'If you don't get them out early, they can do some damage'
Lauding Virat Kohli for targetting a hard win rather than going for an easy draw, former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin said the stand-in skipper did the right thing by giving the steep chase a real shot in the lost first Test against Australia in Adelaide.
Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are India's highest-ranked batsman and bowler in third and 13th positions respectively.
'You spoke of intensity. Where does the intensity come from? When you have a leader like that, who leads by example, the other guys jolly well follow. Otherwise they know what to expect. That's the beauty about this team on this trip where I feel proud as a coach about my boys and the intensity they showed'
The 22-yard strip at the Feroz Shah Kotla will be the cynosure of all eyes as a buoyant India seeks their biggest series triumph against South Africa when they square off in the final Test of the four-match rubber in Delhi on Thursday.
India gave wings to their ferocious ambition of winning a maiden series Down Under, beating Australia by 31 runs in the opening Test with an irresistible fusion of self-belief, hunger and talent in Adelaide.
Rajneesgh Gupta salutes Captain Cool.
The West Indian has blasted his way to the top of Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup with the South African skipper close on his heels.
As the clock ticks down on Brendon McCullum's international career, the New Zealand captain will achieve one more milestone on Friday in the first Test against Australia at the Basin Reserve.
'Finisher' Dhoni takes blame for not taking the across the line, saying: "We lost the match in the last five overs of either innings."
Mike Hussey has termed Dhoni as the man having the fastest draw of as far as stumping off spinners is concerned.
South Africa's Farhaan Behardien reckons that the batsmen will have to be smart with shot-selection
'Duminy was the key factor to my whole innings. Second over or the first over I faced, he told me this over needs to go for 10. He told me to just play my normal game and take the bowlers on. Luckily today it worked out'
'It's Test cricket and (Shannon) is an emotional guy trying to do everything he can to win a Test match. Sometimes people say things on the field that they might regret'
Sachin Tendulkar believes the rule changes in One-Day Internationals are responsible for batsmen dominating the 50-overs format in the last few years.
Former captain Rahul Dravid says it was a misconception that Indian youngsters are bad players of spin and insisted that they actually have incredible shot-making ability against the slow bowlers.
Glenn McGrath cautioned that an in-form Jimmy Anderson could make things tougher for the Indian captain this time too.
Australian captain Michael Clarke made his expected declaration overnight and then his bowlers worked their way through the South African batting line-up to dismiss them for 287 and claim an overall lead of 207 runs.
He had redefined ODI batting almost three decades back but Sir Vivian Richards' favourite ODI batsman is none other than the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith expects an even contest between bat and ball to set up a thrilling finale in the series-deciding third Test against Australia at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday.
Kagiso Rabada would like to believe that all is not lost for the home team.
With India all set to host the ICC World Twenty20 for the first time in 2016, we take a look at the 8 grounds that will host the 58 matches over 27 days from March 8 to April 3.
Virat Kohli continued his day job of mesmerising fans with a magical willow
The South African opener took only 108 innings to reach the milestone, beating the previous record held by India's Virat Kohli, who took 133 innings for the same.
India's left-arm spinner Axar Patel jumped 20 places to his career-best ranking of 13 in the International Cricket Council's Rankings for ODI bowlers while Jasprit Bumrah and Dhawal Kulkarni also made progress after conclusion of the three-match series against Zimbabwe.
'I'd quite like to get Virat out, because I was not able to get him in the IPL because I think a leggie got him in every game he played'
The all-round ability of the current Indian cricket team excites former captain Rahul Dravid, who feels Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men are a certainty for at least the semifinals of the World Twenty20 Championships. Dravid, who was here for the Laureus Sport for Good programme 'Magic Bus' in his capacity as a member of its World Sports Academy, said India looks to be the most "formidable" team of the tournament, the main draw of which gets underway from March 15. "I think India would make the top four, but after that, it's just a question of who has a better day in the semifinal and final... There's a good crop of players coming through. I think it's going to be an exciting 24 months for the Indian team. "I think the good thing about this Indian team and this T20 World Cup is they have good depth, they have good all-round depth at the moment," Dravid said. "Players like Hardik Pandya and Pawan Negi, it just shows that they have got sort of batting right down to No. 8, 9. They have got six or seven bowlers to call upon in Indian conditions that they can use.
In the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Australia's Ryan Harris has moved up two places to second following his six wickets against India in the fourth Test at MCG.
India captain Virat Kohli reclaimed the top batting spot, while Australia's pace ace Josh Hazlewood has achieved the number-one position in the bowlers' rankings for the first time in his career in the latest MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings.
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