An astute reader of the game both on and off the field, Ashwin might have gauged what was in store going forward and that perhaps made it easier for him to take a call.
'In the last Test match... I had to be honest with myself. I wasn't hitting the ball well. I didn't want to put myself there only because we had dropped the other guys who were struggling as well.'
Virat, a player often hyped and celebrated on Australian soil, generates headlines, catchy articles and massive viewership numbers whenever he lands Down Under.
Despite the heavy defeat, Australia are unlikely to make wholesale changes to their playing eleven and have retained the same squad for the Adelaide fixture.
Rohit had missed the opening Test due to the birth of his second child.
'We have nothing but respect for every Indian cricketer who takes the field on Friday'
Australia trail 1-0 in the five-Test series against India after being thrashed in the Perth opener by 295 runs.
Former India batter Ajay Jadeja defended head coach Gautam Gambhir from the criticism he has received following the 0-3 drubbing against New Zealand.
Australia have named Shane Watson and five pace bowlers, including Mitchell Johnson, in a 14-man squad for the third and final Test against South Africa in Perth after drawing the second Test in Adelaide on Monday.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the second Test against Australia in Adelaide?
The Indian team is brave and supremely confident in its ability to win from any situation, said England's all-time great Alastair Cook.
Australia and India will compete in a five-Test series For the first time since 1991-92.
Australia's capitulation in Perth triggered damning assessments of the team's performance in home media.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is on the cusp of making history after he went level with former spinner Bishan Singh Bedi for most wickets in an overseas Test series for India.
At the end of the first day of play, it is the home side that is firmly in control, and India that is now reduced to chasing the game.
India decided against playing a match against an Australian domestic side in the run up to the five-match Test series, starting in Perth from November 22
Former India all-rounder Sanjay Bangar voiced his support for Kohli, expressing confidence in the batter's ability to make a strong comeback thanks to his fitness.
Sunil Gavaskar is in awe of Jasprit Bumrah's leadership qualities and reckons the peerless fast bowler will succeed Rohit Sharma as the next captain of the Indian team
'When Nathan Lyon was bowling I saw two or three balls without any drift. So, I thought of taking on Lyon so that we get some quick runs.'
'It's going to have take something pretty serious to have me miss a game.'
"One stat stands out: 375,000 people coming through the gates in that Melbourne Test match, beating the record set 90 years ago of 350,000," Shastri said.
Bumrah now has 36 wickets on Australian soil, and the batter he's dismissed most times is his opposite number Pat Cummins (6).
The world No. 2 India are heading into the five-Test Border-Gavaskar series, starting in Perth on Friday, following their whitewash at home, which ended their 12-year unbeaten run in their own backyard.
The iconic MCG won't have the bounce of Perth or the seam movement of Gabba but it will still be pace-friendly with 6mm of grass covering
After being bundled out for 150 in their first innings, India staged a sensational fightback to humble Australia by 295 runs in the first Test in Perth on Monday
McSweeney will make his Test debut in the series opener in Perth next week, the 25-year-old given the chance to make the role his own following Warner's retirement earlier this year.
Chhetri and Kohli share a special and endearing relationship, bonded by their extraordinary levels of fitness and love for their nation and respective sports.
'Maybe he got some indication from the team management that he is no longer in the scheme of things.'
The right-hander feels that keeping India's relatively inexperienced pace attack, aside from Jasprit Bumrah, on the field for as long as possible could be the key for the hosts in the five-Test series beginning in Perth on Friday.
McSweeney was dismissed by Bumrah four times across six innings and the Australia selectors have replaced him with teenage sensation Sam Konstas for the Melbourne and Sydney Test.
India pace bowler Akash Deep played down concerns over skipper Rohit Sharma's knee injury in the build-up to the fourth Test against Australia this week after the batsman was hit during a practice session on Sunday.
Ricky Ponting believes the hosts will hold an edge over India in the second Test at the Perth
'The 2018 series win in Australia stands out in his captaincy.'
Indian cricket has produced a generational superstar in Yashasvi Jaiswal and will remain in good health even when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma decide to call time on their careers, said former Australia World Cup winner Darren Lehmann.
In the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah led India to their most dominant win in Australia, in the series opener in Perth.
Rookie Australia opener Nathan McSweeney admitted feeling "devastated" after being dropped for the last two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India, but vowed to work hard to reclaim his spot in the national team.
India lost the Perth Test by 146 runs to allow the hosts level the four-match series 1-1.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri says Virat Kohli's remarkable hundred on Sunday is an "ominous" sign for Australia, and no touring player in the last 15 years must have produced such knocks more regularly than the batting star.
While Sheffield Shield game for South Australia on a bouncy track would have been ideal preparation for Perth, Head feels that he will relax bit before resuming training for the India series.
Pat Cummins has never been part of a victorious Test series campaign against India, and the Australian captain wants to erase that blemish from his CV
