England captain Ben Stokes' swashbuckling 155 was in vain as Australia won the second Ashes Test at Lord's by 43 runs on an extraordinary final day on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the five-Test series.
Marnus Labuschagne broke into Australia's 15-member squad for the 50-over World Cup in India at the last possible moment on Thursday on the back of his strong recent form while injured opener Travis Head was also included.
The standout performers for DC with the ball were Kuldeep Yadav (2-17 in 4 overs) and Vipraj Nigam (2-18 in 4 overs).
This bilateral series played a crucial role for these emerging players
The Indians lost their last seven wickets for the addition of just 70 runs on the final day of the contest.
IMAGES from Day 5 of the WTC Final between Australia and India, played at The Oval, in London, on Sunday.
IMAGES from the Indian Premier League match played between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Australia call up left-arm spinner Kuhnemann for India tour
'His capacity for hard work, relentless application and focus, allied to his God-given gifts, has made him a champion every Indian can be proud of.'
Australia racked up 469 in their first innings and then reduced India to 151/5 to put themselves in the box seat in the World Test Championship final.
Smith ruled out; Cummins, Warner rested for white-ball tour.
The International Cricket Council on Monday named the four superstars of the ongoing ICC World Cup.
Rather than sweeping the ball, Australia's batters mainly attempted the front foot defence against the spinners besides stepping out to hit down the ground.
The truth of the matter is that India lost their second successive WTC final on day two of this encounter when they collapsed to 71/4 in response to Australia's first-innings total of 469.
Back-to-back Test series wins over Australia are almost unheard of but India have won the last four they have played.
Cummins said Australia's triumph had made him fall in love with 50-over cricket again even as questions about the future of the format linger.
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.
Head, who fractured his left hand during Australia's South Africa tour last month, missed his team's first four matches at the World Cup in India.
With 765 international scalps in his bag, Ashwin is the second-highest wicket-taker from India after Anil Kumble.
Travis Head struck a belligerent half-century to give Australia the upper hand on day one of the series-opening Test against South Africa after the home side's bowlers dominated on a green Gabba wicket on Saturday.
Australia's success in Christchurch sets up home Test series against India
Ricky Ponting feels that left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed could be a valuable addition in the Indian squad
Ricky Ponting slammed the current team for showing 'no desperation'
Former Australian coach John Buchanan on Thursday congratulated Jay Shah on becoming the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman and expressed hope that the incumbent Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary will be able to make all three formats of international cricket a priority for all in the age of T20 franchise cricket.
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.
Former Australia captain Steve Waugh has backed pace bowler Mitchell Starc to convert his World Cup form into the Test team ahead of series against West Indies and England.
'I wasn't even coming out to the ground.' 'He told me to come to the ground, even if it's just to support the guys.' 'I came and he did something to my toe. I don't know what he did, but something worked.'
Southee, who with fellow stalwart Kane Williamson was playing his 100th Test, said he thought the contest had been a great advert for the longest form of the game.
India will be hoping to repeat their success of two years ago when they registered their first-ever Test series win in Australia, while the hosts would be keen to avenge that loss.
Shami also became the joint-third fastest ever to take 150 ODI wickets
Border scored 11,174 runs in 156 Tests at an average of 50.56, with 27 centuries and 63 fifties in the format, and a of 205.
Australia skipper Pat Cummins bowled Kane Williamson in the final hour of play on the second day of the second Test in Christchurch on Saturday, just as the master batsman threatened an innings that would put New Zealand on top.
The biggest positives with the bat in Perth were Virat Kohli regaining his rhythm and Jaiswal's coming of age hundred in his debut Test in Australia. Both will look to build on those significant gains in Adelaide.
'Shami has been India's best bowler for a while. He may not get the amount of wickets Jasprit Bumrah gets, but he's the full package and is more consistent than the rest.'
The 26-year-old would be expected to offer a fourth pace option to back up the strike trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, who secured Australia a 120-run victory to give them a 2-0 lead in the series on Wednesday.
Pat Cummins defends team behaviour, terms Travis Head 'a big boy' who can speak for himself
India lost the crucial wicket of opener Murali Vijay after Steven Smith led Australia's fightback with a magnificent century on his captaincy debut. He received able support from Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc, who both scored half-centuries. At close of play on Day 3 in the second Test , India were 71 for one in their second innings. Check out some images from the day's play.
South Africa in trouble at 58-4 in 'Boxing Day' Test
If you drop Virat Kohli's catch, it's bound to give you nightmares.
Australia's Josh Hazlewood is a 'genius' with line and length and will have no trouble being ready for next week's Ashes opener against England
