India head into the third Test with momentum after dampening Australia's Christmas cheer with a dominant eight-wicket win in the second match in Melbourne.
Hardik Pandya's leadership skills and India's overall World Cup preparedness will be under focus
Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin reckons the opening day-night Test was India's best shot at winning in the ongoing series as it will be very difficult for the visitors to script a turnaround after the demoralizing eight-wicket loss in Adelaide.
One side was just 60-odd metres and Swepson said that he had to defend that side bowling wide off Kohli.
Border heaped praise on India's pace unit, saying, "It's as a good an Indian bowling attack as I've ever seen."
Ian Chappell feels that Ravichandran Ashwin will certainly be the biggest threat but the Australia batters need to be proactive against him.
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.
Pain, often excruciating, was Shreyas Iyer's constant companion as he dealt with a back injury.
The 76-year-old legend said with a host of health and safety protocols in place, it is difficult for visiting teams to prevail over home sides in the COVID-19 era.
Captain Rohit Sharma's return will certainly give solidity to the top order in the second ODI against Australia.
Australia-bound Mohammed Shami defied BCCI's instruction of not bowling more than 15 overs in the Ranji game against Kerala.
A Web series Bandon Mein Tha Dum will chronicle the Indian cricket team's historic Test series win in Australia last year.
Virat Kohli's 'magnanimous' act during the 2021 T20 World Cup was among India's top three moments
Sourav Ganguly congratulated just-retired Harbhajan Singh on a glorious career
Would only comment on Yadav after talking to BCCI: Mysore
A heavy downpour frustrated Australia on day two of the fourth and final Test in Brisbane on Saturday, with play abandoned after tea and India spared from resuming on 62 for two in reply to the home side's first innings 369.
Australia retain respect for Virat Kohli despite the India captain's "absurd" and "offensive" allegations against counterpart Steve Smith, assistant coach David Saker said on Thursday.
Bracing for a challenging Test series against India who are having a dream run in the last 18 months, Australian players slogged it out in nets in Wednesday, two days after landing in Mumbai for the four-match rubber starting on February 23 at Pune.
Bumrah receives Polly Umrigar and Dilip Sardesai awards
Cricket legend Sir Viv Richards has backed Kohli to continue playing aggressive form of cricket, saying that it brings the best out of him.
'But as we know it's harder to get out of this team than get in, so whoever they go with, I'll be well and truly happy with, as long as the person who comes in does their job.'
'When people look at Kohli, they see a boy from Delhi who is taking on the Aussies in their own backyard and aspire to be like him.' 'Players like Jadeja and Ashwin lack this quotient.'
Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc has said that India were scared of losing the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The four-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy that promises a lot of twists and turns, engrossing sub-plots and probably career-defining performances.
However, Clarke said it was the negative mindset that pegged Australia back.
Kohli wished Ashwin the best and urged him to continue doing what has been doing for the team in the recent past.
Ashwin has taken 24 wickets in the series so far with an innings left to bowl, but his 6/91 in 47.2 overs will certainly go down as one of his best efforts on a flat deck
'India's resilience has got to give up at some stage. They can't keep doing what they've been doing, being so resilient, and tomorrow it might be that day. The last day of the series, potentially playing for another draw, I've just got a feeling that something's got to give. And Australia on the other hand, they know they have to go flat out and give everything to win the series.'
Rohit promised that the spinners will keep coming at the Australians relentlessly
The humiliation in Adelaide has opened up 'serious wounds' for India and Australia now have a good chance of inflicting on the visitors a whitewash in the four-Test series, reckons former captain Ricky Ponting.
Australian cricket officials were put on alert after the number of cases in the northern beaches outbreak in Sydney reached 28 on Friday.
Jadeja's haul helped Saurashtra bowl out TN for 133 in the second innings and the visitors require 262 runs for an outright victory on Friday.
'India were on top of their game, they deserved to beat us for the first time in their history. But our guys are two years better and a lot of the Indians are the same, more experienced. I can't wait to see them go. Can't wait.'
'If you have a captain of India who is not interested in Test cricket that will impact the scene. Virat loves Test cricket, he champions Test cricket, and while that's happening India will play Test cricket.'
"I always believed that I would get another chance. I didn't know how to be honest as the Indian pacers were doing well over the past three to four years. I was getting inspired watching them, to be honest."
The four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy is locked at 1-1 and the match at Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA), which is organising it's first-ever Test, is set to be a make-or-break affair for both teams.
Cricket Australia is considering the prospect of turning its four-match Test series against India later this year into a five-Test series as it continues looking for ways to compensate the financial losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. India's tour of Australia will begin with a T20 tri-series in October and is scheduled to end with a four-match Tests series in December. In between there is the T20 World Cup, scheduled for an October 18 start, but the mega event's future is also shrouded in uncertainty due to the global health crisis.
Virat Kohli has got a new admirer for his on-field aggression in none other than legendary West Indian batsman Vivian Richards who described the new captain as one of those very few Indian cricketers who do not shy away from having a verbal fight with opposition players.
Australian PM Tony Abbott came in defence of young Australian captain Steven Smith's decision to declare in the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
Images from Day 3 of the second Test between India and Australia, at the Arun Jaitley stadium in Delhi, on Sunday.
