England's Joe Root has moved to the top of the world Test batting rankings after scoring two centuries and two fifties in the first four Ashes Tests against Australia.
Australian opener David Warner and veteran fast bowler Ryan Harris have moved up to career-high positions in the ICC Test player rankings following their impressive contributions in Australia's series-winning third Test defeat of South Africa in Cape Town.
Chris Gayle will return to the top of the batting order as West Indies look to continue their winning run and secure a semifinal berth when they take on South Africa in the ICC World Twenty20 in Nagpur, on Friday.
With an unassailable 3-0 lead in hand, India need just one more win to claim their maiden ODI series triumph on South African soil.
Stand-in skipper AB de Villiers knocked the stuffing out of England attack with a blistering 28-ball 69 before the bowlers chipped in with useful contributions to propel South Africa to a three-run win and a semifinal berth at the ICC World T20 in Chittagong on Saturday.
'It's a home game for India. There's going up to (almost) 100,000 people here'
South Africa routed Australia for 85 and then weathered a batting crisis of their own before pushing to a lead of 86 runs after a bowler-dominated opening day of the second Test in Hobart on Saturday.
Having decimated South Africa inside three days on a turning track in Mohali, India will again look to unleash their troika of spinners to spoil A B de Villiers's landmark 100th match when the two sides meet in the second Test, in Bangalore, on Saturday.
Steve Waugh on Friday hit back at Shane Warne after the legendary spinner reignited a long-running feud between the two by calling the former Australia captain a selfish cricketer.
India aim to stay afloat against daunting South Africa in the second Test
Kagiso Rabada claimed five wickets as South Africa crushed Australia by a huge margin of 177 runs, to win the first Test against Australia, on Day 5 in Perth, on Monday.
Outwitted in both the T20 and the ODI series, India will seek redemption in the Test format by trying to spin a web around the formidable South Africans in the four-match series starting in Mohali, on Thursday.
South Africa pacer Vernon Philander, on Wednesday, questioned India's claims of being fully prepared for the three-match series, saying a fair assessment of where the visitors stand could only be made after the first Test beginning Friday.
Middlesbrough are back in the Premier League after a 1-1 draw with 10-man Brighton & Hove Albion in their multi-million pound promotion decider on Saturday while Burnley sealed the Championship title with a 3-0 victory at Charlton Athletic.
For the first time in a decade, South Africa have been forced to acknowledge they are on the decline following back-to-back series losses to India and England that have knocked them off the top of the Test rankings.
He has got a habit of saving his best for the last but Australia opener Chris Rogers this time wants to score a century first up - on the opening day of the upcoming Boxing Day cricket Test against India in Melbourne starting December 26.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Rising Pune Supergiants now face an uphill task of taming the rampaging Gujarat Lions in an Indian Premier League clash, in Pune, on Friday.
'Kohli represents a new generation of young Indians who are willing to play hard, win every match and dominate the rivals,' says Indrajit Gupta.
India will need to win at least a game in the upcoming one-dayer series against Australia to retain their current second position in the ICC ODI Team Championships, even as second-placed Virat Kohli looks to close in on AB de Villiers in the batting chart. World champions Australia go head to head with former winner India in a five-match series in Perth on Tuesday. Australia (127) lead second-ranked India (114) by 13 points and even if they lose all the five matches of the series, they will drop points but still finish a point ahead of India.
South Africa have named teenage speedster Kagiso Rabada in a 14-man squad for their three-match home Test series against West Indies, Cricket South Africa announced on Tuesday.
India's Ravichandran Ashwin has jumped to the number one position in the ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders by virtue of his stellar show in the recently-concluded first Test against the West Indies at Kolkata.
South Africa paceman Morne Morkel thrived on a fast WACA pitch to capture five wickets but the tourists made hard work of a three-wicket victory over Australia in the second one-day international in Perth on Sunday.
After putting a stop to their prolonged losing streak, Delhi Daredevils will look to carry forward the momentum when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League encounter in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to exploit the home advantage when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Virat Kohli is the lone Indian male cricketer to be shortlisted for the LG ICC Awards 2014 after he was nominated for the ODI Cricketer of the Year category.
Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar praised New Zealand for playing "outstanding" cricket throughout the World Cup, saying the Kiwis thoroughly deserved to be in the final after edging past South Africa in a battle of nerves at Auckland. It was ironic that the Johannesburg-born Elliott, 36, played a stellar knock to push his country of birth out of the World Cup race.
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