Ravindra Jadeja struck a fifty to give India a handy first innings lead before returning to claim three Australian wickets as the home side stood 87 runs away from a series-clinching victory in the fourth and final Test in Dharamsala on Monday.
Australia defeated West Indies by a massive 177 runs to win the second Test match in Melbourne and claim the series 2-0.
'It was really good fun out there, I absolutely loved every single minute of it.'
India did well to bounce back on Day 4 to edge Australia by 75 runs in the 2nd Test in Bengaluru on Tuesday and level the series 1-1.
Australia are still pondering over their final selection for the game at Bristol.
With Australia taking a 2-0 lead in the four-match Test series against India, the scales are titled highly in favour of the hosts. History also shows that the Melbourne Cricket Ground has been a happy hunting ground for the hosts. With the Boxing Day Test around the corner, here is a quick look at how the teams stand.
Pakistan-born Fawad Ahmed is likely to make his full Australia debut over the next month after being named as the specialist spinner in the squad for six one-day and two Twenty20 internationals against England on Thursday.
Virat Kohli will face the toughest battle of his fledgling captaincy career when India take on a resurgent Australia in the second cricket Test.
Shreyas Iyer stroked his way to an unbeaten half-century in an otherwise unimpressive batting display by India 'A' in reply to Australia's first-innings total of 469 for seven declared on the second day of the three-day practice game in Mumbai.
Opener David Warner extended his purple patch with the bat, scoring his second century of the match, as the first Test against India headed for an exciting finish, with Australia gaining an overall lead of 363 runs in Adelaide on Friday. At stumps on Day 4, at the Adelaide Oval, Australia were 290 for five, with Steven Smith and Brad Haddin batting on 52 and 14 respectively.
South Africa routed Australia for 85 and then weathered a batting crisis of their own before pushing to a lead of 86 runs after a bowler-dominated opening day of the second Test in Hobart on Saturday.
New Zealand will have their tails up and eye another upset when they resume the trans-Tasman rivalry with a strong Australian side.
Tempers flared again in the ongoing battle between fierce rivals India and Australia with pacer Ishant Sharma and young opener Matt Renshaw getting involved in a heated exchange on day five of the third Test in Ranchi.
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.
India captain Virat Kohli said his spinners could have been more effective in the drawn third Test against Australia but for the softness of the ball used in the contest.
- 'Yes, quite happy with a draw' - 'Bowlers did a very good job' - 'We have found ways to trouble ourselves'
Images from the fourth One-Day International between Australia and India in Canberra, on Wednesday.
Having struggled in the past one year after suspensions of Steve Smith and David Warner, Australia finally seemed to have picked their pieces and playing exactly like a five-time champions ought to.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the fourth Test between South Africa and Australia in Johannesburg on Monday
'We probably didn't think it was going to move around like it did. It was tough but Jimmy (Anderson) was magnificent' 'I think we're still reasonably confident, obviously the last two days haven't gone to plan but I think we're still in front of the game'
West Indies have lost their last four Tests, two to Australia and two to Sri Lanka, and have not enjoyed a single win in Australia since the 1996-97 tour.
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.
Rangana Herath picked four wickets in the second innings to spin Sri Lanka to a 106 win over Australia in the first Test in Pallekele on Saturday.
Australia thrashed Afghanistan by 275 runs in their Pool A match of the ICC World Cup at the WACA in Perth. Images from the match.
Brad Haddin equalled the record for most dismissals in a Test innings by an Australian wicketkeeper during India's first innings score of 408 in the ongoing second cricket Test at the Gabba in Brisbane on Thursday.
K L Rahul (67) scored his fourth half-century (his fifth in Test cricket) of the series and along with fellow opener Murali Vijay (42 batting), conjured up a stand of 91 -- their best of the series -- on a JSCA track that remained good for batting.
Australia coach Justin Langer said that England are obviously the red-hot favourites going into the World Cup and said the team deserves to be the number one team in the world.
Kings XI Punjab will look to go all guns blazing against down and out Gujarat Lions in Mohali.
Australia grabbed a handy 86-run lead in the first innings over Sri Lanka and dealt an early blow with the new ball before rain washed out the entire final session for the second consecutive day in the first Test at Pallekele on Wednesday.
As India go in to the four-match Test series against Australia that commences in Adelaide on Tuesday, here is a factbox.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann has urged cricket's governing body to help reduce the workload on players competing in all three forms of the game as he fears the current packed schedule is unsustainable.
This provided only the sixth such instance in Test cricket of the first six batsmen getting the past the half-century in an innings and four of them have have come against India.
Rising Pune Supergiants now face an uphill task of taming the rampaging Gujarat Lions in an Indian Premier League clash, in Pune, on Friday.
Just hours after his team surrendered the Ashes in abject fashion, Australia cricket coach Darren Lehmann has come under fire for turning to Twitter in search of tickets to an English Premier League soccer match.
England, who hold the urn, were dismissed for 233 in their second innings in the opening session of the fifth and final day of the maiden pink ball Ashes Test.
Australia's selectors have responded to the threat of a first ever Test series sweep on home soil by dropping five players from their squad for the third match against South Africa, which begins in Adelaide on Thursday. Joe Burns, Adam Voges and Callum Ferguson, as well as wicketkeeper Peter Nevill, paid the price for a string of batting collapses, while seamer Joe Mennie was also axed after the innings defeat in the second Test in Hobart.
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.
The Australian media were united in their view that the Mitchell Johnson-inspired humiliation of England at Lord's marked a decisive shift in the balance of power in the Ashes series.
Australia captain Michael Clarke said he could not have asked for a better performance from his team following their 405-run mauling of England in the second Ashes Test at Lord's.
Sri Lanka beat Australia by 163 runs in the final test in Colombo on Wednesday to complete a 3-0 sweep in the three-match series. Chasing 324 for victory, Australia were all out for 160 half-an-hour before the tea break, succumbing to their third successive defeat against the hosts.
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