Only three England captains have secured the urn in Australia in the last 50 years, with Andrew Strauss the last in 2010/11.
Australia may opt to continue with a four-prong pace attack at Adelaide and even add another part-time seamer in all-rounder Beau Webster, who could replace batter Josh Inglis in the lower middle order.
Indian opener KL Rahul ended a long home-soil century drought, scoring his 11th Test hundred in India's opening match against the West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday. He reached 100 off 197 balls, hitting 12 stylish fours.
Sanju Samson's T20I future took another hit on Tuesday as India benched him yet again, favouring the finishing skills of Jitesh Sharma in a team that now appears fully committed to its Shubman Gill-led blueprint.
Scott Boland will step up and uncapped Brendan Doggett is tipped for a high-stakes debut to try to shore up the loss of a combined 604 Test wickets of experience.
The short turnaround time from the high of winning a controversy-marred Asia Cup notwithstanding, Shubman Gill's India will be outright favourites against a struggling and under-strength West Indies when the teams face-off on a green-top in the first Test in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Starc also pointed out that the wicket did not assist pacers that much with the new ball and expressed concerns over Nathan Lyon's injury on the final day of the Test and the setback to Hazlewood.
Ravindra Jadeja smashed his way past Mahendra Singh Dhoni to become India's fourth-highest six-hitter in Test cricket, continuing his fine form against the West Indies in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Harshit Rana has been included in the India Test squad as a cover and travelled with the rest of the team via train to reach Leeds
'We thought he'd play a huge part in the series. But really feel for him that he won't get that opportunity.'
They weren't up for a windfall even after the trophy but life was certain to get a lot better as some sponsors and state governments stepped up to lift them financially.
Green has so far played 29 matches in the IPL to aggregate 707 runs and take 16 wickets.
Indian Test skipper Shubman Gill, has lauded Ravindra Jadeja's performance, stating that the world's No 1 Test all-rounder has been instrumental in getting India out of difficult situations over the past couple of years.
It remains to be seen if the selectors pick Jasprit Bumrah for both Tests considering that there is only is a three day gap between the Asia Cup final and the first Test against the West Indies.
Dhruv Jurel made a strong case for his continued presence in the senior Test eleven with his second hundred in as many innings against South Africa A while fortifying India A's position on the third day of the four-day match in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Starc eclipsed Pakistan legend Wasim Akram's tally of 414 wickets to become the most successful left-arm pacer in the longest format.
I certainly get drained mentally quicker than I've probably used to: Smith
Oscar Piastri is looking forward to watching Australia beat England at cricket after a F1 season of highs and lows ended in disappointment on Sunday.
The contest between England's dialled-down "Bazball" approach and Australia's more methodical batting could determine who prevails in the Ashes series beginning in Perth on Friday.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma downplayed Shukri Conrad's controversial remarks that he wanted India to "really grovel".
Another India lower-order collapse gave England a fighting chance of a thrilling victory in the first Test at Headingley on Monday, with the hosts 21/0 in their second innings at the close of play on day four, chasing 371 to win.
'He's a good competitor, he comes hard at you so it was good fun.'
Regular captain Pat Cummins was named in the Australia squad on Wednesday for the third Ashes Test against England, a strong indication that the inspirational fast bowler will see his first action of the series in Adelaide next week.
Former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has reversed his retirement from Test and T20I cricket, and wants to represent his country across all three formats before calling it quits.
There is a school of thought that having done the hard yards in the England series, Karun Nair deserves an opportunity against a weaker opposition where a century could boost his career.
Rishabh Pant is yet to recover from the injury suffered during the fourth Test against England in Manchester in July.
He successfully took a stunner to dismiss Karun Nair to complete his 211th catch, surpassing Dravid's tally of 210. Former Sri Lanka star Mahela Jayawardene slipped to the third spot with 205 catches.
Australia's Lyon angry at being dropped for second Ashes Test
Opening batter Jake Weatherald and pace bowler Brendan Doggett will make their Test debuts for Australia in the first Ashes Test against England in Perth on Friday.
Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal shared his thoughts on securing the services of David Miller, Ben Duckett and Auqib Nabi at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 Auction.
The Perth Stadium curator has promised the wicket will be green, fast and bouncy but Stokes offered no thoughts on whether England would attack with four quicks or pick the specialist spinner, Shoaib Bashir, in their 11.
This was no Ranji clash, but a marquee Test opener-an international match that deserved a full house-yet Ahmedabad's 132,000-capacity stadium looked eerily empty.
'The tailenders should have looked to bat with Jamie Smith. Really poor from the batters towards the end. The plan should have been to give him the strike and let him do the heavy lifting.'
Vaibhav Suryavanshi was felicitated with the 'Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar' by the President Droupadi Murmu on Friday
Pant picked up the injury on the opening day of the Old Trafford Test when he attempted a reverse sweeps against Chris Woakes. Despite the injury, the following day he returned to bat and scored a fighting half-century.
Gill stretchered out with neck injury; ''just bad timing'', says Morne Morkel
'He (Pandya) can command a spot in the top five on his batting alone. He could also be one of the top three seamers in any team if he was just a bowler.'
Starc further commented that Doggett could handle the pressure of the Ashes series, as he seemed to be the third pacer in Australia's attack.
Ian Botham and Greg Chappell came together in Melbourne on Tuesday to announce celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the first-ever Test between Australia and England.
Steve Smith said the decision to drop Nathan Lyonwas taken to strengthen the pace-bowling department.
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