Kolkata Knight Riders are under pressure to reverse their losing streak as they face a strong Gujarat Titans side in the Indian Premier League. KKR's struggles with team selection, batting order, and bowling form have compounded their problems, while Gujarat Titans are gaining momentum with key players finding form.
Kagiso Rabada produced a sublime spell of bowling to take five wickets as Australia were dismissed for 243 in their first innings on the opening day of the second Test on Friday.
South Africa will not risk the fitness of lead attack bowler Kagiso Rabada despite a return to their squad and he will miss out the second Test against Sri Lanka, which starts at The Wanderers Stadium on Sunday.
The 24-year-old pacer will be out of action for four weeks after suffering the injury during the final T20 international against Australia on Wednesday.
A struggling, but promising South African unit will be aiming to avenge the heartbreak of 2024 by securing the grandest prize in T20I cricket on Indian soil, with the Proteas' 'Gen-Next' of Dewald Brevis, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and Kwena Maphaka in the spotlight.
South Africa fought a rearguard action to turn the second Test against Pakistan on its head and take the upper hand after an enthralling third day's play on Wednesday.
South Africa decided to call the pacer back as a precautionary measure ahead of the World Cup.
India will look to reprise their home template of big first-innings totals and sustained spin in the short two-Test series against South Africa beginning in Kolkata on Friday.
West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder discusses his focus on being ready for an opportunity with Gujarat Titans, praising young pacer Ashok Sharma, and backing Nicholas Pooran to bounce back from a slow start in the IPL.
Krunal Pandya's gritty 73 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar's all-round heroics (4/23, 7 not out) powered Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a nervy two-wicket victory and knocked Mumbai Indians out of the race for IPL playoffs in Raipur on Sunday.
Images from Day 4 of the second Test between South Africa and Australia in Port Elizabeth on Monday.
Aiden Markram's unbeaten 82 and a 95-run opening stand with Quinton de Kock powered South Africa to a nine-wicket win over West Indies, putting the Proteas on the brink of the T20 World Cup semi-finals.
Rabada broke through Hasan Ali's defense to get to the milestone, making him the third fastest after former Pakistan pacer Waqar Younis (7,730) and compatriot Dale Steyn (7,848) in terms of balls bowled.
Ryan Rickelton posted the joint seventh-highest score by a South African in Tests with 259 as his side ran up a huge 615 before reducing Pakistan to 64/4 at the close on Day 2.
The fast bowler was fined 15 percent of his match fee and received one demerit point for his behaviour, when he waved at departing batsman Shikhar Darwan, pointing his way back to the change room and seeming to swear after the Indian opener was caught in the deep off Rabada's bowling.
A leader can spend authority on themselves -- on appearing decisive, on appearing in control, on appearing irreplaceable. Or they can spend it on the people around them -- on giving them the ball back, on creating conditions in which other people's confidence and capability can grow. Over a long enough horizon, the second compounds in a way the first never does. And that's exactly what Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella has done.
'Sometimes KG needs a rocket. You could then almost sense the intensity and focus... he was in the zone.'
South Africa's pace sensation Kagiso Rabada says India captain Virat Kohli pushes him to give his best on the field and commands utmost respect with his sheer consistency across formats. Kohli averages over 50 in all three formats, while the 24-year-old South Africa fast bowler has taken 197 wickets from 43 Tests while he has picked up 117 ODI wickets from 75 matches.
Cooper Connolly slammed a fine unbeaten fifty as Punjab Kings defeated Gujarat Titans by three wickets in their opening Indian Premier League match on Tuesday.
Across 18 seasons, Virat Kohli now has 8,989 IPL runs. That is roughly 500 runs every single year, without a single dip in form lasting long enough to define a season. Other great batters have careers. Kohli has had a sustained campaign of excellence.
Rabada was handed a one-match ban by the International Cricket Council
The South African pace duo of Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada were at their lethal best as they powered Delhi Capitals to the IPL play-offs with a thumping six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore, in Abu Dhabi, on Monday.
This was the first-ever double Super Over in the history of the T20 World Cup.
South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn will miss the second Test against England, which starts at Newlands on Saturday, after failing to recover from a shoulder injury, captain Hashim Amla said.
'With leagues like the IPL, we play a lot with these players and against them as well, so information can be easily passed around'
The second and final Test starts in Guwahati from Saturday with India trailing 0-1 after the defeat on a challenging Eden Gardens pitch in Kolkata.
Six uncapped players named in South Africa ODI squad
Plunkett, who has featured in 13 Tests, 65 One-Day Internationals and 15 Twenty20 Internationals for England, was picked from the Registered Available Player Pool (RAPP) list, according to a media release.
Kagiso Rabada is appealing the guilty verdict handed to him by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching their code of conduct in a last-ditch bid to be able to play in the rest of the gripping test series against Australia.
Gujarat Titans will be aiming for a top-two spot even as Chennai Super Kings continue planning for the future when the two teams meet in the Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Aiden Markram and Mitchell Santner's individual performances could potentially decide the outcome of the T20 World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Kagiso Rabada is a huge figure in the South African seam attack and his loss for the opening Test against England would be a massive blow as he battles back from an ankle problem.
For South Africa, Rabada performs optimally when his fires are stoked.
Sikandar Raza's superb all-round show, a blazing 73 and three key wickets, kept Zimbabwe in the contest before South Africa steadied nerves to seal a five-wicket win and book a T20 World Cup semi-final clash with New Zealand.
Kagiso Rabada trained with his teammates for the first time this season at the ICC Academy in Dubai.
Kagiso Rabada has been banned from the series-deciding final Test for his celebration after getting England captain Joe Root out on the first day of the ongoing third Test in Port Elizabeth.
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.
Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada says he is fully committed to playing for South Africa after a difficult 2019/20 season in which he felt "out of place" and incurred a one-Test ban for overzealous celebration against England. The 25-year-old topped the International Cricket Council's Test bowler rankings in 2018 but was, by his own admission, below par in the last South African summer.
Proteas edge Pakistan to win thriller at Centurion
Delhi Capitals badly missed Rabada's services in the game against CSK in Chennai on Wednesday, when they were handed a massive 80-run loss. It was the first time this season Rabada missed a game.
