For a visiting cricketer, an India tour conjures up the image of a batsman surrounded by a shoal of fielders and facing relentless spin from both ends and South Africa should not expect anything different in the four-test series starting on Thursday.
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum on Tuesday said he has bowlers at his disposal to take 20 Indian wickets after the Kiwis rode on the skipper's unbeaten double century to take an upperhand in the ongoing first cricket Test, in Auckland on Tuesday.
- 'I still think that he had 2 or 3 more years of cricket left in him' - 'India is going to miss Dhoni the player big time'
India captain Virat Kohli today said that Murali Vijay's dismissal proved to be the turning point in their 48-run defeat against Australia in the first cricket Test, in Adelaide on Saturday.
India's spinners have been a handful at home in recent years.
Out-of-favour India opener Gautam Gambhir is still hopeful of a comeback and will call time on his career once he feels he can't play international cricket anymore.
India failed to make the best of first use of the wicket, their batsmen capitulating against both pace and spin as they were dismissed for 215 in the first innings in the third Test against South Africa at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium, in Nagpur, on Wednesday. However, the hosts hit back immediately, claiming two early scalps, leaving the Proteas reeling on 11 for 2 after nine overs at the end of Day 1.
From Rohit Sharma's record breaking double century in One-Day Internationals, the team's never-ending woes in overseas Tests, to the controversy surrounding Board of Control for Cricket in India's president-in-exile Narayanswami Srinivasan over the Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal, Indian cricket had the good, bad and ugly in equal measure in 2014.
Virat Kohli will face the toughest battle of his fledgling captaincy career when India take on a resurgent Australia in the second cricket Test.
Rajneesh Gupta checks out the numbers for Virat and Faf and their boys.
Presenting a fair idea of his leadership style in the role of India coach, Anil Kumble said he will try to inculcate self-belief in his bowlers as he wants them to develop as leaders.
Indian Test captain Virat Kohli expressed his confidence in Ravichandran Ashwin's batting abilities and said that there is no reason why the Tamil Nadu tweaker can't be the all-rounder that the Indian team is looking for in longer version.
Delhi lost their second game in a row after their star studded batting line-up, including the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir, failed to fire against Himachal Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.
Delhi Daredevils beat Kings XI Punjab by five wickets in their Indian Premier League match in Pune on Wednesday. It was Delhi's first win in 12 matches and their first against Punjab after four straight defeats.
Opener David Warner extended his purple patch with the bat, scoring his second century of the match, as the first Test against India headed for an exciting finish, with Australia gaining an overall lead of 363 runs in Adelaide on Friday. At stumps on Day 4, at the Adelaide Oval, Australia were 290 for five, with Steven Smith and Brad Haddin batting on 52 and 14 respectively.
Kings XI Punjab head coach Sanjay Bangar believes out-of-favour opener Virender Sehwag is capable of making a national comeback despite being out of the Indian team for nearly two years now.
Kevin Pietersen failed to fire in his first match for Delhi Daredevils, as Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on brilliant batting by Aaron Finch and David Warner to notch a four-run victory in Friday's IPL match in Dubai.
McCullum was 143 not out at the close of play, his eighth Test century, while Williamson was dismissed after tea for 113, his fifth hundred, as the Kiwis finished the opening day on a strong 329 for four in 90 overs.
Bolstered by their dramatic come-from-behind win in the last game, India will look to keep the winning momentum going when they clash against West Indies in the fourth One-Day International in Dharamsala on Friday, on what is expected to be a pacy track.
Disappointed after his side's fifth defeat in six matches this IPL season, Kings XI Punjab's Australian import Glenn Maxwell said ordinary bowling and fielding has let the team down.
A summary of the day's matches in the Vijay Hazare One-day tournament.
Featuring Watto, Wiese, Rahane, Hogg, Sarfaraz, Finch, de Kock, Tambe, Kulkarni, Maxwell...
A round-up of Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy group matches played on Thursday.
A clutch of Indian stars led by India and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli are either sidelined or ruled out of this edition of the tournament, lessening the wow factor of the IPL.
A summary of the day's play in the Vijay Hazare One-day tournament.
Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar wreaked havoc with a brilliant opening spell as he powered India into the final of the tri-series following a convincing 81-run victory over Sri Lanka via the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-affected match in Trinidad, on Tuesday.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed five for 52 as Indian bowlers dominated the proceedings to bowl out West Indies for a meagre 196 on Day 1 of the second Test in Jamaica.
The International Cricket Council released the provisional squads of the 12 teams for next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand on Friday. However, co-hosts Australia and minnows Ireland decided against releasing the provisional list although they submitted 30 names to the parent body within the stipulated deadline.
Shaun Marsh's sensational strokeplay helped Kings XI Punjab edge past Rajasthan Royals via the Super Over after the match had finished in a tie in the Indian Premier League, in Ahmedabad, on Tuesday.
Mumbai Indians scored a 15-run victory over Delhi Daredevils in a must-win match at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, on Friday, to stay in the hunt for a play-off berth in the Indian Premier League. They squandered an electrifying start from openers Michael Hussey and Lendl Simmons, losing their last eight wickets for 33 runs before being dismissed for 173 runs in 19.3 overs, but did well to restrict Delhi to just 158.
Skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla's valiant unbeaten half-century helped Bengal stage a remarkable fight-back against Railways in their controversy-marred Ranji Trophy quarter-final at the Eden Gardens.
Ishank Jaggi scored an unbeaten century while Ishan Kishan made 83 to hand Jharkhand the crucial first innings lead over Haryana in a Ranji Trophy match.
India skipper Virat Kohli says the much improved batting performance by the lower order batsmen, particularly wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, was the biggest gain of the West Indies series, which they won 2-0.
Round up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played across the country
The reasons for India's poor show in England lie between a very demanding captain, a very smug coach and inadequate coaching staff, says Sudhir Bisht.
Ahead of the start of the ninth season of the IPL, Rajneesh Gupta presents a detailed statistical analysis of the players involved.
Fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar explains the reasons behind Team India's excellent showing in the outfield.
Virat Kohli's proactive and aggressive style of leadership will be tested when India take on sprightly underdogs Bangladesh in the one-off Test match starting in Fatullah on Wednesday.
Rajneesh Gupta brings you all the numbers from the just concluded IPL-12.
India pulled off a brilliant all-round performance to trounce New Zealand by 178 runs in the second Test and clinch the series with an unassailable 2-0 lead, a win that propelled the team to the top of the ICC rankings, dethroning arch-rivals Pakistan.
