South Africa have named an unchanged squad for the remaining two Tests against England as AB de Villiers prepares to lead the five-day team for the first time in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Proteas captain Faf du Plessis tells Harish Kotian/Rediff.com why they had to take the big call of dropping the experienced Steyn against minnows Afghanistan.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's name may be etched in the annals of Mumbai's Wankhede stadium forever.
Lockie Ferguson's inclusion gave the much-needed impetus to the side, but KKR are still struggling with their star all-rounder Andre Russell who capped yet another flop show with the bat.
A change from spin-friendly wickets in India to ones favouring seamers means South Africa's pace attack are keenly looking forward to the Test series against England, which starts on Saturday.
Steyn, Nigidi still doubtful
For KKR, the biggest cause of concern will be the availability of big-hitter Andre Russell, who hurt his knee when he dived into the advertisement boards after missing a catch on Saturday.
Both DC and RCB have looked solid so far and are placed atop the standings with three wins out of four games each.
The dew factor will go out of the window but the searing heat will be an issue when Royal Challengers Bangalore take on a better prepared Rajasthan Royals in the first of the 10 IPL double-headers, in Abu Dhabi, on Saturday.
A hamstring injury will keep South African fast bowler Dale Steyn of out of the first two Twenty20 internationals against Australia in the next week, Cricket South Africa said.
Captain Virat Kohli was a relieved man after Royal Challengers finally snapped a six-match losing streak in this IPL with a eight wicket win over Kings XI Punjab, in Mohali, on Saturday.
Mumbai get the money-spinning tournament rolling in Chennai on Friday, just four months after claiming their second successive title, with a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, led by India captain Virat Kohli.
Firebrand fast bowler Dale Steyn will seek to become South Africa's greatest wicket-taker in Tests when they take on Pakistan in the first match of a three-game series at Centurion Park in Pretoria on Wednesday.
Dale Steyn has been close to the milestone for more than a year now but, at the age of 34, time is running out for the speed merchant to become South Africa's most prolific wicket taker.
IPL has helped English cricket grow and is best tournament after World Cups, feels English 'keeper Jos Buttler.
Check out the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad for the eighth edition of the Indian Premier League.
Rohit Sharma is likely to miss his third game in a row when Mumbai Indians take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday with both teams aiming to secure their spot in the IPL play-offs.
'Losing wickets in bunches is something have to plug'
South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 87 runs
The Virat Kohli-led RCB has won five of its eight games on the back of all-round performances but seemingly blundered in the eight-wicket defeat to laggards KXIP on Thursday.
The IPL starts on September 19 and, in all likelihood, all the English and Australian players will land in the UAE via a charter flight on September 17, making them available for their respective team's opening match.
Indian pacer Ishant Sharma, English batting star Kevin Pietersen and South African speedster Dale Steyn were among the biggest names to be released by their respective franchises ahead of the Indian Premier League's 10th edition next year. As many as 140 cricketers, including 44 overseas players, have been retained, while 63 were let go by the eight franchises for season 10.
Ben Johnson and Tomas Soucek scored second-half goals as West Ham United twice came back from a goal down to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper stole the show from the Chennai Super Kings glovesman with a crucial match-winning run-out off the final ball of the match.
South African paceman Dale Steyn played down his rift with Australia captain Michael Clarke on Tuesday, saying their supposed feud had been "a bit silly".
South Africa seamer Dale Steyn grabbed his first Test wicket after an injury absence of 14 months as the hosts fought back against a fired-up India on an enthralling first day of cut-and-thrust cricket in the opening Test at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday.
Opener Aiden Markram made a return to form as he scored 78 to help South Africa into a strong position on the opening day of the second Test against Pakistan at Newlands on Thursday.
RCB suffered four consecutive defeats to finish the league stage at the fourth spot, SRH registered a hat-trick of wins to edge past Virat Kohli's men in the standings.
Faf du Plessis said, "Now we can trust the system a little bit more and just focus on playing cricket."
In terms of days, Dale Steyn has spent 2,320 days at the top of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, the most by any bowler since World War II.
All cricketing activity has come to a halt due to the health crisis and there are serious doubts over the future of T20 World Cup. However, the International Cricket Council is yet to take the final call on the T20 showpiece event.
Images from Wednesday's Indian Premier League match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, in Abu Dhabi.
Virat Kohli feels that once the game is over, he will again be 'best buddies' with Dale Steyn.
South Africa's talismanic captain AB de Villiers has recovered from injury and been included in the Proteas squad for the One-day series at home against Australia starting later this month.
South Africa need to put aside the fallout from their decision to overlook AB de Villiers and their injury issues when they face the West Indies in the Cricket World Cup on Monday, said key bowler Kagiso Rabada.
South Africa have named six uncapped players in their 17-man squad for the first two Tests of the four-match series against England as new coach Mark Boucher seeks to revive the fortunes of the ailing side. Batsmen Pieter Malan and Rassie van der Dussen, fast bowlers Dane Paterson and Beuran Hendricks, all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius and wicketkeeper Rudi Second will all hope to make their debuts in the first Test starting in Pretoria on December 26.
Pant is also the first Asian wicket-keeper to take five catches in an innings on Test debut.
Kohli's India are ranked second in the world and will be firm favourites as they begin their quest for a third World Cup triumph against South Africa
AB de Villiers revealed that he would be auctioning his and Virat Kohli's kits from the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Gujarat Lions for raising funds to aid the battle against the coronavirus. During a live session on Instagram with former South African captain and RCB teammate AB de Villiers, Kohli said winning the tournament remains the goal but he would not leave the team irrespective of the results.
The 13th edition of the IPL will have added significance as 2020 is also a T20 World Cup year.
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