Having won the series, India would like to carry on momentum forward, especially with the three-match T20I series to follow soon after. Yet, the visitors would also like to find a balance between going all out in a dead rubber and resting a few players keeping in mind a long overseas schedule later this year.
India will look to crush a South African revival before it becomes a threat to their pursuit of a maiden ODI series triumph here when the two sides clash in the fifth one-dayer, on Tuesday.
With Shikar Dhawan back in the squad, it is indeed a happy problem for skipper Virat Kohli, who has to choose two quality openers among three.
Test cricket's most successful captain is contemplating a return to the international game almost two years after he bid adieu to the game. Graeme Smith, South Africa's greatest Test captain, retired in March 2014, but after signing with the UAE-based Masters Champions League Twenty tournament on Monday, he expressed his desire to play again at the highest level.
Virat Kohli dropped a position to 11th leaving India with no batsmen in the top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, in the latest update of the ICC Player Rankings released by the International Cricket Council on Tuesday.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar has described Ajinkya Rahane, who scored a century in each innings of the fourth Test against South Africa at the Ferozshah Kotla, as the most complete Indian batsman in the current team as he has "done well in all conditions".
The all-round ability of the current Indian cricket team excites former captain Rahul Dravid, who feels Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men are a certainty for at least the semifinals of the World Twenty20 Championships. Dravid, who was here for the Laureus Sport for Good programme 'Magic Bus' in his capacity as a member of its World Sports Academy, said India looks to be the most "formidable" team of the tournament, the main draw of which gets underway from March 15. "I think India would make the top four, but after that, it's just a question of who has a better day in the semifinal and final... There's a good crop of players coming through. I think it's going to be an exciting 24 months for the Indian team. "I think the good thing about this Indian team and this T20 World Cup is they have good depth, they have good all-round depth at the moment," Dravid said. "Players like Hardik Pandya and Pawan Negi, it just shows that they have got sort of batting right down to No. 8, 9. They have got six or seven bowlers to call upon in Indian conditions that they can use.
If Ravichandran Ashwin is being hailed as the best spinner in contemporary cricket, the 29-year-old lanky Indian owes it as much to those long fingers as to an ever-ticking brain.
Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has defended the nature of Jamtha track, saying it is poor "technique" of the batsmen and not any "demon" in the pitch that resulted in South Africa being bundled out for a paltry 79 during the third Test.
South Africa skipper AB de Villiers led from the front with an all-round show to help South Africa thrash minnows UAE.
Mohammed Shami led India's fight-back with a career-best five-wicket haul as India snapped nine wickets for 53 runs to dismiss South Africa for 177 and avoid a humiliating whitewash in the three-match series.
AB de Villiers' masterly 85 in his 100th test could not gloss over South Africa's spin frailty as India took charge of the second Test after dominating the opening day at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
The 2015 World Cup so far has been treat for batsmen and spectators alike. Big scores have become synonymous with this edition of the mega event. So, while some shots sailed over the boundary line, others were opportunities, disguised as catches for fielders. Fielders had to lunge, go full stretch and focus to pocket those catches. Rediff.com presents you a chance to treat your eyes to those beautiful catches that made for plain, super cricket moments.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, on Friday, ridiculed the media attention on the pitch for the first Test, saying most of the batsmen got out by playing bad shots.
Part-time spinner Dean Elgar ripped through India's batting line-up with four wickets as South Africa made the hosts rue their decision to bat first on the opening day of the first Test in Mohali, on Thursday.
Stylish batsman Cheteshwar Pujara comes with the reputation of a good Test cricketer, according to former opener Virender Sehwag, who hoped that the Indian batting mainstay improves his skills in T20 cricket and gets picked by an Indian Premier League franchise in the next season.
Dale Steyn produced a ferocious spell of fast bowling to inspire South Africa to a crushing 231-run victory over Australia in fading light on day four of the second Test on Sunday.
While South Africa grabbed a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, the visitors squandered a golden opportunity to script a memorable win outside the sub-continent.
Citing Mahendra Singh Dhoni's lack of form, former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin has said that India's ODI skipper is "no longer the player he used to be".
The three-Test South Africa series is the first of a gruelling 2018-19 season that includes tours to England and Australia.
India lead South Africa by five points and need to win two matches in order to stop falling behind the Proteas.
South Africa retained the iconic Reliance ICC Test Championship mace and with it won a cash award of $500,000 following its 2-0 series win over the West Indies in Cape Town on Tuesday.
South Africa removed the West Indian openers in Sunday's last session at Newlands to build on AB de Villiers' superb century and take the initiative in the final Test.
Players with the maximum work load in 2015.
Kosovo is to be allowed to play friendly matches against FIFA member-states at club and international level with some limitations, world soccer's governing body said on its website (www.fifa.com) on Monday.
Stokes now holds the record score for an England number six, beating Graham Hick's 187 against India in 1993, and became the first English centurion at Newlands for 50 years.
Usman Khawaja hit Australia's first century of the series and Peter Handscomb scored a half-century on debut as the hosts reached 307 for six with a lead of 48 at end of the second day of the day-night third Test against South Africa in Adelaide.
David Warner scored 124 in his 100th match and combined with Aaron Finch (94) for a record 231-run opening stand, as Australia posted a 21-run victory over India in the fourth One-Day International in Bengaluru, on Thursday. Check out some statistical highlights from the match.
South Africa's status as the top-ranked Test-playing nation has been dented after their crushing defeat in India last month and is in danger of being eroded completely by England over the next month or two.
India captain Virat Kohli's stoic batting helped India eke out a draw on the fifth and final day in the opening Test against England in Rajkot on Sunday. But it was his English counterpart Alastair Cook, who stole the show and the records on the day!
Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada and wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock have achieved career-high positions in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings after firing South Africa to an emphatic 177-run victory over Australia in the opening Test of the three-match series in Perth on Monday.
Ravichandran Ashwin feels the 3-0 win over South Africa is the start of a 'wonderful journey' for the current Test team and the series sweep against the number one side will help them improve on their dismal overseas record.
Australia ripped through South Africa's top order in the first hour, dismissed the tourists for 242 by tea and reached 105 without loss at close on the back of some Dave Warner fireworks on the opening day of the first Test on Thursday.
Dale Steyn became the second South African bowler to join the 400 club as his team took five wickets in the final session to reduce Bangladesh to 246 for eight on the first day of the second Test in Mirpur on Thursday.
Kagiso Rabada said South Africa are gunning for a whitewash of India, having trampled the visitors in the first two matches.
India, along with the mighty Australia, will start as title contenders in the ICC Champions Trophy.
India's Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin thrived on a spinners' paradise in Mohali, bamboozling South Africa's batsmen in the first Test to secure a 108-run victory with more than two days to spare on Saturday.
Mumbai Indians seek to maintain momentum against Kings XI Punjab.
Cheteshwar Pujara's unbeaten 63 gave India a firm hold on the opening Test against South Africa after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up his 13th five-wicket haul to restrict the touring side to 184 on the second day on Friday.
Pakistan lost a few early wickets before completing a convincing seven-wicket victory over South Africa in the first Test, in Abu Dhabi, on Thursday.
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