Steve Smith's contributions of 76 and 102 not out has strengthened his position at the top of the table.

Agar is most likely to join forces with Nathan Lyon in a two-man spin attack at the SCG.

Smith started out his career as a leg-spinner but decided to concentrate on his batting and has quickly established himself as the world's leading batsmen.

Australia will be without pace spearhead Mitchell Starc, who is out with a bruised heel.

The 29-year-old was hit by a stray ball from a Cameron Bancroft shot that ricocheted off the net structure and struck him on the right hand.

With both the captains smashing records and hammering the oppositions with their double tons in Test format recently, the Australian legend rates Smith above the Indian skipper.

Top-ranked Steve Smith moved closer towards Don Bradman's highest-ever ranking points after a match-winning double-century in the third Ashes Test against England in Perth.

Crediting Australia for their overall performance in the series so far, Root said that his side have to work on their performance if they want to avoid further defeat and end the Ashes on a positive note.

This innings of Smith would be special as he made his second double-hundred in 59 Test matches that he has played and his second ton in the 2017 Ashes series.

Kohli would be eyeing the chance of reaching the zenith in all three formats since he is the currently holding the numero uno spot in the ODIs and T20Is.

Waugh lauded the skipper and states that the bowlers cannot catch the power-hitter at any weak point.

The Rajkot-born batsman returned to the number two position after playing a brilliant knock of 143 in the Nagpur Test which helped his side to register a huge victory by an innings and 239 runs against Sri Lanka.

Captain Smith and lower order's resistance helped Australia to gain a vital 26-run first-innings lead, post that, pacer Josh Hazlewood snared two wickets in a torrid opening burst to reduce England to 33/2 at the close of play on day 3 at the Gabba.

While Steve Smith took 105 innings to score 21 Test tons, Sachin Tendulkar batted for 110 innings to achieve this milestone.

Strongly refuting the claims made by the former cricketers, Smith insisted that he was not a selector, but he certainly expressed his views regarding the team.

Australia captain Steve Smith said it was still a "big mystery" to him as to what prompted Virat Kohli to make such accusations.

Differing with the senior players' opinions, Australia coach Darren Lehmann appreciated the need to trial the concept of four-day Test matches.

In the all-rounder's absence, Steven Finn was roped into the squad as Stokes' replacement for the full five-match Test series.

Marcus Stoinis will replace Smith and David Warner will lead the visitors in the three-match T20 series against India.

Australia managed to win just one game in the series and that too came away after 11 straight losses away from home.