India justified their top ranking with their breakthrough overseas win in Australia on Monday and captain Virat Kohli has reasons to be optimistic about leading a team which can dominate Test cricket for years to come.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann is to hold clear-the-air talks ahead of the one-day series against New Zealand after recalled all-rounder Glenn Maxwell criticised wicketkeeper Matt Wade. Maxwell said on Thursday that he had been disappointed at some of the decisions by Wade, his captain in the Victoria state side, to bat ahead of him in matches this year.
The India team sent out a message saying Ashwin was after all to be included in the squad and a decision on whether he played would not be made until the first morning of the match on Thursday.
Australia are confident pace bowler Josh Hazlewood will be fit to face New Zealand in Sunday's World Cup final despite being forced to leave the pitch towards the end of the semi-final.
With Virat Kohli getting out after scoring just one run against Australia in Thursday's World Cup semi-final at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the Twitter community erupted with jokes and jibes against his girlfriend, Anushka Sharma.
AB de Villiers smashed West Indies bowlers from pillar to post for the quickest 150 in one-day internationals on Friday but the South African skipper said only hard work earns a batsman the right to dominate in such a fashion.
Retired pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson has slammed the Australian team culture under former captain Michael Clarke and coach Mickey Arthur as fractured and "toxic", saying the dynamics changed when Ricky Ponting retired. In his newly-released autobiography 'Resilient', Johnson suggested things were so bad that some teammates did not want to play, with cracks emerging after veteran Ponting called it quits in late 2012. "The dynamics definitely changed. It became more groups in the team. It wasn't a team. There was different little factions going on and it was very toxic," Johnson told Fox Sports News late Thursday.
Australia captain Steve Smith slammed a half-century to break Don Bradman's record for the most runs in a Test series against India and put the hosts in control on Day 4 of the fourth and final Test in Sydney.
India captain Virat Kohli and opener Lokesh Rahul led India to safer shores, scoring centuries as Australia dropped catches -- Joe Burns and captain Steven Smith the culprits -- on Day 3 of the fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday. Check out some images from the day's play.
Check out the images from Day 2 of the fourth Test between Australia and India played at Sydney Cricket Ground
From Australian captain Michael Clarke to other big names, tributes flew in for former Australian cricket captain and commentator Richie Benaud, who died of skin cancer late on Thursday aged 84. Here are some reactions...
Floored by the praise showered on him by Brian Lara, pacer Wahab Riaz has invited the West Indian legend to Pakistan.
The four best teams have made the semi-finals of the World Cup and New Zealand's clash with South Africa at Eden Park is going to be 'one heck of a show', according to coach Mike Hesson.
Quinton de Kock's return to form in South Africa's World Cup quarter-final rout of Sri Lanka was one of the most pleasing aspects of a convincing victory for the Proteas.
A rampant Australia sealed a 5-0 Ashes series sweep by skittling England out for 166 to claim a 281-run victory with more than two days to spare in the fifth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.
A match referee had warned of disgraced Australian cricketers Steve Smith and David Warner "being involved in a ball-tampering incident" in the domestic Sheffield Shield in 2016, a media report said on Friday.
Shane Warne's tell-all autobiography is every bit as controversial and engrossing as his cricketing career, notes Dhruv Munjal.
The wife of banned cricketer David Warner has confirmed he walked off the field while batting in a Sydney club game on Saturday after he was sledged by the brother of his dead former team mate Phillip Hughes. Warner, who is serving a 12-month ban from first class and international cricket for his role in a ball-tampering scandal, returned to the crease after a short break and then scored 157 not out for his Randwick-Petersham club.
Australia captain Richie Benaud, the voice of cricket for millions of television viewers, said he was being treated for skin cancer in his first public appearance in more than a year.
Nathan Lyon took 5-68 as a dominant Australia dismissed New Zealand for 251 before the home batsmen took over to extend their lead to 243 by the close of play on the third day of the third and final Test in Sydney on Sunday. Already 2-0 down in the series after thumping defeats in Perth and Melbourne, New Zealand have been ravaged by illness and injury and now face a huge battle to avoid a third heavy loss before they head home. Images from Day 3 of the third Test in Sydney on Sunday.
Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin will move into coaching to pass on his knowledge to the next generation of local cricketers, coach Darren Lehmann has said.
Moments after India's maiden Test series triumph in Australia, coach Ravi Shastri hit back at the critics, including the legendary Sunil Gavaskar.
As the tournament gets to the business end here's a chance to predict the winner. Listed below are the eight quarter-finalists. Pick four who you think will make the semi-finals.
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.
India captain Virat Kohli was booed by a small section of the Adelaide Oval crowd on Saturday when he stepped out to bat in the second innings against Australia.
Some 17 months on, with his rehabilitation after a one-year ball-tampering ban apparently completed, the 32-year-old will return to the Test arena at Edgbaston on Thursday at the start of his sixth Ashes series.
Australia fast bowler Peter Siddle has claimed that it would be a little bit daunting at first to walk out onto the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) for the fourth and final Test against India, as it is the same ground where Phillip Hughes was struck by the deadly bouncer.
With the Sydney Cricket Ground having a history of assisting spin from third day onwards, Australian left-arm orthodox Ashton Agar is hoping to get picked in the XI and play his part in the fourth and final Test against India starting January 6.
The Barmy Army, also paid homage to the late left-hander by chanting "There's only one Phillip Hughes" to the tune of 'Winter Wonderland' during the opening session of the fifth day of the match.
Following is a factbox on the first Test match between Australia and England, which starts on Thursday:
Former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has taken a dig at Virat Kohli ahead of his country's do-or-die clash against host India in 2016 World T20 at Mohali. Johnson, who has retired from cricket, reminded cricket fans about how the Indian batting superstar "went missing" during last year's Cricket World Cup semi-final loss. Kohli told reporters on Saturday he thrives in situations when opposition teams attempt to throw him off his game through sledging, in particular against Australia, saying "if anything, it motivates me more". But Johnson questioned whether Kohli could stand the heat when the pressure was on after reading Kohli's words on Twitter. "Love it!! Went missing in WC semi last yr when it really counts," Johnson tweeted. Chasing Australia's imposing 7-328 at the SCG in the World Cup semi-final, Kohli was dismissed by Johnson for one.
Cricket Australia and Cricket New South Wales have supported NSW Premier Mike Baird's announcement of a State Memorial Service for Phillip Hughes, who passed away on Thursday.
Images from Day 1 of the Day-Night Tour match played in Sydney on Friday.
The family of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes walked out of an inquest into his death on Friday after a submission from the lawyer for Cricket Australia that the coroner should not rule on claims the batsman been subject to threatening language. Hughes was hit on the back of the neck by a rising delivery when playing for South Australia in a domestic match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on November 25, 2014. He died two days later in a Sydney hospital.
Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar and middle order batsman Praveen Amre, on Sunday, hailed the Indian cricket team which is on the cusp of making history in Australia.
Spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav left Australia reeling on 236/6.
The third and final match of the upcoming Twenty20 series between India and Australia will turn pink to support the McGrath Foundation after rain washed out a large part of the annual Pink Test in Sydney.
Cheteshwar Pujara's masterful 193 and Rishabh Pant's magnificent unbeaten 159 extinguished Australia's hopes of winning the SCG Test.
Images from Day 4 of the third Test between Australia and New Zealand in Sydney on Monday.
Images from the third and final T20 International between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
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