With India taking on the Aussies Down Under in a 5-match Test series, fireworks can surely be expected with the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant in the side.
Rohit's arrival will bolster India's preparations as they aim to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the five-match Test series.
Morkel emphasised Nitish Reddy, who will be making his debut in Australia, and said he will be one of the players people need to keep an eye on during the course of the series.
Legendary Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy wants his country's pace attack to employ every strategy, from targeting Virat Kohli's front foot to "body bashing" him with short-pitched deliveries, to get the Indian stalwart out in the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy, beginning in Perth on Friday. The star Indian batter has been enduring a lean patch across all formats in recent months, with just two centuries and 11 fifties in his last 60 Test innings. However, despite these struggles, Kohli boasts an impressive average of 54.0 in Australia. Healy has urged the formidable Australian pace trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc to try and put Kohli on the back-foot. "The first matchup I'm looking at is how our quicks can bowl to Virat Kohli, and I think they should target his front pad quite often," Healy told SEN Radio. "He sits that front foot there and he can play from anywhere -- he can play square on the off-side, he can whip onto the leg-side or he can rock back
Former all-rounder Shane Watson has advised the Australian team to avoid getting into confrontations with Virat Kohli in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as he feels the intensity the celebrated Indian batter derives from provocations brings the best out of him. Going through a lean run of form, Kohli has enjoyed great success in Australia in the past and will look to regain his touch in the five-match Test series, which gets underway on Friday at the Optus Stadium here. Provoking the Indian batting mainstay has often proved to be counterproductive for the Australians, and Watson has experienced it himself. "The one thing that I know of Virat is... because the fire burns so brightly and deep inside him, the intensity he brings to every ball that he is engaged in a game has been superhuman," Watson was quoted as saying on the Willow Talk podcast. "But, there have been in recent times where moments in this career that fire has started to go out because it is just so hard to maintain that .
Dubbed as the bowler "impossible to face" by swashbuckling Australian batter Travis Head and a "cat burglar" by former tearaway pacer Brett Lee, Jasprit Bumrah's reputation precedes him. The India pacer, who is set to captain India in the first Test of the five-match series starting here Friday, has left both past and present Australian players in awe of his skill and threat. 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 Bumrah, according to the local media here. On his two previous Test tours of Australia, the 30-year-old Bumrah, who is set to captain India in the first Test of the five-match series here from Friday, took 32 wickets at an average of 21.25, including a match-winning 6/33 during the 2018 Boxing Day Test. Since the start of the 20th century, only two touring bowlers have taken more wickets in Australia at a lower average -- Richard Hadlee and Curtly Ambrose. Head, Usman Khawaj
From Sachin Tendulkar's batting masterclass to Rishabh Pant's dare-to-fight attitude, let us revisit how Australia's gruelling conditions forged India's brightest Test stars.
The 45-year-old New Zealander is not only Australia's assistant coach but also the head coach of the IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad
Devdutt Padikkal, who was playing for the India A side under the leadership of Ruturaj Gaikwad in the two-match Test series against Australia A, scored 151 runs in the four innings he played
While the fracture is deemed minor, Gill is racing against time in a desperate bid to recover for the second Test, which is a day-night affair starting on December 6 in Adelaide.
Ganguly was asked about Rohit Sharma's availability for the Perth Test, which is still uncertain. He expressed that the Indian skipper should leave for Australia immediately.
Gautam Gambhir's "prickly" coaching style may not bode well for the Indian team, and it could be a "long summer" if they fail to start strong in the Perth Test on November 22, warns former Australian captain Tim Paine. Jolted by an unprecedented 0-3 home series loss to New Zealand, the Gambhir-coached side now face the daunting task of defending the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in a five-match series against Australia, starting with the Perth Test. Their last two series wins out here they had Ravi Shastri who was fantastic. He created a great environment, the players were energised, they played with passion, he sold them the dream and motivated them in a really light-hearted enjoyable way," Paine said on SEN Radio. They (India) have gone to a new coach now that is really prickly, really competitive -- and that not to say that's not a good thing and a good way to coach -- but my concern is that it's not a great fit for the Indian cricket team. If your coach is the first one to crack in a
Former India coach Ravi Shastri was uncertain about the cricketing future of Rishabh Pant when he visited him at the hospital a few days after that horrific car accident, and termed the wicketkeeper batter's recovery a "miracle." Pant made a comeback to white ball cricket during the IPL before returning to red-ball cricket through the Duleep Trophy and he was also part of India's recent home Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. "Honestly, if you had seen him you would not have given him a hope in hell to play cricket again," Shastri was quoted as saying by news.com.au. "I will never forget it. He was in terrible shape. I went to see him in hospital a month after he was injured. He was battered and bruised, scarred all over. "He had a massive operation and had stitches all over the place. From there to simply recover and play cricket was a miracle. To then go on and play in a World Cup-winning team and be a part of the Test team is a truly remarkable achievement," he ...
India captain Rohit Sharma has been blessed with a baby boy and there is a possibility that he makes it to the Perth Test against Australia starting November 22. His wife Ritika Sajdeh gave birth to a baby boy at a local hospital here Friday night. Rohit didn't travel to Australia with the rest of the Indian squad as Ritika was expecting their second child. The couple have a daughter Samaira, born in 2018. With less than a week left for the first Test, it is not clear if Rohit, after just a couple of practice sessions, will play the match even if he decides to travel to Australia at the earliest, but nothing can be ruled out as of now. There were doubts about Rohit's participation in the first Test although head coach Gautam Gambhir was quite hopeful that the captain might just be available. The Indian team currently needs its skipper and opening batter as the top order is looking way too brittle. While Rohit hasn't exactly been in the best of form but he would still any day be b
Virat Kohli brushed off ongoing fitness speculation but was one of several batters to be caught behind the wicket during an intra-squad simulation at the WACA.
With India captain Rohit Sharma's participation in the first Test uncertain due birth of his second child, Sarfaraz might find himself in the playing XI for the series opener in Perth
Former India cricket coach Ravi Shastri believes Virat Kohli has the potential to turn around his poor form and prosper during the upcoming five-Test Border-Gavaskar series in Australia. Kohli has been going through a rough run across all formats over the last few months. The 36-year-old star batter has scored just one half-century and averaged only 21.33 across five Test matches against Bangladesh and New Zealand since the start of the year. But Shastri has warned Australia and said Kohli is back in the country where he loves to bat and score runs. "Well, the King is back in his territory. That's all I will tell them," Shastri said on The ICC Review. "When you've earned that title after your exploits in Australia, it will be on your (opponent's) mind when you go out to bat." Shastri was referring to Kohli's phenomenal performances in Australia, which include a fighting century in Adelaide in his first-ever Test tour in 2011/12, a staggering 692 runs from four Tests during the 201
Shami has knocked on the doors of Indian cricket as hard as he can upon his return to the cricket field after almost a year
The Indian team management has decided to allow the public to watch their centre-wicket training sessions from Friday to Sunday when they would do match simulation and play a warm-up game against India A at the WACA ground. This is in contrary to an Australian media report claiming that the visiting team's practice sessions are closed to the public. On Wednesday, 'The Australian' claimed in a report that a team of construction workers, which is currently refurbishing the WACA, has been mailed by its company CEO to not watch, click pictures, or fly drones during the India net sessions. "The extent to which India is keeping their practice guarded is laid bare in a leaked email issued to workers involved in the WACA refurbishment, due to be completed next year," the newspaper reported. "Not only has the public been barred from watching India train, even those working in the precinct are under strict instructions not to take a peek, according to an email sent by Adam Sauzier of ADCO ..
After skipping the practice session on Tuesday, star Indian batter Virat Kohli was seen sweating it out in the nets on Wednesday