Fulfilling the quota requirements while fielding a competitive team has long been a sensitive issue but after a poor 2019, returning to winning ways looks to be the immediate priority of the four selectors, two of whom are black.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list the 50 Most Valuable Players after 46 IPL 2022 games.
South Africa will be led by captain Quinton de Kock as they come off a 2-0 home series win over Sri Lanka that concluded on Tuesday.
The Most Valuable Player Index table is telling another (worrying?) story: Performance from players in teams that are not going to make the top four is dropping somewhat alarmingly. The IPL is gruelling and cruel. It can do wonders to your career, but can also seriously hurt your international prospects if you get injured in a match that is essentially inconsequential. Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index after Game 63.
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.
'Our match awareness of when to tighten the screws was lacking. That is the reason why we lost the game.' South Africa coach Boucher bemoans mental frailties after Pakistan series loss.
Pakistan set South Africa a daunting target of 370 to win the second and final Test in Rawalpindi
Eyeing a top-two finish, Chennai Super Kings will start as the firm favourites when they take on Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League, in Dubai, on Thursday.
Australia moved one wicket from victory in the first Test against South Africa on Sunday after Mitchell Starc's swing bowling decimated the hosts' lower order and dampened their hopes of an unlikely recovery.
With 762 points, Kohli is behind England's David Malan
The Pandyas continue to be in the thick of things with Hardik Pandya (391) ahead, but Krunal Pandya (300) not too far behind. Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list the 50 Most Valuable Players after the first 38 IPL 2022 games.
Punjab, who are on eight points from 11 games, need to win the match to keep their play-offs hopes alive, while KKR (10 points from 11 games) also need a victory to boost their hopes.
Images from Day 3 of the third Test between South Africa and India, in Cape Town, on Thursday.
South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma says "it wasn't ideal" to get a directive on taking the knee hours before the start of their T20 World Cup match against the West Indies and promised to be there for Quinton de Kock, who chose to withdraw from the game instead of following the order.
South Africa completed a sweep of their two match series against Sri Lanka as they strolled to a 10-wicket win on the third day of the second Test on Tuesday.
'At the end of the day, we also had to look at players who will figure in the playing XI.'
CSA have however not handed players a final contract
At stumps, Pakistan's score read 145/3 with Fawad and Babar unbeaten on 42 and 77 runs respectively. For South Africa, Keshav Maharaj picked two, Anrich Nortje took one while Kagiso Rabada went wicketless.
India's formidably consistent match-winners have a date with history in the New Year when they take on an out-of-sorts South Africa in the second Test in Johannesburg from Monday in pursuit of a coveted first-ever series win in the Rainbow Nation.
The selectors have added uncapped batsman Raynard van Tonder, seamer Lutho Sipamla and all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius to the squad.
Mayank Agarwal showed insatiable appetite for runs, converting his maiden Test hundred into a brilliant double before the Indian spinners tightened the noose around the exhausted South Africans on the second day of the first Test.
India have a real shot at winning their first ever away series against South Africa,
Images from Sunday's World Cup match between Pakistan and South Africa, at Lord's.
Ankit Bawne (46, 82), who looked set was out of the last delivery of the day, giving a return catch to pacer Junior Dala. India A require 255 runs on the final day with only four wickets in hand.
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.
For South Africa, Rassie van der Dussen has advanced three slots to the sixth position, just one shy of his career-best, after scores of 34 not out and 52.
Images from Sunday's ICC World Cup match between Bangaldesh and South Africa.
Dean Elgar joins Aiden Markram on the list of players who have expressed interest in the job.
Virat Kohli's talismanic presence will be the shot in the arm that India would need in their bid to win the historic first-ever away Test series against South Africa.
The 28-year-old Starc finished with a match haul of nine for 109, enabling him to overtake South Africa's new-ball bowlers Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander among others, eclipsing his previous best sixth position that he enjoyed in December 2016.
South Africa have included off-form opening batsman Hashim Amla in their squad for the Cricket World Cup in England and Wales starting next month, but there is no place for all-rounder Chris Morris.
Rajneesh Gupta lists interesting records from the first week of the Super 12 competition in the T20 World Cup in the UAE.
Young Shubman Gill was back in form with an unbeaten 66 after India 'A' bowlers set the platform, dismissing South Africa 'A' for 164 on the first day of the Unofficial Test.
Jofra Archer showed why England could not leave him out of their final ICC Men's Cricket World Cup squad as he bowled them to opening win against South Africa.
Unless they getting their batting and bowling woes sorted out soon, the 2023 World Cup looks another distant dream for the Men in Blue.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings, in Sharjah, on Sunday.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings, in Dubai, on Friday.
India secured their first ever series win in South Africa across formats when they beat the hosts by 73 runs in the fifth ODI on Tuesday.
Cricket fans, critics and some former players have pointed out that de Kock "deliberately misled" Zaman into believing the ball was at the non-strikers end and then ran him out.
Virat Kohli and Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara held on to their second and seventh position respectively
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