelaide Oval.
Already out of the reckoning, Gujarat Lions severely dented Kings XI Punjab's play-off chances with a comfortable six-wicket victory in an Indian Premier League match, in Mohali, on Sunday.
Former Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson feels that Indian team will be 'nervous' considering the pacer-friendly conditions of Dharamsala where Steve Smith and his boys should feel more confident.
The 28-year-old Starc finished with a match haul of nine for 109, enabling him to overtake South Africa's new-ball bowlers Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander among others, eclipsing his previous best sixth position that he enjoyed in December 2016.
Aaron Finch's side will head to Sunday's decider in Hobart buoyed by Australia's first win in the short format since January and having delivered some badly needed cheer for the struggling cricket nation.
Injured fast bowler James Pattinson has returned to the Australia set-up when he was named on Tuesday for the One-day series against England in January.
Indian bowlers were thwarted by Australia's perseverance as Steve Smith's men survived a battle of nerves on Monday to force a draw in the third cricket Test in Ranchi and keep the series alive.
Aus coach Darren Lehmann refused to blame selection errors and concedes being outplayed by England
The tourists were left on 20-2 after seven overs going into the second day.
Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen has advised Australia to either learn to play spin quickly or skip the tour to India for the upcoming four-match Test series later this month.
Yuzvendra Chahal shone with the ball, while Mahendra Singh Dhoni rekindled his love affair with final flourishes, anchoring India to their maiden bilateral ODI series triumph in Australia.
Australia are yet to hit their stride, but that's exactly why the rest should worry, says former Aussie great Allan Border.
No sooner had the match ended, social media was abuzz with congratulatory messages for the team.
Justin Langer is sweating over the fitness of David Warner but insists he will take no chances over the health of his opener. Australia kick off their ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 campaign against Afghanistan in Bristol on Saturday, with Warner hoping to shake off an injury to his glute muscle.
Robin Uthappa smashed his way to a quickfire half-century as Kolkata Knight Riders notched up a comfortable six-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League in Mohali, on Tuesday.
After edging out Rajasthan Royals in a nail-biting IPL game, Kings XI Punjab captain Virender Sehwag said his side won't rely on luck the next time.
Lendl Simmons smashed a scintillating 61-ball 100 to guide Mumbai Indians to a morale-boosting seven-wicket win over table toppers Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League in Mohali.
Australia have chosen the experience of Peter Siddle over the potential of the uncapped Joe Mennie as their third seamer for the opening Test against South Africa, which starts on Thursday.
The much-awaited return of David Warner and Steve Smith from their one-year bans has bolstered the team
Australia coach Darren Lehmann will have a 'private chat' with Usman Khawaja after the top order batsman publicly criticised selectors for dropping him during the Sri Lanka tour. Khawaja and opener Joe Burns were omitted for the third and final test in Colombo, which Australia lost to slump to a 3-0 series whitewash. Although both the Queenslanders struggled for runs, Khawaja told local media over the weekend he felt they were unfairly singled out.
Little-known batsman Craig Simmons scored the fastest century in Big Bash League history to inspire the Perth Scorchers to a thrilling five-run victory over the Adelaide Strikers in Thursday night's Twenty20 match at the WACA. The 31-year-old opening batsman hammered eight fours and eight sixes on the way to a 39-ball hundred, which easily eclipsed the previous record of 44 balls, by Luke Wright of Melbourne Stars in 2012.
Backing Shaun Tait's surprise return to the Australian T20 squad for the three-match series against India, former pacer Jason Gillespie said the tearaway speedster will cause a lot of damage on Indian tracks if he makes the squad for the World T20 starting March 8.
Shane Watson's international future looked bleak on Monday after the all-rounder was left out of Australia's 13-man squad for this month's one-day series against India on Monday.
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.
India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin is delighted that the hard work he has put in fine-tuning his slip catching is paying off.
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