Ashwin has been in brilliant form in the ongoing Test series against Australia.
The trio of Bancroft, Smith and Warner were banned for their roles in the ball tampering scandal.
History is on Hardik Pandya's side, which has won all three games against the Royals so far, and that would certainly play on the minds of the Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan outfit at the Narendra Modi stadium.
Josh Hazlewood will be Australia's third pace bowler in this week's first Test against New Zealand after Peter Siddle was named 12th man on Wednesday.
There will certainly be some distinct home advantage for Australia along with the experience of playing more Day/Night Tests.
India would look to finalise their batting order for the tournament-proper when they take on Australia in their second and final warm-up game in Dubai on Wednesday.
Australia limited-overs captain Aaron Finch hopes his team can bring some joy to cricket fans in Sri Lanka amid the island nation's worst financial crisis in over seven decades.
Scott Boland will become the first indigenous Australian Test player since Jason Gillespie played his last match in 2006 when he receives his baggy green cap on Sunday.
Fans and family celebrated in style after Australia won the Ashes in glorious style
England were spared the ignominy of the follow-on but Australia appeared on course for victory after dominating day three of the day-night second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
IPL-bound Australian cricketers are sweating over their participation in the 14th edition of the cash-rich league
Left-arm spinner Nauman claimed a career-best 6-107 on a flat track where bowlers struggled for success.
New South Wales paceman Abbott and Queensland veteran Neser are the reserve quicks behind regulars Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and James Pattinson.
'We are looking at them every single day. We are comfortable with the protocols with what they are for SA (South Australia).' The only limit on Australia's players in Adelaide are that they head out in public in small groups.
Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have found much-needed momentum towards the business end of IPL 2022, will back themselves to ride past an inconsistent Punjab Kings and get closer to a play-off spot.
Vice-captain Warner remains a doubt after hurting his neck when going for a high catch during training at the Gabba on Tuesday, although Australia skipper Steve Smith backed him to be fit and ready for the start of the five-match series.
Gambhir underlined the importance of picking up early wickets and criticised Kohli for his 'poor captaincy' in the second ODI.
The second Ashes Test between England and Australia is scheduled from August 14 to August 18 at Lord's Cricket Ground.
The opening match of the series begins in Brisbane on December 8, with Australia playing their first Test since losing to India in January.
In his last five innings including the first practice match against Western Australia, Rohit has scored just 63 runs, including two ducks in the T20I series against South Africa.
Drones or unmanned aircraft are being used for several purposes such as mapping, survey and commercial photography, while e-commerce giant Amazon is looking to use them for deliveries to its consumers in the US.
Khawaja to battle Head for openers' spot as Australia name squad for first two Tests.
Langer said Australia are going with the same playing XI for the second Test unless and until something happens over the next few days.
Steve Smith, David Warner, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler will arrive in the UAE late on Thursday night (UAE time) from the UK and on arrival will undergo RT-PCR test for COVID-19.
IMAGES from the T20 World Cup, Super 12 match between Australia and South Africa.
Australia avoided a series whitewash as they survived a mid-innings wobble to beat England by five wickets in the third T20 international and regain their top-ranking in the sport's shortest format on Tuesday.
Both RCB and PBKS will have new captains at the helm in Faf du Plessis and Mayank Agarwal respectively
Australia has a mandatory 14-day quarantine for international arrivals to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Imam-ul-Haq hit a memorable first Test century on Friday and led Pakistan to a commanding 245-1 in its first home Test against Aus in 24 years
FIXTURES (Start at 14.40 local, 0910 IST, 0340 GMT)
Wade will instead head to New Zealand with Australia's Twenty20 squad for a five-match series starting on Feb. 22 in Christchurch.
If Rahane's side can go 2-1 up and ensure the retention of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, it will be one of the finest hours in the history of Indian cricket
The Australian captain also said that Bancroft's comments won't be held against him during future team selections.
Cheteshwar Pujara is set to play his 100th Test match when India take on Australia for the 2nd Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy
India's vacant cupboard of all-rounders will give Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri numerous points to ponder.
It took Australia seven attempts but under Aaron Finch they finally laid their hands on a maiden Twenty20 World Cup title on Sunday with an eight-wicket triumph over New Zealand.
India captain Virat Kohli's two half-centuries in the recently-concluded Australia vs India ODI series have cemented his spot at the top of the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings for batsmen.
Injured pacer Harris sidelined; Siddle dropped.
Captain Steven Smith is looking forward to Hazlewood making full use of the 'traditionally fast and bouncy Gabba wicket'.
Australia have named the following 17-man squad for the five-Test Ashes series against England, which begins at Edgbaston on Aug. 1.
