Spin great Ravichandran Ashwin says New Zealand, despite the absence of the long-serving pace duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, who have quit playing the 50-over format, will pose a challenge to India.
Injury blow hit the South African camp as Anrich Nortje was ruled out of the second Test against West Indies.
Mohammed Siraj lit up the Rajiv Gandhi international stadium, his domestic home ground, with a sensational spell of 4/17.
Kolkata Knight Riders triumphed in a tense run-chase to outclass Delhi Capitals by three wickets and stay in the hunt for a place in the IPL play-offs.
Thakur, who was the first player to enter the throwdown nets, was hit on the left shoulder while facing throwdowns from batting coach Vikram Rathour.
'I've played a lot of day T20s in cricket in the West Indies and generally that is the most important time to score runs, it was the easiest time to score runs...'
Mayank is only two games old in the IPL but his name is already being discussed widely as a potential selection in India's squad for the T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean
23 wickets and several records fell on the opening day of the second and final Test in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Did Harpreet Brar take the best catch of the match?
South Africa won their T20 series against world champions West Indies and Ireland, and will once again be captained by Temba Bavuma in both formats.
Delhi Capitals pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada though is looking at the brighter side and wants to bring in 'new tricks' on the table.
From staying under the radar in the lead-up to the World Cup to becoming high-flyers, South Africa have started playing to potential and are firm favourites against the Dutch.
South African legend AB de Villiers has mooted the idea of a women's SA20 league, as the success of the men's version across the three editions has given them a "model and recipe" to follow.
Kagiso Rabada said South Africa are gunning for a whitewash of India, having trampled the visitors in the first two matches.
Kolkata Knight Rogers and the Punjab Kings will do battle at the I S Bindra cricket stadium in Mohali on Saturday, April 1, afternoon.
Jansen replaces injured Dwaine Pretorius, who fractured his left thumb in the recent series in India.
South Africa have picked the uncapped duo of batter Ryan Rickelton and seamer Ottniel Baartman in their 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup
"Sometimes as a bowler, a batter is able to take his chances against you and get success. I saw videos with our bowling coach and my line and length were good, except for one ball. Sometimes, you get beat on good balls. But if you keep thinking about this, you will never make a comeback," he added.
CSK can ill-afford to take Punjab Kings lightly, who are coming in to this match after chasing down a world record total of 262 against KKR.
Images from Day 2 of the third Test between Australia and South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday
Images from the T20 World Cup Super 8s Group 2 match between South Africa and England at Gros Islet, St Lucia, on Friday.
Punjab Kings batting coach Wasim Jaffer has backed his team's bowlers to make a strong comeback after the heavy defeat to Lucknow Super Giants, adding that it "was one of those days when everything clicked for the opposition".
'Quinny (De Kock) batted really well, from where they were we were happy with 310, we felt it was chaseable. It looked like hard work out there at night, zipped around now, but we were well off the mark.'
Sanju Samson will look to continue his domination of the bowlers but India need more stability in the top order
Alick Athanaze fell agonisingly short of a maiden Test century but still did enough to help ensure a draw in the first Test against South Africa.
The India-South Africa Test, which lasted just 642 deliveries, is the shortest ever in the history of Test cricket in terms of balls bowled.
India all-rounder Washington Sundar has been nominated for the ICC 'Player of the month' award for July alongside England's Gus Atkinson and Charlie Cassell of Scotland.
Jonny Bairstow led England to within 40 runs of South Africa's first innings total, with seven wickets in hand, on the first day of the second Test at Old Trafford on Thursday.
India coach Rahul Dravid admitted that there is a need to have a conversation with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant regarding his shot selection.
The country's woes at World Cups, be it the 50-over or shortest format, are well documented and so the expectations back home have been tempered
West Indies' Jason Holder struck a superb unbeaten 81 and put on 58 runs with number 11 Gudakesh Motie to frustrate South Africa as the tourists were bowled out for 251 before the close on day two of the second and final Test.
Australia respect the decision to allow Kagiso Rabada to feature in the rest of the Test series and the South African fast bowler's participation is 'exciting', Australia spinner Nathan Lyon said on Tuesday.
Punjab Kings, who have been guilty of throwing it away in the past, are making a conscious effort to raise their game as the tournament progresses.
Images from the ICC World Cup match between India and South Africa at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata, on Sunday.
Australian team will be aiming to put up a much better batting performance with a rejigged playing eleven against an upbeat South Africa
Kagiso Rabada proved the destroyer-in-chief with 4-103, assisted by Anrich Nortje who took three wickets for 56 runs as England fell short by 107 runs.
South Africa may have bowled India out for 223 in the first innings, but ace speedster Kagiso Rabada insisted that the home side's batters will have to dig deep to win the series-deciding third Test.
South Africa are hopeful that both fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi will be available for selection in the first Test against India that gets underway in Pretoria on Tuesday, coach Shukri Conrad has confirmed.
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