Factbox on the four-Test series between India and Australia, which starts at Pune on Thursday:

Sri Lanka beat Australia off last ball to win first T20

It is a wish and a dream, telling us that nothing in life -- and indeed, no life -- is beyond bliss, and that all it takes is a bit of jukebox serendipity and, most important of all, the right shoulder to live on and nest in.

Against a quality side like Australia, the performers at the domestic level will get a chance to test themselves against the likes of Josh Hazlewood or Mitchell Starc if Steve Smith and Darren Lehmann decide to give them a few overs.

Australia spinner Steve O'Keefe is aware that taming the Indians would be a 'big job' but exuded confidence that his team is capable of doing 'some damage' during their four-Test series.

'We need to stick to plan and back our skills to tackle India' 'You've got to be adaptable and you've got to be able to change your game almost mid-innings'

The temporary ban to the US has affected the actress.

Australian spinner Steve O'Keefe believes it would be a daunting task to tame Virat Kohli and his men in the upcoming Test series in India but insisted that they are not infallible and might find the going difficult on turning wickets.

Cricket Australia on Tuesday confirmed former India One-Day International player Sriram Sridharan will join the coaching staff for the forthcoming Test tour of India as a spin consultant.

Uncapped leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson , 23, joins lead spinner Nathan Lyon and left-arm orthodox Ashton Agar and Steve O'Keefe.

Acknowledging that it is clear to all that many terrorist groups operate in Pakistan, he said the US continues to work with the Pakistani government in this regard.

All-rounder Hilton Cartwright will make his debut for Australia in the dead rubber third Test against Pakistan in Sydney on Tuesday, with left-armer Steve O'Keefe returning to the side as a second spinner alongside Nathan Lyon.

United States President Barack Obama has signed into law the $618 billion defence budget for 2017, which enhances security cooperation with India and conditions nearly half of the funding to Pakistan on a certification that it is taking demonstrable steps against the Haqqani Network.

Cricket Australia assured fans over security arrangements for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan on Friday after police foiled a plot to attack prominent sites in Melbourne with a series of bombs on Christmas Day.

The plotters are believed to have included six men and one woman, all in their 20s, who allegedly planned to plant bombs and use knives and firearms to launch a "multi-node" attack at Federation Square, Flinders Street Station and St Paul's Cathedral.

The team visited several locations in Arunachal Pradesh to determine if the reported sites can be definitively correlated with known crash sites involving missing US servicemen.

When Obama signs the NDAA 2017 into law this week, the US-India partnership will be enshrined in US legislation, binding every succeeding administration, whatever its inclinations, to treat India as a 'major defence partner,' says Ajai Shukla.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and outgoing United States Defence Secretary Ashton Carter on Thursday finalised the "major defence partner" status to India which will fast-track cooperation and sharing of high-end American defence technology.

United States President-elect Donald Trump has formally nominated James Mattis, a retired 4-star Marine Corps general who has long voiced concerns about the threat posed by Iran, as the Defence Secretary to replace Ashton Carter.

It's a boy!

Slated to be in India on December 8, Carter would travel to Japan, Bahrain, Israel, Italy and Great Britain before returning to the US on December 16. This is for the first time that an outgoing American Defence Secretary has included India in his itinerary for the final overseas trip.

Mattis attracted controversy in 2005 when he said 'it's fun to shoot some people'.

'Clearly, from the Indian viewpoint, the US retrenchment from Asia cannot be happening as good news.' 'The abandonment of the US' pivot to Asia exposes the US-Indian partnership to be a mere transactional relationship,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who is set to retire after the World Championships in London next year, has been shortlisted for the 2016 IAAF World Athletes of the Year award.

'One lesson to emerge out of the Modi-Putin summit is that India can be more self-confident that it possesses inherent strengths to leverage its interlocutors to influence Pakistani policies,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

'Here in Delhi, the Modi government is supposedly looking at 'options' to hit back at Pakistan in any whichever way it can, while in Washington, the Obama administration is looking for ways to strengthen US military cooperation with Pakistan,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

The US also rejected 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's remarks that America and India have joined hands against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

This was the first major request of arms sale purchase by India after Obama designated New Delhi as a major 'strategic defence partner'.

The text of the logistics defence agreement has not been made public at this point of time. But Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook and US Department of Defence spokesperson, Commander Gary Ross give a gist of what it's all about.

Carter has said India's designation as a 'major defence partner' would allow the US to cooperate with it --

China's state-run media commented that India's close relationship with the US could create geopolitical rivalries in Asia.

Now, India and US can jets, warships can use Indian bases

Alleging that forces across the border are fomenting trouble in violence-hit Kashmir, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that "a small percentage" of people in the Valley are holding the majority to ransom.

This will be Carter's sixth meeting with Parrikar, and comes just weeks after India was designated a major defence partner of the United States.

The United States blocked $300 million military aid to Pakistan as it failed to get a Congressional certification for "satisfactory" action against the dreaded Haqqani network, the Pentagon has said.

Usain Bolt delivered. Mo Farah, Elaine Thompson, David Rudisha, three world records and a dominant United States played their part too, as athletics enjoyed being back in the limelight.

Check out the gold medallists on Day 13 of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday:

American Ashton Eaton won his second straight Olympic decathlon gold medal on Thursday, extending his reign in a sport whose champion earns the title of the world's greatest athlete.

Deborah Lee James will travel to India later this month as part of a maiden visit to four Asian countries that would also take her to Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines and will discuss the situation in the South China sea as well as the growing threat of terrorism.

Ten days of athletics competition at the Rio Olympics begin on Friday. Check out the 10 events not to miss at the Olympic Stadium.