Swing and seam friendly conditions, a lack of truly scary Australian bowlers and New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum's retirement are all themes that will resonate when the first Test gets underway in Wellington on Friday.
Only Root, former skipper Alastair Cook, Stuart Broad and James Anderson remain from the England team that suffered a 381-run hiding at the Gabba in 2013/14, when a marauding Mitchell Johnson took nine wickets and set the tone for the series.
'Smith needs to show a lot of faith and patience with his spinners and get the field right, with a nice balance of attacking and defending' 'This tour of India has been a big focus for Cricket Australia for some time now and the preparation has been meticulous'
A total of 62 players were sold at the auction for the 13th edition with the eight franchises spending a total of 1.403 billion rupees ($19.73 million). Australia's Pat Cummins became the most expensive overseas buy ever in the Indian Premier League when the Kolkata Knight Riders paid a staggering Rs 15.50 crore ($2.18 million) for the fast bowler in Thursday's auction in Kolkata on Thursday.
Rediff.com brings you a collection of some of the best sports images from around the world.
A thrilling victory over England in the second match of their One-day series was tempered for New Zealand with the news that all-rounder Corey Anderson would be sent home.
Fast bowler Adam Milne won the battle for the final pace bowling spot in New Zealand's cricket World Cup squad named on Thursday.
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has told his fast bowlers to welcome the Indian batsmen with aggression when they clash in the five-match ODI series, starting in Napier on Sunday.
Barcelona finally made a statement of intent in what has been a chaotic season as they came from behind to beat La Liga leaders Real Sociedad 2-1 at home on Wednesday.
Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers from cricket World Cups held between 1975 to 2015.
Rajneesh Gupta surveys the batting landscape in India-Australia Test encounters.
With New Zealand at the cusp of World Cup glory, former captain Martin Crowe said the Black Caps will have to dig deep into their resources if they have to beat Australia in the title clash between the trans-Tasman rivals.
India's pace spearhead Mohammed Shami received the biggest compliment in his two-year international career as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time Sir Richard Hadlee termed the young seamer's efforts in the ICC Cricket World Cup "particularly impressive".
Aggressive batsman Jesse Ryder has returned to the New Zealand side after a doping suspension and an absence of nearly two years when he was included on Thursday in the limited overs squad for matches against West Indies later this month.
The New Zealand team administration has received a pat on the back from the Kiwi media for their bold team selection in the opening match of the World T20 opening match against India on Tuesday.
Jamaica won the showcase 4x200 metres relay without Usain Bolt as their American rivals dropped the baton at the IAAF World Relays in Nassau, Bahamas on Sunday.
It will be a battle of tactics as a formidable Chennai Super Kings, led by the wily Mahendra Singh Dhoni, square off against a confident Royal Challengers Bangalore under an aggressive Virat Kohli in the second qualifier of the Indian Premier League, in Ranchi on Friday.
Pandya is undergoing rehabilitation after suffering a lower-back injury during the Asia Cup in Dubai.
Ashes rout branded 'day of infamy' in horrified Australia.
A clinical Chennai Super Kings defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by three wickets in a nail-biting second qualifier to sail into the final of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament in Ranchi, making it a record sixth appearance in eight editions of the event.
New Zealand may be on a roll having notched up two big wins in the ICC World Twenty20 but coach Mike Hesson today sought to downplay the hype surrounding his team, saying Tuesday's match against Pakistan will be a challenge because of their unpredictability and pace attack. Victories against favourites India and Australia notwithstanding, Hesson said they guarantee nothing. "We don't think too far ahead of ourselves, we had a couple of good games of cricket against some good sides, I think we have played pretty well, but it doesn't guarantee that you are going to play well next time. It's important we train well today and prepare as best we can," Hesson said addressing a press conference on the eve of the match. Asked if he thinks Pakistan are an unpredictable side, the coach replied in affirmative. "Yes, they are unpredictable, but very skillful."
Having turned the tables in the one-dayers after a shoddy show in the Test series, New Zealand speedster Tim Southee is confident that the Black Caps can script history by winning their first ever bilateral ODI series in India.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Australia's Steven Smith has become the second youngest batsman after India's Sachin Tendulkar to achieve the number-one ranking in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen following stellar batting in the Kingston Test, which Australia won by 277 runs to win the series 2-0.
Rajneesh Gupta brings you the drama and the magic behind all the 12 IPL finals so far.
In the space of two days, top batsman Smith has gone from Australia's cricketing golden boy to national pariah and it looks likely that he has played his last Test as captain.
Here are the highlights from Day 1 of the convention.
The 65th Emmys will be held on September 22 in Los Angeles.
Barring Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, all players have declared their allegiances to IPL franchises over their respective countries' domestic sides ahead of the upcoming Champions League Twenty20.
New Zealand strike bowler Tim Southee will miss the upcoming One-Day International series against Australia but Blackcaps coach Mike Hesson is optimistic the seamer would recover from a foot injury in time for the subsequent Test series.
Sandhu is excited at the prospect of playing alongside Zaheer Khan.
The 2016 World T20 was the most exciting ever, what with that dramatic last over finish on Sunday night.
Ian Bell joined an elite trio on Thursday with his third Ashes century in successive Tests after England had lost three cheap wickets on the opening day of the second Test against Australia at Lord's.
Factbox on the cricket World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa at Eden Park, Auckland.
Images from Saturday's proceedings at the World Athletics Championships in Doha.
'I just go out there and do my thing; try to express myself. I'm glad people enjoy it,' Rishabh Pant tells Dhruv Munjal.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
So 52 games have already been played in the Indian Premier League this season. Here are the Most Valuable players and some random observations by Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle.
Rajneesh Gupta salutes Tamim Iqbal's courage in the Asia Cup's opening game on Saturday and lists instances where cricketers braved injuries to battle it out for their teams.
The One-day International series in their bag, Australian big-hitter Glenn Maxwell, on Sunday, said the hosts are 'desperate' to achieve a 5-0 whitewash against India.
