South Africa will seek to exploit any weaknesses England may display when they go into the opening test at Lord's under a new captain and with some injury concerns, the tourists' stand-in skipper Dean Elgar has said.
Hardik Pandya stood tall amid ruins with his all-round prowess but hosts South Africa were still very much in command with a current lead of 142 runs against India after an enthralling second day in the first Test in Cape Town
For a visiting cricketer, an India tour conjures up the image of a batsman surrounded by a shoal of fielders and facing relentless spin from both ends and South Africa should not expect anything different in the four-test series starting on Thursday.
South Africa paceman Kagiso Rabada bagged another five-wicket haul to take his Test match tally past 100 as his side wrapped up a comprehensive innings and 254-run victory over Bangladesh in Bloemfontein on Sunday.
The Indian cricket team and its premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin held on to their numero uno status in the latest ICC Test rankings for teams and bowlers respectively.
South Africa captain Hashim Amla feels frustrated over 'bizarre' rain-hit series against Bangladesh.
Six out of the 10 days in the entire series were thus lost to rain, questioning the logic behind scheduling the tour during monsoon season
Rajneesh Gupta salutes Tamim Iqbal's courage in the Asia Cup's opening game on Saturday and lists instances where cricketers braved injuries to battle it out for their teams.
Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen hit half-centuries before Yasir Shah's late strikes gave Pakistan the upperhand, on Day 3 of the first Test, in Karachi, on Thursday.
India have never won the first Test of a series in Australia and will be looking to come hard at Australia on Day 5. Rajneesh Gupta has all the numbers from the fourth day of the Adelaide Test.
England paceman Stuart Broad took 8-15 as Australia collapsed to 60 all out in 94 minutes on the first day of the fourth Ashes Test on a remarkable morning session at Trent Bridge.
List of players released by IPL teams ahead of next month's auction for 2020 season:
The margin of victory was big enough to be called dominant but South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said he was quite nervous about defending 208 against India in the opening Test.
RCB, led by their captain Virat Kohli, has always been a team full of stars but has not played to its potential. After reaching the final in 2016, it has had three forgettable seasons.
An image of West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo taking a full-length diving catch in mid-air has been named the Wisden-MCC 'Cricket Photograph of the Year 2014'.
Want a game against SL to impress Hardik, says Shivam Mavi after maiden India call-up
Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar congratulated New Zealand on sealing their maiden cricket World Cup final spot, but also consoled South Africa for again failing to cross the semi-final hurdle after losing to the Kiwis by four wickets in a nail-biting finish in Auckland, on Tuesday.
Legendary South African batsman Barry Richards feels Virat Kohli is a few notches above his contemporaries in the Indian team but still has some way to go before one can compare him with the iconic Sachin Tendulkar.
Virat Kohli was a relieved man after a nail-biting 10-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders, in Kolkata on Friday, kept Royal Challengers Bangalore's hopes alive in the Indian Premier League.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 5:
Images from the World Cup match between South Africa and Zimbabwe at Hamilton, New Zealand.
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis lauded his "relentless" bowlers for their match-winning performance against Australia in Hobart on Tuesday and dedicated the series win to absent Proteas Dale Steyn and AB De Villiers.
Late call-up Shaun Marsh scored an unbeaten century in his first Test in two years to lead a middle-order recovery as Australia closed at 297 for four on the first day of the first Test against South Africa on Wednesday.
South Africa need to put aside the fallout from their decision to overlook AB de Villiers and their injury issues when they face the West Indies in the Cricket World Cup on Monday, said key bowler Kagiso Rabada.
Kohli's India are ranked second in the world and will be firm favourites as they begin their quest for a third World Cup triumph against South Africa
Looking back at the five-match ODI series, rising South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada termed his one-on-one battle with Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the of opening contest in Kanpur as his best display of the series.
'As Test team, we stand in a good position. Whole credit goes to Virat'
Former opener Gary Kirsten says South Africa know how to beat Australia in their own backyard in the upcoming three-match Test series Down Under.
Two Indian batsmen are now in the top five of the ICC ODI rankings, with Virat Kohli remaining at number three and opener Shikhar Dhawan climbing up the ladder to fifth after earning four places in the latest list issued on Wednesday.
India's wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha and middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma have made significant gains and climbed up latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen.
Also included is fast bowler Anrich Nortje, but in-form opening batsman Temba Bavuma will have to prove his fitness after injuring his hamstring against England on Sunday.
With the teams entering the final phase of their preparations for next year's World Cup, former batting great Ian Chappell said defending champions India, Australia and South Africa are the favourites to win the game's showpiece event.
It will be interesting to see if India bring back regular opener Shikhar Dhawan for the crucial semi-final match against South Africa or persist with Ajinkya Rahane at the ICC World T20.
Rajneesh Gupta highlights important numbers featuring the South African team from the World Cups.
South Africa reclaimed top spot in the Test rankings after grimly hanging on for a draw in the second and final Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo, on Monday to win the series 1-0.
South Africa recalled hard-hitting all-rounder Albie Morkel on Monday in their squad for the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh starting next month.
Anderson now has seven wickets in the match.
Fast bowler Vernon Philander will return to international action for the first time in eight months after a freak injury when he plays for South Africa A against Zimbabwe A in Harare in a four-day match starting on Saturday. The 31-year-old has been sidelined since November after damaging ankle ligaments playing a warm-up game of soccer while on tour with South Africa in India.
Shakya Mitra ponders why top batsmen like Michael Clarke bowing out early.
David Miller helped South Africa blast 14 runs from their super over, before the wily Tahir restricted Sri Lanka to only five in reply, two of which were wides.
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