Australia coach Justin Langer lamented a lack of world-class batsmen in his side's line-up and pointed out that Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have been the difference for the visitors in the ongoing four-match Test series.
Spinner Nathan Lyon, top order batsman Usman Khawaja and all-rounder Moises Henriques have been omitted after being selected in the squad that defeated Sri Lanka 4-1 away
Australia need five wickets in the second Test to secure a series-levelling victory with India's daunting run chase on a menacing pitch teetering at stumps on day four on Monday.
Janneman Malan, who was out to the first ball of the match on debut on Saturday, anchored the South African reply, taming his usual swashbuckling style to score 129 not out from 139 balls and lead the home side to victory with nine balls to spare.
The Australians, led by Steve Smith, arrived in Chennai from Bangladesh after drawing a two-Test series and the match tomorrow would give them opportunity to at least switch to the One-day format.
Heinrich Klaasen smashed an unbeaten century as South Africa claimed a 74-run victory over Australia in their first one-dayer played on a slow Boland Park wicket on Saturday. After winning the toss, South Africa overcame an early wobble to post 291 for seven in their 50 overs, a total boosted by the maiden ODI ton from middle-order batsman Klaasen, who crashed 123 from 114 balls. Australia were up with the run-rate for much of their reply, but South Africa then strangled the scoring with intelligent use of the slow pitch as the visitors slumped to 217 all out from 45.1 overs.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli thwarted Australia in a diligent partnership to push India to a position of strength and a 166-run lead at the close of day three of the first Test.
South African great AB de Villiers revealed that he sees a lot of himself in young Australian batsman Josh Philippe.
David Warner scored 124 in his 100th match and combined with Aaron Finch (94) for a record 231-run opening stand, as Australia posted a 21-run victory over India in the fourth One-Day International in Bengaluru, on Thursday. Check out some statistical highlights from the match.
Australia pick two uncapped players for first two Tests
Shakib Al Hasan, on Monday, became the leading run-scorer in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.
All-rounder Asela Gunaratne struck a superb 84 off 46 balls to inspire Sri Lanka to a dramatic two-wicket victory over Australia in the second Twenty20 International in South Geelong, Victoria on Sunday.
Australia have drawn inspiration from former World Cup-winning captain Steve Waugh in how to handle big-match pressure ahead of Friday's quarter-final against Pakistan.
Sri Lanka beat Australia off last ball to win first T20
Mahendra Singh Dhoni lavished praise on his bowlers after India beat Australia by 27 runs in the second Twenty20 International at the MCG on Friday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Not only were Royal Challengers Bangalore outplayed in all departments by Delhi Capitals, Virat Kohli was outdone by his opposite number Shreyas Iyer.
Former Australian skipper Ian Chappell has slammed his country's selectors after the failure of the Australian batting line-up.
India captain Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma maintained their supremacy at the top of the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen, occupying the first and second spots respectively in the latest list released on Wednesday.
The India skipper believes that Hardik Pandya can become a bankable player for the team in years to come.
The Men in Blue have never won a bilateral ODI contest on Australian soil.
Battered and bruised, Australia scored a consolation victory, thrashing Bangladesh by seven wickets, to round off a disappointing campaign in the ICC World Twenty20, in Mirpur, on Tuesday.
James Faulkner was the pick of Australia's fast bowlers. He took three wickets as the hosts cruised to a comfortable victory over South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday to level the three-match Twenty20 series.
Images from the second T20 International between Australia and India in Melbourne, on Friday.
A series win in Australia will certainly put Kohli on a higher pedestal even though the quality of the home team's batting line-up suffered adversely due to the bans of former skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner.
India showed commendable character in Rajkot to level the series, proving that the panic buttons were pressed prematurely following the 10-wicket loss in Mumbai.
A look at Royal Challengers Bangalore's IPL record over the years.
ujarat Lions face the challenging task of gathering themselves and bounce back when they square off against the consistent Kolkata Knight Riders.
Mark Waugh reckons the 25-year-old will succeed at the No 4 spot against Indian spinners.
Factbox on Saturday's World Cup match between Australia and Bangladesh.
'You could argue that middle-order role is one of the hardest in any cricket team. That's what we've identified, we've got to give guys a go.'
Chennai Super Kings will look to continue their winning streak when they lock horns with Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Mohali, on Sunday.
Dhoni slammed an unbeaten 55 off 54 balls after Kohli laid the foundation for India's series-levelling six-wicket victory over Australia in the second ODI with a fluent century.
Virat Kohli smashed his 39th one-day international century as India claimed a dramatic six-wicket victory over Australia at a sweltering Adelaide Oval on Tuesday to level up the three-match series at 1-1.
It was only a fourth win in 20 one-dayers going back to June 2017 for world champions Australia and came at the same Sydney Cricket Ground where their first home Test series loss to India was sealed on Monday.
Ben Stokes smashed an unbeaten century as England outclassed World champions Australia by 40 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-hit match to knock them out of the ICC Champions Trophy, in Birmingham, on Saturday.
A stunning hat-trick from Josh Hazlewood was not enough for Australia, as Darren Sammy led from the front with an unbeaten half-century to fashion a morale-boosting three-wicket win in a World Twenty20 warm-up match at Eden Gardens.
India moved within two wickets of an emphatic victory in the third Test after reducing Australia to 258 for eight at the close of day four.
After eight defeats in 11 outings, Chennai Super Kings will look to give their forgettable campaign a semblance of respectability when they take on in-form Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League in Dubai on Sunday.
Rajneesh Gupta previews Game 3 in IPL 12: Mumbai Indians vversus Delhi Capitals.
Steve Smith and David Warner may wake with some relief on Thursday as they greet the final day of their ball-tampering bans
