Cricket Australia on Tuesday confirmed that the Pink Test between Australia and India will remain at the Sydney Cricket Ground as scheduled.
ICC Hall of Famer and former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting feels that batter Cameron Bancroft is leading the race to succeed David Warner and Usman Khawaja at the top of Australia's Test batting.
Former India batsmen Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Kaif hailed Ajinkya Rahane's unbeaten 104-run knock.
David Warner retired on 200 after tea in cramped-up exhaustion after tormenting the Proteas in a Melbourne Cricket Ground furnace, quashing all debate about his place in the side.
Players at this month's Australian Open will not be required to take COVID-19 tests and could play even if they had the virus, tournament director Craig Tiley said.
Officials said they were projecting a crowd in excess of 78,000 on the opening day of the traditional Boxing Day fixture, the largest attendance at the ground for a non-Ashes Test.
So prior to their Melbourne Park rematch, former champion Sharapova said she was primed and ready for another drawn out dog-fight against the 14th seed.
At the close, after 75 overs were squeezed in around two lengthy rain interruptions, the West Indies were 207 for six with Denesh Ramdin on 23 and Carlos Brathwaite not out 35 after winning the toss.
Two members of the Haas Formula One team and one from McLaren were quarantined in Melbourne on Wednesday as a precaution amid coronavirus fears ahead of Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix. McLaren said one team member had self-isolated in the team hotel as a precaution for showing 'coronavirus-like symptoms'.
'I am heartbroken at his dismissal, but I a happy Mayank has almost cemented his place in the team. Look at his consistency. He has now two half-centuries and a good 42 in the three innings he had played so far Down Under'
They were kept in the Test squad for the series starting on December 17 but tough quarantine rules have made their availability uncertain.
With an eye on the gruelling Australia series that follows the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League, the Indian Tests specialists including Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari have begun preparations for the pink ball Test against Australia at the ICC Academy in Dubai, from Friday evening.
Riding on his stupendous performance in the series against South Africa, India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, on Thursday, rose to a career-high first in the International Cricket Council's Test rankings for bowlers.
Who do you think should be part of the Indian team for the T20 World Cup semi-final against England?
India head coach Ravi Shastri declared stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane's hundred as the turning point of the second Test against Australia, which the visitors won by eight wickets, calling his knock a display of "unbelievable concentration".
Set to play in the second Test against an in-form Australian team, KL Rahul had a long hit at the nets, and so did Rishabh Pant.
Cricket Australia is open to the idea of shifting the Boxing Day Test to Perth, where the situation is under control.
'Rishabh is very confident that he's going to be right to play.'
In a bid to save its New Year fixture between India and Australia, the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust has offered to host the Brisbane Test too, if the Queensland government refuse to grant exemptions to the teams returning from New South Wales.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the fourth Test?
India's batsmen must step up and help their bowlers if the world's top-ranked Test side are to win more consistently away from home, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said.
Melbourne will host the traditional Boxing Day Test before the final match is played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3.
Pacer Umesh Yadav was on Thursday ruled out of the remainder of the series against Australia due to the calf injury he sustained during the second match in Melbourne and the Indian team management is likely to prefer Shardul Thakur over left-arm pace sensation Thangarasu Natarajan for the third Test.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who had hinted at calling it quits after his side's crushing defeat by an innings and 18 runs in the second Test against Australia in Melbourne, will play in the third and final Test in Sydney and will lead the team, an official confirmed on Sunday.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is under pressure to produce a pitch that delivers a fairer contest between bat and ball in the Boxing Day Test
The McLaren Racing team has withdrawn from this weekend's season-opening Australian Grand Prix after a team member tested positive for coronavirus, the team said on Thursday. The positive test at McLaren follows four crew members of fellow Formula One team Haas being quarantined due to the outbreak.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test played between Australia and New Zealand at the MCG on Saturday.
Mayank Agarwal will make his debut in the Boxing Day Test.
'It just speaks volumes for the team at the moment. Everyone would do anything for each other so we're in a really good place.'
Mohammad Azharuddin doffed his hat to Sania Mirza, who played her last Grand Slam at the Australian Open.
India dominate the business side of global cricket by virtually every metric but Australia showed commercial clout counts for little when teams battle on the game's biggest stage.
A team full of left-handers, Australia are working overtime to tackle the Ravichandran Ashwin threat.
Opening batsman Prithvi Shaw, who had suffered a left ankle injury while attempting a catch in the practice game against Cricket Australia XI has been ruled out of the ongoing four-Test series against Australia.
Injured New Zealand pace bowlers Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson are "tracking nicely" as the side begin their preparations for the Test series against India, according to captain Kane Williamson. Both missed the Twenty20 and One-Day International series against India but Williamson said there are hopes they could be available for the first match against the world's top ranked Test team that starts on February 21 in Wellington.
Mitchell Johnson will be rested for the opening One-Day International against England to freshen up for the rest of the series, Australia coach Darren Lehmann said on Thursday.
Number of Tests won by India outside Asia in 2018 now stands at 4 -- the most they have ever won in a calendar year, points out Rajneesh Gupta.
Under Ravi Shastri's tutelage, India became the first Asian team to win a Test series in Australia when they upset the hosts 2-1 in 2018-19 before winning their second successive series two years later.
Rajneesh Gupta surveys the bowling landscape in India-Australia Tests.
IMAGES from Day 7 of the Wimbledon Championships, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, on Sunday.
