Former coach Ravi Shastri has backed India to win the Boxing Day Test, saying the visitors have exploited Australia's "brittle" top order to have their "nose ahead" in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
'I want him to get out there, smash it, try and win this Test match.'
Australia batsman Usman Khawaja is likely to replace injured Kevin Pietersen in the squad of Rising Pune Supergiants in season 9 of Indian Premier League. Pietersen was ruled out of the IPL on Sunday, leaving the subcontinent with a hole in his calf muscle and in Pune's batting order. If picked, this will be Khawaja's maiden IPL stint. The left-handed top-order batsman had gone unsold at IPL auctions in February despite scoring heavily in Australia's domestic circuit. Pune have not named a replacement for KP, but Khawaja is the one of the frontrunners, according to Supergiants coach Stephen Fleming. "He (Khawaja) is a guy we are surely looking at," Fleming said after the two-wicket loss to Kolkata on Sunday.
Australia are already without another regular all-rounder in Cameron Green, who was ruled out of the India series after opting to have surgery on a stress fracture in his lumbar spine.
India have won all the last four series of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, taking into account their home wins in 2016-17 and 2022-23 -- both also 2-1 results in a four-match contest.
India will be under tremendous pressure when they face an equally circumspect Australia in a battle of two out-of-form batting units in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth
'I think he's got the technique, he's got the patience to partner up with Uzzy (Khawaja) to allow himself to score big.'
Cameron Green's injury could open up the door for Cameron Bancroft's Test recall in the marquee Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India next month.
Pakistan's Kamran Akmal identified technical problems that are affecting Babar Azam's recent slump in form
Images from Day 1 of the fifth Test between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.
The Perth Test marks Bumrah's second stint as a stand-in captain, having also led his country against England in 2022, and he could not have been dealt a tougher hand.
Under the India AI mission, supercomputing, comprising over 10,000 GPUs, will be made available to various stakeholders for creating an AI ecosystem.
Konstas, Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft among others are looking to get into the Australian XI as Khawaja's opening partner in the series against India.
Bikaner BJP minority morcha district president Usman Ghani, who expressed displeasure with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent remarks in Rajasthan, was on Wednesday expelled from the party for 'tarnishing' its image.
India fight back against Australia as 17 wickets tumble on opening day
Virat Kohli booed by home fans after bumping shoulders with Konstas on the pitch after the 19-year-old smashed India's bowlers around the park early on.
Former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig was among the 24 candidates in Baramulla constituency whose deposits were forfeited.
'I'm leaning towards McSweeney now for that opening role at the start of the Australian summer.'
Despite the challenging build-up, Gambhir said he is "extremely confident" of retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The players will hope to be as confident as they prepare for the fight to keep their World Test Final chances alive.
The four wickets that India prised out in the third session, on balance, swung the game back in their favour, says Prem Panicker .
Smith has rarely, if ever, doubted his own talent but even he was aware that his spell at the top of the order was proving unpopular.
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.
Not since the golden era of the West Indies in the 1970s has a touring pace bowler struck fear into the hearts of Australians as much as Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia opener Nathan McSweeney is gearing up for a challenging debut against India's premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India did not respect the match situation, the playing conditions, and the bowlers, and they've paid a price for it.
Australia speedster Spencer Johnson claimed a maiden five-wicket haul in international cricket as the hosts edged out Pakistan by 13 runs in the second Twenty20 International on Saturday
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.
AI-driven and deepfake-enabled cyberattacks are anticipated to become increasingly prevalent in 2025 with sectors like healthcare and finance most prone targets, according to a recent report. The India Cyber Threat Report 2025 by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and Seqrite, spotlighted the evolving tactics of cybercriminals and the rise of AI-driven attacks as a major concern. "Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be used to develop highly sophisticated phishing campaigns utilising deepfake technology and personalised attack vectors, making them harder to detect.
Ravi Shastri, who knows a thing or two about winning Test rubbers in Australia, on Thursday asked India skipper Rohit Sharma
'While Indian media obsesses over Virat & Co, Jasprit Bumrah quietly wins games for India single-handedly. By far the best player in the Indian team & has been for a while now.'
The seeds of India's defeat were sown in Melbourne, where Bumrah had to bowl 53.2 overs -- 24.4 in the second innings on the back of 28.4 in the first innings. With just three days to recover, that was an inhuman burden on a bowler who had bowled 151 overs in this series.
Australia's Test regulars will skip the three-match series against Pakistan in November as they prepare for the blockbuster clash against India.
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald believes the absence of Mohammed Shami during the marquee Border Gavaskar Trophy next month is a huge loss for India.
'Unique action, and it's a little bit tricky to pick up some cues.'
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the first Test against Australia in Perth?
Former all-rounder Shane Watson has advised the Australian team to avoid getting into confrontations with Virat Kohli in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Back-to-back Test series wins over Australia are almost unheard of but India have won the last four they have played.
None of its candidates won. Most of them lost badly.
Out-of-form skipper Rohit Sharma's batting position will be in focus against a dangerous Australia
The 37-year-old spat blood and was feeling his jaw before leaving the ground.
