Steve Smith scored an unbeaten 85 to guide Australia to 339/5 as England wasted favourable bowling conditions on the first day of the second Ashes Test.
They have looked more comfortable setting targets than chasing one though, and they will expect more penetration from their bowlers against a resurgent Australia.
'Especially in the middle overs. That's going to be a key challenge.'
Their pre-tournament decision to fill the squad with five spinners drew a lot of flak from all corners, but it is now proving to be a masterstroke on the slow pitches in Dubai.
Ravichandran Ashwin tore through Australia in their second innings to set up a comprehensive victory for India by an innings and 132 runs inside three days of the spin-dominated opening Test.
The four wickets that India prised out in the third session, on balance, swung the game back in their favour, says Prem Panicker .
Former Australian skipper Aaron Finch said that Alex Carey and Rishabh Pant, two left-handed wicketkeeper-batters will be extremely important for their respective sides during the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India.
Australia spinner Nathan Lyon finally clinched his long-awaited 400th Test wicket on Saturday when he dismissed Dawid Malan in his second over on the morning of Day 4 of the first Ashes Test in Brisbane.
In a nail-biting finish at the MCG, Australia clinched a thrilling two-wicket victory over Pakistan in the first ODI on Monday night.
Ravichandran Ashwin has maintained the top spot among bowlers
Australia's batting great Ricky Ponting on Friday said he was 'surprised' by the Indian camp's wording around Rohit Sharma's absence from the Sydney Test.
Images from the second ODI between England and Australia, at Old Trafford in Manchester, on Sunday
Images from Day 1 of the fifth Test between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.
Images from Day 3 of the second Ashes between England and Australia at Lord's.
Pakistan's experienced wicketkeeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed laid out the team's plans to ruin Australia's star batter David Warner's farewell Test series.
Matthew Short has also been called up as an extra batter while Travis Head recovers from a fracture to his left hand.
ICC rejected Khawaja's application to have a sticker showing a black dove holding an olive branch on his bat and shoes during the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.
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.
Spin great Ravichandran Ashwin says New Zealand, despite the absence of the long-serving pace duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, who have quit playing the 50-over format, will pose a challenge to India.
Australia's Marnus Labuschange struck another half century to pile on the runs and the misery over New Zealand on Day 3 of the day-night Test in Perth on Saturday. Earlier, Starc picked a five-wicket haul.
Giving the 'social challenge' a new twist, the International Cricket Council called Australian batting sensation Marnus Labuschagne a duplicate of his team-mate Steve Smith. ICC used three different photos of Steve Smith indicating different profile pictures for Linkedin, Facebook, and Instagram. However, they replaced his Twitter picture with a duplicate account and used Labuschagne's photo to denote it, terming it as 'duplicate account'.
Rohit is on a paternity break and will miss the series-opener. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is captaining the Indian team in his absence.
Australia have named the following 17-man squad for the five-Test Ashes series against England, which begins at Edgbaston on Aug. 1.
Steve Smith and fast bowler Mitchell Starc have been ruled out of the white-ball series in South Africa through injuries.
The Australians still managed to score at a fair pace and will resume on Monday on 77-4 with Mitch Marsh, who was 27 not out, and Travis Head, unbeaten on 17, looking to cut deeper into their 279-run victory target.
Yashasvi Jaiswal has smashed 655 runs in four Tests against England with two fifties and as many centuries.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between Australia and New Zealand in Perth on Friday
'Bazball' refers to the risk-taking style of play adopted by the England team under Test coach Brendon McCullum.
Images from Day 2 of the third Test between Australia and India, at the SCG, on Friday.
Australia were 126/3 at stumps on Day 1 of the 4th Ashes Test against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
Images from Day 3 of the second Test between Australia and South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
Ravi Shastri, who knows a thing or two about winning Test rubbers in Australia, on Thursday asked India skipper Rohit Sharma
At the end of the first day of play, it is the home side that is firmly in control, and India that is now reduced to chasing the game.
Images from Day 3 of the first Test between Australia and India in Perth on Sunday.
Siraj was rewarded for his tough decision as he took two wickets on an emotional debut to help India bowl Australia out for 195
'A year ago, if you told me we were coming here I would have been very confident, they were struggling a fair bit, the batting looked like they weren't really sure how to go about it.'
Captain Joe Root's defiance gave England hope of saving the Ashes series as his unbeaten 75 helped the hosts to 156-3 in their second innings on day three of the third Test at Headingley.
Images from Day 1 of the 'Pink-ball' second Test between Australia and India in Adelaide on Friday.
Jadeja took 5 for 47 on his international comeback with the prized scalps of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith
Images from Day 4 of the first Ashes Test between England and Australia at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham on Monday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances