Despite often flying under the radar in discussions about India's all-round options, Axar Patel brings a rare skill set -- a spinner, who bashes spin with his bat, while being a reliable left-arm spinner.
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.
Batsmen have dominated Australia's series against New Zealand, but the pink ball and a green-tinged wicket should swing the balance of power back to the bowlers when Adelaide hosts Test cricket's inaugural day-night match.
Australia captain Pat Cummins said his team is not fretting over its spin combination as it has enough options to support veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon in the four-Test series against India.
Australia say they're ready and waiting to take a new-look England head on in the Ashes.
Images from Day 3 of the fourth Test between Australia and India at the MCG on Saturday.
Back-to-back Test series wins over Australia are almost unheard of but India have won the last four they have played.
Becomes first batter to face most balls against Australia in the last decade.
'Me and Todd (Murphy) were in the MRF tour in Chennai probably six months ago and that left me in good stead to go well in these games.'
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.
Though Australia have dominated the rain-hit Test, time will most likely deny the hosts.
Shane Watson also named in T20 squad to be captained by Aaron Finch
Daniel Vettori admitted that a resilient partnership between Indian tailenders Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep foiled their plans to enforce a follow-on
Jasprit Bumrah revealed that Mohammed Siraj has been bowling with a niggle and praised him for fighting through pain.
It was a frustrating day for the loyal crowd of 16,180 but perhaps more so for the home team, whose chances of forcing a result were progressively eroded.
Ahead of the start of the WTC Final, Australian players read out AI's prediction of the match, which got underway at the Oval.
Images from Day 4 of the third Test between Australia and India in Brisbane on Tuesday.
The skipper is also counting on the likes of part-time spinners Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to pitch in the slow bowling department.
Pat Cummins took five wickets as Australia maintained their unblemished record in 'Pink-ball' Tests with a thumping 10-wicket victory over India in the second Test in Adelaide on Sunday to level the five-match series 1-1 in just two-and-a-half days.
England's audacious 'Bazball' flamboyance was trumped by some true Australian grit after five days of cut and thrust Ashes cricket.
'...there'll be nerves and a bit of pressure, but that's all part of it, and I'm just excited to see what it all brings.'
'A fast bowler that is bowling 124 (kmph) and he's got a mouth from the south'
David Warner has been under pressure after a poor run of form with the bat but returned after injury to the 17-man squad for the June 7 WTC final against India at The Oval and the first two Ashes Tests.
Sridharan Sriram, who played eight ODIs between 2000 and 2004, was part of the Australian coaching set up since 2015.
Images from Day 2 of the fourth Test between Australia and India at the MCG on Friday.
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon doesn't believe Australia's preparations for the World Test Championship final will be affected by the talk around the Ashes.
'He's a very talented batsman and able to bat long period of time.'
Veteran India off- pinner Harbhajan Singh on Tuesday rejected the perception that he is jealous of Ravinchandran Ashwin, saying the Tamil Nadu bowler is a "legend in making".
Following a scintillating spell that saw the Indian batting line-up collapse, Nathan Lyon said he was happy if he could get the batters to defend.
Images from Day 2 of the fourth Test between Australia and India, at the Gabba, on Saturday.
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.
The Australian team management chose Peter Handscomb ahead of Travis Head
When you are defending to save a game, a loose delivery comes along and you suddenly opt to play an attacking shot, you are unlikely to hit as well as if you were playing your naturally aggressive game all along. First Pant, then Jaiswal, found that out the costly way, observes Prem Panicker.
New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner has revealed how he responded perfectly to the Australian sledgers during the historic day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval.
Australia, England fined for slow over-rate after first Ashes Test
Out-of-form skipper Rohit Sharma's batting position will be in focus against a dangerous Australia
England coach Brendon McCullum warned that if the pitch indeed favours the spinners, England would not be afraid to field an all-spin attack.
It's been more than a decade since India lost a Test series at home - they had lost to England 1-2 in 2012.
Unheralded left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe grabbed a sensational match-haul of 12 wickets as a sloppy India slumped to a humiliating 333-run defeat inside three days in the first Test against Australia in Pune.
The Meteorological (MeT) department of the UK has predicted a 30 per cent chance of precipitation during the afternoon,
