'Very excited, have got butterflies in my stomach, we have worked so hard'
Australia gelled superbly during last year's triumph in the United Arab Emirates and 14 of that 15-man squad will bid for back-to-back titles
Pandya's absence means that India will have to rejig their bowling attack. Jasprit Bumrah has already been rested for this series, as well as the tour of New Zealand, and this allows the think-tank to conduct one final experimentation with their bowling attack.
Khawaja said that he and Finch compliment each other really well and they share a good rapport.
Kane Richardson will take his place in the 15-man squad for the tour, which starts with two Twenty20 matches later this month and is being used a warm-up for their World Cup title defence in England.
Mitchell Marsh won the prestigious Allan Border Medal at the 2024 Australian Cricket Awards
With Ravindra Jadeja unavailable because of injury, will India include the left-handed Rishabh Pant over Dinesh Karthik who is a designated finisher in the squad?
Opener Kusal Mendis struck an unbeaten 69 off 58 balls to help secure a consolation five-wicket victory for Sri Lanka, who fired with both bat and ball against Australia in the fifth and final Twenty20 international on Sunday.
While the return of pace spearhead Anrich Nortje, who had been nursing an injury, bolstered the bowling unit, the South African, who hasn't bowled since the T20 World Cup in November, looked understandably rusty.
The likes of Suresh Raina, Brendon McCullum, and Aaron Finch will be aiming to match the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Hashim Amla, and Marcus Stoinis stroke for stroke on what promises to be another belter of a track.
Images from the second T20 International between Australia and India in Melbourne, on Friday.
Jos Buttler made an unbeaten half-century as England shrugged off Clint McKay's hat-trick to win the fourth one-day international against Australia by three wickets on Saturday to set up a series decider on Monday.
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan on Sunday said it was great to see New Zealand captain Kane Williamson have an impact in the ongoing T20 World Cup final against Australia.
Images from the World Cup match between Australia and New Zealand at Lord's on Saturday.
With batters dominating the proceedings, India opened the T20I series against Australia with a thrilling two wicket win.
Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell may be rested from the first One-day international against Pakistan as the tourists recover from a stomach bug that has hit the team in the United Arab Emirates.
Australia have drawn inspiration from former World Cup-winning captain Steve Waugh in how to handle big-match pressure ahead of Friday's quarter-final against Pakistan.
India captain Virat Kohli, on Sunday, criticised the Decision Review System, saying 'it is not consistent at all and becoming a talking point in every game'.
Batsmen Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh were all dropped from the squad that lost a home Test series against India for the first time.
Three debutant bowlers and a typically rampaging innings from David Warner helped Australia coast to a six-wicket victory over Pakistan in their sole Twenty20 international in Dubai on Sunday.
Australia's top order fired in unison to secure a six-wicket win over England with Dawid Malan's career-best 134 for the tourists in vain as in the first one-day international on Thursday.
Australia, who host the T20 World Cup from October 18 to November 15, had won eight games in a row before losing to South Africa by 12 runs in Port Elizabeth on Sunday.
'I didn't like losing to India in the amazing series, no one likes losing. I'm absolutely committed, I love my job, I love the Australian cricket team, I love the players and I love Australian cricket.'
'No doubt it's their best preparation to be in those exact conditions, playing in probably the strongest domestic T20 tournament in the world.'
Indians dominated the limited-over teams by having three and four players in the ODI and T20I respectively
India are 0-1 down after an inexplicably poor batting performance led to a three-wicket loss in the lung-opener in Visakhapatnam
Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis were left out of the Australia squad for next month's limited overs tour of India while Labuschagne comes into the squad on the back of some fine form in Test cricket.
Images from Saturday's IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings, in Dubai.
Factbox World Cup match between Australia and England at the MCG.
Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin insists that he is not losing sleep over making a limited-overs comeback for India and his immediate focus is on the 'big responsibility' of captaining Kings XI Punjab in the upcoming 11th season of the Indian Premier League.
Smith and Warner have returned from year-long bans following a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa which also prompted Lehmann to step down as coach of the side in March last year.
Title favourites England are expected to be tested for the first time in the ongoing T20 World Cup when they face arch-rivals Australia in a battle for supremacy in the Super 12 Group 1 here on Saturday.
Kohli was full of praise for all his players but singled out Jadeja and Chahal for their efforts.
Aaron Finch smashed a sparkling century as Australia dealt England a 111-run humiliation in their World Cup opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.
The fifth and final ODI against Australia will be one last chance for Rishabh Pant, Vijay Shankar, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja to do something special and stake their claim for a place in the World Cup team
Chief selector MSK Prasad told reporters last month that most of the players in the current India side pick themselves and it was a matter of finalising a couple of slots before the World Cup in England and Wales.
Aaron Finch (69 off 39) stitched a 92-run stand with Dinesh Karthik (40 off 28) to lead Lions to 195 for five.
Kevin Pietersen failed to fire in his first match for Delhi Daredevils, as Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on brilliant batting by Aaron Finch and David Warner to notch a four-run victory in Friday's IPL match in Dubai.
For Kohli, who led India to their first Test series victory in Australia but skipped the second half of the New Zealand tour, the series will be the last chance to identify the batsman to fill a middle order spot in an otherwise settled side.
With Paine, at 36, reaching the fag end of his career, a fresh captaincy discussion has started.
