Some more exceptional batting effort helped India reach 177/2 at tea on the first day of the fourth and final Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) here on Thursday.

A confident India face Australia in the fourth and final Test here on Thursday, aiming to create history by registering their maiden Test series win Down Under.

Australian openers survived the early jitters to post 8/0 at stumps on Day 2 of the third Test after India declared their first innings at a mammoth 443/7 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Thursday.

Fresh from his spat with Australian counterpart Tim Paine, India skipper Virat Kohli said on the eve of the Boxing Day Test that he does not get affected by all the talk about his public image and people who know him and understand what he is.

Both India and Australia will aim to take a lead in the four-match Test series, currently leveled 1-1, when they square-off in the much awaited Boxing Day clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), starting here from Wednesday.

Cheteshwar Pujara, whose knocks of 123 and 71 were the cornerstone of India's victory against Australia in the first Test, moved ahead of Joe Root and David Warner to take the fourth position while pacer Jasprit Bumrah achieved a career-high ranking of 33rd, after his three for 47 and three for 68, in the latest ICC rankings.

Having already clinched the three-Test rubber with comprehensive victories in the opening two games, England recalled pacer Stuart Broad and stumper Jonny Bairstow for the final match against Sri Lanka, starting here on Friday.

India on Tuesday successfully conducted the night trial of the indigenously developed nuclear capable Agni-I ballistic missile off the Odisha coast.

West Indies rode on excellent half centuries by Roston Chase and skipper Jason Holder to recover from a middle order collapse and post a healthy 295/7 against India at stumps on the opening day of the second cricket Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Friday.

A Michigan man unknowingly used a rock as his doorsteps for over a decade; it has been found that the rock is meteorite with a current worth of $1,00,000. According to the Smithsonian Museum and Central Michigan University, the rock is also sixth largest meteorite found in Michigan.