After a miserable IPL 2020 season, which saw Chennai Super Kings in 7th place on the IPL points table, CSK achieved a magical turnaround in IPL 2021 to be crowned champions after the final against the Kolkata Knight Riders on October 15, 2021.
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis picked hosts England and 2011 champions India as the title favourites for this year's ICC ODI World Cup.
For the visitors, the game against the Mandeep Singh-led India 'A' side will be more about getting into the match simulation mode before they get going against Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team in the opening T20 International at Dharamsala on October 2.
South African skipper Faf du Plessis ratcheted up the rhetoric on the eve of the much-anticipated opening Test against India, saying they have a 'score to settle' with the World No 1.
LSG were in deep trouble before Stoinis and Pooran unleashed their brutal onslaught.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will expect more runs from their batters and discipline in 'death' overs bowling when they take on high-flying Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL match in Bengaluru on Monday.
Player of the Match Shardul Thakur ticked all the boxes and was lauded by KKR skipper Nitish Rana for his counter-attacking knock.
RCB will hope their win materialises into a spot in the play-offs, especially given the way their bowlers performed and Kohli getting his mojo back.
Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have found much-needed momentum towards the business end of IPL 2022, will back themselves to ride past an inconsistent Punjab Kings and get closer to a play-off spot.
Royal Challengers Bangalore has been officially renamed as Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of this year's IPL
An emotionally charged Virat Kohli came to the fore during Royal Challengers Bangalore's IPL 2023 clash against Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow on Monday.
Kohli's decision to quit RCB captaincy came after he had made up his mind to step down as India's T20 skipper, following the 2021 T20 World Cup
Chennai Super Kings's fragile bowling vis-a-vis Royal Challengers Bengaluru's struggling batting line-up put them on even keel when they face-off in an important mid-table clash of the IPL match in Pune on Wednesday.
South Africa, who have been hit by injuries to their pacers, finally have something to cheer about with Lungi Ngidi set to make a comeback in their next game against Afghanistan on June 15.
The overhaul of South Africa's coaching structure has given the team a major boost as they get ready to take on England in a four-Test series which begins on Thursday, captain Faf du Plessis said. Meanwhile, veteran pacer James Anderson will be back on the frontline for England, for what will be his 150th Test.
RCB is hoping that the former India captain would return to form soon with captain Faf du Plessis backing him
'You see the value of Harshal, and what he offers. He has the ability to stop the game.'
Umran Malik's raw pace and Bhuvneshwar Kumar's consistency will be put to test against Dinesh Karthik's explosive batting and the finesse of Faf du Plessis when Sunrisers Hyderabad clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The country's woes at World Cups, be it the 50-over or shortest format, are well documented and so the expectations back home have been tempered
South Africa have named six uncapped players in their 17-man squad for the first two Tests of the four-match series against England as new coach Mark Boucher seeks to revive the fortunes of the ailing side. Batsmen Pieter Malan and Rassie van der Dussen, fast bowlers Dane Paterson and Beuran Hendricks, all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius and wicketkeeper Rudi Second will all hope to make their debuts in the first Test starting in Pretoria on December 26.
Images from Wednesday's World Cup match between India and South Africa, at Southampton.
South Africa opener Quinton de Kock's attacking 87 set up a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international in Dambulla on Wednesday, handing the tourists a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Glenn Maxwell played a scintillating cameo hitting an unbeaten 32 off 14 balls under pressure to power Kings XI Punjab to a six-wicket win over Rising Pune Supergiants.
Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming says the secret of his ageing warriors' success is that they rely more on gut feel and interpersonal relationships instead of going too deeply into analytics and numbers.
South Africa batter David Miller picked his preferred spot in the Proteas T20 World Cup setup as well as what they need to do as a team in order to enjoy a successful tournament.
Calm Dhoni says it's more about 'dressing room atmosphere'
Images from the ICC World Cup match between Australia and South Africa at Old Trafford on Saturday
Kohli will be a key to RCB's success: Andy Flower
Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir were involved in an ugly face-off following RCB's 18-run win over LSG in Lucknow on Monday.
Indian captain Virat Kohli and his South African counterpart Faf du Plessis made the donation of 100,000 Rand to the Gift of the Givers Foundation at the third T20 International cricket match at the Newlands Stadium on Sunday.
After South Africa were penalised five runs for ball tampering against Pakistan in the second Test in Dubai on Friday, AB de Villiers insisted the Proteas were not cheats.
Washington Sundar had splendid figures of 2-11 in his first two overs, both of which were bowled in the Powerplay, as he left CSK reeling at 26/2 in six overs.
Set a stiff target of 458 for victory, the hosts rode on centuries from Faf du Plessis (134) and AB de Villiers (103) but failed to pull off a sensational victory, falling short by a narrow margin of eight runs.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index of IPL 2023 after the league stage.
Images from Wednesday's IPL match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings, in Dubai, on Thursday.
The Chennai Super Kings captain is at the centre of criticism, and rightly so, for his batting positions in the last two Indian Premier League matches.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru staged a valiant comeback thanks to Anuj Rawat's 25-ball 48 and Karthik's 26-ball 38 in a 95-run stand lower down to guide the team to 173-6 in 20 overs, but hosts Chennai Super Kings chased down the total with six wickets and eight balls left.
After a win like that, the morale of any team would be high but Delhi will need to find a way to bat well against the star studded RCB.
Skipper Virat Kohli's weakness outside the off-stump was again exposed as India plunged into deep trouble at 28 for three, after their bowlers dismissed South Africa for a modest 286, on the opening day of the first Test in Cape Town on Friday.
