Star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has called for an improved performance from India's batting unit in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, saying the lack of runs from the top-order builds pressure on the lower-order.
Jasprit Bumrah doesn't seem to be a long-term captaincy option given his nagging fitness concerns.
Ashwin's age is certainly a factor that is being kept in consideration.
Nathan McSweeney had a disappointing start to his international career after being ousted by Bumrah for 10 and zero in the first Test at Perth.
The introduction of Webster was the only change to the side, with Mitchell Starc included despite struggling with a back niggle during the fourth Test.
The 38-year-old played the day-night Test in Adelaide and picked up one wicket.
The Indian team management has decided to retain Devdutt Padikkal, who was part of the India A team, as a backup for the senior team in Australia.
Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been recognised for their exceptional performances in 2024 by being named in the ICC Men's Test Team of the Year.
The 60,000-seat arena will host its first Test after a rich 47-year run at the nearby WACA, located on the opposite bank of the SwanRiver, and the grassy drop-in wicket unveiled on Thursday has fuelled anticipation of a pace bowler's paradise.
In a candid conversation on The ICC Review with Sanjana Ganesan, Shastri named two young stars he believes are ready to be groomed for the role - Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant.
He warned the players that failure to follow his game plans would result in them being dropped from the team.
'I want to categorically deny any association with these accounts and their content. The statements being circulated are not my views and do not reflect my opinions in any way.'
India managed to keep the five-Test series level at 1-1 heading into the Boxing day Test in Melbourne, the fragility of their top order remains a major concern for the tourists.
'This will be a testing time for Indian cricket. And I'd say this truly marks the beginning of the Gautam Gambhir era.'
Rohit hinted that the 64-Test veteran could still play a part in the remainder of the five-Test series in Australia.
The tickets for the opening day of the fourth Test of the between India and Australia at MCG have been sold out.
Hazlewood's inclusion is the only change to the home side who will look to take a 2-1 lead in the five-Test series.
A revitalised England gave notice they would not be giving up the Ashes without a fight and reduced Australia to 220 for five at tea on a sweltering opening day of the third Test at the WACA on Friday.
'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.'
Sunil Gavaskar said if India captain Rohit Sharma misses the first Test against Australia, then Jasprit Bumrah should lead the side for the entire five-match series.
Gout's pre-race rival Lachlan Kennedy was disqualified for a false start and, as a result, the youngster hesitated out of the blocks before powering down the straight to leave the competition battling for second.
Brook is fourth in the list of highest run-scorers in 2024 behind table-topper Root, India's Yashasvi Jaiswal (1,478 runs at 54.74) and England's Ben Duckett (1,149 runs at 37.06).
What's interesting is now fans are questioning the reasons and persons behind their retirements.
Questions will remain as to why he ended his Test career at the age of 36, despite being one of the fittest cricketers, and why he didn't wait to cross the 10,000-run mark, observes veteran cricket correspondent K R Nayar.
'When you have a bowler taking wickets consistently, it's understandable that you tend to overbowl him. I don't think we can blame the team management for this.'
'It (the decision to pick Nitish ahead of Shardul) is also about moving forward and I feel that this is the best set of players that we have selected to do the job for the country.'
Here's Prem Panicker's unique take on all the action from the fourth day of the 2024-2025 Border Gavaskar series.
Now that Kohli has retired from Test cricket, Rajput feels that the cricketing community will miss his supercharged presence.
'I'm leaning towards McSweeney now for that opening role at the start of the Australian summer.'
"To be honest, I was not serious when I was young," he said in a video released by the BCCI on Thursday.
Following the series win, BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted: 'A wonderful end to this series and kudos to our boys for sealing it 3-1!'
Virat Kohli: The one who forced Gen-Z to fall in love with Red and Whites
The home team bowlers did not put a foot wrong but the pitch "surprisingly" dried up quite quickly at the Optus stadium on the second day, eventually helping the Indian batters, reckons Australia head coach Andrew McDonald.
The Prime Minister's XI team will be led by uncapped all-rounder Jack Edwards of New South Wales.
Australia's selectors decided against sending any out-of-form batters Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne to play for the Prime Minister's XI against India.
'They have won everything but the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and they know that, they've spoken about that, this is the one they want to tick off.'
India must start planning for Rohit Sharma's successor if the team do not play well in their five-Test series in Australia as the captain could well retire from the longest format
Sunil Gavaskar feels a subtle adjustment to his batting stance in the second innings of the Perth Test helped Virat Kohli rediscover his batting form.
The 22-year-old expressed his feelings after being selected for the BGT 2024-25 series.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the third Test against Australia in Brisbane?
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