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.
Opening batsman Andrew Strauss was on Thursday named the new England captain.
However, Rajasthan would be a bit more desperate than Delhi as they are languishing at the second last position in the points table with just three wins from nine outings.
Seeking home comforts after multiple reverses at the Ferozshah Kotla, Delhi Capitals will be desperate to buck the trend when they take on a rejuvenated Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League, in Delhi, on Saturday.
Proteas captain Faf du Plessis tells Harish Kotian/Rediff.com why they had to take the big call of dropping the experienced Steyn against minnows Afghanistan.
Images from Friday's IPL match between KKR and Delhi Capitals in Kolkata
David Warner's blazing century sent him on top of Rediff.com's MVP table, with KKR's wicketkeeper-batsman Robin Uthappa not that far behind.
Hashim Amla made a sparkling 154 and his opening partner Quinton de Kock a rapid 109 in a batting blitz that earned South Africa an 88-run victory over Sri Lanka at Centurion on Friday and a 5-0 whitewash in their one-day international series.
South Africa have included the world's number one test bowler Vernon Philander in their preliminary 30-man squad for the World Twenty20 tournament to be played in Bangladesh in March and April next year.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's 50 Most Valuable Players up to Game 46.
Delhi Capitals assistant coach Mohammad Kaif has pointed out that IPL teams are replacing poor fielders with agile ones during games and hoped that the umpires will take notice of this unfair practice.
India displace SA off perch to become No 1 team in ODIs
David Warner has become the fourth Australian to have recorded at least 10 centuries after 33 Tests, joining an elite company that includes the likes of Sir Don Bradman and Neil Harvey from the famed 'Invincibles' squad of 1948.
Professional Cricketers Association chief executive Sean Morris will meet England captain Kevin Pietersen and the rest of the team when they come to Heathrow on Saturday evening with the message that 'cricket is no longer at the top of the agenda'. 'We will sit down with the players and discuss the situation. We can't make any decisions at this stage,' Morris said.
Focus will now be on how Rabada would fare against the likes of Chris Gayle, Lokesh Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and David Miller.
Kent have defended the decision to sign Australian bowler Stuart Clark for the run-up to the Ashes series after criticism from English cricket's chief that the move may help their age-old rivals. Kent announced on Tuesday they had signed the 33-year-old seamer until June as he recovers from the elbow injury which has kept him out of Australia's tour of South Africa.
Kohli's decision didn't work as the spin duo failed to contain Proteas
It will be a test of character and battle for supremacy when Delhi Daredevils and Gujarat Lions, two of the most impressive teams of IPL 9, lock horns against each other at the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday. Barring one bad day in office, both Daredevils and Gujarat Lions had a near perfect campaign so far in the tournament. While new outfit Gujarat Lions are comfortably placed at the second spot in the eight-team standings with eight points from five matches, the Daredevils are a place below in the third position with six points from four games.
Left-arm spinner Samit Patel has been dropped from England's one-day squad in West Indies because he is not fit enough. The 24-year-old last played for his country in a one-dayer against India in November and has since failed two fitness assessments.
Images from Sunday's World Cup match between Pakistan and South Africa, at Lord's.
Retail rents in Dubai and Abu Dhabi dropped for the first time in a decade in the first quarter of this financial year, a report has revealed.
Captain Kane Williamson struck a composed unbeaten century as New Zealand edged past South Africa by four wickets in a thrilling last-over finish.
South Africa will be hoping to ease new coach Ottis Gibson into his job in a two-Test series against Bangladesh where the home side defend a one-sided record against their opponents but are light on fast bowlers and still tinkering with their top order.
Sunrisers Hyderabad kept their play-off hopes alive by pulling off a well-deserved seven-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in a thrilling Indian Premier League match that went to the wire at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, on Thursday.
England are to fly to Abu Dhabi on Thursday before travelling to India to resume the tour they aborted after last week's militant attacks in Mumbai. The senior squad, along with nine members of the England Performance Squad, will practice in Abu Dhabi before travelling on to India next week subject to the implementation of security recommendations.
The Pretoria wicket is likely to be similar, with perhaps not the same sideways movement of Newlands, and will provide another test of the Indian batsmen's bravery against a seam bowling barrage.
Still trying to figure out the "true identity" of alleged match-fixer Aneel Munawar, the International Cricket Council has hired a betting analysis company to investigate his claims of having fixed Test sessions in a recent TV sting operation.
A comic thriller that makes you laugh, but ends up killing the thrills.
Du Plessis revealed on Wednesday that all-rounder Chris Morris and seamer Duanne Olivier had been released from the expanded 17-man squad, but that the home side were still mulling over two positions.
Former opener Geoffrey Boycott feels English cricket has become a laughing stock, thanks to the "appalling" way in which the ECB forced Kevin Pietersen to step down from captaincy.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji analyse the players' performance inRediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings.
India spinner Kuldeep Yadav moved up one place to take a career-best second position in the ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings after grabbing two for 26 in the final match against New Zealand.
All the players will be travelling to Chennai in the next 24 hours to play the Test series, the ECB said.
JP Duminy struck a fluent 92 after being elevated to number three in the batting order in South Africa's 73-run victory over a Sri Lankan Cricket Board President's XI in Colombo on Wednesday.
It was CSK who denied Delhi a top-two spot in the league standings with a crushing 80-run win at Chepauk and the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side stands in their way again, only the stakes are much higher.
'It's a massive loss obviously but it's a loss that we can cover. We have someone like Trent Boult, who is a world-class fast bowler. He had a terrific season for the Daredevils (erstwhile) last year. With him coming to the side now, we think we can cover for the loss of Rabada quite well'
Vernon Philander is becoming the 'new Jacques Kallis', said South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis.
Cricket Australia paid tribute to cricketer Bill Brown, who died on the weekend in Brisbane. Brown, who was baggy green cap number 150, made his Test debut at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, in June 1934, making 22 and 73. He was Australia's oldest Test cricketer and last pre-World War 2 Test cricketer, and leaves Ron Hamence, Sam Loxton, Arthur Morris and Neil Harvey as the last surviving members of Sir Donald Bradman's famous Invincibles side of 1948.
South Africa's batsmen were strangled by India's wrist spinners, slumping to 134-5 with Kuldeep Yadav the pick of the bunch.
West Indies beat South Africa by three wickets in a low-scoring thriller in their World Twenty20 Super 10 match on Friday to join New Zealand in the semi-finals. The West Indian attack responded brilliantly to captain Darren Sammy's decision to bowl first on a slow pitch offering help as they restricted South Africa to 122 for eight. The 2012 champions looked comfortable for most of their run chase but leg-spinner Imran Tahir struck twice in consecutive deliveries in his last over to haul his side back into the game.
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