Australia have hit rock bottom with their defeat to England in the second Ashes Test and spinner Nathan Lyon must be recalled at the expense of Ashton Agar if they are to turn things around, according to fast bowling great Glenn McGrath.
Washington lifted the gloom with a couple of unplayable deliveries that castled Ravindra and Tom Blundell (3) in a 10-minute spell before tea.
Ravichandran Ashwin visualises himself doing a lot more on the cricket field at least for the next few years.
Spinner Nathan Lyon is likely to retain his place in the Australia side for the third Ashes Test despite the attractions of going with a four-pronged pace attack in Perth this week, coach Darren Lehmann said on Wednesday.
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.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the opening Ashes Test played between England and Australia at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Friday.
Australia completed a six-wicket victory within two days in the first Test against South Africa on Sunday as the Proteas crumbled on a green Gabba wicket that played straight into the home bowlers' hands.
Australia bundled out Sri Lanka for 212 but endured a top order wobble of their own before reaching 98/3 in reply after a frenetic, spin-dominated day one of the opening Test in Galle on Wednesday.
Despite doing well in the IPL and domestic cricket over the past two seasons, Varun did not get a recall to the Indian team and that only made him hungrier.
Australian cricket legend Ian Healy is shocked by the team management's decision to include two off-spinners -- Nathan Lyon and young Todd Murphy -- who have almost similar action.
Australia's opener Matt Renshaw tests positive for COVID-19, will feature in Sydney Test against South Africa
Patel smashed 74 and dominated his 114-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Ashwin to rescue India
Australia's assistant coach Daniel Vettori said he does not mind the spin-friendly pitches on offer in their series in India as they have challenged the batsmen and brought their skill and perseverance into play.
Ravichandran Ashwin becomes leading wicket-taker in Border-Gavaskar Trophy history
Australia's star-studded bowling line-up showered praises on Pakistan's star batter Babar Azam, with a handful of them labelling the right-handed batter as a "class player".
Adelaide Oval's head curator Damian Hough has also promised a 6mm grass cover to ensure that the pink ball doesn't wear out early during the day-night Test, starting on Friday.
Ricky Ponting feels that left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed could be a valuable addition in the Indian squad
Chappell cites Joel Garner while telling Manjrekar that Ashwin is among the best right now
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald said the hosts would field their strongest side against Pakistan, which means a welcome return for spinner Nathan Lyon, who will chase his 500th Test wicket after injury ruled him out of the last three matches of the Ashes.
Despite the challenging build-up, Gambhir said he is "extremely confident" of retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The players will hope to be as confident as they prepare for the fight to keep their World Test Final chances alive.
Images from Day 3 of the second Test between Australia and South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
The Indian batters' inability to grind it out against a relentless Australian pace attack in testing conditions left the team precariously placed at 51/4 at the end of a rain-marred day three.
Spinners Nathan Lyon and Adam Zampa tore through the West Indies batting line-up to set up a dominant Australian victory by six wickets in the second match of a triangular one-day international series in Guyana on Sunday.
Australia have got a good record at Brisbane while India are yet to win a Test at the Gabba.
Alongside the experienced Nathan Lyon could play rookie Todd Murphy, who is yet to play an international match.
Australia's pacemen Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins ripped out England's top order with a masterclass of textbook bowling to put their side in sight of a 2-0 Ashes lead on Saturday.
Nathan Lyon revealed that he has been analysing ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to improve his own bowling.
Australia captain Michael Clarke termed India captain Kohli's hundred as a great knock and as good as any second innings hundred, while being effusive in his praise for his own team.
After Australia ended the third day on 12 for 3, Josh Hazlewood, their leading pacer, conceded that his team stares at a big defeat and it would need a miracle to save the match.
A survivalist's mindset sees Indian batsmen fail again on the first day of the SCG Test.
Any of these match ups could influence the outcome of the Perth Test.
Australia's capitulation in Perth triggered damning assessments of the team's performance in home media.
Those three wickets for six runs, in a manic final 15 minutes of the day's play, undid all the good work that had gone before, asserts Prem Panicker.
Indian batsmen frittered away the initial advantage before reaching 248 for six against a disciplined Australia to leave the fourth and final cricket Test evenly poised, in Dharamsala, on Sunday.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the third Test against Australia in Brisbane?
The youngsters in the side couldn't have got a better mentor than 'King' Kohli himself to guide them with his words of wisdom.
Nathan Lyon walked into the record books with career-best figures of 8 for 50 as India suffered another batting debacle.
Ben Stokes is notably absent from the list of 1,574 players who have registered for the IPL 2025 mega auction, scheduled for November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Australia spinner Nathan Lyon said there is no room for racial abuse in sport and hailed India pacer Mohammad Siraj for calling out racial abuse during the recently-concluded third Test in Sydney.
England coach Brendon McCullum warned that if the pitch indeed favours the spinners, England would not be afraid to field an all-spin attack.
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