Jos Buttler would be eagerly waiting to pounce on an inexperienced Chennai Super Kings attack in order to clinch a play-offs berth for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2022 match on Friday.
Gujarat Titans are currently at the top of the IPL table with 18 points from 12 games and a win on Sunday will more or less secure them a top-2 finish. That would mean an extra chance of making it to the final.
South Africa captain AB de Villiers became the fastest man to score 9,000 one-day international runs as he led his side to a 159-run victory over New Zealand in the third one-day international on Saturday.
South Africa's Anrich Nortje took the vital wickets of captain Joe Root and talisman Ben Stokes as England struggled to 262 for nine at stumps on the first day of the second Test on Friday. Pace bowler Nortje, playing his fourth Test, finished with 2-54 off 17 overs as the home side restricted the tourists on a Newlands wicket that was expected to be full of runs. Images from the opening day of the second Test at Newlands on Friday.
Images from the ICC World Cup match between Australia and South Africa at Old Trafford on Saturday
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.
The Indian team's strategy is expected to undergo paradigm shift with some players getting a subtle yet stern message to lift their games as they face an embarrassing possibility of a clean sweep against South Africa in the third ODI, in Cape Town on Sunday.
James Anderson marked his 150th Test and return to the England attack with the first-ball wicket of home opener Dean Elgar, and Sam Curran also grabbed four wickets before Quinton de Kock rallied the Proteas. Images from Day 1 of the opening Test played between South Africa and England at Centurion on Thursday.
Full list of players released, retained and traded by all ten teams in the IPL.
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.
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.
Comeback man Heinrich Klaasen followed Rassie Van der Dussen's suit in turning out to be an unlikely hero with a career-best 81 as South Africa once again outwitted India by four wickets on a tricky pitch to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.
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.
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.
IMAGES from Day 5 of the 2nd Test played at Newlands in Cape Town on Tuesday.
SunRisers Hyderabad has the biggest purse while Kolkata Knight Riders has the slimmest purse.
India will surely fancy their chances of an encore, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The 3-0 series win against the West Indies could be called a precursor and the real battle begins now against Quinton de Kock's Proteas who are also in the midst of a tough transition.
Whether he is batting in the middle or fielding at the boundary line, Virat Kohli's every move will be tracked, though some of that attention will now be on skipper K L Rahul.
Images from the IPL 2022 match between Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Four years ago, defeat by Bangladesh sent England crashing out of the World Cup and left Eoin Morgan wondering if his captaincy was over before it had ever really begun.
It is a mark of the standards Ben Stokes sets that his first reaction to the wonder catch that dismissed to Andile Phehlukwayo was that he had got into the wrong position.
Pakistan's Shahid Afridi, on Monday, criticised the national selectors for resting six senior players, including skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, for the upcoming ODI series against Australia, saying a good outing would have boosted their confidence ahead of the World Cup.
The Men in Blue are on a 12-match winning streak and come Thursday, they can create an all-time record of winning 13 T20I games in a row.
IMAGES from the 3rd and final T20I played in Bengaluru on Sunday
IMAGES from the T20 World Cup, Super 12 match between Australia and South Africa.
In other big movements, Punjab Kings have released their last edition's captain Mayank Agarwal, while West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Rishabh Pant's form would be an important sub-plot when India look to seize the advantage against South Africa
Rajneesh Gupta throws up all the numbers of how both teams have fared in Twenty20 Internationals.
All-rounder Jimmy Neesham did the star turn with the bat and ball as Otago Volts beat Highveld Lions in the one-over eliminator in a thrilling Group A match to place themselves in a strong position for a semi-final berth in the Champions League Twenty20 in Jaipur on Sunday.
Trent Boult took the prized wicket of AB de Villiers then bowled Dwaine Pretorious in the penultimate over as New Zealand secured a series-levelling six-run victory in the second One-day international against South Africa on Wednesday.
Barring Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, all players have declared their allegiances to IPL franchises over their respective countries' domestic sides ahead of the upcoming Champions League Twenty20.
"This will probably be the biggest World Cup, so there will be great expectations and I know we will do very well for the people of the West Indies," he added.
Rajneesh Gupta profiles the cricketers playing the World Cup 2019.
590 cricketers -- including 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players -- will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
IPL Action VIII: These players went unsold
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the fascinating career numbers of players in the World Cup.
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