Pat Cummins tore through South Africa before a Proteas fightback left the ICC World Test Championship Final 2025 on a knife-edge at the end of an absorbing second day at Lord's.
The 28-year-old cricketer's ODI runs came at an average of 57.86 and an impressive strike rate of 95.15.
Australia has made a couple of changes to its squad, addressing Hazlewood's absence and the top-order issues. Sam Konstas replaces Nathan McSweeney in the squad for the fourth Test.
Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday said he reached out to the family of late Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi as soon as he got to know that the India-England Test series trophy was being renamed and tried to ensure that the former captain's association with the marquee event remained intact.
Kohli is now five points clear after Smith's knock of 36 in the Adelaide Test
The two players also received one demerit point each on their disciplinary records, marking their first offence within the last 24 months.
In the previous update, India had more points in their kitty despite being tied with Australia at 118 rating points each.
With South Africa's seam attack featuring Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, and Marco Jansen and Australia having Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and the ever-dependable Josh Hazlewood in their lineup, the battle between the two sides' fast bowlers is likely to be critical in determining the outcome of the World Test Championship final, as per ICC website.
'Some of these guys come up, grow up through IPL cricket and there's no fear or there's the expectation to be very good from the get-go and they're quality players from the time they get into international cricket no matter what their age is.'
A B de Villiers described South Africa's squad as a well-balanced unit and backed them to pull off an upset against defending champions Australia.
England batsman Joe Root and Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath have moved up to second positions in their respective ICC Test player rankings but failed to displace top-ranked batsman Steve Smith and bowler Ravichandran Ashwin.
'But I think if you look at a rebuilding sort of phase, I think India can cope with it better than most other teams'
Following his fine show with the bat in the fourth cricket Test against England in Manchester, India's Ravichandran Ashwin became the No 1 Test all-rounder in ICC rankings published on Monday
'Only he knows whether he has the hunger to go on.'
Here is a look back at India's hard-fought 1-0 series win in England, 54 years back.
England seamer Gus Atkinson has been named the ICC Men's Player of the Month for July 2024 after his heroics in the Test series against West Indies.
Rajeev Shukla hailed the star batter for his contribution in the longest format.
Dilip Doshi, who passed away on June 23, was celebrated not only as one of India's finest left-arm spinners but also as a cricketer of rare character and amazing qualities, recalls veteran cricket correspondent K R Nayar.
Sri Lanka were dismissed for their lowest test total of 42 after South Africa's Marco Jansen produced bowling heroics to help the hosts take a firm grip on the first Test.
Overall, in 25 matches Maharaj has picked up 59 wickets, averaging 17.76 with a bowling strike rate of 35.5.
The Indian team ramped up preparations for the Boxing Day Test by practicing on a fresh wicket on Tuesday at the MCG.
Victory for South Africa followed Test success over West Indies in Guyana in August and Bangladesh in a two-Test series in October.
Pakistan have dropped plans to conduct "major surgery" on the national team as it included senior players Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi in the Test squad for the two-match series against Bangladesh.
It is now-or-never for the now senior-most superstar batter to produce an all-timer series that justifies his talent.
Lokesh Rahul, who hit two half-centuries in the deciding Dharamsala Test against Australia, on Thursday, jumped 11 places to a career-high rank of 11th in the latest ICC chart for Test batsmen.
Konstas heads home but not out of Test team's plans
The relations between India and Pakistan could be a potential spoiler if both the teams enter the final, but that is a situation which will be dealt with at that point of time.
Anirudha Srikkanth heaped praise on talisman batter Virat Kohli's captaincy and said that he was the reason why India could win Tests outside home soil.
Another England bowler to advance in the rankings was Chris Woakes, whose five-wicket haul in the second innings lifted him to 20th position and a career-best rating points tally of 654.
There was plenty of action over the last 12 months that kept the loyal Indian fan interested.
Jofra Archer took inspiration from Sourav Ganguly's famous shirt swinging show at the 2002 Natwest Trophy final
'The sun is on us,' declared SA skipper Temba Bavuma following the World Test Championship triumph.
Pat Cummins said that the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) pitch looks "nice and firm" with a "bit of grass coverage"
'If you end up finding yourself in the position where you happen to be in that World Test Championship final, then it is great, but it is a real weird one knowing that you are playing for something over a long period of time.'
Dilip Doshi had great success on Indian tracks but it was the tour of Australia in 1980-81 where he picked up 11 wickets (6 in Adelaide and 5 in Melbourne) in more than 150-plus overs on non-responsive pitches.
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Shaheen Afridi also missed the last two Tests against England in October.
Courtesy his 153-run knock against Australia in the Mohali Test, India opener Murali Vijay has jumped 16 places to career-best rank of the 43rd but Cheteshwar Pujara dropped out of top-10 in the latest ICC rankings for Test batsmen.
Australia's batting maestro Steve Smith provided an update on the injury he sustained on his finger during their World Test Championship final defeat against South Africa at Lord's.
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