Rahul along with wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel flew early to Australia, and will appear for India A in the second four-day game at the MCG.
Batting maestro Virat Kohli hogged the front pages with the Hindi headline Yugon Li Ladai (Fight For The Ages), while young batting sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal was hailed as Navam Raja (The New King) in Punjabi.
Security for the second cricket Test between India and Australia has been tightened with more police being deployed around the Gabba in the wake of the Sydney cafe siege, officials said.
Indian batters, with the exception of Yashasvi Jaiswal (84), faltered yet again to lose the match by 184 runs and trail 1-2 in the five-match series.
Wouldn't be surprised if Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas share a smiling photo post-match: Stuart Clark
If the humiliation of India being able to declare their second innings on 487/6 reflected poorly on the bowling unit, it was the Australian batting line-up dismissed for 104 in their first innings that bore the brunt of the blame.
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald accused the Indian team of trying to 'intimidate' young batter Sam Konstas.
England, at 488 for seven at the stumps on the third day, were not the only ones in the pink as the fifth and final Ashes Test celebrated "Jane McGrath Day" at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
History has not seen a cricketing rivalry as fierce as this this century, every ball bowled every run taken, coming with no quarter given. Ahead of India's five Test tour of Australia, Norma Astrid Godinho/Rediff.com takes a walk down memory lane, recounting India's sojourns Down Under from 1947 to 2021, in a 4-part series.
With Kohli and Rohit misfiring, the pressure has mounted on opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and India's middle order to put the kind of scores on the board their bowlers can defend.
David Warner made 34 in what is likely to be his penultimate innings in the long form of cricket as Australia reached 116 for two on the rain-disrupted second day of the third Test against Pakistan on Thursday.
Ravichandran Ashwin's wife Prithi Narayanan penned a heartfelt tribute for her husband following his recent retirement from international cricket, saying "it is time to set the burden of being you down" and embrace life beyond the game.
Bumrah now has 36 wickets on Australian soil, and the batter he's dismissed most times is his opposite number Pat Cummins (6).
Ricky Ponting advised star batters Virat Kohli and Steve Smith to stop trying hard to rediscover their best and pushing themselves too hard and just focus on watching the ball and scoring runs.
Former Australian skipper Aaron Finch said that Alex Carey and Rishabh Pant, two left-handed wicketkeeper-batters will be extremely important for their respective sides during the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India.
Rahul will come in place of Baba Indrajith, who scored 9 and 6 and didn't look comfortable at all against pace and bounce, which wasn't exactly 125 clicks.
Australia's selectors decided against sending any out-of-form batters Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne to play for the Prime Minister's XI against India.
The final Test in Brisbane will start on January 15. The series is locked 1-1 after the third Test ended in a draw.
'I got a message from Dave, which was quite personal. I tried to ring to try and talk to him about it.'
World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev expressed concern over the rising number of injuries among Indian cricketers, attributing it to the demanding schedule.
In the ODI rankings, Sri Lanka's two ODI matches at home against Zimbabwe =saw a number of movers, most notably on the bowling side through spinner Maheesh Theekshana, who moved to a career high rating (634) and rank (11th) with four wickets across the matches.
Former Australia opener David Warner on Tuesday said he is willing to come out of retirement and play against India in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, if the home team needs him in the opening slot.
India Head Coach Gautam Gambhir finds himself caught between a rock and hard place.
Australia's Steve Smith wants to adopt a proactive approach against Ravichandran Ashwin in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Here's a wrap of all major international episodes in 2024.
'He is someone who has had a big influence on a couple of series. Got to try to keep him quiet.'
Michael Hussey backed star India batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and said that one cannot write off champion players like them.
Cricket Australia's hopes of staging the fifth Ashes Test in Perth appear in jeopardy, with the Western Australia (WA) state government reiterating its "very strict rules" on quarantine and restrictions on players' family members.
Yashasvi Jaiswal looks well-placed to carry forward the glorious legacy of batting excellence established by the likes of Sachin Tendukar and Virat Kohli, said former India coach Greg Chappell.
Australia's mouthwatering clash with India sees the two behemoths of the modern game go head-to-head in five tests over six weeks with the tourists eyeing a third straight series triumph Down Under.
Sunil Gavaskar believes India will struggle to defend even 200 if Jasprit Bumrah is unable to bowl at full throttle on Day 3 of the fifth and final Test against Australia
both Kohli and Rohit have struggled to find their best form, attracting scrutiny following India's recent 0-3 series loss against New Zealand.
The upcoming three-match series, starting December 14, is part of the World Test Championship.
Images from Day 4 of the first Test between Australia and India in Perth on Monday.
Babar Azam was dropped on Sunday, while the pace duo Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah opted to withdraw from the remaining two Tests against England.
Key players, such as pacer Mitchell Starc, are hitting form at the right time, while star batter Steve Smith is facing early setbacks in his preparations.
'...there'll be nerves and a bit of pressure, but that's all part of it, and I'm just excited to see what it all brings.'
India claimed a memorable four-wicket victory at Adelaide Oval, on December 16, 2003 -- their first Test win on Australian soil in 22 years.
Australia star allrounder Glenn Maxwell has said he has not yet 'given up' on his hopes for Test cricket following his spectacular performance in their ODI World Cup triumph.
Head has dominated the batting chart with 409 runs in the first three Tests with two hundreds and a fifty, and former Australia captain Chappell believes his simplicity and aggression are behind his success as a Test batter.
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