Images from Day 3 of the second Test between Australia and South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
Australia will be without their premier pacers but their envious pedigree in ICC tournaments make them favourites to progress to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy from Group B.
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
Spin great Ravichandran Ashwin says New Zealand, despite the absence of the long-serving pace duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, who have quit playing the 50-over format, will pose a challenge to India.
IMAGES from the fourth and deciding T20I played between South Africa and India in Johannesburg on Friday
Sanju Samson will look to continue his domination of the bowlers but India need more stability in the top order
'The way he was batting was great to watch because the pitch was not that easy for batting.'
Yadav anchored the innings with a sublime century in which he struck boundaries in all parts of the ground
Captaon Suryakumar Yadav, all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel, the only member from the Test side, will be hoping for a strong outing so that India can apply some balm over the wounds from their recent home series defeat against New Zealand.
South Africa finished their engagements with five points from as many games.
Wayne Parnell struck twice in the powerplay before the South African spin duo of Keshav Maharaj (3-17) and Tabrazi Shamsi (2-6) ran through New Zealand's batting line up.
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'It could have been a closer game and we could have got over the line.'
India have used 12 out of their 15 players in the first three games and it would be interesting to see if one among the two uncapped pacers Yash Dayal or Vysakh Vijaykumar gets a debut cap in case the pitch warrants an extra specialist speedster.
Mohammad Siraj has reclaimed the No 1 position among bowlers in the MRF Tyres ICC men's ODI player rankings after his sensational haul of 6/21 against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final.
'I don't know what the maths looks like but we're playing good cricket and we want it to continue.'
Markram ton and spin twins see South Africa to ODI win over Australia
South Africa's batting innings was also boosted by a superb 56 from 27 balls from Aiden Markram as he struck five sixes on the small County Ground, while new find Tristan Stubbs blasted a breezy 24 off 11.
Meanwhile, South Africa have included uncapped off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen and seamer Lizaad Williams in their squad for the two-Test series in the West Indies that starts on June 10.
South Africa dug deep to deny Australia a 3-0 series sweep with a battling draw in the rain-disrupted third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday, finally finding some fight on the final day of a miserable tour.
Rohit Sharma completed a century in each innings in his maiden Test as opener as India pressed for victory in the first Test against South Africa by setting the touring side a daunting target of 395.
The 34-year-old Steyn, currently on a short-term contract with Hampshire having been plagued by injury over the last two-and-a-half years, is three wickets short of a milestone that has frustratingly eluded him in recent times.
South Africa have recalled top-order batsmen Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen for their three-match One-Day International tour of India later this month, while left-arm spinner George Linde is named in the squad for the first time. The squad will be captained by Quinton de Kock and play the first ODI in Dharamsala in March 12.
South Africa's pace duo Anrich Nortje and Sisanda Magala have been ruled out of the World Cup because of injuries, Cricket South Africa confirmed on Thursday.
South Africa will have no room for error as their world-class batters will be keen to flex their muscles against a spirited USA in their opening Super Eight match of the T20 World Cup.
Left-arm spinner Maharaj (3/189 in 55 overs) bowled his heart out but did not get the support from the other end in Dane Piedt (107/1 in 19 overs) or debutant Senuran Muthusamy (63/1 in 15 lovers), who did take the prized wicket of Virat Kohli.
Rishabh Pant hailed the fighting spirit of the side after the hosts came back from two games down to take the five-match series against South Africa
Indian team will certainly feel a sense of deja vu when it takes on a red-hot South Africa on Sunday in what will be a battle of equals
Star batter Virat Kohli, who is the second leading run-getter in the World Cup with 354 runs after five matches, has improved three spots to be on joint fifth spot with Aussie left-handed opener David Warner (up two spots).
India opener Shubman Gill's reign at the top of the ODI batters' list was short-lived as he was replaced by former Pakistani skipper Babar Azam in the ICC Player Rankings issued on Wednesday.
India's solitary ODI series win in the Rainbow nation occurred in 2018, emphasising the need for a strong beginning from Ruturaj Gaikwad and B Sai Sudharsan.
The most interesting aspect of the contest is the form of batters from both sides which has been the reason of their success so far.
Chasing targets has been their Achilles heel throughout the tournament. The same batters who've plundered the bowling and scored daddy hundreds batting first, have resembled pale shadows of themselves chasing targets.
The board said no replacement will be brought in for Rabada as there is an extended squad in place in the Bio-Secure Environment (BSE), but George Linde has been retained from the Test team as an extra spin-bowling option for the series.
Pakistan needs to win all its matches and expect Australia to falter in at least two of their remaining four games.
Rohit Sharma jumped five places to sixth in the ICC ODI ranking for batters.
Chasing an improbable target of 490 to level the series, the tourists finished day three on 139-5, their highest total in the spin-dominated series, at Colombo's Sinhalese Sports Club Ground.
India, missing their top players, aim to punch above their weight and seal a memorable series victory against South Africa in the third and final ODI in New Delhi on Tuesday.
India secured their second Twenty20 World Cup title with a dramatic seven-run win over South Africa in the final in Barbados.
