Overview
- Australia beat Bangladesh by an innings and 51 runs in Mackay on Sunday with Mitchell Starc taking 10 wickets in the match and Shoriful Islam also producing a match‑impacting return.
- Starc’s performance pushed Australia higher in the 2025–27 World Test Championship points table and was reported to move him to the top of WTC wicket tallies for the cycle.
- India began the second Test in Colombo after winning the Galle match by 165 runs and will aim for a 2–0 sweep that would improve their WTC percentage.
- India replaced left‑arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav with off‑spinner Saransh Jain for the Colombo Test after Gill said Kuldeep was unavailable because of an infection and Jadeja presented Jain his debut cap.
- The two storylines underline broader themes in the cycle: bowling spells deciding matches on lively or abrasive surfaces and short series heightening the impact of late availability and selection choices.