A rampant Australia sealed a 5-0 Ashes series sweep by skittling England out for 166 to claim a 281-run victory with more than two days to spare in the fifth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.
Australia's Test side deserve credit for impressive performances in the ongoing four-match tour of India, proving wrong a host of experts and pundits who predicted a whitewash for the home side, batsman Gautam Gambhir has said.
Tailender Jason Holder was left stranded on 82 not out as West Indies were dismissed for 220 in their first innings against Australia in Jamaica on Saturday, a deficit of 179, on the third day of the second Test in Kingston, Jamaica.
'I think there'll be a huge fallout from this (defeat). There's not too many times that you lose to the second or third (choice) side.'
David Warner is seen with his family at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
'We only felt that it has never happened before, I don't think it will ever happen again. It was a freak inning'
The four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy is locked at 1-1 and the match at Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA), which is organising it's first-ever Test, is set to be a make-or-break affair for both teams.
Virat Kohli will face the toughest battle of his fledgling captaincy career when India take on a resurgent Australia in the second cricket Test.
Steve Smith scored Australia's first century of the series to drive the hosts to 338 all out but India stood firm with 96 for two to leave the third Test in the balance at the end of the second day in Sydney on Friday.
Pandya's absence means that India will have to rejig their bowling attack. Jasprit Bumrah has already been rested for this series, as well as the tour of New Zealand, and this allows the think-tank to conduct one final experimentation with their bowling attack.
England battled to 96 for four in their second innings by the end of a dramatic fourth day at Lord's to lead Australia by 104 runs and leave the second Ashes Test on a knife-edge.
Steve Smith accused South Africa wicketkeeper Quniton de Kock of setting off a heated dispute by making a personal remark to David Warner
Ravindra Jadeja will have to improvise.
'There's an innings to go and I'm looking forward to the entire Test series. It's a great opportunity for me.'
Australia paceman Mitchell Starc is bracing for a heavier workload in the second Test against India, starting in Bengaluru on Saturday, having hardly broken a sweat in his team's romp in the series opener in Pune.
Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis were left out of the Australia squad for next month's limited overs tour of India while Labuschagne comes into the squad on the back of some fine form in Test cricket.
Cheteshwar Pujara's marathon double hundred complemented by Wriddhiman Saha's dogged century put India in complete command with an imposing total of 603 for 9 against Australia on the fourth day of the third cricket Test.
'We have plenty of options here to cover the forced changes of Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Marsh, so we'll have another look at the wicket tomorrow and we'll name the team at the toss'
Australia's Marnus Labuschange struck another half century to pile on the runs and the misery over New Zealand on Day 3 of the day-night Test in Perth on Saturday. Earlier, Starc picked a five-wicket haul.
'Sachin Tendulkar called him world's best fast bowler at the moment. Indeed he is, for the impact he has created. If you take Bumrah out of that India line-up, it's like you rip a heart out of the body'
Hardik Pandya hasn't featured in Tests since 2018 and has only recently recovered from a career-threatening back injury.
Images from Day 1 of the second Test between India and Australia, at the Arun Jaitley stadium, in Delhi, on Friday.
Images from Day 2 of the second Test between Australia and India, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Saturday.
Australia have cut opening batsman Ed Cowan and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade from their list of 18 centrally-contracted players, but handed opener Phillip Hughes another chance to establish himself in the national set-up.
Survives sharp bowling to notch up another half-ton
The shocking death of batsman Phillip Hughes on Thursday has cast doubts on whether the first Test between Australia and India will go ahead in Brisbane next week.
Australia are the unsurprising favourites to clinch a fifth World Cup.
'These balls scuff up well early on. Reverse swing will be huge for us. If we can get it going we've got two of the best reverse swing bowlers in the world. They will still be huge weapons for us'
Langer puts faith in deputy ahead of ODI series in India: 'He's an excellent coach, we've got other excellent coaches to back him up. I said to him I won't ring him, I'll let him go. He said 'I might ring you', that's the difference. He'll do a really good job'
The leaden-footed Australians found themselves bamboozled by Pakistan's wily spinners and their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand can expect similar treatment from Misbah-ul-Haq and his men in a three-Test series starting in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Images from Day 5 of the fourth Test between Australia and India, at the Gabba, on Tuesday.
The epithets of colossus and regal were reserved for Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath but Dilip Vengsarkar has no regrets that he was not as feted as his two illustrious colleagues, saying he cherished an 'extremely fulfilling' career. Vengsarkar, who turned 64 on Monday, was India's batting mainstay during the 1980s when he outscored the iconic Gavaskar as his upright stance and ability to play swing and spin with aplomb was a delight for Test afficianados.
The Indian skipper agreed that four-man attack led by Ishant Sharma will have to share those extra overs amongst themselves, a cushion that all-rounder Pandya would have given.
Australia reclaimed the Ashes by dismissing England's last five batsmen after lunch on Tuesday for a 150-run victory in the third Test to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
India's cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar vehemently opposed the International Cricket Council's proposed four-day Test, urging the governing body to refrain from tinkering with a format in which the spinners come into play on the fifth and final day. A day less, according to the world's highest run-getter across two formats, will lead to batsmen thinking of Tests as an extended version of limited-overs cricket.
Captain Virat Kohli played a pivotal role with a workmanlike 82, lifting India from a double blow at the beginning of innings to 172 for three in the second Test against Australia in Perth on Saturday.
Australia likely to play the same squad in Sydney; Both teams to pay tribute to firefighters.
Chasing India's 251 to level the five-match series, Australia got off to a strong start before the hosts roared back into the contest with some disciplined bowling.
A dominant Australia were five wickets away from reclaiming the Ashes after hammering England with the bat and reducing them to 251 for five with the ball at the end of the fourth day of the third test at the WACA on Monday.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting says England's only hope of winning a Test in the upcoming Ashes series is the day/night match in Adelaide and has predicted a 4-0 victory for the hosts.
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