India vs Australia 4th Test News at Brisbane Live Updates: Another Indian Fast Bowler Breaks Down; Navdeep Saini Picks Up a Groin Injury

06:56 (IST)

What Shardul Thakur gets a wicket first ball!

First Test wicket for Shardul Thakur! 👏 #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/n0kJHrmqSy

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 15, 2021

06:04 (IST)

Mohammad Siraj opens the bowling for India as expected. This is practically an India A side, against Australia. And Warner is away on the first ball with a single. And Warner is out. Last ball of the over and the batsman edges one. Rohit Sharma takes an excellent catch. He is out for 1. 

Mohammed Siraj gets David Warner early again 💥

Beautiful delivery. Great catch. Dream start for India! #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/vW4oB0IzjM

— Cricket on BT Sport (@btsportcricket) January 15, 2021

05:50 (IST)

Thangarasu Natarajan on Friday was handed his Test cap making him Test player No.300 for India, thus becoming the first Indian player to make his ODI, T20, and Test debuts in the same tour. To say Natarajan's rise in international cricket has been stunning will be an understatement. It has been meteoric!

17:58 (IST)

Australia captain Tim Paine has urged the home fans to refrain from causing any trouble as they take on India in the fourth and final Test match at Brisbane. 'Gabba' has been a fortress for the Aussie where they haven't lost a game since 1987-88. Racial slurs had marred the third Test match in Sydney where two of Indian cricketers were targeted on racial lines.

17:57 (IST)

India vs Australia 4th Test Match,Brisbane Pitch Report: The Gabba is known for the speed its surface offers to the bowlers, so the batsmen will have to be extra careful when taking on the pace attack. The surface might have something for the spinners too as the match progresses. The batsmen will have to adapt to the bounce the pitch offers and hold themselves from overplaying their shots. They will need to put in sufficient time before going for their shots.

17:57 (IST)

India vs Australia 4th Test Match,Brisbane Weather Forecast: The forecast for the opening day says it is going to be sunny with temperature hovering between 21 degree Celsius and 32 degrees. But the game can witness interruptions due to rain on other days. The city may experience scattered thunderstorms on Saturday. There are also chances of precipitation on the fourth and fifth day of the Test. Heavy conditions will prevail on all days with humidity crossing the 60 per cent mark, especially as the match enters the final two days.

17:02 (IST)

India vs Australia Brisbane Test Preview: Irrespective of Result, India Can Return With Heads Held High. Injury after injury. Issues with bubble life for multiple months. Issues with facilities. Losing key players at crucial times. India have battled them all in the ongoing Test series in Australia. Almost miraculously, the series is at 1-1 going into the decider at Gabba in Brisbane. Read more here 

17:00 (IST)

And the Gabba is no place for the walking wounded, with Australia undefeated at the stadium since 1988. In short, Ajinkya Rahane’s India have a mountain to climb, even if a draw would be enough to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy two years after their breakthrough 2-1 win in the 2018/19 series in Australia. The home side have had their own injury challenges, with Marcus Harris replacing Will Pucovski after the rookie opener was ruled out with a shoulder injury.

17:00 (IST)

A chastised Paine said Australia would leave the frustrations behind them upon taking the field at the Gabba and their only focus would be to administer the coup de grace.“For me, it’s about rising above it and concentrating on what I’m doing and concentrating on leading my team and not worrying about what’s going on on the other side,” Paine said on Thursday.“We’ve spoken a lot … about controlling what we can control and focusing more inwardly on ourselves. Because if we do that then we’ll be in a good position.”

16:26 (IST)

Ravichandran Ashwin’s wife Prithi Narayanan penned down an emotional account of how the all-rounder felt the night before the fifth day of the Sydney Test against Australia. She narrated what was going on in the family at the time his husband was putting up a brave fight to save the day for the Indian side.

16:00 (IST)

Seasoned quicks Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav and batsman KL Rahul have also suffered injuries, while regular captain Virat Kohli returned home after the opening test in Adelaide for the birth of his first child. Rathour said despite the injuries Ajinkya Rahane’s side did not lack confidence. “I think the toughness comes from the preparation,” he added. “The boys have been working out for not only this tour but for many, many years now.

15:04 (IST)

On the road for nearly five months since this year's IPL, Bumrah has finally succumbed to the rigours of non-stop international cricket as he has been ruled out of the series-deciding fourth and final Test against Australia in Brisbane after suffering an abdominal strain during the preceding match in Sydney. And Gambhir feels it would be unfair to force Bumrah to play in all the matches against England, starting February 5 in Chennai. "... you got to look after him (Bumrah) as well, because he is going to be the leader of the attack for a very long time, so him being fit is very important," the World Cup-winning left-handed batsman told Star Sports.

15:04 (IST)

Former opener Gautam Gambhir believes the Indian team management needs to take good care of its pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and if required, the right-arm pacer should be given a break during the upcoming home series against England.

14:46 (IST)

The Aussie fast bowlers got a very little time for turnaround. They bowled 131 overs on the fourth and fifth days of the drawn third Test at the SCG and are getting just three days to recuperate from the toil.

14:35 (IST)

"I think he (Lyon) has bowled okay. I thought in the first Test match in Adelaide, he created heaps of chances and didn't get a hand. I thought the other day he bowled beautifully. If I hadn't dropped a couple, it would have been a completely different story. Nathan Lyon playing 100th Test match -- that is not easy. Absolutely top of the tree, how good he is. I don't think that has changed. I don't think it will change," said Paine on Thursday ahead of the fourth and final Test.

14:35 (IST)

Australia skipper Tim Paine has said he is not worried about the lack of wicket-taking form of Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc as he took the blame on himself for squandering opportunities to deny them wicket on the last day of the third Test against India in Sydney. Lyon has taken just six wickets while Starc has taken nine in the three Tests of the series so far.

13:47 (IST)

Apart from injuries, India have also been surrounded by off-field issues. They have reportedly been unhappy about lack of facilities and housekeeping in the team hotel in Brisbane due to COVID regulations, but Rathour said that would not be a factor on the ground. "We are playing Australia in Australia, so the motivation is there. You don't need housekeeping to motivate yourself," said Vikram Rathour

13:44 (IST)

Unlike in the first three Tests, India will not announce their playing XI for the fourth game a day earlier as they are still monitoring the fitness of some of their players. "Injuries are being monitored. I'm not in a position to comment. Will give them as much time as we can, we'll know tomorrow morning," Rathour said in the pre-match press conference.

13:35 (IST)

"I have spoken about it publicly and I have spoken about it privately that he is a bit quirky. What Smith does at the crease, he does at most games. "Anyone who suggests for one millisecond he was doing anything untoward, they are way out of line. Absolutely out of line. That wicket was so flat... it was like concrete. You need 15 inch spikes to make an indent on the crease."

13:22 (IST)

Smith, meanwhile, is making headlines for wrong reasons and has earned the ire of Indian fans. Smith defended his act in the Test - in which he was Man of the Match - saying he was just doing it out of habit. "I have been quite shocked and disappointed by the reaction to this," Smith himself had told the Daily Telegraph. "It’s something I do in games to visualise where we are bowling, how the batter is playing our bowlers and then out of habit I always mark centre."

13:13 (IST)

Smith, meanwhile, is making headlines for wrong reasons and has earned the ire of Indian fans. Smith defended his act in the Test - in which he was Man of the Match - saying he was just doing it out of habit. "I have been quite shocked and disappointed by the reaction to this," Smith himself had told the Daily Telegraph. "It’s something I do in games to visualise where we are bowling, how the batter is playing our bowlers and then out of habit I always mark centre."

12:59 (IST)

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, Royals will take a final call shortly, with the deadline for submitting the list of retained players being January 20. Smith had started IPL 2020 with a couple of half-centuries but went out of form quickly, ending the season with just 311 runs with an average and strike-rate of 25.91 and 131.22 respectively.

12:53 (IST)

Meanwhile, currently embroiled in a controversy over scuffing the batting marks of Rishabh Pant in the Sydney Test, Steve Smith is unlikely to be retained by the Rajasthan Royals franchise for the upcoming IPL 2021.

12:36 (IST)

While highlighting on the run out problem, he said, "We had three run outs, it was a concern. I would say it was because if pressure of not getting runs and good fielding efforts. You can't really work on anything at this stage, hopefully we can get better in the next game."

12:23 (IST)

While Smith is back in form, Rathour said, "We all know he is a good player, our bowlers have specific plans against all Australian batsmen. We'll still back our plans and hope that will get him out this game."

12:17 (IST)

Talking on the Steve Smith incident, Rathour said, "Basically, we didn't even know about the incident. We knew only after the game. As a batsman, Pant wasn't even aware. I wouldn't like to comment as it hardly mattered."

12:13 (IST)

As far as Rishabh Pant is concerned, this is what Rathour said: "There's still a lot of injury concerns, they're still being monitored. All these questions can be answered only tomorrow morning."

12:10 (IST)

Rathour says, "Toughness comes from the preparation. The boys have been working hard, they have a lot of belief in their abilities. Even after Sydney Test, the coaching staff kept telling the players to keep preparing. They've shown character to come back in this tour. I don't believe in momentum. After 36 all out, to come back and win the next game - that tells about momentum. We'll put up the best 11 on the ground, all of them deserve to be there. We are backing our processes and players. If we play to potential, we'll do well."

12:06 (IST)

India batting coach Vikram Rathour in PC: "Injuries are being monitored. Not in a position to comment. Will give them as much time as we can, we'll know tomorrow morning." 

11:59 (IST)

So India's PC is about to begin, so stay tuned for all the latest info involving the injury updates of all the players. Also we will tell you the playing XI for India for the last Test.