Babar Azam fell one run short of his maiden century as Pakistan set Australia a mammoth victory target of 538 on day three of the second and final Test.
Travis Head, D' Arcy Short and Chris Lynn have been dropped, while the pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood have been rested.
Former captains and fellow players were unanimous in their accolades for international cricket's longest-serving skipper, Graeme Smith who announced his retirement earlier this week.
Tainted pacer Shantakumaran Sreesanth's plea for a review of his life ban has been 'summarily rejected' by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which says it will not compromise on its zero tolerance policy towards corruption.
"We have a lot of respect for Shaun Pollock but the team that did really well in Pakistan deserves another chance," Graeme Smith told reporters on Wednesday.
Virat Kohli's elegant unbeaten 90 and some wily bowling by their spinners saw India secure a comprehensive 37-run victory over Australia in the first Twenty20 International at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday. Rajneesh Gupta lists some interesting numbers from the match.
The five-times World Cup winners face the tournament hosts to decide who will meet the winner of the first semi-final between India and New Zealand in Manchester on Tuesday.
Australia's squad for the series involving India and Sri Lanka, with the exception of Shaun Tait, is the same squad that played against New Zealand for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.
Manchester United turned frustration into jubilation as they planted one foot in the League Cup final after a late Marouane Fellaini header gave them a 2-0 win over Hull City in the first leg of their last four clash.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the 2nd Test played at Optus Stadium in Perth on Friday
'A ridiculous goal conceded from a corner will be the epitaph of this team, which repeated the mistakes of Rome'
'It's a long series, our bowlers have had a really big workload and we feel we're going to need Mitch's bowling at some point.'
It was his first tournament win since January and has left the world number four confident of mounting a challenge at Wimbledon, where he has been drawn against Slovakia's Martin Klizan in the first round.
Adam Voges scored 174 and Shaun Marsh 139 in an unbroken partnership of 317 runs to give Australia a commanding 438 for three at the close of play on the opening day of the first Test against West Indies in Hobart on Thursday.
American snowboarder Shaun White, one of biggest draws at the Winter Olympics and favourite to win his third straight halfpipe title, bowed out without a medal on Tuesday in the biggest upset of the Games so far while women ski jumpers fought it out for the first-ever Olympic medals.
Quality bowling of the opposition is what separates the two pairs, feels former Australian captain Ian Chappell.
The decision was taken at the OCA's General Assembly in Bangkok.
Langer's side secured their spot in the last four with a 64-run win over hosts England at Lord's on Tuesday and return to the famous north London ground on Saturday to face neighbours New Zealand in their penultimate round-robin tie.
Hazlewood, Marsh named Australia's joint Test vice-captains
Australia recalled wicketkeeper Tim Paine for the first time in seven years in a selection bombshell while dropping opening batsman Matt Renshaw in a surprising Ashes squad for the series against England.
Paceman Mitchell Starc retains his place in the side despite what was perceived to be a sub-par performance in Adelaide, and will be looking for a strong performance in conditions which are expected to favour his skills at the new Perth Stadium.
They have also received one demerit point each for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct.
Headed goals from Anthony Martial and captain Harry Maguire earned Manchester United a hard-fought 2-0 win at toothless Chelsea on Monday amid more VAR controversy, putting them back in the hunt for a top-four Premier League finish. The VAR system made the headlines once again after two Chelsea efforts were ruled out and England international Maguire escaped sanction for a kick out at Michy Batshuayi.
Manchester City suffered their first home Premier League loss in eight months as a shock 3-2 defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday left Pep Guardiola's champions trailing leaders Liverpool by four points.
Resolute rearguard action by Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh helped Australia escape with a remarkable draw against India on the final day of the third Test in Ranchi on Monday.
The 21-year-old is now level with Englishman Jack Russell (vs South Africa at Johannesburg in 1995) and South Africa's AB de Villiers (vs Pakistan at Johannesburg in 2013).
The Australian pacer's participation is in doubt as he undergoes an arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow.
The Royal Box was packed with stars from the world of cricket, football, athletics and tennis. Take a look...
"What I experienced, what I felt from her moving around in between my serving motion was not, I don't think, sportsmanlike, in my opinion," American Coco Vandeweghe claimed after her quarter-final loss
It's the most popular Grand Slam across popular social networking sites
Kagiso Rabada took five wickets as Bangladesh were bowled out for 147 in their first innings on the second day of the second Test and forced to follow-on by South Africa at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein.
Australia's pace bowler Shaun Tait lost the fitness battle for a place in the Twenty-20 World Cup squad.
The 21-year-old Sharma led for the final two rounds after a scintillating 61 on Friday and had 11 holes to complete after lightning, rain and hail forced the event into an extra day.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
They endured a disastrous run the last time around to finish at the bottom of the heap and Kings XI Punjab would be aiming to make amends this season when they begin their campaign against newbies Gujarat Lions in their IPL opener in Mohali on Monday. Kings XI Punjab did not make any big buys this year and have a new captain in South African David Miller in place of Australian George Bailey who was released after leading the side to the last place in the previous season. Virender Sehwag has also retired and he will serve as team mentor this season. The Preity Zinta-owned side continues to lack the team balance as it has not added any significant player, only snapping the likes of all-rounders Farhaan Behardien and Marcus Stoinis, seamer Mohit Sharma and left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh. Last season, their batsmen lacked consistency and whenever they did well, the bowlers let the side down. On the other hand, debutants Gujarat Lions have a balanced side with top-class performers in both batting and bowling. They have explosive batsmen in Brendon McCullum, captain Suresh Raina, Aaron Finch and a plenty of top-notch all-rounders in Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja and James Faulkner.
This is Real Madrid's third consecutive Champions League title.
Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers of the Australian team from World Cups.
Images from the fourth day's play of the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Monday.
South African batsmen will go into the fifth ODI as a more confident unit, having learnt from their mistakes against the Indian spinners.
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