“It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing away of Mr. Dean Mervyn Jones,” the broadcaster said in a statement.

“He died of a sudden cardiac arrest. We express our deep condolences to his family and stand ready to support them in this difficult time.”

Jones, who played 52 Tests and 164 one-day internationals in the 1980s and 1990s, winning the World Cup in 1987, was one of Australia’s most popular cricketers.

In 1986, he famously struck 210 in the blistering heat of Chennai during cricket’s second-ever tied Test.

He coached in the Pakistan Super League and was also a widely travelled commentator.

“Shocked to hear about the tragic loss of Dean Jones. Praying for strength and courage to his family and friends,” said India’s skipper Virat Kohli on Twitter.

“Really shocking to lose a colleague and a dear friend — Dean Jones. Gone so young. Condolences to the family and may his soul rest in peace,” tweeted India’s head coach Ravi Shastri.

“I’m playing after 19 months following a leg injury. In the Zimbabwe and India series I couldn’t play well. I’ll see where I’m at after this series, and evaluate how long I can play given the way my body is,” said the 34-year-old Malinga.

“No matter how experienced I am – if I can’t win a match for the team and do what the team needs, there’s no point in me being here. I’ll see if I can make up for that 19 months and regain that form over the next three or four months.

“I’ll see the number of games that I get. If not I’ll have to consider the state of my body, and what is expected of me. If I can’t deliver that, then I’ll happily retire,” he said. In the fourth ODI against India on Thursday, Malinga playing in his 203rd match became only the fourth Sri Lankan bowler to capture 300 wickets when he dismissed Indian captain Virat Kohli.

It was only the second wicket Malinga had taken in the current ODI series and his two wickets have come at a cost of 104 runs apiece. In the series against Zimbabwe, Malinga took four wickets in five matches at 50.25.

Since his return to fifty-over cricket in the Champions Trophy he has taken 9 wickets in 12 matches at a cost of 65.33.

However at the pre-match press conference Malinga stated that he would like to play until the 2023 World Cup when he will be 40, but it seems that he has evaluated his performances since then.

Out of the three matches, Sri Lanka lost the first Test match held in Galle.

A couple of milestones are to be kept in this game. Cheteshwar Pujara is playing his 50th Test for India. Rangana Herath will be playing his 100th First-Class game.

Victory was made possible by aggressive batting, as promised by captain Angelo Mathews. The personnel who did that were Kusal Mendis (89) and Danushka Gunathilaka (76), who wasn’t even in the squad until an injury to Chamara Kapugedera on the eve of the game.

But it all changed quickly when when Gunathilaka pulled Umesh into the stands at the beginning of the eighth, signalling a shift in fortunes. Gunathilaka took charge with some glorious drives, particularly down the ground, while Mendis too started confidently, shifting the pressure on to India gradually.

But a good beginning is not even a job half done, as Sri Lanka found out the hard way against South Africa. The middle-overs batting was the most crucial phase of the chase, and how Sri Lanka handled Ravindra Jadeja was in particular important, given that it had crumbled against ’s leg-spin.

Mendis took that task upon himself and dismantled the left-arm spinner’s threat with smart batting. With only four fielders allowed inside the ring, Mendis targeted the mid-wicket boundary to perfection, getting past fifty with one such massive swipe into the crowd.

Jadeja conceded 36 from four overs, the partnership crossed 150, and India’s shoulders began to drop. It didn’t help that Rohit Sharma could not hold on to a very tough chance in the deep when Gunathilaka was on 70.

India’s desperation was evident when Kedhar Jadhav and Virat Kohli came on to bowl, but the breakthroughs came via run outs.

David Warner says Australia will have “no excuses” when they head to India in February, adding the tourists can take some heart from England’s recent series against the world’s No.1 Test side.

The Australians are in high spirits having won their past four Tests matches, but will head to India next month having lost nine consecutive Tests in Asia and with just one series win there since the late 1960s

.Only adding to the magnitude of the task facing Australia is the fact that Virat Kohli’s side are unbeaten in their past 19 Tests at home and recently completed a 4-0 series win over England, including two victories by an innings.

But Warner said the fact that England were able to show some fight with the bat during their recent series – they posted 400 or more in three of the five Tests – gave the Australians some confidence.

Quick Single: England’s India woe a lesson for Australia

“We just saw the recent series with England and to be brutally honest they played very well,” Warner told cricket.com.au during a promotional shoot for the MILO Champ Band.

Quick Single: What’s the MILO Champ Band?

“They batted deep, they got big runs on the board. India just got bigger runs on the board.
“So for us as a team to take some positives out of that … the challenge is to try and bat longer periods.

“We’re going to have to take 20 wickets to win the game, simple as that, and we’re going to have to adapt straight away. No excuses.

“Whether it’s batting or bowling and taking catches in the field, we’ve got to be on from ball one and have a plan B if plan A doesn’t work.”

Quick Single: Khawaja keeping an eye on Indian horizon

Australia will take the unusual step of holding a pre-tour training camp in Dubai as they seek to win their first series win in Asia since 2011.

Australia’s preparations for their Test series against Sri Lanka last year weren’t helped when the pitch used for the pre-series practice match had a thick cover of grass, while those used for the Tests themselves heavily favoured spin bowling.

But this time, the Aussies will get a heavy taste of spinning conditions before they head to India for a warm-up match in Mumbai and then the first Test in Pune from February 23.

“The preparation there is going to be fantastic,” Warner said.

“The wickets are going to be very similar to what we’ll face. We’re very grateful for that to happen.

“That’s the best way for us … to get over there and get ready for India.”

Reflecting on the 3-0 series win over Pakistan, Warner said the ability of Australia’s batsmen to stand up was the key to them bouncing back from their series defeat to South Africa.

Having not posted a century between them in the first two Tests of the summer, Australia’s top five contributed eight three-figure scores in the four Tests that followed, which all resulted in victories.

“Losing the Test series on home soil is probably the kick up the backside … we got handed to us and we needed to bounce back from that,” he said.

“The Australian fans were not happy with us and what we were doing. We know as a team we weren’t good enough.

“The batters took more of the responsibility, which we should have, and we’ve bounced back.

“There was a lot of talk about them coming here and their spearhead quicks knocking our top order over and it was going to be easy for them. That was the talk in the media.

“I’m just glad we turned up and played the best cricket that we could.”

Chasing an unlikely 405 for victory, England were bowled out 20 minutes after lunch for 158 as India grabbed a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, after the first Test was drawn.

Skipper Virat Kohli led from the front to bring up the team’s second biggest win against England by runs, after they won by 279 runs at Leeds 30 years ago.

Kohli’s sparkling 167 and his 226-run third-wicket stand with Cheteshwar Pujara (119) in the first innings was instrumental in the hosts posting 455 after batting first.

The star batsman also hit a gritty 81 in the second innings to underline India’s dominance over the visitors.

“We’ve been playing some really good cricket, we don’t want to be complacent but don’t want to be desperate, either. We respect England,” said Kohli, who was named man of the match.

Ashwin, the leading Test wicket-taker this year, once again turned on the heat against the English batsmen who resumed their chase at 87 for two but lost their last eight wickets for just 71 runs.

The off-spinner, who picked up his 22nd five-wicket haul in the first innings, captured the first scalp of the day by having Ben Duckett caught behind for nought, ending the batsman’s brief, 16-ball stay at the crease.

Ashwin and debutant Jayant Yadav finished with three wickets each in England’s second innings, while fast bowler Mohammed Shami chipped in with two.

“The biggest positives are how the fast bowlers bowled and Jayant’s debut. It was lovely to have five bowlers who can pick up wickets,” said Kohli.

The morning session saw England lose Moeen Ali who looped up a simple catch to fine leg off leg-spinner Ravindra Jadeja for just two runs.

Off-spinner Yadav got the important wicket of Ben Stokes, top-scorer with 70 in England’s first innings, for six.

Joe Root, who was dropped on nine by Kohli at leg slip off Ashwin, provided some resistance until fast bowler Mohammed Shami had him lbw for 25.

Root reviewed the decision but TV replays suggested the ball would have hit the leg stump, upholding the on-field call.

The hosts had reclaimed the advantage on the fourth day after Jadeja trapped England skipper Alastair Cook lbw for 54 on what turned out to be the last ball of the day.

“It was a good toss to win (for India), no doubt. From losing those five wickets on day two – you have to score first-innings runs,” said Cook.

After conceding a 200-run deficit in the first innings, England will take heart from their spirited bowling second time around.

Fast bowler Stuart Broad, who played with a strained tendon on his right foot from day two, and leg-spinner Adil Rashid fought valiantly by claiming four wickets each to dismiss India for 204.

“We made India work very hard. We played some good cricket at stages in these first two games. We need to win a couple of games to get ourselves back in the series,” said Cook.

Top-ranked India finished the day on a strong 319-4 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association ground in Rajkot, supported by the duo’s performance.

Pujara made 124 off 206 balls before being dismissed by first-innings centurion Ben Stokes, but owes his ninth Test century and third against England to the Decision Review System.

The right-handed batsman was ruled lbw on 86 but the TV umpire — which long-time sceptics India are using for the first time in a home series — overturned the decision after the ball-tracker showed Zafar Ansari’s delivery going over the top of the stumps.

Vijay hit 126 during a marathon eight-hour innings and shared 209 runs for the second wicket with Pujara.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli was batting on 26 at stumps while nightwatchman Amit Mishra was dismissed for a duck off the last ball of the day. The hosts trailed by 218 runs with six wickets in hand in reply to England’s 537, their third biggest total on Indian soil thanks to centuries from Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Stokes.

After being stuck on 99 for 10 balls, Pujara reached the three-figure mark with a nervous single as his father and wife applauded from the stands.

India, who had reclaimed the top spot in the Test rankings after taking an unassailable 2-0 series lead in Kolkata, won the third and final Test by 321 runs Tuesday to consolidate their position.

Batting legend and ICC Hall of Famer Sunil Gavaskar presented Kohli with the mace on behalf of the International Cricket Council at Indore’s Holkar Stadium.

Kohli was only the second India captain after Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the 10th overall to receive the mace since its introduction in 2001.

The others are Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Steve Smith (Australia), Andrew Strauss (England), Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla (South Africa) and Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan).

India are now four points in the ratings above arch-rivals Pakistan, who enjoyed the top spot only briefly after Misbah received the mace last month in Lahore.

“I’ve got a few Man of the Match awards, so have the boys. This is much more special. The last time India got the mace, I was watching on TV,” said a delighted Kohli.

“The key right now is maintaining our game. We’re working really hard on the areas needing improvement and we’ve been able to correct the wrongs quickly and we’d like to continue that and give the people what they want to see.”

India had replaced Australia at the top of the rankings after their series win against the West Indies in August, only to be leapfrogged by Pakistan later.

“The number-one ranking has changed hands three times in as many months, indicative of the current competitiveness of Test cricket,” ICC chief executive Dave Richardson was quoted as saying in a release

The heroes: AB De Villiers and Virat Kohli continue to write their own scripts and redefine the art of batting. The two best batsmen in the world both scored centuries – De Villiers 129 from 52, Kohli 109 from 55 – to propel the Royal Challengers to a score of 248 from 20 overs. Between them the pair hit an incredible 20 sixes and 15 fours in a partnership of 229 from 98 balls. De Villiers started with a bang, hitting four boundaries in the first seven balls he faced. For the next hour it was demolition job as the South African executed every shot in the book to bring up his ton in just 43 balls. Kohli, on the other hand, played second fiddle to De Villiers early on before going berserk at the end. The Indian star bought up his fifty in 39 balls but in his next 16 balls he scored 59 runs to bring up his third IPL ton this season. Batting simply cannot get any better than this.
WATCH: De Villiers hammers unbeaten 129

The records: The partnership of 229 between De Villiers and Kohli was the highest in T20 cricket and it was also just the second instance in T20 cricket of two batsmen from the same team scoring a hundred. RCB’s score of 248 was second highest this IPL season and, incredibly, De Villiers and Kohli added 112 runs in the final five overs; previously no team had scored more than 100 in the last five overs of a T20 innings. Click here for all the numbers from the AB-Kohli show

Quick Single: The numbers behind an incredible evening

The victim: Mystery spinner Shivil Kaushik might have bamboozled batsmen during his initial matches, but tonight he ran into an AB-Kohli tornado. Handed the ball by Brendon McCullum to bowl the penultimate over of the innings, Kaushik was hammered to all parts by Kohli as the over went for 6,4,6,6,6,2, adding 30 runs and giving Kaushik the figures of 3-0-50-0.
WATCH: Kohli hammers third century in seven innings

The six: There were 20 of them in the Bangalore innings but the one from AB De Villiers from the second ball he faced was an absolute gem. Facing the mystery spinner Kaushik, De Villiers jumped on the back foot and lifted the ball over the cover boundary for an extraordinary six.