India thrashed West Indies by 318 runs in their inaugural World Test Championship encounter but at the onset, there was a debate on the omission of senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. The legendary Sunil Gavaskar termed his exclusion as "astonishing".
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.
Virat Kohli surpassed Rahul Dravid to become the second highest run-scorer for India in international cricket.
Usman Khawaja has been handed the chance to audition for an Ashes place after being named in the Australia 'A' side to face England two weeks before the first Test.
Kings XI Punjab, who are already out of the race for a place in the play-offs in the Indian Premier League, released Australian players Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Johnson to prepare for their forthcoming two-Test series in the West Indies.
Former Australia captain Aaron Finch believes the 285-run first innings partnership between Steve Smith and Travis Head made the difference in the World Test Championship final.
Tournament records and personal bests came by the bucketload but Nathan Coulter-Nile fears his West Indies heroics may not be enough to make Australia's next XI.
West Indies have said they are embracing their underdog status for the three-Test series against Australia, which starts in Hobart on Thursday, but the reality is they have very little choice in the matter.
'We were not disappointed with the loss. We didn't lose the match because of experiments, sometimes conditions also matter.'
Team uniforms for the Tsunami Appeal Cricket match were released at a press conference at Cricket Australia.
Sri Lanka's senior opening batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan is set to retire from international cricket at the end of Australia's Tour of Sri Lanka. Dilshan missed Sri Lanka's previous limited-overs series against England for personal reasons, but returned to the side that is currently deadlocked 1 1 with Australia after two matches in Colombo. The third ODI, on Sunday August 28 in Dambulla, will be Dilshan's farewell to the 50-over game and Sri Lanka Cricket are hurriedly making arrangements to honour his enormous contribution to the game.
Australia have named Michael Clarke in a 12-man squad for the first Test against India starting in Brisbane next week, but the hamstrung captain must prove his fitness in a tour match starting on Friday.
Venkatesh Prasad was on Sunday appointed bowling coach of Kings XI Punjab for the upcoming Indian Premier League, a couple of days after the former India medium pacer resigned as the chief of junior national selection panel.
Team India's pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma got some vital bowling practice on the third and final day of their warm-up match against Cricket Australia Chairman's XI before the match ended in a draw in Canberra on Wednesday.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes was named on Wednesday in a 16-man squad for the Ashes tour to Australia despite being arrested earlier in the week for an altercation outside a Bristol nightclub.
In the absence of the injured Ollie Pope, big-hitting Harry Brook has been promoted to No 3 in what is a must-win Test for the hosts.
The Indian team management will try to keep cards close and assess defending champions England's batting depth when the home team takes field for its first World Cup warm-up match game, in Guwahati on Saturday.
'I would have picked Ashwin for his batting, let alone his bowling. That is why I can't believe he isn't playing because he has got five Test centuries as well. It is very strange.'
Queensland quick Michael Neser looks set to make his Test debut against New Zealand on Thursday with Australia considering an unconventional five-man attack for the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The hosts, who can clinch the three-match series with a second successive victory, are wary of the surface at MCG where bowlers had to really toil for any success in recent times.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the Asia Cup match against Pakistan?
Karnataka XI suffered a five-wicket defeat in their opening match of the Twenty20 Emerging Players' Tournament.
The trans-Tasman rivalry is fierce across all sports.
'When I was playing regularly, there must have been someone who had to sit out, and I wasn't guilty. So you can't feel low if you are sitting out because the team is winning.'
Will India retain the same playing XI?
Mercurial Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has been named as captain of Kings XI Punjab for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), beginning April 5.
Bangladesh might not look too threatening in the World Cup but their record against the Proteas
Skipper Adam Gilchrist finally led from the front with a dazzling unbeaten 85 as Kings XI Punjab scored a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Royal Challengers in a Pepsi Indian Premier League match in Bangalore on Tuesday.
Soon after landing in Lahore, the World Eleven players and officials were taken to a five-star hotel on the main Mall road which was closed for traffic from all sides.
England captain Alastair Cook says his side accepts their role as favourites as they chase a fourth consecutive Ashes series victory over Australia for the first time in over 100 years.
The 25-year-old, a leg-spinner like his father, moved to Australia to play for in 2016 and is hoping to become a citizen in 2020 and represent his adopted nation in the Twenty20 World Cup later that same year.
Australia began their tour of England with an eight-wicket victory over the PCA Masters in a Twenty20 match.
India will welcome back regular skipper Virat Kohli, who missed the last three Tests in Australia to attend the birth of his daughter.
Stuart Clark is set to make his international debut on Friday.
Legendary spinner Shane Warne and South Africa's Dale Steyn have been named alongside one another by former Australian skipper Michael Clarke in his best ever Test side.
'These guys are not thugs'
Has any cricketing legend asked the all-powerful BCCI Secretary Jay A Shah how selections are taking place without a chief selector in place for the last four months? Who takes all the important decisions at selection meetings?, asks Harish Kotian.
The Indian cricket team will play an additional warm-up game when they tour Australia later this year for a Test series starting at Melbourne on December 26, following an agreement between the two boards.
The Indian team management will decide in the next 24 hours if they need to seek a cover for fast bowler Ishant Sharma ahead of the important four-Test series against Australia, starting on December 26.
