While Shaun Marsh gets another go at resurrecting his career
Top order batsman Usman Khawaja has suffered a setback in his bid to return to the Australia team for the second Test against West Indies after being ruled out of a domestic Twenty20 match by his Sydney Thunder side on Monday.
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
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab in Dharamsala on Friday.
Usman Khawaja hit a mammoth 171 and Shaun Marsh approached his sixth Test century as Australia eased 133 runs ahead of England on 479 for four after the third day of the fifth Ashes Test on Saturday.
Spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav left Australia reeling on 236/6.
Shaun Marsh is determined to grasp what he admits is probably a final chance to establish himself as a regular member of the Australia Test side after earning an Ashes recall.
The 31-run victory in Adelaide was India's first series-opening win on Australian soil.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 5:
Ed Cowan will open the batting on his debut for Australia in next week's first Test against India after being included in an extended squad announced on Wednesday.
Skipper Adam Gilchrist smashed a blistering 106 and shared a record partnership with Shaun Marsh (79) to steer Kings XI Punjab to a 111-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in their Indian Premier League match at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday.
Former captain Mark Taylor feels that either Ricky Ponting or Mike Hussey should be dropped for the first Test against India, in Melbourne, to make room for both the all-rounder Dan Christian and recovering batsman Shaun Marsh in the top six.
Batsmen Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh were all dropped from the squad that lost a home Test series against India for the first time.
Shaun Marsh hit a quick-fire 71 and Paul Valthaty smashed 46 runs as Kings XI Punjab spanked Rajasthan Royal by 48 runs to score their third consecutive win in the Indian Premier League in Mohali on Thursday.
In-form batsman Usman Khawaja has been selected to play his first one-day international in three years when Australia meet New Zealand in the second match of their series in Wellington on Saturday.
Sri Lanka's Australian cricket coach Geoff Marsh has drawn criticism after the team's loss to Pakistan in the recent Test and ODI series in the UAE with media reports here stating that he was more focussed on his son Shaun's progress in the Aussie team.
Australia opener Matt Renshaw is a doubt for the series-opening Test against Pakistan after suffering a head injury in a tour match in Dubai.
Revealing that Shaun Marsh's elevation to the number three spot in the Australian Test team was a part of captain Michael Clarke's 'long-term plan', Ricky Ponting has said that he has no problem in moving down the order as long as he is part of the playing XI.
A day after Kings XI Punjab'sGlenn Maxwell was sent home due to a side strain, team-mate Marcus Stoinis has also joined the list of Australian players leaving the ongoing Indian Premier League.
Factbox on the third Test match between Australia and India, which starts on Friday.
Vice-captain Warner remains a doubt after hurting his neck when going for a high catch during training at the Gabba on Tuesday, although Australia skipper Steve Smith backed him to be fit and ready for the start of the five-match series.
After several losses in the early years of the new century, a resurgent India notched up two consecutive series wins in Australia to become the Aussies' nemesis.
Kevon Cooper scalped three vital wickets before Ajinkya Rahane scored an unbeaten half century as Rajasthan Royals beat Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets and inched closer to a play-off berth in the ongoing Pepsi Indian Premier League, in Mohali, on Thursday.
Kings XI Punjab beat Bangalore Royal Challengers by nine wickets in an IPL Twenty20 match at PCA stadium in Mohali on Monday.
Australia have dropped Test skipper Tim Paine from their one-day squad for next month's series against South Africa and named opening batsman Aaron Finch as captain in his place.
Factbox World Cup match between Australia and England at the MCG.
Australia will be without five players for next week's first Test against New Zealand after they failed to overcome injuries, Cricket Australia said, on Friday.
His loss for even part of the series would be a huge blow to a team already missing so much batting experience because of the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal.
David Miller's sensational 38-ball 101 innings helped him rewrite a few IPL records.
Suresh Raina's superb century helped Chennai Super Kings take a giant stride towards qualifying for the knock-out stages of the Indian Premier League on Thursday.
Australia have drafted in wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade as replacement for injured Usman Khawaja ahead of Thursday's Cricket World Cup semi-final against England, the International Cricket Council said on Wednesday.
Mumbai Indians bounced back in splendid fashion after losing their previous match and beat Kings XI Punjab by 23 runs to regain the top spot in the Indian Premier League, at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai, on Monday.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Kings XI Punjab produced an all-round show as they ended their Pepsi Indian Premier League campaign on a winning note with a 50-run humiliation of Mumbai Indians in Dharamsala, on Saturday.
How do India and Australia's teams stack up? Rajneesh Gupta presents all the numbers.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab at the Wankhede stadium on Monday.
If the two injured players are unable to take field against DD, it will certainly raise hopes for Glenn Maxwell and Virender Sehwag to make the final cut
The 25-year-old with the signature slingshot action helped rout Australia for 151 soon after tea in their reply to India's declared first innings total of 443 for seven..
Murali Vijay (95) and Michael Hussey (63) put together 159 runs, in just 89 balls, for the first wicket to virtually make the IPL final against Royal Challengers Bangalore a no-contest.
Mahela Jayawardene hit his maiden century in the IPL to guide Kings XI Punjab to a convincing eight-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, on Sunday. Jayawardene, a last minute inclusion in place of the injured Shaun Marsh, finished unbeaten on a splendid innings 110 from 59 balls, having hit 13 boundaries and three sixes to give his team a much-needed victory.
