The seemingly invincible Kolkata Knight Riders will start outright favourites when they square off against Australia's Hobart Hurricanes in the semi-finals of the Oppo Champions League T20 in Hyderabad.
Pakistan-born Fawad Ahmed is likely to make his full Australia debut over the next month after being named as the specialist spinner in the squad for six one-day and two Twenty20 internationals against England on Thursday.
Australia paceman Pat Cummins has backed opening batsman David Warner to carry his blistering Test form into the One-day arena at the cricket World Cup.
Sunday night's dramatic one-run victory in Abu Dhabi and the cancellation of the third ODI between India and the West ensured top billing for George Bailey's side as the race to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 heats up amongst some of the top-ranked sides.
Australia captain Michael Clarke is pleased with whatever batting opportunity he and his teammates had against Scotland on Saturday and said every member of the squad was 'switched on' for the knockout stage of the World Cup.
Australia will continue to experiment with their batting line-up against Scotland on Saturday as they attempt to give players some time in the middle before the knockout phase, captain Michael Clarke said.
Australia rode David Warner's belligerent 127 to chase down a modest target and beat England by three wickets with 10 overs to spare in the first match of the tri-series, also involving India, on Friday. England's new One-Day International captain Eoin Morgan roared back into form with a scintillating 121 but his team was dismissed for 234 inside 48 overs against some impressive bowling by Mitchel Starc (4-42) and James Faulkner (3-47).
After their best-ever show at IPL 7, Kings XI Punjab will look to continue their aggressive brand of cricket when they start their campaign against Hobart Hurricanes in a Group B match of the Champions League Twenty20 in Mohali on Thursday.
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.
Australia expecting a very different India in World Cup semi-final.
With the threat of in-form off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin looming large, Australia captain Michael Clarke summoned Shane Warne to the team's nets on Wednesday, ahead of their ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final against India, at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Australia will miss captain George Bailey in the One-dayer against England on Friday but their focus will be to seal a place in the ODI tri-series final.
Australian batsman David Warner is confident he will be fit to face Pakistan in next week's first Test despite suffering a groin injury in the final one-day international in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Jacques Kallis brought his years of experience into play as he guided Kolkata Knight Riders to its maiden Oppo Champions League T20 final having comfortably beaten Australia's Hobart Hurricanes by seven wickets in Hyderabad on Thursday.
In what will be a dress rehearsal of their opening game in the World Cup, an unbeaten Australia take on England in the cricket tri-series final, in Perth on Sunday.
All set to defend their cricket World Cup crown in less than a month, India will get their preparations underway with the aim of finding the right combination for the marquee event.
Rohit Sharma blasted a record-breaking 209, including a world record 16 sixes, which propelled India to a 57-run victory over Australia in the seventh and final One-Day International.
There was a lot of buzz about the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch for the high-octane India versus Australia semi-final on Thursday.
Australia are the unsurprising favourites to clinch a fifth World Cup.
If familiarity between the two sides has not quite bred contempt, the frequent heated exchanges in their clashes indicates at the very least a fierce competitiveness.
Factbox on the third World Cup quarter-final between Australia and Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.
They are determined to recapture the number one spot in the ICC ODI rankings but Australia skipper George Bailey said it would be "silly" to assume that the visitors would be able to thrash India by the requisite 6-1 margin in the seven-match series starting in Pune.
Penpix of the Australia squad for the 2015 World Cup, which they are co-hosting with New Zealand.
India would look to reignite the spark and keep themselves afloat in the ODI cricket tri-series when they take on an unbeaten Australia in Sydney.
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.
Penpix of the Australia squad that will play the cricket World Cup final against New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
Moeen Ali, the England all-rounder, with a batting strike-rate of 82.1 and an economy rate of 4.2, was tops.
Rajneesh Gupta one of the greatest cricketers ever to have played One-Day Internationals.
An inspired India pulled off an incredible nine-wicket win over Australia in the second cricket one-dayer, achieving the second highest ever run chase in ODI history in what turned out to be a high scoring contest.
Opener Aaron Finch knows he's the one Australian batsman struggling for runs ahead of Thursday's World Cup semi-final against India but, ever confident, thinks a big innings is just around the corner.
Who were the most valuable players in the just-concluded India-Australia ODI series? Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji 's formula provides overwhelming evidence that the bat complete overwhelmed the bat.
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