After left-armer Afridi's two early wickets, Australia could have been in even deeper trouble but Pakistan failed to capitalise on chances offered by Khawaja and Smith.
India enters the final leg of the Australia tour with the first Test at Adelaide on December 17.
'...The players and staff deserve a lot of credit for the standard of cricket we have played over the past two years. It would be a great reward for everyone to finish as World Test Champions.'
Rajneesh Gupta breaks down all the facts and figures from the recent India vs Australia ODI series.
The all-rounder also speaks of how coach Ravi Shastri has inspired him and the challenge of opening in Test matches.
Factbox on the four-Test series between Australia and India, which begins on Thursday
Shaun Marsh's name crops up as Australia look for right opening combo.
The 33-year-old has been in strong form in 50-overs cricket too and famously quipped "I'm back, baby" during an ODI against England in November after a successful technique tweak.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the one-off Day-Night Pink Ball women's Test between Australia and India in Gold Coast on Friday.
Former Australia Test skipper Tim Paine reckons England lack the depth to go toe to toe with Pat Cummins and Co in the ongoing Ashes series.
India lost seven wickets for the addition of just 70 runs as they crumbled in the first session itself. Here's how the Day 5 panned out.
Johnson sidelined for Aus tour of UK
'Me and Todd (Murphy) were in the MRF tour in Chennai probably six months ago and that left me in good stead to go well in these games.'
He felt Australia will get better as the series progresses.
He will be back-up for Australia's regular wicketkeeper Alex Carey until Inglis returns to the squad for the rest of the five-Test series against England.
India have recalled Ajinkya Rahane to reinforce their batting line-up, which will have to be at its best to negate the Australian attack.
Brendon McCullum - playing his last Test match- produced a sensational display of stroke-play, blasting to the fastest hundred in Test cricket history. McCullum took 54 balls to reach the three-figure mark, two less than the previous record. Viv Richards and Misbah-ul-Haq held the previous record with 56-ball hundreds. In terms of time taken, McCullum's hundred in 78 minutes is the joint fourth fastest in Test cricket. Statistician Rajneesh Gupta glances at the records of the fastest hundreds in Test cricket:
Kohli's deputy Ajinkya Rahane will lead India in the final three Tests.
Boland experienced English conditions on a tour with an Indigenous team of cricketers in 2018 and Cummins said he was convinced the 34-year-old would not need to overhaul his bowling approach to succeed.
The top two teams with most points as of April 30, 2021 will then contest in the WTC final in June 2021 in the UK.
Former Pakistan bowlers, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal have been appointed as the fast bowling and spin bowling coaches of the national squad for the upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Stokes is also among the Test Cricket of the Year nominees alongside compatriot Jonny Bairstow, Australia opener Usman Khawaja and South Africa speedster Kagiso Rabada.
Coming into the series at the back of a convincing series win over Pakistan, Australia will look to seal their seventh day-night Test win when they face New Zealand in the opening Test beginning in Perth on Thursday.
Images from Day 5 of the 2024 Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday.
Australia captain Pat Cummins is returning home to Sydney due to personal reasons but will rejoin the team for the last two Tests of the series in India.
Australia limited-overs captain Aaron Finch has conceded that his Test career appears over, saying it is unrealistic for him to play red ball cricket again.
'We had one hour of chaos there and that cost us that Test match when we'd played pretty good cricket. We came here and doubled down on what we'd set out to achieve at the start of the tour.'
Australia opener Marcus Harris was dropped from the Test squad and replaced by Queensland batsman Joe Burns for the upcoming two-match series against Pakistan.
Former Australia captain Ian Chappell feels the potency of Australia's pace attack in English conditions gives them the edge in next month's World Test Championship final against India, who could be "badly affected" by the absence of injured Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant.
The Australian players paid homage to Pat Cummins's mother who passed away on Thursday.
Australian head coach Andrew McDonald backed Mitchell Starc ahead of the Ashes series starting from June 16 at Edgbaston.
IMAGES from Day 5 of the 5th Ashes Test played between England and Australia at The Oval, London, on Sunday.
Hardik Pandya's leadership skills and India's overall World Cup preparedness will be under focus
'It's a hugely important series and after the year everyone had it is going to bring a huge amount of joy to cricketing fans.'
Images from Day 1 of the pink-ball first Test between Australia and India, in Adelaide, on Thursday.
Signed playing shirts from the Boxing Day Test will be auctioned online from Thursday, with all proceeds also going to the Australian Red Cross.
As per reports in Australian media, the ICC and match referee has given an 'average' rating to both pitches.
With two senior pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (thigh injury) and Ishant Sharma (side strain) all but ruled out, Navdeep Saini will certainly be the fourth pacer after Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav.
It will be the first ever Pink Ball Test the two sides play against each other.
