Going into the final Test against South Africa, Australia are staring at the lowest ebb in their 140-year cricketing history.
Australia bowled out South Africa for a below-par 212 despite David Miller's defiant 101 but the chase was not as straightforward as Pat Cummins and his team would have liked.
Here are a slew of records that were scripted on Wednesday...
After defeats in their opening two matches, Australia came roaring back, winning their next nine games in succession
'I had a good two months in India with the Indian Premier League and we are really excited about this tournament'
India lost the crucial wicket of opener Murali Vijay after Steven Smith led Australia's fightback with a magnificent century on his captaincy debut. He received able support from Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc, who both scored half-centuries. At close of play on Day 3 in the second Test , India were 71 for one in their second innings. Check out some images from the day's play.
Wicket-keeping great Ian Healy says he is 'losing respect' for Indian captain Virat Kohli.
Australia will look for another dominating show but need to be cautious when they face a tenacious Netherlands in the World Cup 2023 match in New Delhi.
'Cricket as a pathway in the US was not something people thought about 10 years ago, even like five years ago.' 'But now that there is a pathway you can see.'
They will all be spending two weeks in a Sydney hotel for the mandatory quarantine.
Australia's grizzly-haired veterans brought all their big-game experience to the fore
The Australians are struggling against India's new spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal and the hosts would like to ensure that it doesn't get any easy as the series progresses.
The former skipper believes the Australians were not proactive enough against the Indian bowlers in this match.
On Thursday afternoon, class XI student Sameer Khan was making life difficult for the 6'4" tall Marcus Stoinis during Australia's net session ahead of the opening ODI against India.
Several Australian cricketers are looking to leave the Indian Premier League early amid fears they will be locked out of the country because of India's escalating COVID-19 crisis.
Australian captain Pat Cummins couldn't believe his ears when he found a near 100,000 people at Narendra Modi Stadium go pin-drop silence after Virat Kohli's dismissal giving the vibe of a "quiet library" during the World Cup final against India.
Steven Smith will lead Australia in Friday's tri-series match against England in absence of suspended George Bailey, Cricket Australia said on Tuesday.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the WTC Final played between Australia and India at The Oval in London on Thursday.
Smith has managed just 10 runs in the first two matches, while Labuschagne could not capitalise on the starts
Joe Root continued with his purple patch during the first Ashes Test against Australia at Edgbaston, bringing up his 30th Test century.
Wary of the threat posed by Kuldeep Yadav, Australian captain Steve Smith on Saturday said the Indian left-arm wrist spinner is difficult to pick and his side has put in extra effort at the nets to prepare for him.
India clinched a comfortable five-wicket win over Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series.
How do the Aussie and Indian cricketers compare? Rajneesh Gupta presents all the career numbers.
Indian cricket team will not just be looking to win a third ODI global title but also look at saving the '50-over format' which has been battling identity crisis for at least five years now.
Steve Waugh feels Kohli is now much more in control as a player and would be keen to lead the team to a series win abroad.
Australia at least on paper, can't be rated ahead of India and England during this edition of the tournament.
The Australia team has come in for criticism from former players over various issues including their approach and selection.
Virat Kohli and Steve Smith are on even keel as far as leadership qualities are concerned, feels former Australia skipper Michael Clarke even though he rates the Indian captain as a slightly better ODI batsman.
Their house in complete disarray after consecutive defeats, Australia will look to wake up from the slumber and return to winning ways against an equally stuttering Sri Lanka in the World Cup match in Lucknow on Monday.
'They have tried too hard to be that stereotypical Australian team that are aggressive and go hard at people.'
Their frailties against quality spin attack badly exposed in Sri Lanka recently, pace bowling great Glenn McGrath said that the Australians will have to quickly sort out their issues against slow bowlers if they don't want a disaster in their tour of India to play four Tests in February-March next year. "Especially with the way things went in Sri Lanka on turning wickets, they have got a lot of work to do between now and then. The Aussies will find it tough in India unless they turn things around pretty quickly," McGrath told reporters during a promotional event.
Australia skipper Steve Smith on Saturday stressed on the importance of winning the ICC World Twenty20, the one trophy missing from the glittering cabinet of the record five-time world champions who're no 1 in Test and ODI format. "It's the one trophy that eluded us. We want to win every tournament and series that we play in. We are pretty settled. We have got 15 guys who can give this tournament a real shake," Smith said about the fifth ranked side. "We played good in South Africa to win that series there. Guys have stepped up and we're in good form. It's going to take us squad mentality to do well in this tournament," the Aussie skipper said about the team who won in South Africa 3-1 before landing here." Australia lost in New Zealand 1-2 in an ODI series before winning the Tests 2-0 and they travelled for the World T20 build-up to South Africa where they won 2-1. "It's just about being positive. We've got a good squad together. We know what to expect. It's about going out there and making sure we can execute our skills. If we do that well hopefully we will win a lot of other games."
There will certainly be some distinct home advantage for Australia along with the experience of playing more Day/Night Tests.
Rather than sweeping the ball, Australia's batters mainly attempted the front foot defence against the spinners besides stepping out to hit down the ground.
Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar picked Australia's batting sensation Marnus Labuschagne as the player who most reminds him of himself, calling the fast-rising batsman a special talent with impeccable footwork. The 25-year-old Labuschagne became Test cricket's leading scorer in the calendar year 2019 with 1,104 runs. He broke into the scene after coming in as a concussion substitute for Steve Smith during the Ashes last August.
'Captaincy in India is about knowing the right period -- when to take the foot off the pedal and when to attack. I think I learnt that in Sri Lanka' India and Virat Kohli have been on a roll, with the team going unbeaten in the last 19 Tests and the Indian captain scoring at will, but Australia have devised plan to stop both and team in hope to have a successful series
They have looked more comfortable setting targets than chasing one though, and they will expect more penetration from their bowlers against a resurgent Australia.
Australian media, on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Virat Kohli, labelling the India captain as 'classless' and 'egomaniac'.
India's hopes of breaking their ICC trophy drought after 2013, remained unfulfilled as Australia handed them a crushing loss at the WTC Final.
There seems to be no love lost between India and Australia players as visiting skipper Steve Smith, on Monday, appeared to have used cuss words against Murali Vijay after the home team opener claimed to have taken a catch that was deemed not clean.
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