Australia have named their playing eleven for the opening Ashes Test, starting Wednesday, December 8 at The Gabba in Brisbane. Alex Carey, who has already played 45 ODIs and 38 T20Is in national colours, is set to make his debut in the longest format. The southpaw has replaced Tim Paine, who has taken an indefinite break from cricket after the infamous sexting scandal.

Carey, however, has played 45 first-class matches where he has notched nearly 2500 runs with five centuries and 13 half-centuries. Pat Cummins, the Aussie Test skipper, said that it was a tough call to select one between Travis Head and Usman Khawaja before he picked the former. Khawaja, 34, will turn 35 later this month and he’s been in and out of the team for quite a while.

Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and skipper Cummins will take charge of the pace attack. Nathan Lyon remains their lone spin-bowling option. Head coach Justin Langer, in the meantime, on Saturday, talked about the pace trio’s preparations despite the wet ground conditions in Brisbane.

Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has heaped praises on Rohit Sharma for being able to lead teams with a lot of efficiency. Rohit’s fortunes in cricket changed in 2013 when he took over from Ricky Ponting as the skipper of the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. It was also the same year when he started opening the batting for Team India at the highest level.

Eight years later, the Nagpur-born Rohit is the most successful skipper in the history of the IPL, having won five titles, although MI failed to qualify for the playoffs last time. Tendulkar reckoned that apart from his potential to lead, Rohit’s ability to hold his composure in crunch situations sets him apart from the rest.

“Whatever my interaction with Rohit has been, he has a very smart cricketing brain. He doesn’t panic. He is able to absorb pressure is what I saw. That is important when you are leading the side,” Tendulkar was qu.