India, who finished on 240-8, are missing key white-ball players who are in Australia for the Twenty20 World Cup.
Having lost the toss in all four matches of the ongoing T20I series against South Africa, India's stand-in captain Rishabh Pant said he will spin the coin with his right hand in the series-deciding game in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has attained a career-best second position after notching two half-centuries in the final Test series against England in Karachi.
Rishabh Pant broke Mahendra Singh Dhoni's record to become the fastest Indian wicketkeeper to reach 100 dismissals, during the first Test against South Africa in Centurion on Tuesday.
IMAGES from the T20 World Cup, Super 12 match between Australia and South Africa.
India will need another near perfect game to take the five-match series into the decider.
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.
Captain Quinton de Kock smashed a sparkling century as South Africa eased to a seven-wicket victory over World champions England in the opening One-Day International, at Newlands, on Tuesday.
Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje are expected to spit fire on a track that will offer steep bounce as India's top-order gears up for its toughest test in adverse conditions against a top-notch South African side in the T20 World Cup on Sunday.
KL Rahul will have to show drastically improved leadership acumen when he leads India against a buoyant South African side in the second ODI on Thursday.
The board said no replacement will be brought in for Rabada as there is an extended squad in place in the Bio-Secure Environment (BSE), but George Linde has been retained from the Test team as an extra spin-bowling option for the series.
South Africa have named a largely unchanged One-Day International squad for the three-match home series with Bangladesh on March 18-23, with only all-rounder Sisanda Magala missing out after he failed a fitness test.
Australia reduced South Africa to 149 for six at the close of play on the fourth day of the rain-disrupted third Test on Saturday after declaring on 475/4 in pursuit of a victory that would give them a 3-0 series sweep.
India beat South Africa by 16 runs in a high-scoring Twenty20 international in Guwahati on Sunday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
India stalwart Virat Kohli retained his second spot in the ICC men's ODI batting rankings on the back of his decent performance in the recently-concluded three-match series in South Africa.
IMAGES from the opening T20I played between India and South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis walked for the toss along with Temba Bavuma as the proxy captain, who was given the responsibility of calling the toss.
South Africa in trouble at 58-4 in 'Boxing Day' Test
Images from Day 4 of the third Test between South Africa and India, in Cape Town, on Friday.
Four franchises were involved in a bidding war with MI Cape Town making the initial move followed by Paarl Royals. However, towards the end it was Johannesburg Super Kings and Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who fought tooth and nail before the latter made a winning bid of R 9.2 million.
Images from Day 2 of the third Test between South Africa and India, in Cape Town, on Wednesday.
India captain Virat Kohli led from the front with an unbeaten 72 to help secure his team's comprehensive seven-wicket victory over South Africa in the second Twenty20 International, in Mohali, on Wednesday.
Lungi Ngidi decimated India's top order as South Africa triumphed by five wickets
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.
South Africa have recalled fast bowler Anrich Nortje and all-rounder Wayne Parnell, and handed a first Twenty20 International call-up to batsman Tristan Stubbs, in a full-strength squad for the five-match tour of India starting on June 9.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for Friday's fourth T20I against South Africa?
'We have to credit the Indian seamers who bowled really well. We will have to define ways to counter that in the second game.'
The Indian cricket team will assemble in New Delhi on June 5 ahead of the five-match T20I series against South Africa.
Living up to their 'perennial chokers' tag, South Africa lost to the Netherlands in their concluding Super 12 match to crash out of the T20 World Cup.
India have a real shot at winning their first ever away series against South Africa,
Overall, he is the fifth Indian pace bowler reach the landmark of 200 Test wickets.
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.
Rohit Sharma admitted that T20 contests are pretty much settled during the death overs and India skipper wants a better execution of plans from his bowlers
Explosive knock from Heinrich Klaasen powered South Africa to a four-wicket win over India in the second T20
A clinical India outplayed South Africa with both bat and ball to register a comprehensive 48-run victory in the third T20I in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday and keep themselves alive in the five-match series.
While Ishan Kishan has done well so far, Ruturaj Gaikwad (23, 1) has pulled the team down with questions being raised over his technique against quality pacers and his ability to force the pace early on.
Images from Day 2 of the second Test between India and South Africa in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
Images from the third One-Day International between South Africa and India, in Cape Town, on Sunday.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced the men's international fixtures for the 2022-23 home season, with South Africa set to host England, West Indies and the Netherlands.
Captain Virat Kohli led India to a resounding seven-wicket win over South Africa in the second T20 International with an unbeaten half-century, in Mohali, on Wednesday.
