The legendary Sachin Tendulkar found senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's exclusion from India's playing XI for the World Test Championship final baffling.
Glenn McGrath said his prediction this time is based on how England were held to a 2-2 series draw by India in the recent Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy five-Test series.
Former Australia captain Aaron Finch believes the 285-run first innings partnership between Steve Smith and Travis Head made the difference in the World Test Championship final.
Hazlewood returned to Australia after reporting "minor side soreness" following his most recent IPL match for RCB
'If I had to make a call whether to head back to India and finish the tournament, it would be an easy decision. It's a no from me. Lives and safety are the most important thing, not pay cheques.'
India will miss Virat Kohli more than Rohit Sharma in the marquee Test series against England and the duo's recent retirement from the format will "hurt" the transitioning team's chances in the rubber starting on Friday, reckons the legendary Geoffrey Boycott.
For their next assignment in the ICC World Test Championship cycle, the two-time WTC runners up will aim to grab maximum points across those four home clashes. Here are five key questions the side must answer prior to their next Test match-up.
WTC-bound SA players to miss play-offs after BCCI asks teams to release them by May 26
As a result of the drawn second Test, India currently stands below Pakistan with a 66.67 percentage of points earned on the WTC points table.
India will set themselves up as Australia's opponents in that final if they win the fourth Test in Ahmedabad next week.
Steve Smith has once again proved why he's Australia's go-to man in crunch matches-by eclipsing none other than Sachin Tendulkar in a major ICC knockout record.
Taking aim at senior players like Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, captain Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, among others, he said that if their aim was to prolong their send-offs till after the Ashes, it was a wrong mindset.
''South Africa have got some world class batters and obviously they've got some unbelievable bowlers there as well so it's going to be a good challenge and obviously it's a one-off Test match.'
This is India's second appearance in the WTC final after losing the inaugural game in 2021 to New Zealand.
India's much-vaunted top order let them down at The Oval
Australia and India control their own destiny as they edge towards the conclusion of the competition
After the win in their opening match of the series, South Africa led the WTC25 rankings, but the loss in the second Test meant their win percentage fell down to 50%, the same as New Zealand, Australia, and Bangladesh.
Bavuma, in his Test journey of over a decade, as the first black batter for South Africa, has faced a lot of ups and downs. A magnificent century against England in Cape Town back in 2016 attached to him plenty of expectations.
'It's been a slow moving car crash up to now and now it's kind of like, bang -- impact has been made.'
The much-debated idea of a two-tier Test system, expansion of the T20 World Cup and ratification of new members are some of the topics that will be discussed in depth during the four-day AGM of the International Cricket Council.
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon doesn't believe Australia's preparations for the World Test Championship final will be affected by the talk around the Ashes.
Aiden Markram hopes South Africa's ICC World Test Championship Final win over Australia has silenced any doubters and consigned their 'chokers' tag to history.
India have recalled Ajinkya Rahane to reinforce their batting line-up, which will have to be at its best to negate the Australian attack.
India, Australia and England are likely to be joined by South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in the top division, while Pakistan, the West Indies, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Ireland will be placed in the second division.
Kagiso Rabada etched another milestone into his illustrious career on Day 1 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord's
'You need all the departments to do well for you,' Rohit Sharma explained. 'And I thought our strength really has been all three departments.'
With the planned ceremony not going ahead in the UK, a formal announcement on the renaming of the trophy is scheduled for June 19, on the eve of the series-opener at Leeds.
India still need two more wins from the remaining three Tests of the series to guarantee themselves a place in the WTC final.
Speaking as quoted by Fox Sports, Waugh said, "I think they have picked the team on winning these last two Test matches."
'The Diary of a Cricketer's Wife' penned by Puja Pujara, capturing the journey of her husband Cheteshwar, found a hallowed introduction place at the Lord's Cricket Ground library and the author termed the book as "something for everyone."
Stop clock for Tests, change in DRS protocol, short run penalty, the new rules across formats will come into effect from July 2.
'They (Gill, Jaiswal and Pant) now have to drag this Indian Test team forward like Virat did single-handedly.'
Konstas has been drafted in to replace Marnus Labuschagne, who opened in the World Test Championship final alongside Khawaja but failed to impress as Australia lost to South Africa by five wickets.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the WTC final against Australia?
Josh Hazlewood is likely to rejoin Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of the IPL playoffs, having recovered from a shoulder niggle.
From 2018 to 2025: Gill hopes to take measure of Dukes balls' changing behaviour
Australia dominated the proceedings on the opening day of the ICC World Test Championship final at the Oval.
Ahead of the start of the WTC Final, Australian players read out AI's prediction of the match, which got underway at the Oval.
Speaking to PTI, Lamb also spoke passionately about his playing days with Kapil Dev in County cricket and why he rates Sachin Tendulkar over Sunil Gavaskar and Virat Kohli.
If I get an opportunity to represent the country, that will be the best thing: Pujara
