All set to defend their cricket World Cup crown in less than a month, India will get their preparations underway with the aim of finding the right combination for the marquee event.
An fine all-round display by Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler's late assault with the bat ended England's long losing streak against Australia as the visitors won the fourth One-Day International by 57 runs in Perth.
Battered and bruised after four successive defeats, India will make a last-gasp effort to avoid the embarrassment of being whitewashed by an unrelenting Australia when the two sides clash in the fifth and final One-Day International in Sydney, on Saturday.
India will usher in 2016 with a three-week tour of Australia, comprising five ODIs and three T20 Internationals, starting January 12.
Rajneesh Gupta presents a complete statistical IPL dossier.
A struggling Kings XI Punjab will have to pull out all stops against in-form and unbeaten, Rajasthan Royals, when the two teams clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Australia ripped out England's top order to take a vice-like grip on the second Ashes Test after completely dominating the second day at Lord's on Friday.
Australia's hapless performances in the 2-0 series loss to South Africa came in for huge criticism from the country's local media on Wednesday, with demands for heads to roll in both the dressing room and the corridors of power at Cricket Australia.
590 cricketers -- including 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players -- will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
Factbox on the third World Cup quarter-final between Australia and Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.
Rajasthan Royals would be keen to adapt quickly to their new 'home ground' when they lock horns with last season's runner-up Kings XI Punjab in their campaign opener in the Indian Premier League in Pune.
The perennial fitness battles of Shane Watson are likely to rule the all-rounder out of Australia's second Test against South Africa.
Pace bowler Jackson Bird has been recalled by Australia for the first Test against New Zealand after James Pattinson was deemed not quite ready to stand up to the rigours of a full workload, captain Steve Smith said on Thursday.
'We probably didn't think it was going to move around like it did. It was tough but Jimmy (Anderson) was magnificent' 'I think we're still reasonably confident, obviously the last two days haven't gone to plan but I think we're still in front of the game'
Rising Pune Supergiants now face an uphill task of taming the rampaging Gujarat Lions in an Indian Premier League clash, in Pune, on Friday.
Captain Michael Clarke blasted a magnificent 105 as Australia outplayed England in all departments to beat the hosts by 88 runs in the second One-Day International at Old Trafford on Sunday and go 1-0 up in the series.
Injury-prone all-rounder Shane Watson has been named in Australia's 13-man squad for Twenty20 matches against South Africa next month as he recovers from a calf strain.
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum broke the world record for the fastest Test century held jointly by his idol Viv Richards on Saturday without ever being aware he was about to make cricket history.
India will eye revenge for their defeat in one-day series as they meet fierce rivals Australia in three Twenty20 Internationals, starting on Tuesday, January 26 at Adelaide Oval. Games will also be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (January 29) and Sydney Cricket Ground (January 31). The matches will see some of the world's explosive batsmen in action, while the series is also tipped as a much-needed preparatory ground ahead of the crucial World T20 scheduled to be held in March in India.
Players with the maximum work load in 2015.
Images from Day 3 of the 4th Ashes Test played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday
Former captain Ian Chappell feels the Indian team will be quite a handful for World champions Australia in the upcoming One-Day International series but the hosts will still be the favourites to win the five-game series as the visitors are short of one specialist batsman.
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.
Another insipid display by a once great cricketer as his side slumped to an embarrassing defeat to go 2-1 down in the Ashes series had Australian pundits questioning whether captain Michael Clarke was in terminal decline on Saturday.
Naman Ojha is certainly back in the national selection committee's radar after four centuries in his last five first-class innings, including two double hundreds but he rules out any competition with Wriddhiman Saha for the second wicketkeeper's slot in the Indian team.
Australia survived a middle-order meltdown to beat Bangladesh by three wickets in a World Twenty20 Super 10 match on Monday to get their campaign up and running.
Their path to the semi-finals looking relatively easier in comparison, Australia will fancy their chances when they lock horns with a struggling Pakistan side whose hopes hangs by a thread in the ICC World Twenty20, in Mohali, on Friday.
Australia beat England by an innings and 123 runs after lunch on the last day of the fifth and final Ashes Test on Monday to wrap up a 4-0 series triumph. The hosts, who scored 649 declared in their reply to England's first innings 346, dismissed the tourists for 180 at the Sydney Cricket Ground to seal a comprehensive victory.
David Warner's career-best 178 and Glenn Maxwell's 88-run blitz powered Australia to a record World Cup total of 417 for six wickets and 275 runs victory over lowly Afghanistan in a Pool A match at the Gabba, in Perth, on Wednesday.
Lewis Hamilton kept championship leader Sebastian Vettel off the top of the timesheets in both Friday practice sessions for the Korean Formula One Grand Prix while Kimi Raikkonen slammed his Lotus into a tyre wall.
Australia will start as favourites to reclaim the Ashes over the next seven weeks if only because of their home advantage but picking the winners in cricket's oldest Test rivalry has become a fool's game in recent years
Madhya Pradesh wicketkeeper-batsman Naman ojha is "not surprised" by his inclusion in India's 19-member Test squad for the tour of Australia. After all, he's been in his stupendous form with the bat in the past 12 months.
Former England captain David Gower has joined the list of critics who believe that controversial batsman Kevin Pietersen had allowed his ego to come before the needs of the team in England's 5-0 Ashes hammering by Australia.
Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com lists five matches you can't afford to miss out at the ICC's marquee event.
Paceman Steven Finn's five-wicket haul put England on the brink of a 2-1 Ashes series lead over Australia on Thursday with the tourists facing a desperate battle to avoid a humiliating third Test defeat.
India's batsmen have gone about their job efficiently, posting big totals on the board but the bowlers have been ordinary at best, allowing the hosts to chase down those tall scores in each of the first three ODIs of the five-match series.
Watson used to take flak for his inability to convert half centuries to centuries but recently his problem has been progressing from scores in the 20s and 30s.
With the teams entering the final phase of their preparations for next year's World Cup, former batting great Ian Chappell said defending champions India, Australia and South Africa are the favourites to win the game's showpiece event.
England skittled out shell-shocked Australia for 60 and piled up 274 for four in reply to take control of the fourth Ashes Test on a dramatic first day at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
India Test regulars like Cheteswar Pujara and Ishant Sharma have also thrown their hat into the ring with base prices of Rs 50 and Rs 75 lakh respectively.
