Steve Smith scored a brilliant century to help Australia knock out defending champions India and set up a mouth-watering final against neighbours New Zealand, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, on Thursday.
Snapped up for Rs 1.7 crore, Gurinder Sandhu is highly rated by Ricky Ponting.
Australia opener David Warner says flat pitches rather than bats with thicker edges are the reason batsmen have the upper hand in Test cricket.
With the year sprinting to a close, we bring you, in pictures, some of the best action from the sports world.
Test series victories over Sri Lanka and South Africa ensured Virat Kohli could justify the team's failures earlier in the year.
All that's transpired on and off the cricket pitch on Monday.
For a leg-spinner coming from the land of Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and pilloried in initial years for not being able to turn his leg-breaks or possessing a googly, Anil Kumble ended his 18-year career with a massive haul of 619 Test and 337 ODI wickets.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers from the first Test.
According to Sourav Ganguly, not facing Australian bowlers regularly has helped Dhawan and Team India.
'No 3 batsmen are very crucial in the way the team sets up a total.'
The comparisons will be inevitable but former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly said it is unfair to equate the leadership skills of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and newly-appointed Test captain Virat Kohli, who will only become better with experience.
Prithvi Shaw, Jason Sangha and Mujeeb Zadran are among the cricketers whose performances will be watched keenly in the upcoming ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
If the innings against Pakistan showed he was still capable of what his ODI average of 45 exhibits, then his comeback was complete on Sunday at the MCG with the century against what's often termed as one of the best attacks in the world.
Australian captain George Bailey is not surprised that India did not qualify for the tri-series final and said that concentrating on Test cricket before heading into the ODI event might have been the reason for their below-par showing.
South Africa captain AB de Villiers's batting blitzkriegs in the last two months have been so good that even his own team mates are in awe of them, fast bowler Dale Steyn said on Friday.
For the Proteas, the emphasis is on all 15 players instead of 11.
Just a fortnight left to prove his fitness, Michael Clarke appeared to be heading in the right direction as the Australian captain bowled, fielded and batted without any signs of discomfort against Bangladesh in a practice match in Brisbane.
10 all-rounders who may leave a mark on the World T20.
For India, who are considered as title contenders, a good showing in the Asia Cup will give them the much-needed boost going into the World T20.
Debutant Hardik Pandya stellar performance in Tuesday's T20 International against Australia caught the attention of India supporters, and India's ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the youngster can lend the side some much-needed stability if he performs consistently.
Former India bowling coach Joe Dawes is of the view that Indian pacers will struggle to match Wahab Riaz-like domination against Australia in the World Cup semi-final.
South Africa's bowlers backed up a solid batting performance led by captain AB de Villiers' 99 to ensure they qualified for the knockout phase of the World Cup with a 146-run victory over United Arab Emirates.
Having been a part of three World Cup campaigns, former India cricket captain Rahul Dravid said that the current format of the 50-over showpiece event, starting mid February in Australia and New Zealand, is too predictable and should be improved upon.
'It is the ability to fight back.' 'Obviously, you need skill to win a game of cricket, but the biggest thing is the resilience and the conviction to bounce back and the conviction to go and win abroad or anywhere.' 'I think that conviction is what stands out.'
Australian Trevor Bayliss has been appointed head coach of England's national team, according to a statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board on Tuesday.
Karnataka's in-form young opener K L Rahul has staked a strong claim for his inclusion in India's Test squad to Australia.
The 45-year-old, who played 52 Tests between 1991 and 2002, replaced his former international team mate Graham Gooch who stepped down from the role in May.
Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com salutes the new ICC World Cup champions.
Australia's retiring one-day captain Michael Clarke has urged his players to put 'skill over emotion'.
Sangakkara's fellow former captain Mahela Jayawardene, also 37, is also calling time on his one-day career after the tournament, bringing an end to a career in which he has scored 12,650 runs in 448 matches.
South Africa put one foot in the World Cup quarter-finals by batting past the 400-run mark for the second successive match to hand Ireland a thumping defeat by 201 runs with five overs to spare at Manuka Oval on Tuesday.
'I only played it to repay the sacrifices and hard work that both my parents had put in to make me play the sport.' 'I feel proud of them that they fought against orthodox notions of society to help me take up a sport.'
'Dhoni may be hoping that luck stays with him for a couple of months more.' 'He may want to step down on a triumphant note, holding aloft the World T20 trophy on April 3.'
Shane Watson would be honoured to stand in for Michael Clarke as Test skipper against India next month even if he thinks it's increasingly unlikely that Australia will need a caretaker captain.
So India lost its first World Twenty20 game on Tuesday night. Maybe, we fielded the wrong team :) Haresh Pandya picks 11 India greats who never played the shortest format, but can take on any team in the World T20 championships.
Virat's 248 runs in the second Test, the highest by an Indian captain against England. Ashwin, only the second Indian bowler to take 50 wickets in consecutive years. Rajneesh Gupta looks at the numbers from the Vizag Test.
The Indian women's cricket team produced a superb all-round performance to chase down a record total and upstage World champions Australia by five wickets in the opening Twenty20 International in Adelaide, on Tuesday.
Steve Smith has succeeded only moderately in the Indian Premier League for Rajasthan Royals this season, but he is optimistic that he would deliver big in the remaining matches of the T20 league, including the all-important play-off games.
David Warner struck a scintillating hundred to guide Australia to a comfortable three-wicket victory over England in the opening match of the tri-nation One-day series in Sydney. Images the match.
When JP Duminy finally made his Test debut the first question many people asked was, "How good is South Africa's top six if this guy can't make it?"
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