Uncapped spinners Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi were named in South Africa's squad for next month's three-match test series in Australia on Monday as the Proteas seek to exploit a perceived weaknesses in their hosts' batting. Faf du Plessis will again captain the team in the absence of injured AB de Villiers after leading the side in the two-test series against New Zealand last month, which they won 1-0. "Basically, we are following a horses for courses policy as we feel that spinners who turn the ball away from the right-hander are going to be particularly useful under Australian conditions and against the test batsmen we are likely to face," selector Linda Zondi said in a statement.
India's batting sensation Cheteshwar Pujara says the upcoming Test series in New Zealand should be a little easier than the recent one against South Africa, where the team was beaten 1-0 in the two-match series.
Team India faces an uphill task in the upcoming Test series against South Africa, beginning at the Wanderers on Wednesday, and no one is more pragmatic about it than MS Dhoni, the team captain.
Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers have been recalled to South Africa's One-day international side for the visit of New Zealand later this month, but young wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock has been axed after a poor run of form in Bangladesh.
Images from Wednesday's first IPL play-off between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab at the Eden Gardens.
When Ryan Harris hobbled into Newlands for the final day of the third Test against South Africa on Wednesday, it seemed unlikely he would end up being the man to clinch the series for Australia.
Australia won the third and final Test against South Africa by 245 runs at Newlands in a nailbiting finish with just 27 balls to spare after a day of epic home resistance.
'When it comes to strategy or planning for a match, there is nobody better than Dhoni.' 'Whether he is uncapped or capped, every franchise would want to pick Dhoni, no matter what price he is available for.'
IMAGES from Day 3 of the 3rd Test played between South Africa and India at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg on Friday
Images of the Day 2 play of the first Test between India and South Africa played at the Centurion on Friday.
Fast bowler Dale Steyn ripped through the India batting line-up on a rain-reduced day two of the second Test at Kingsmead to claim six wickets and hand the momentum to South Africa in the series decider on Friday.
Cheteshwar Pujara is the first Indian batsman to post three hundreds in Tests in 2013 and is of the opinion that his side has enough runs on the board to press for a win on the final day in the first cricket Test against South Africa in Johannesburg.
Images from Thursday's IPL match between Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
Depleted by injuries, Delhi Daredevils are hoping to have explosive opener Virender Sehwag back in the side even as pacer Morne Morkel was ruled out of their home game against Rajasthan Royals on April 6.
South Africa have added uncapped swing bowler Kyle Abbott to their squad for the third and final Test against Pakistan at Centurion starting on Friday.
South African veteran Mark Boucher will have to wait until the England series, starting in July, to become the first wicketkeeper to achieve 1 000 international dismissals.
South Africa's pacemen routed Australia's batsmen with five late wickets to leave the hosts reeling at 111-5 at the close of day three on Saturday and buoy the tourists' hopes of pulling off an unlikely victory in the second Test.
South Africa's celebrated pace attack took a hammering in the first Test against Australia and has much to prove in next week's second but batsman Hashim Amla still believes it is the best in the world.
Ajit Agarkar's all-round display backed by a composed half century from Virender Sehwag helped Delhi Daredevils beat Perth Scorchers by three wickets and move a step closer to a semifinal berth in the Champions League Twenty20 in Cape Town on Sunday.
It really pays to be Unmukt Chand these days. As he discovers, Delhi Daredevils' star players, like Kevin Pietersen, Mahela Jayawardene, Morne Morkel, have enough time to discuss cricketing matters with him.
Delhi Daredevils produced a superb bowling show as they crushed Kolkata Knight riders by 52 runs in their opening Champions League Twenty20 match in Centurion on Saturday.
Kagiso Rabada became the youngest South Africa bowler to take seven wickets in an innings as the hosts took charge of the fourth and final Test against England on Sunday.
Former South Africa pacer Allan Donald is in awe of Dale Steyn and says had he bowled alongside the current world number one pace merchant from his country, the two would have formed the most lethal attack.
Rediff.com takes a look at the select few promising Indians who left a mark on the tournament.
India might have felt the absence of their injured No 1 spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Rajasthan Royals will be looking to make amends when they take on the formidable Delhi Daredevils just 48 hours after losing a close away game, in their Indian Premier League match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews weathered a fiery spell of reverse swing bowling from Dayle Steyn to take his team past the follow-on mark on the third day of the first Test against South Africa on Friday.
Irfan Pathan scored a brisk unbeaten 42 to guide Delhi Daredevils to a comfortable eight-wicket win over hosts Kolkata Knight Riders in a rain-curtailed 12-overs-a-side Indian Premier League match at Eden Gardens on Thursday.
AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn make their long-awaited return to the South Africa Test squad for the day-night four-day Test match against Zimbabwe to be played at St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth, from December 26 to 29.
Umar Gul emerged the unlikely batting hero as Pakistan came back from the dead to pull off a nerve-wracking two-wicket victory over South Africa in their opening Super Eights match of the ICC World Twenty20 in Colombo on Friday. Chasing a target of 134, on a difficult Premadasa strip, Gul produced a blistering 17-ball 32 while Umar Akmal scored an unbeaten 43 to guide the team to a thrilling victory with two balls to spare.
Sri Lanka collapsed to their lowest one-day score of 43 on Wednesday when they lost by 258 runs to South Africa in the first one-day international at Boland Park.
Jacques Kallis's new look makes him look 20 years younger, feels teammate Morne Morkel. And, what is this new change that is getting Kallis so much attention?
Statistical highlights of the first Qualifier of the Indian Premier League match played between Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Pune on Tuesday.
Statistical highlights of the Indian Premier League match between Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur.
Kane Williamson scored his second Test century and guided New Zealand to an unexpected draw as the hosts made 200 for six at the end of the third and final Test against South Africa at the Basin Reserve on Tuesday.
New Zealand finished the fourth day of the final Test 274 runs behind South Africa on Monday and lost Ross Taylor to a broken arm after the skipper was struck by a Morne Morkel bouncer.
New Zealand's nine-wicket loss to South Africa in the second Test was a closer match than the result suggests and the hosts' captain Ross Taylor believes his team is not far away from being competitive in the third Test in Wellington.
South Africa fought back in the afternoon session on the third day of the fourth Test on Sunday, reducing England to 138 for six in their second innings and restricting the hosts to a lead of 274.
South Africa produced a dominant performance on Sunday to beat Australia by 80 runs in the second One-day International to level the three-match series 1-1.
Former South Africa captain Clive Rice rates the India bowling attack higher than South Africa's and said the home bowlers would struggle to take 20 wickets against a batting line-up, which boasts of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, in the Test series starting next week.
