Spin twins Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon combined to dismantle Sri Lanka and bowl Australia to a crushing victory by an innings and 242 runs in the opening Test in Galle on Saturday.
India's Abhishek Sharma has surged to the second spot in the ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings for batters after a stunning 135-run innings in the fifth and final T20I against England.
Images from Day 4 of the first Test between Australia and India in Perth on Monday.
Usman Khawaja will return to training on Tuesday after being cleared to play the second Test
Australia's bowling was of the highest quality on the final day and there were positives in the batting, too, throughout the third Test in Melbourne.
Konstas heads home but not out of Test team's plans
Sunil Gavaskar believes India will struggle to defend even 200 if Jasprit Bumrah is unable to bowl at full throttle on Day 3 of the fifth and final Test against Australia
India have won all the last four series of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, taking into account their home wins in 2016-17 and 2022-23 -- both also 2-1 results in a four-match contest.
Sunil Gavaskar is in awe of Jasprit Bumrah's leadership qualities and reckons the peerless fast bowler will succeed Rohit Sharma as the next captain of the Indian team
Not Cummins, not Starc, this bowler was the difference in the end for Australia, reckons Ravichandran Ashwin
The highly-anticipated BGT series will begin next week in Perth as both teams fight for a spot in the World Test Championship final, set to be held next year in London.
Speaking as quoted by Fox Sports, Waugh said, "I think they have picked the team on winning these last two Test matches."
McSweeney will make his Test debut in the series opener in Perth next week, the 25-year-old given the chance to make the role his own following Warner's retirement earlier this year.
Australia wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey was mesmerized by the way young opener Sam Konstas scored an audacious half-century in the Boxing Day Test against India, but insisted that it was unlikely to become a "blueprint" for future matches.
Images from Day 1 of the 'Pink-ball' second Test between Australia and India in Adelaide on Friday.
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald accused the Indian team of trying to 'intimidate' young batter Sam Konstas.
India will have to wait until day two to show their skills and may need early wickets to force a third consecutive result in the series.
With 539 scalps in 134 matches at an average of 30.39 and best figures of 5/39, Lyon is the seventh-highest wicket-taker in Tests and has 24 five-wicket hauls and five ten-wicket hauls.
'...there'll be nerves and a bit of pressure, but that's all part of it, and I'm just excited to see what it all brings.'
Cameron Green's injury could open up the door for Cameron Bancroft's Test recall in the marquee Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India next month.
A dominant Australia hammered India by 10 wickets in the day-night second Test on Sunday to level the five-match series 1-1.
By avoiding the follow-on and standing firm against Australia's aggression, India ensured that they stayed alive in the series.
'I think we all want to remember Kohli as one of the greatest cricketers ever in the game and not as somebody who was fined'
McSweeney was dismissed by Bumrah four times across six innings and the Australia selectors have replaced him with teenage sensation Sam Konstas for the Melbourne and Sydney Test.
Cricket Australia expects Khawaja to abide by rules in Gaza support
'I think he's got the technique, he's got the patience to partner up with Uzzy (Khawaja) to allow himself to score big.'
India will be under tremendous pressure when they face an equally circumspect Australia in a battle of two out-of-form batting units in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth
ICC rejected Khawaja's application to have a sticker showing a black dove holding an olive branch on his bat and shoes during the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.
Australia are already without another regular all-rounder in Cameron Green, who was ruled out of the India series after opting to have surgery on a stress fracture in his lumbar spine.
Virat Kohli's struggles against balls outside the off-stump in the ongoing Test series against Australia has the great Allan Border wondering if the Indian superstar has "just lost that edge".
Konstas, Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft among others are looking to get into the Australian XI as Khawaja's opening partner in the series against India.
Lavishing praise on young Sam Konstas, former opener David Warner has urged Australia's senior players to adopt a similar aggressive approach when facing Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah
Star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is in contention for the prestigious title of Test Cricketer of the Year
The Perth Test marks Bumrah's second stint as a stand-in captain, having also led his country against England in 2022, and he could not have been dealt a tougher hand.
Former coach Ravi Shastri has backed India to win the Boxing Day Test, saying the visitors have exploited Australia's "brittle" top order to have their "nose ahead" in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
Former Australia opener David Warner on Tuesday said he is willing to come out of retirement and play against India in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, if the home team needs him in the opening slot.
Konstas revealed how his cousin died of leukemia and his grandpa of bowel cancer, and expressed hope the match at SCG would continue to raise awareness about the disease.
'I'm leaning towards McSweeney now for that opening role at the start of the Australian summer.'
Usman Khawaja suffered a setback after his appeal against the sanction imposed on him for wearing a black armband during the opening Test against Pakistan was rejected by ICC.
India fight back against Australia as 17 wickets tumble on opening day
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