India all-rounder Hardik Pandya bowled in top-flight cricket for the first time since returning from a back surgery more than a year ago, with his team under pressure against Australia during the second ODI in Sydney on Sunday.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah found his mojo as India got back to winning ways with a morale-lifting 13-run triumph over Australia in the third and final ODI in Canberra on Wednesday, salvaging some of the lost pride in a 1-2 series defeat.
India's top order fired in unison and their bowlers produced a tidy display to beat reigning world champions Australia by 36 runs in a thrilling World Cup match.
Rahul with 726 points maintained his position in the list led by Pakistan's Babar Azam with 885 points, followed by Colin Munro (825) of New Zealand, Glenn Maxwell (815) and Aaron Finch (782), both of Australia.
Images from the fourth One-Day International between Australia and India in Canberra, on Wednesday.
The two groups will unite late on Thursday night and with the opening ODI slated for Friday, the players will have no scope to wriggle in a practice session as one unit.
Kings XI Punjab beat Pune Warriors India by seven wickets on Sunday. Here are the statistical highlights from their Indian Premier League match played in Pune on Sunday.
Top order batsman Usman Khawaja has been omitted from Australia's annual list of 20 elite, contracted players in 2020 after falling out of favour with selectors midway through last year's Ashes. The 33-year-old lefthander has not played for the Test side since being dropped after the third match against England in Leeds last August.
Both Wade and Marsh were part of the Australia A squad who begin their four-day clash with Sussex in Arundel on Sunday.
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.
Gujarat Lions would be looking to get back to winning ways when they lock horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Chennai Super Kings and Pune Warriors in Chennai, on Monday.
With the batting firepower in Australia's ranks, they cannot be ruled out as contenders to grasp it at the sixth attempt.
Images from the T20 World Cup final between New Zealand and Australia, in Dubai, on Sunday.
Glenn Maxwell blasted an unbeaten 113 from 55 balls to guide Australia to a seven-wicket win over India that sealed a 2-0 away T20I series victory.
Maxwell came to the crease with Australia vulnerable at five for two in their chase of India's 126 and his 43-ball 56 anchored an 84-run third wicket stand that steadied Australia.
India needed 14 runs from the last over and Pandya delivered with sixes off the second and fourth deliveries
The 13-run win saw India grab their first points in the ICC Men's World Cup Super League table.
'His (Bumrah's) bouncers surprise you, his yorkers surprise you and then when he bowls the change-up it's very, very difficult, it's like when Lasith Malinga at his prime, he bowled 140kmph and swung them'
Earlier in the day, Russia was banned from defending its Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup titles but its players will still be allowed to compete at the Grand Slams and in regular tour events.
Indians dominated the limited-over teams by having three and four players in the ODI and T20I respectively
David Miller and Faf du Plessis scored sparkling centuries in a partnership of 252 runs as South Africa beat Australia by 40 runs in a one-day international, in Hobart, on Sunday, to win the three-match series 2-1.
Australian cricket officials were put on alert after the number of cases in the northern beaches outbreak in Sydney reached 28 on Friday.
His ability to bowl yorkers almost at will and his unpredictable bounce make him a death-overs nightmare for most batsmen.
Australian perfection has yet to be achieved in the eyes of Mitchell Starc despite guiding his side to a seventh win at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup. Starc's record-breaking third career World Cup five-wicket haul proved characteristically destructive as Australia bowled New Zealand out for 157, securing victory by 86 runs at Lord's.
Kings XI Punjab skipper K L Rahul, who scored a hundred against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL match in Dubai on Thursday, said he was lacking confidence in his skills as a batsman heading into the team's second fixture in the tournament.
'It felt good (to get to 40 ODI hundreds) but it is just a number'
Images from the Australia-Bangladesh World Cup match in Nottingham, on Thursday.
In-form Indian opener Rohit Sharma broke back into the top-five at fifth, while skipper Virat Kohli held on to the numero uno position in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) ODI rankings, issued on Monday.
India sealed a semi-final berth in the World Twenty20 after defeating Australia by six wickets in a do-or-die Group 2 match in Mohali.
While some franchises have said there needs to be a six-day quarantine for them and could see them miss their respective teams' opening games, others have pointed out how they should be excused since it would be simply about moving from one bio-secure bubble (in the UK) to another (in the UAE).
Australia captain Tim Paine has cast doubt over his One-Day International future after his touring side were thumped 5-0 by England, who sealed the series whitewash with a one-wicket victory in Manchester on Sunday.
Australia qualified for the final of the triangular one-day international series (ODI) with a six-wicket win over West Indies in Barbados on Tuesday.
The much-awaited return of David Warner and Steve Smith from their one-year bans has bolstered the team
India turned in a fine all-round show to beat Australia by 27 runs in the second Twenty20 International and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Friday.
Melbourne will host the traditional Boxing Day Test before the final match is played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3.
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.
Australia's three-match series in South Africa will finalise their World T20 preparations.
Australia coach Justin Langer lamented a lack of world-class batsmen in his side's line-up and pointed out that Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have been the difference for the visitors in the ongoing four-match Test series.
Janneman Malan, who was out to the first ball of the match on debut on Saturday, anchored the South African reply, taming his usual swashbuckling style to score 129 not out from 139 balls and lead the home side to victory with nine balls to spare.
