Shubman Gill dispelled all doubts about his thumb injury with a stylish fifty even as skipper Rohit Sharma kept cards close to his chest by coming in at No. 4 in India's curtailed pink-ball warm-up game against Prime Minister's XI in Canberra on Sunday.
McGrath, who is known to make predictions ahead of the Ashes series, said it's going to be a great contest between Australia and England.
India will be hoping to pull off a miracle on Sunday by surviving Australia's relentless bowling onslaught.
Australia's batting great Ricky Ponting on Friday said he was 'surprised' by the Indian camp's wording around Rohit Sharma's absence from the Sydney Test.
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.
Virat Kohli booed by home fans after bumping shoulders with Konstas on the pitch after the 19-year-old smashed India's bowlers around the park early on.
Australia completed victory at the Gabba in two days, batting marginally better than the Proteas on a perilous, grassy pitch that South Africa captain Dean Elgar complained was unfair to the batters. T
Warner's place looked uncertain after his double failure in the third Test at Headingley where the opener managed a total of five runs and fell to Stuart Broad in both innings.
Spinner Nathan Lyon, top order batsman Usman Khawaja and all-rounder Moises Henriques have been omitted after being selected in the squad that defeated Sri Lanka 4-1 away
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.
Erskine hit back at Johnson, stating that his questioning Warner's selection isn't logical.
Australia opener David Warner looks likely to get the Test farewell of his choice after being named in the 14-man squad for the opening clash in the three-match series against Pakistan on Sunday.
Travis Head likes the way England skipper Ben Stokes and Head coach Brendon McCullum are leading the English Test team.
This is India's second appearance in the WTC final after losing the inaugural game in 2021 to New Zealand.
Images from Day 1 of the fourth Test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.
Pat Cummins produced a vicious bowling onslaught to leave India battered and bruised as Australia took a 296-run lead on day three.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the WTC Final played between Australia and India at The Oval in London on Thursday.
Legendary wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist believes Australia will play all-rounder Cameron Green as a pure batter at No 6 in the first Test against India.
In Josh Hazlewood's absence, Jhye Richardson impressed in Adelaide while Scott Boland produced a man-of-the-match-winning performance in his debut Test in Melbourne and was retained for the ongoing fourth Test in Sydney.
England's batting once again disappointed against Australia on Day 2 of the third Test
The seeds of India's defeat were sown in Melbourne, where Bumrah had to bowl 53.2 overs -- 24.4 in the second innings on the back of 28.4 in the first innings. With just three days to recover, that was an inhuman burden on a bowler who had bowled 151 overs in this series.
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.
Captain Pat Cummins said on Tuesday there are "no cowards" in the Australia cricket team and that the players had not been distracted by former head coach Justin Langer's inflammatory comments.
Shane Watson's international future looked bleak on Monday after the all-rounder was left out of Australia's 13-man squad for this month's one-day series against India on Monday.
Australia's decision to field an unchanged frontline pace attack last summer might have been unusual as selectors now reassess their seam options after losing allrounder Cameron Green.
With the series locked at 1-1, Brisbane could well decide the course of the rubber and whether Rohit's men would continue to be the master of their fate in the ongoing World Test Championship.
Australian batters have been focussed on tackling the spin threat
The Test batting chart is headed by Australia's Marnus Labuschagne (915 points), followed by England captain Joe Root (900) while New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson (879) dislodged Steve Smith (877) from the No. 3 slot.
Usman Khawaja will replace Travis Head in Australia's middle order for this week's fourth Ashes Test against England in the only change to the side that wrapped up the series in Melbourne last week.
Gavaskar said Indian batters erred persistently around their personal landmarks, citing a pattern.
'...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.'
Australia face a selection headache with Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Josh Hazlewood vying for two slots in the pace attack.
Another tough choice India need to make is in the wicket-keeping department.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the WTC Final played between Australia and India at The Oval in London on Saturday.
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.
Since 2011, England have managed to eke out just a single draw in 13 Ashes Tests over three tours and their last two Tests in Sydney have resulted in humiliating defeats.
The match is delicately poised after a see-saw battle on Monday with Australia on 107-3 in their second innings chasing a victory target of 281 to take a series lead.
Rain is expected early on Tuesday before drier conditions and, with Australia requiring a further 174 runs and England needing seven wickets, a classic is brewing.
Steve Smith and Travis Head join top-ranked Marnus Labuschagne following their centuries in the ICC World Test Championship Final against India.
The Indian supporters, on Saturday, resorted to booing the Australian team, primarily Cameron Green after the giant all-rounder's diving catch to dismiss opener Shubman Gill.
