Australia captain Steve Smith said his side deliberately tried to tamper with the condition of the ball on the third day of the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday in an orchestrated attempt to gain an advantage.
Du Plessis revealed on Wednesday that all-rounder Chris Morris and seamer Duanne Olivier had been released from the expanded 17-man squad, but that the home side were still mulling over two positions.
Former Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq has urged the International Cricket Council to review its existing 15-degree arm/elbow extension law for bowlers.
England expressed concern over the strength of the bio-secure environment after the positive result, while a South African team investigation has not yet shown how the unnamed player caught the virus.
Former skipper Ricky Ponting believes the exodus of experienced players left a void in Australian cricket and this leadership crisis led to the infamous ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018.
Du Plessis will sit out the final match of the series starting in Johannesburg on Friday
Heavy showers had been forecast for Sunday and they duly arrived early in the morning. It picked up as the scheduled start time of play approached.
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.
Graeme Smith, one of the most dogged batsmen of his generation, stunned South Africa on Monday by announcing he will retire from international cricket at the end of the ongoing third Test against Australia at Newlands.
India needed 14 runs from the last over and Pandya delivered with sixes off the second and fourth deliveries
Virat Kohli's tourists are the second ranked ODI side in the world and will be looking to get into their groove in the three 50-over and three Twenty20 matches that precede the four-match Test series around the new year.
Images from the third One-Day International between South Africa and India, in Cape Town, on Sunday.
South Africa will hope the new year brings about a change in luck as they seek to put behind them a disappointing 2015 and get back to winning ways against England in the second Test at Newlands starting on Saturday.
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.
Michael Clarke remained unbeaten on 161, one of the more heroic of his 27 Test hundreds, as Australia reached 494 for seven before rain brought an early tea on the second day of the series-deciding third Test against South Africa on Sunday.
A bemused, if almost ambivalent reaction, has come from South Africa in contrast to the angry backlash in Australia to their cricket team's admission of cheating in a Test match between the sides at Newlands on Saturday.
Off-spinner Dane Piedt raised hopes of an unlikely South African victory as he grabbed three wickets on Wednesday to leave England on 155 for six at tea on the final day of the high-scoring second Test.
Stokes now holds the record score for an England number six, beating Graham Hick's 187 against India in 1993, and became the first English centurion at Newlands for 50 years.
Former Australia captain Steve Smith will serve out the remainder of his 12-month ban from international and state cricket recuperating from surgery on his injured elbow, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Saturday.
Steve Smith and David Warner may wake with some relief on Thursday as they greet the final day of their ball-tampering bans
South Africa will need to knock off just 41 runs on Sunday to beat Pakistan in the second Test and take a winning 2-0 lead in the three-test series despite Pakistan providing gallant resistance on the third day at Newlands.
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.
The resounding thud of South Africa's fall on home soil capped an intriguing season of Test cricket that has seen the establishment rocked and an ambitious Australia return to court with a swagger.
South Africa's dramatic 231-run victory over Australia in the second Test set up an enticing decider at Newlands which could see the hosts seal a first home series win over the tourists in 44 years.
When Ryan Harris hobbled into Newlands for the final day of the third Test against South Africa on Wednesday, it seemed unlikely he would end up being the man to clinch the series for Australia.
Australia won the third and final Test against South Africa by 245 runs at Newlands in a nailbiting finish with just 27 balls to spare after a day of epic home resistance.
Images from the second One-Day International between South Africa and India, in Paarl, on Friday.
Playing against India behind closed doors in the much-anticipated Test series at the end of the year might end up being an advantage for the home side, according to Australia batsman Usman Khawaja. Cricket Australia are desperate for the tour, scheduled for December and January, to go ahead as the lucrative Indian TV rights for the series would go a long way to easing a financial crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Dean Elgar's century and a quick-fire unbeaten 68 from Quinton de Kock lifted South Africa to 297 for six on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Newlands on Monday.
Australia, who host the T20 World Cup from October 18 to November 15, had won eight games in a row before losing to South Africa by 12 runs in Port Elizabeth on Sunday.
South African Test captain Graeme Smith has reportedly completed his first competitive outing since May in a warm-up match between Indian side Madhya Pradesh and Proteas domestic side Cape Cobras at Newlands.
Ajinkya Rahane's India have a mountain to climb, even if a draw would be enough to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy two years after their breakthrough 2-1 win in the 2018/19 series in Australia.
The International Cricket Council's response to the Australian ball tampering incident in the third test at Newlands is firmly under the spotlight with strong punishment expected for the culprits, South Africa coach Ottis Gibson said on Sunday.
Indian cricket has been told to not keep the shower open for more than two minutes.
South Africa's Farhaan Behardien reckons that the batsmen will have to be smart with shot-selection
The Pretoria wicket is likely to be similar, with perhaps not the same sideways movement of Newlands, and will provide another test of the Indian batsmen's bravery against a seam bowling barrage.
The three-Test South Africa series is the first of a gruelling 2018-19 season that includes tours to England and Australia.
Opener Dean Elgar hit an unbeaten 60 as South Africa coasted to a comfortable eight-wicket win over the West Indies in the final Test at Newlands on Tuesday to take the three-match series 2-0 and retain their ranking as the top side in Tests.
Ahead of their departure, the skipper shared a picture on Twitter and captioned it as: "Next stop, New Zealand."
South African seamer Vernon Philander, who missed the last Test against New Zealand owing to a hamstring injury, has returned to the squad for the first cricket Test match against Pakistan.
