Jack Wildermuth

The Indian cricket team will head into the first day-night Test against Australia with a lot of optimism and happy selection dilemmas, having managed to tick most of the boxes before drawing the three-day pink-ball dress rehearsal against Australia A on Sunday. The four-Test series gets underway from December 17 in Adelaide.

Struggling with a hamstring strain, Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques was on Thursday ruled out of the day-night practice game against India starting here on Friday.

Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman who had tested positive for coronavirus while in mandatory hotel quarantine joined the Brisbane Heat squad on Saturday after being released from a Gold Coast hospital.

India captain Virat Kohli on Friday opted out of the day-night warm-up game against Australia A, deciding to give his body some rest after having played in all the preceding limited-overs matches.

India batsman Hanuma Vihari said both Wriddhiman Saha and Rishabh Pant are in good form and it will be a tough call for the team management to make as to who will be the wicketkeeper in the first Test against Australia.

Afridi suffered a knee cartilage injury while fielding during Brisbane Heat’s last-over win against Adelaide Strikers at the Gabba on Saturday night.

Joe Burns' poor run at the top of the order continued on Sunday when he fell for one in a warm up match against India A, leaving hosts Australia with a selection headache ahead of Thursday's first Test at Adelaide.

Former captain Allan Border on Sunday slammed Australia A's lack of fight in the final session of second day's play in the pink ball warm-up game against India here, calling it an "absolute disgrace".

Alex Carey and Jason Sangha's centuries led South Australia to a record-breaking fourth-innings chase, ending a 29-year title drought in the Sheffield Shield. Partnering with Jason Sangha, Carey helped achieve a 270-run target to defeat Queensland, celebrating South Australia's 14th championship and first since 1995-96.

All-rounder Mitchell Marsh was on Wednesday named skipper of a star-studded Australia A squad for the four-day games during their tour of India later this year while Travis Head will lead the one-day side.

Rishabh Pant and Hanuma Vihari put themselves in the reckoning for next week's first Test with contrasting hundreds as India thoroughly dominated Australia A in the pink ball warm-up match on Saturday.

Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane would be counting the positives from the pink-ball warm-up game in Sydney as the visitors prepare for the series opener which begins in Adelaide on Thursday. TOI charts out the positives that have emerged for India from the second practice match that ended on Sunday.

It turned out to be a batting festival for India on the second day of the three-day pink-ball warmup game against Australia ‘A’ on Saturday, with Rishabh Pant running amok with an unbeaten 103 and Hanuma Vihari too scoring a century. The Australia ‘A’ pacers seemed to be weary as Pant hammered 22 runs off the last over, bowled by Jack Wildermuth, to complete his century.

A second spinner in Kuldeep Yadav or an additional batsman in Hanuma Vihari will be India's prime concern during their day/night first-class game against Australia A from Friday which would be the dress rehearsal for the 'Pink Ball Test' in Adelaide, starting December 17.

Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah headlined the opening day's play with a maiden first-class fifty and a couple of wickets in an impressive all-round effort to put India in the driver's seat against Australia A in the pink ball warm-up game on Friday.

IPL Auction 2018: Kolkata Knight Riders buy Javon Searless for 30 lakh, his base price for the last purchase of the auction. Kings XI Punjab buy Chris Gayle for 2 crore, his base price

The final list has been pruned from 799 players who registered their names for the auction. There are as many as 122 international players, including six players from Associate nations (five from Afghanistan and one from UAE).