The amazing high of confidence and the sober knowledge of cricket mortality have combined to inspire Australia batsman Adam Voges to the astonishing feats of his golden summer, according to his coach Justin Langer.
Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja hammered home the advantage their bowlers had established when they took Australia to 147-3, a deficit of just 36 runs, at the close of the opening day's play in the first Test against New Zealand on Friday.
Taking full responsibility for the inexplicable collapse against Australia in the fourth ODI, in Canberra, on Wednesday, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he should have steered the team home after fluent centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli.
Well-rested and rejuvenated Mumbai Indians would seek to turn the tables on travel-weary Rajasthan Royals.
Glenn Maxwell played a scintillating cameo hitting an unbeaten 32 off 14 balls under pressure to power Kings XI Punjab to a six-wicket win over Rising Pune Supergiants.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index after game 47 of IPL 10.
Ravindra Jadeja's brilliant all-round display, after Dwayne Smith's fine batting, helped Chennai Super Kings defend a modest total and beat Rajasthan Royals by seven runs in Wednesday's IPL match in Dubai.
Their frailties against quality spin attack badly exposed in Sri Lanka recently, pace bowling great Glenn McGrath said that the Australians will have to quickly sort out their issues against slow bowlers if they don't want a disaster in their tour of India to play four Tests in February-March next year. "Especially with the way things went in Sri Lanka on turning wickets, they have got a lot of work to do between now and then. The Aussies will find it tough in India unless they turn things around pretty quickly," McGrath told reporters during a promotional event.
'Cricket may be stressful and very difficult, but when it's your passion, you learn to love it.'
Steve Smith led the way with another good knock as Australia raced to 251 for 6 and a lead of 348 over India before rain stopped play at the end of the fourth day in the fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. Statistical highlights from the day's play.
Check out the images from Day 1 of the fourth Test between Australia and India played at Sydney Cricket Ground.
India would be keen to finish off the four-match series on a high with a victory in Sydney and they would be looking no further than the in-form Virat Kohli to show the way with the bat.
Images from the fourth day's play of the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Monday.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be gunning for the No.1 spot in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers as an interesting contest promises to develop with Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who wrested the top spot following a 10-wicket haul in the Lord's Test that ended on Sunday.
India's captain for the One-day series in Zimbabwe addressed the media prior to the team's departure. Harish Kotian/Rediff.com reports.
Mitchell Johnson electrified a world record Test crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with a searing new ball spell to capture two late wickets and leave England a rocky 226 for six at the close of the opening day of the fourth Test on Thursday.
Rediff.com presents the best catches from the eighth edition of the IPL.
Ambati Rayudu blasted a quickfire half-century to help Mumbai Indians overcome Rajasthan Royals by eight runs in their Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, on Friday.
Australia knocked Pakistan out of the ICC World Twenty20 with a convincing 21-run victory, setting up a virtual quarter-final against hosts India to be played in Mohali on Sunday.
South Africa's AB de Villiers and Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara will take their battle for the coveted No 1 spot in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen to Sydney when they go head-to-head in the first quarter-final of the World Cup.
Shane Watson claimed a hat-trick as Rajasthan Royals restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to a 134 for 9 in the IPL match in Ahmedabad on Thursday. However, his effort was in vain as Hyderabad came back with a vengeance to dismiss the former champions for 102 and win by 32 runs for only their third victory this season.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings after the league phase in IPL 10.
Young Karun Nair cracked a brilliant unbeaten half-century to guide Rajasthan Royals to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils in their IPL-7 match at the Ferozshah Kotla stadium in New Delhi.
David Warner's blazing century sent him on top of Rediff.com's MVP table, with KKR's wicketkeeper-batsman Robin Uthappa not that far behind.
The speculation around the mood inside India's dressing room became a subject of ridicule for Australian skipper Steve Smith, who said the home team does not need to sedge the tourists as they are busy "whingeing among themselves".
tung by the defeat in the series opener despite putting up a big score, India will have to plug their bowling loopholes when they take on Australia in the second One-Day International on Friday, fully aware that any slip-up will make their task of bouncing back difficult.
Statistical highlights from the day's play.
He may have made scoring look easy on the Adelaide track by notching centuries in each innings, but David Warner insisted that the pitch isn't placid anymore and his team is determined to take all 10 Indian wickets on the final day and win the first Test on Saturday.
Since joining Rajasthan Royals, Watson is the team's best all-rounder, notching 1,785 runs in 55 matches, scoring one century and 11 half-centuries at a strike rate of 145.59. In bowling, he claimed 48 wickets with best figures of 3-10.
India's batting ace Yuvraj Singh commanded the highest price, Royal Challengers Bangalore paying a massive 14 crore for him, while Dinesh Karthik was a surprise pick at 12.5 crore by Delhi Daredevils.
A resurgent England attack tore through Australia's batting lineup with six wickets in the final session to leave the hosts reeling at 164 for nine at the close of the second day of the fourth Ashes Test on Friday.
Riding on half-centuries from their openers Mike Hussey and Lendl Simmons followed by excellent performance from their spinners helped Mumbai post a comfortable 25-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in a one-sided Indian Premier League encounter in Ahmedabad.
Australian opener David Warner on Tuesday said that a good pitch coupled with India's poor bowling and fielding helped Australia.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji reveal Rediff's Most Valuable Players in IPL 10.
Virat Kohli's tally is the highest by a visiting No. 4 player in a Test series in Australia, surpassing the 480 in seven innings by Sachin Tendulkar in 2007-08.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index after Game 51 in IPL 10.
Images from Day 1 of the second Test between India and Australia played at the Gabba on Wednesday
Opener David Warner extended his purple patch with the bat, scoring his second century of the match, as the first Test against India headed for an exciting finish, with Australia gaining an overall lead of 363 runs in Adelaide on Friday. At stumps on Day 4, at the Adelaide Oval, Australia were 290 for five, with Steven Smith and Brad Haddin batting on 52 and 14 respectively.
Delhi Daredevils all-rounder Chris Morris has 12 wickets, at a better-than-par economy rate of 6.6 (the par economy rate is 8 runs conceded per over), and scored 74 runs at a staggering strike rate of almost 240 (the par strike rate is 133 runs in 100 balls).