After a week of action at the Cricket World Cup, with each team now playing at least one match, here's an analysis of how the main contenders are shaping up.
AB de Villiers posted South Africa's highest individual score to give them firm control of the second Test on the second day against Pakistan at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday.
Rival captains Graeme Smith and Elton Chigumbura termed the wicket at the Chepauk as 'under-prepared' and hoped that the wickets will be better prepared in time for the World Cup.
Former Cricket South Africa president Ray Mali says ex-coach Mickey Arthur's claims that retiring pacer Makhaya Ntini used the race card after being dropped from the side are lies.
Mindful of the chokers tag that has sat on them since their 1992 World Cup appearance, South Africa head off to the sub-continent for the quadrennial mega event starting later this month, with captain Graeme Smith confident of his side possessing a stronger mental frame than ever before to aim for its maiden title.
Off-spinner Graeme Swann says that getting the number one spot won't be enough for England, at least for the current group of players.
South African cricketer Makhaya Ntini played the race card when things did not go his way, disclosed former team coach Mickey Arthur in his to be released book.
Indian opener Virender Sehwag was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year for the second time in a row.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith paid tribute to Makhaya Ntini after the fast bowler announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday.
Injured England off-spinner Graeme Swann revealed that he has battled for long with the back problem that put him out of the One-Day series against Australia, but insisted he will be fit for the upcoming World Cup in the subcontinent.
South African captain Graeme Smith has said that winning the ODI series against India was all the more commendable as they had fought back from 1-2 down and this victory would be a morale booster for next month's World Cup.
Images from the 4th ODI between India and South Africa played in Port Elizabeth on Friday.
England off-spinner Graeme Swann will be out with a bruised left knee for up to two weeks, the team's coach Andy Flower said.
England have ruled batsman Kevin Pietersen out of the three-match one day series against Bangladesh starting on Thursday after he picked up a thigh injury against Australia at Lord's.
The tournament is set to be played in Dubai and also at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah.
South Africa's wrecker-in-chief in the 135-run win over India, medium pacer Lonwabo Tsotsobe, is on a high as one among his four victims was Sachin Tendulkar but he prefers not to talk about it as he does not want to "anger" the batting icon.
South Africa and India lock horns in a five-match one-day series starting on Wednesday which should help finalise their World Cup squads.
England are the current World Twenty20 champions, but their success in the mega-event last year was not reflected at the 2011 Indian Premier League Players's two-day auction, that concluded in Bangalore, on Sunday.
On a high after drawing a Test series on African soil for the first time, India have been left to deal with a couple of injury setbacks as they take on South Africa, sans Test skipper Graeme Smith, in the only Twenty20 International match of the tour in Durban on Sunday.
Harbhajan Singh claimed two wickets to help India end on a high against South Africa, on Day 3 of the third and final Test at Newlands, in Cape Town, on Tuesday.
England's chief cricket selector Geoff Miller has fired a fierce Ashes broadside at the Aussies by claiming that their batsmen are running scared and fear his three-pronged giant fast-bowling attack and the world's No.1 spinner Graeme Swann.
South African captain Graeme Smith urged his batsmen to pull up their socks ahead of the crucial third and final Test match against India, which will start at the Newlands, in Cape Town on Sunday.
Upset after losing the second Test match by 87 runs, South African captain Graeme Smith expressed his displeasure about the non-usage of Umpires' Decision Review System(UDRS) as two of his key batsmen --- AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher got out to debatable leg before decisions.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith has found his 'lucky Test cap', which he wore for 89 matches, within days of it being allegedly stolen while he was on his way to Durban from Cape town.
When South African Hashim Amla vies with India's Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Graeme Swann of England for the ICC Cricketer of the Year Award in Bengaluru on October 6, he would complete a full circle in the land from where his forebears came.
Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag of India, Hashim Amla of South Africa and England's Graeme Swann have all been short-listed for the top honour at the LG ICC Awards 2010, it was announced on Monday.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hasn't been lucky with the coin of late and there are times when the spin of the coin does have a telling impact on the match.
South African captain Graeme Smith is delighted that the Kingsmead track in Durban, known for its bounce and carry, is the best he had seen for some years, which should help his fast bowlers against Indian batsmen in the second Test starting on Sunday.
South African captain Graeme Smith warned the visiting Indian team to find a way to tame Hashim Amla or forget the chance of levelling the three-Test series in the second game starting in Durban on Sunday.
'Don't forget this is a fight between the top two teams in Test cricket. India will come out fighting, especially in the batting department,' said South Africa skipper Graeme Smith on the eve of the Durban Test.
India's dramatic collapse in the first innings notwithstanding, South Africa captain Graeme Smith said there was no demon in the wicket and he was surprised to see the visitors surrendering for a paltry 136.
Images of the Day 2 play of the first Test between India and South Africa played at the Centurion on Friday.
India will be under pressure to justify their number one ranking by winning away from home when they play second-placed South Africa in a three-match Test series, starting at Centurion on Thursday.
India captain Virat Kohli says the responsibility of leading the team motivates him to push his limits in testing conditions which eventually helps him score big Test hundreds.
The 12th edition of the tournament will feature Robert Bailey, Gregory Brathwaite, Anil Chaudhary, Nigel Duguid, Shaun George, Shaun Haig, Mark Hawthorne, Ranmore Martinesz, C.K. Nandan, Ahsan Raza, Shozab Raza, Timothy Robert Robinson, Langton Rusere and Paul Wilson in umpiring role.
The BCCI's refusal to have the Decision Review System during India's tour of South Africa this month has not gone down well with host captain Graeme Smith, who feels the implementation of DRS should be decided by the ICC instead of individual boards.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith has been ruled out of the rest of the second and final Test against Pakistan with a fractured hand.
South Africa defeated Afghanistan by 59 runs in their Twenty20 World Cup group C match on Wednesday.
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