Australia extended the contract of head coach Andrew McDonald before clash with Team India

Next month, a five-match Test series is to be played between India and Australia. Before this, Cricket Australia has made a big decision. Actually, Cricket Australia has extended the contract of Andrew McDonald, the head coach of the Australia men's cricket team. Under this, he will be associated with the national team till the end of 2027.

He succeeded Justin Langer in 2022 and has gone on to have an extremely successful tenure thus far, with the coach leading the team to its first ICC World Test Championship title in 2023, and the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in the same year. The extension means that McDonald's will have the opportunity to defend both trophies.

This includes a Test series in India, the next Ashes tour in 2027, and the World Test Championship (2025-27). He will take charge of the next edition of the 50-over World Cup in 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia during October and November 2027.

Australia currently is the No. 1 Test team, and No. 2 in ODIs and T20s. He credited commitment from players and the coaching staff to bringing good results in recent times.

"I feel very fortunate to have an outstanding group of leaders, players, coaches, and support staff who are completely invested in welfare, success, and the development of this group," McDonald added. Australia is still in the race to reach next year's WTC final at Lord's as segment leaders who defend the title, the Border-Gavaskar series coming up does carry a significant outcome on their credentials.

Australia currently lies second to India, which is atop the table with 98 points, with 90 points. However, India's percentage points have slipped to 62.82 as they lost their first series at home in over a decade. Australia is not quite behind as far as percentage points go, with 62.50 points.