Images from the opening match of the 14th Indian Premier League, between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, in Chennai, on Friday.
Skipper K L Rahul blamed lack of wickets in the middle overs and a below-par show by the middle order batters for India's 31-run defeat to South Africa in the One-Day International series-opener, in Paarl, on Wednesday.
India pacer Avesh Khan conceded he was under pressure after going wicket-less in the first three games, but head coach Rahul Dravid spurred him to come up with a match-winning performance in the fourth T20I against South Africa in Rajkot on Friday.
South Africa turned the tables on New Zealand with a 198-run victory in the second Test in Christchurch on Tuesday, crushing the hosts' hopes of a breakthrough series win over the Proteas.
India will be looking to round off their T20 World Cup preparation with a marked improvement in their death bowling besides providing crucial game time to its untested players in the three-match series against South Africa.
All-rounder Colin de Grandhomme struck a belligerent half-century to steady New Zealand in the second Test on Saturday after South Africa's seamers torched the home side's top order during a see-sawing Day 2 in Christchurch.
Sunrisers Hyderabad need a complete, all-round performance against Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL match on Monday to register their first win of the season.
Virat Kohli's talismanic presence will be the shot in the arm that India would need in their bid to win the historic first-ever away Test series against South Africa.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the second Test against South Africa, starting on January 3?
South Africa still need 211 runs on Thursday, the last day of the match, to win the first Test against India, with six wickets in hand.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the opening Test, played between South Africa and India at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Tuesday.
Their play-off hopes dashed, both Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings will be keen to end IPL 2022 on a winning note when the two teams clash in a dead rubber in Mumbai on Sunday.
Five-time champions Mumbai Indians will look to continue their winning streak in IPL 2021.
Images from the third and final One-Day International between India and South Africa in Delhi on Tuesday.
With 10 points, KKR, however, are on the brink of elimination.
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.
As the 16th edition of the glitzy Indian Premier League is set to unfold, let's take a look at the driving force of the T20 league and what's in store in this edition.
India will need another near perfect game to take the five-match series into the decider.
While the batting looks in perfect shape, India's new-look pace department needs to come up with something special against the Proteas in Cuttack on Sunday.
Harshal Patel was told well in advance that he will be bowling in the crucial death overs for Royal Challengers Bangalore, a role he played to perfection in the IPL opener against Mumbai Indians.
IPL 2021 got off to a perfect start as A B de Villiers' stunning late assault helped Royal Challengers Bangalore upset champions Mumbai Indians by two wickets in a last-ball finish in the opening game in Chennai on Friday.
It may be an inconsequential game on paper but Indian bowlers await another tough test against South Africa ahead of the T20 World Cup when the two teams meet in the final game of the three-match series in Indore on Tuesday.
Mumbai Indians' mega-stars will be making one last ditch effort to put their derailed Indian Premier League campaign back on track when they take on a confident Rajasthan Royals in their penultimate league match in Sharjah on Tuesday.
Dean Elgar lived up to his reputation as a dogged, street-fighting batsman as he held the Indian bowling attack at bay, scoring a patient 46 off 121 balls.
Sarfaraz, Imad Wasim dropped from Pakistan white-ball squad vs Australia.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami took three wickets each as the tourists bowled South Africa out for 191 to claim an emphatic 113-run victory just after lunch on the fifth day of the first Test in Centurion on Thursday.
Meanwhile, South Africa have included uncapped off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen and seamer Lizaad Williams in their squad for the two-Test series in the West Indies that starts on June 10.
Save for Quinton de Kock, who has retired from Test cricket and will play for Lucknow Super Giants, there is no certainty on whether Proteas pace attack of Kagiso Rabada (Punjab Kings), Nortje (DC), Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Lungi Ngidi (DC) will be available before the Test series against Bangladesh ends.
Arjun Tendulkar, son of Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, is excited to join champions Mumbai Indians, saying he has always been a 'die-hard' fan of the five-time IPL winners.
Rashid Khan says he has the self-belief to execute such performances after working on his batting in the last two years.
IMAGES from the IPL 2022 game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders, in Mumbai, on Friday.
While Robin Uthappa had scored a fifty in one of the games, the likes of Moeen Ali and Ambati Rayudu have failed to capitalise on their starts.
SunRisers Hyderabad has the biggest purse while Kolkata Knight Riders has the slimmest purse.
Each year, Samson has played a few match-defining knocks but this time he would have to go the extra mile if the Royals want to win that elusive second title.
Legendary South Africa batter Hashim Amla says more "collective experience" in the Indian side was one of the key factors in the visiting side's comfortable victory in the series-opener at Centurion.
Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Siraj have been added to the squad as injury replacements but they do not figure in the World Cup-bound squad, as of now.
Unless Mumbai Indians Owner Nita Ambani's team manages some abracadabra at the 2022 players auction (never ever underestimate the Ambanis!), these images from Mumbai's final three games in IPL 2021 may be the last time we are seeing THIS MI team play together.
Images from Tuesday's IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, in Chennai.
A lot of grey areas are yet to be addressed, but a young Indian team, with an admirable collective temperament, will start as favourites in the series-deciding fifth T20 International against South Africa, in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
IMAGES from the 4th T20I between India and South Africa played in Rajkot on Friday.
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