India have recalled Ajinkya Rahane to reinforce their batting line-up, which will have to be at its best to negate the Australian attack.
Travis Head struck a belligerent half-century to give Australia the upper hand on day one of the series-opening Test against South Africa after the home side's bowlers dominated on a green Gabba wicket on Saturday.
Ajinkya Rahane steered Rising Pune Supergiants home with an unbeaten half-century as the visitors outclassed Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets to keep their hopes alive, in the Indian Premier League in Delhi, on Thursday.
'It is one thing to plan, but to base that plan on a flawed premise is an exercise in futility.' Former captain Greg Chappell questioned the Australian team's selection and planning for the four-match Test series, two of which the visitors lost inside two days.
India's hopes of breaking their ICC trophy drought after 2013, remained unfulfilled as Australia handed them a crushing loss at the WTC Final.
Imam-ul-Haq hit a memorable first Test century on Friday and led Pakistan to a commanding 245-1 in its first home Test against Aus in 24 years
England's audacious 'Bazball' flamboyance was trumped by some true Australian grit after five days of cut and thrust Ashes cricket.
'I grew up watching Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, those guys winning Ashes series. It felt a million miles away from me playing cricket in the backyard and here I am a decade later in this position.'
Australia's bowlers struck twice in quick succession in a devastating spell against England at Edgbaston on Sunday, before heavy rain prevented any further play.
Images from Day 3 in the fifth Test between Australia and England, in Hobart, on Sunday.
The four-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy that promises a lot of twists and turns, engrossing sub-plots and probably career-defining performances.
South Africa in trouble at 58-4 in 'Boxing Day' Test
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.
Opener Glenn Maxwell fired a blistering 145 not out as Australia posted a world record 263 against a hapless Sri Lankan attack in the first Twenty20 international in Pallekele on Tuesday. Maxwell struck 14 fours and nine sixes during his 65-ball stay to help Australia break a nine-year record held by Sri Lanka, who scored 260/6 against Kenya in 2007. Skipper David Warner gave the visitors a fiery start with his 28 runs off 12 balls as he put on a 57-run opening partnership with Maxwell to lay a solid foundation.
IMAGES from Day 5 of the 4th Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday
Australia's rookie pacer Joel Paris is set to don Glenn McGrath's No.11 jersey when he makes his likely international debut in the first cricket ODI against India on January 12.
Any of these match ups could influence the outcome of the Perth Test.
'I know we've got a big series but we can worry about that in a couple days' time. You only get a few of these moments in your career where you can sit back, acknowledge a pretty special achievement and that's one of these times.'
South Africa opener Quinton de Kock hit a masterful 178 runs in a comfortable six-wicket victory over top-ranked Australia on Friday in the first one-day international of the five-match series. After Australia posted 294 for nine in their innings, South Africa reached their victory target with more than 13 overs remaining.
A confident and wiser Australia are well-equipped to take the fight to India in a series that could literally be decided by a coin-toss, according to former Test bowler Ryan Harris.
Brendon McCullum's final one-day international innings ended as spectacularly as it began when the New Zealand captain was dismissed for 47 in the series finale against Australia in Hamilton on Monday.
Images from Day 1 of the third Test between Australia and South Africa at the SCG on Wednesday.
Jasprit Bumrah emerged as the lone bright spot with a record haul of 32 wickets.
'It's a tough gig, opening in Test cricket, but we're really confident Marcus has got what it takes to be a successful Australian opening batsman.'
Young prodigy Yashasvi Jaiswal is considered the frontrunner to make his Test debut in the West Indies, but there are other options in Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill.
The hard-hitting 27-year-old becomes the fifth Australia player to leave the Indian Twenty20 tournament early following the departures of captain Steve Smith, John Hastings and Mitchell and Shaun Marsh
Australia batsman Usman Khawaja is likely to replace injured Kevin Pietersen in the squad of Rising Pune Supergiants in season 9 of Indian Premier League. Pietersen was ruled out of the IPL on Sunday, leaving the subcontinent with a hole in his calf muscle and in Pune's batting order. If picked, this will be Khawaja's maiden IPL stint. The left-handed top-order batsman had gone unsold at IPL auctions in February despite scoring heavily in Australia's domestic circuit. Pune have not named a replacement for KP, but Khawaja is the one of the frontrunners, according to Supergiants coach Stephen Fleming. "He (Khawaja) is a guy we are surely looking at," Fleming said after the two-wicket loss to Kolkata on Sunday.
The eight innings in the ongoing Australia versus India has produced an unprecedented 2498 runs and Cricket Australia bosses have admitted that they are trying to ring in change to make all the pitches batting friendly. In all the four ODI matches, batsmen have had the upper hand with 671 runs being scored in the Canberra game - third most in an ODI played in Australia. "In an ideal world we've got some of the best fast bowlers in the world who like it hard, fast and bouncy and we're not getting that at the moment," CA's general manager of team performance Pat Howard was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the WTC final against Australia?
Ahead of the second test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series, Australian skipper Pat Cummins admitted that it has been a bit of an adjustment and the spinners were struggling.
Backing Shaun Tait's surprise return to the Australian T20 squad for the three-match series against India, former pacer Jason Gillespie said the tearaway speedster will cause a lot of damage on Indian tracks if he makes the squad for the World T20 starting March 8.
Uncapped pacemen Joel Paris and Scott Boland will make their international debuts for Australia in the first one-day match against India in Perth on Tuesday.
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald feels their 'sub-continent journey' helped them triumph in the World Test Championship final against India.
India have already secured the Border-Gavaskar trophy and they will now be playing for a record-extending 16th straight series win at home
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon has been dropped from Australia's squad for the one-day international series in New Zealand next month, while in-form batsman Usman Khawaja has also been overlooked for the three-match series.
Joe Root continued with his purple patch during the first Ashes Test against Australia at Edgbaston, bringing up his 30th Test century.
I'm against the whole resting rule. I don't like bowlers resting: Brett Lee
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between India and Australia, at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur, on Friday
IMAGES from Day 1 of the 3rd Ashes Test played in Melbourne on Sunday.
Australia called up uncapped paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile for the first Test against West Indies on Tuesday as a replacement for left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc, who was ruled out of the series due to a broken foot.
