Australia vs India, 4th Test

It's a tricky time to be a curator in Australia at the moment. Create a pitch which is green, bouncy and favourable to thrill-a-minute action, and you get an "average" rating. Put forth one which is green on top but dry underneath with hopes that it deteriorates as early into the match as possible, and you still get criticized. You couldn't blame SCG curator Justin Groves then for playing it safe and sounding like a chef serving up the perfect three-course meal while talking about his 22-yard offering. "What we generally have is a bit of a green tinge on days one and two favouring the batsmen a little bit. Some good early bowling with the new ball before turning late in the game and getting a bit more unpredictable as the game wears on through the five days," is what he said. It was curator talk 101.

Should India play two spinners?

India 41 for 1

India 126 for 1

134/2

India 232/4

India 4 for 303 (Pujara 130*, Vihari 39*, Agarwal 77) v Australia

He just bats and bats and bats. Cheteshwar Pujara came to the crease in the second over and refused to budge until the end of the day. He has faced 1135 balls in this series. As a consequence of that, he's made 458 runs. One hundred and thirty of them came in Sydney where India have established a position of strength to perhaps take more than a share of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Australia would believe they haven't quite lost that much ground. They'll be thrilled to have kept Virat Kohli to a mere 23 and Ajinkya Rahane for 18. And considering they went in with only four specialist bowlers, a score of 4 for 303 at stumps is a reflection of some decent work. The only problem is that India keep finding ways to be better.

Gloomy skies and misty rain at the SCG

Despite being on the verge of an embarrassing defeat, the Australian men’s cricket team has spent their preparation for the final day of the New Year’s test at a Sydney pub