For the team management, it is a choice between a younger man's (Sarfaraz) flamboyance and fearlessness versus a seasoned campaigner who has been a Test captain and is part of the national set-up for a decade now.
Pakistan lost two early wickets before captain Babar Azam steadied the ship with an innings of 79.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the second Test between England and Sri Lanka, at Lord's, on Saturday.
Defending champions Mumbai got their Ranji Trophy campaign back on track with an emphatic nine-wicket win over Maharashtra in their second group A league game in Mumbai on Monday, offsetting the heavy loss to Baroda in the opening game.
Centurion Alastair Cook paid tribute on Monday to the services of batting coach Graham Gooch after his 118 put England in control of the second Test against South Africa at Kingsmead.
It was Pakistan's sixth defeat in their last 10 Tests at home and this was also the first time Bangladesh have beaten their neighbours in a Test and series.
Centurion Steve Smith praised Australia's bowlers after they reduced England to 107 for eight in the first innings to set up a victory bid in the fifth and final Ashes Test on Friday.
World No 1 India may feel they have never had a better chance of winning their first ever Test series in South Africa.
Rahul is the first overseas batter to achieve multiple Test centuries at Centurion, complementing his century in 2022.
Oman's Bank Muscat, the Gulf Arab state's biggest, said on Saturday it had bought a 26 per cent stake in India's Centurion Bank.\n\n\n\n
Swing bowler Vernon Philander sent a strong message to the South African one-day international selectors about his prowess in the 50-over game with a superb performance as the Proteas defeated Pakistan by four wickets in the final match of the series in Centurion on Saturday.
During Monday's net session, Bumrah repeatedly made short work of the batter often sending his off-stump cart-wheeling for fun
Rishabh Pant's fifty, Sarfaraz Khan's aggression give India B control on Day 3 of the Duleep Trophy in Bengaluru on Saturday
What went wrong for India in the first Test against South Africa? Harish Kotian has the answers.
Harry Brook became only the sixth England batter to hit a triple century in Tests as the visitors piled on the runs on Day 4 of the first Test against Pakistan in Multan on Thursday.
South African coach Corrie van Zyl rues that the SuperSport Park pitch at Centurion has slowed down but feels that there should be enough mongrel in the strip to bother the Indian top-order in the first Test starting December 16.
In what should please the Indians, South African fast bowlers will be denied a green top in the first Test at Centurion as the curator fears that he could be in the line of fire if the visiting bowlers get to exploit it first.
India arrived in Bengaluru seeking a big win over the 2021 champions to improve their chances of making a third successive final in June 2025, but will now need to battle to keep alive their run of 18 straight home series victories since 2012.
Hardik Pandya rose two places to become the first Indian to occupy the No 1 spot in the ICC's T20I all-rounders' rankings.
A list of top 10 centurions from each Test playing nation.
Virat Kohli came into the Centurion Test with only one proper net session on Christmas eve but India batting coach Vikram Rathour categorical said that at this stage of his career, the former captain doesn't need to train a lot.
'Pathum Nissanka is easily one of the best batters to have come out of Sri Lanka in the recent past and he has delivered once again,' he tweeted with an applause emoji.
Rahul was among India's best batters in the opening Test in Hyderabad before going down with the same injury that he suffered during the IPL last year.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing for the second and final Test against South Africa?
India has never won a Test series in South Africa and the two Test series, which begins on Boxing Day, December 26, at the SuperSport Park cricket stadium in Centurion, is the last frontier to be overcome for Rohit and his contemporaries Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammad Shami.
Neither does Shreyas Iyer wants to harp on the past nor is he keen to fret about what the future has in store for him. He just wants to "stay in the moment" and seize the day, as the illustrious Sunil Gavaskar advised him while giving the India cap.
K L Rahul's brave century in India's first innings of the ongoing first Test against South Africa, at Centurion, on Wednesday drew high acclaim from Sunil Gavaskar.
England, with a series win already secured, can complete South Africa's ignominious fall from the top of the rankings when the final Test of the four-match series starts at Centurion Park in Pretoria on Friday.
Ahead of India's tour of South Africa, 'Men in Blue' head coach Rahul Dravid asked his side to give a match-winning contribution in the upcoming series.
Ashwin, who was batting alongside centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal at close, was quite animated during the conversation with Erasmus.
India didn't have "extra fire" in the lost opening Test against South Africa but a "mental shift" turned things around, said KL Rahul after the visitors won the second game to level the two-match rubber in Cape Town.
Virat Kohli advanced four slots to ninth position after scores of 38 and 76 in the first Test against South Africa.
Australian opener Travis Head's participation at next month's World Cup is in doubt after he broke his hand during Friday's one day international against South Africa.
Dean Elgar scored his 14th Test century to help South Africa to take an 11-run lead with five wickets in hand on Day 2.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday
History has not seen a cricketing rivalry as fierce as this this century, every ball bowled every run taken, coming with no quarter given. Ahead of India's five Test tour of Australia, Norma Astrid Godinho/Rediff.com takes a walk down memory lane, recounting India's sojourns Down Under from 1947 to 2021, in a 4-part series.
