The home side are chasing a modest target of 148 after bowling out Pakistan for 237 and if they win will be assured a place in the WTC final at Lord's.
The new COVID-19 variant, which threatens to wreak havoc in South Africa, has led to considerable concerns about India's tour of the Rainbow Nation next month and there could be changes in the quarantine rules for players in the coming days.
'What hurt me was when I met his daughter and I was talking to her with a lot of love and she said, "I don't want to talk to you. You hit my father".'
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.
The Australian captain also said that Bancroft's comments won't be held against him during future team selections.
Here are the lowest innings totals in Test cricket:
With Paine, at 36, reaching the fag end of his career, a fresh captaincy discussion has started.
Paine succeeded Smith as captain in 2018 after the batter was banned from international cricket for 12 months and suspended from leadership roles for two years for his role in the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal.
Rajneesh Gupta throws up all the numbers from Test encounters between India and South Africa.
The win at Wanderers against India is a move in the right direction for the South Africa team, according to skipper Dean Elgar, who revealed that while there is room for improvement, the hosts won't be tinkering with their game plan heading into the final Test.
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.
England pacer James Anderson has announced that he will auction his signed Test shirt and a cricket bat, which he used in the last game to raise funds for the coronavirus relief. AB de Villiers also revealed that he would be auctioning his and Virat Kohli's IPL kits.
Ryan Rickelton posted the joint seventh-highest score by a South African in Tests with 259 as his side ran up a huge 615 before reducing Pakistan to 64/4 at the close on Day 2.
The last time India won a Test inside two days was in 2018, beating Afghanistan in Bengaluru.
A desperate India seek to restore parity against South Africa and remain consequential in the World Test Championship.
There should be a review of how pitches are rated with India receiving undue criticism according to Test captain Rohit Sharma.
The Indian cricket team, on Thursday, skipped the optional practice session ahead of the opening Test against South Africa, while skipper Virat Kohli also gave the pre-match press briefing a miss, a noticeable departure from convention for a bilateral engagement.
India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been suffering from viral illness for the past two days, rendering him doubtful for the opening Test against South Africa, starting in Cape Town, on Friday.
'As a captain and a player, he never played for a draw, he always wanted to win.'
In the ODI rankings, Sri Lanka's two ODI matches at home against Zimbabwe =saw a number of movers, most notably on the bowling side through spinner Maheesh Theekshana, who moved to a career high rating (634) and rank (11th) with four wickets across the matches.
South Africa's Lungi Ngidi ruled out of India T20 series
Mohammed Siraj's sensational six-wicket spell put India in control despite a superb fightback from South Africa with the ball on Day 1 of the second and final Test.
For the world, it is another victory of a cricket team, but for all those Black South Africans, who suffered during apartheid, it come as a sweet redemption.
Check out the lowest totals in Ashes history after England bowled Australia out for 60 in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
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.
41/4 is the worst start in a Test from which India has gone on to win a match. Rajneesh Gupta has all the numbers.
Middle-order batter Cheteshwar Pujara threw light on the fitness of skipper Virat Kohli, who missed the ongoing second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg due to back spasms, saying he is getting better.
A minimum of three-match Test series and the home team footing the bill of the visiting side in a bilateral contest are some of the recommendations made by the MCC's World Cricket Committee.
The maestro wants a repeat of the teamwork from the current pace battery.
South Africa's batting great AB de Villiers is clearly disappointed that the ever-growing popularity of T20 Cricket is putting Test cricket 'under pressure'.
Former Australian cricketer Simon O'Donnell is not in favour of opening batter David Warner getting a farewell Test, saying no one should have the right to pick and choose the venue and date of his choice.
'Bumrah's 2024 exploits were a masterclass in skill, precision, and relentless consistency,' ICC said in a statement.
India will not be taking the foot off the gas pedal given USA's exploits in the T20 World Cup right after producing one of their best-ever bowling performances, said bowling coach Paras Mhambrey on Tuesday.
Anderson sustained a rib injury in England's 189-run win in the second Test at Newlands and underwent an MRI scan in Cape Town.
The 22-year-old Tamil Nadu player tested positive for the virus in Bengaluru and hasn't joined the other white-ball cricketers in Mumbai.
India's tour of South Africa later this year will commence with the visitors playing Twenty20 and 50-over internationals against the hosts before taking them on in a three-Test series.
England will play four Tests, five One-Day Internationals and two Twenty20 matches on a 10-week tour of South Africa during the 2015/16 summer season.
Jayant Yadav will replace off-spinner Washington Sundar, who tested positive for COVID-19 during the camp in Bengaluru.
Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA) chief executive Tony Irish has advocated the use of educational programs to check the menace of ball-tampering in the game.
Gambhir that Kohli's reaction was 'exaggerated' and 'really immature'.
